The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of General Pershing, by Everett T. (Everett Titsworth) Tomlinson

Title: The Story of General Pershing

Author: Everett T. (Everett Titsworth) Tomlinson

Release Date: April 7, 2010 [eBook #31914]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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THE STORY
OF GENERAL PERSHING

General Pershing.

THE STORY OF
GENERAL PERSHING

BY

EVERETT T. TOMLINSON

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer gratefully acknowledges the aid he has received in the preparation of this book. To President Greene and Mr. J. E. Bell of William Jewell College, Missouri, he is under special obligations. Mr. Bell in order to aid the writer spent several days in Linn County, Missouri, verifying and obtaining facts. To Mr. Herbert Putnam of the Library of Congress, Mr. John Cotton Dana of the Newark, New Jersey, Public Library, and to Dr. Arthur E. Bostwick of the St. Louis Public Library he owes a special debt of gratitude for bibliographies and carefully prepared suggestions as to sources of information. From Cashin's "Under Fire with the 10th U. S. Cavalry," Missouri State Historical Review, Reports of the War Department and other publications, selections and citations have been made and from the facts contained in dispatches from France, particularly the very excellent reports in the New York Times and New York Sun, the writer has obtained valuable information. The direct aid of United States Senator Frelinghuysen in obtaining data from the War Department and the suggestion of United States Senator Warren have been most helpful. Replies to questions sent to friends and relatives of the General have assisted in verifying certain facts and figures. Many who personally knew the great commander in his younger days have very kindly given the writer such help as lay within their power. He gladly recognizes his indebtedness, especially to the following persons: Mr. Charles Spurgeon, Brookfield, Mo.; Judge O. F. Libby, Bigger, Mo.; H. C. Lomax, Esq., Laclede, Mo.; S. E. Carothers, Waco, Tex.; Mr. Robert S. Huse, Elizabeth, N. J., whose father was the "splendid old Caleb" of the Highland Military Academy; Hon. E. W. Stephens, Columbia, Mo.; Mrs. Louisa D. Warren, Meadville, Mo., and Mr. Wesley L. Love, Brookfield, Mo. Major James E. Runcie, Librarian of the United States Military Academy, West Point, N. Y., and General P. C. Harris, acting the Adjutant General, have both been exceedingly kind in providing and verifying certain items of information which otherwise it would have been difficult if not impossible to obtain. The writer wishes to thank all these good people who have helped to make even the gathering of data an inspiration. Articles appearing in many current magazines and newspapers have provided interesting items, but the writer has quoted from them only after verification of certain details.

PREFACE

The purpose of the writer of this little book is merely to tell the story in outline of the career of the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in France. The modesty of General Pershing has kept his name out of print to a greater extent than in the case of many of our prominent men. His advancement also came rapidly in these recent years. As a result of these two conditions many of the fellow countrymen of the General are not familiar with the story of his early life or his successful work in the Philippines. This they not only have a right to know, but they ought to know.

The writer has endeavored to tell the story briefly as it has been told him, or as it has been kept in the records of the War Department and elsewhere. The complete biography and the analysis of General Pershing's personality and military career he leaves to later writers. The simple story of the struggles and achievements of a more or less typically successful American is presented, with the hope that others also may find in the record the inspiration and interest which the writer has found. Sometimes fighting against obstacles that appeared almost insurmountable, struggling to obtain an education in the schools, not faltering when tragic sorrows came, his determination succeeding in military campaigns where previous centuries of fighting had failed—the career of General Pershing has been a continuous overcoming. Confidence in a great leader is an essential condition of victory and the writer has tried to present facts to show that the trust of the American people in their military leader is well founded.

Some years ago a certain tight-fisted denizen of the United States inquired sneeringly of a young man from his village, who was working his way through college, "What do you expect to make of yourself anyway?" Instantly came the reply, "A man." Cause and effect, aim and incentive, object and motive alike are all slimmed up in that response. Behind the General is the man whose story the writer has tried to tell just as he has found it.

CONTENTS