"BLACK" PERSHING.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 3 August 1917, Page 1

"BLACK" PERSHING.

I LEADER OF THE AMERICAN TROOPS ON FRENCH SOIL. Major-general John J. Pershing—or, as hi is known among the rank and file of hi; men, "Black Jack" Pershing—who is tin chosen leader of the first expeditionary United States . force to liurope, is tin youngest of his rank in the United State; Army. He is 53 years old, and was gradu ated from West Point in 1886 as seuio cadet-captain, the highest honor any under graduate can achieve. He began active ser vice at once as second lieutenant of thi Sixth United States Cavalry, one of tin regiments that was sent to round-up the oh Indian chief Geronitno, who with his Apach braves was causing the United States no en« of trouble. The Philadelphia 'Ledger' sau of him : Pershing rode hurd and soldiered mud in the next 10 years, chasing the Indian over the South-west, and on one oceasioi showed the stuff that was going to win fo him in the later years. He inarched hi ,■ troop with a pack train 140 miles in 4 hours. General Miles paid him a fine tr:

biite for this feat, and pointed to the fac that Lieuten<mt Pershing "had brought i every man and animal in good condition. For seven years Lieutenant Pershing nevt knew a promotion, but iu 1893 he was raise to the rank of Grst lieutenant. He w»6 a 'signed to the Tenth Cavalry, the crack uegi command that afterward won fame at tl Kan Juan blockliousc. Because of the fa tliat he was appointed to the colored troc he earned the sobriquet of " Black Jack which has stuck to him since. I Pershing, as a. young officer, applied nil self strictly to the business of fightin He made a thorough study of tactics, and now generally known as the best strategi in the array. After his Indian ca-mpaignin Lieutenant Pershing was assigned to We Point as instructor, but when the war wi Spain was declared he at. onee applied f the command of the old '• Tenth," and I regiment was among the first to be shipp to Cuba, where he distinguished himself the field,- winning the applause of his colon At the battle of El Caney he was promot to the rank of captain for'anllanlrv in actio

After the signing of the Treaty of Paris, and when the American flag was thrown to the ' breeze over the Philippines, Captain Pershing was ordered to duty in our new possessions. There the first military problem was the pacification of the Moros, those fierce fighters who have since become organised under our Government as the Philippine • Scouts, and are known among army men as a crack company of fighters. At that time, 1 however, they were fiercely antagonistic to the United States, refused to accept the assurances of the good intentions ot this Government, and fought the advance of the Americans step by step. Pershing then set about, to complete the . subjugation of the Moros, and he accomplished the task in June, 1913, when he won the battle of Bagsag, where the natives had made a last stand. Pershing's work m the Philippines had naturally made him a ' spectacular figure after the achievements ot 1 unslon had aroused such natural American approbation and delight. So the captain was sent to Manchuria to take a look at the squabble between the Bear that Walks , Like a Man ami the Little Yellow Chap. He was attached to General Kuroki's statf, and what he saw and what he learned he gave ! to xhe War Department in the form of one of its best, most compact, and meaty ro- _ ports ever filed by a military observer at- * cached to armies m the held. In 1906 President -Roosevelt jumped Captain Pershing '. over the heads of 862 officers, his seniors in rank and service, cieating him a brigudiergeneral. Instantly| there was a hubbub and • iurore, but the President and the advocates of Pershing's cause remained firm, and the tumult, and the shouting died a natural death.-. After the storm subsided the truth was revealed. It developed I that Roosevelt , did not want to make Pershing a brigadier, but under the law there v,-as no authority to jump him over the heads of the captaius to a colonelcy. It was then a question of making him a general officer or keeping him in his present rank, So Pershing became a brigadier. In January. 1916, General Pershing was assigned to the command of t.ho eighth Brigade of the regular army, with headquarters at £1 Paso,' Texas. After the Villa raid General Pershing commanded the punitive expedition into Mexico, and handled the problem in a manner entirely satisfactory to the Administration. Army ollicers have long predicted that, should it, become necessary tor the United States to send troops to Europe, General Pershing would ieacl the first expedition. On tho death of Major- . general Funston, General Pershing succeeded aim in rank and command. He remained ou Ihe border until, a few weeks ago, when he was summoned to Washington, to take command of the first American troops ever ordered across the ocean to battle in Europe. The ' Ledger' recalls the romance of the soldier's life : About- a year before Colonel Roosevelt, then President, addressed Congress on the ever-recurring question of promotions in tlie army and navy. The promotions usually 1 went by seniority, and the caste in the army ' was jealous or tnis tradition. Roosevelt, in 1 a memorable message to Congress, on Deeem- : ber 7, 1903, wanted tho seniority rulo j abridged, and specifically mentioned Captain ' Pershing as a gallant aud distinguished oitti- | cer 'who was held back by a tradition that worked havoc aud harm to the men who ' might have been advanced. In the gallery l during the reading ot tins message was Aliss Frances Warren, the daughter of United •__atates Senator Francis Ei. Warren, of Wyo--1 m'inf. She followed the Message closely, ; and when leaving the capitol declared that ! she would like to meet the officer who had a merited such commendation by the Presii dent. She evidently lost no time about it, for less than two years afterward tho warrior I and the Senators daughter were married. ; In the summer of 1915 tragedy entered ' into the life of General Pershing. His wife Z and three of his children were burned to death hi his home on the Presedio, close to the Exposition grounds at San Francisco, i where his headquarters were for the time ', being. ■ Warren, his five-year-old soii, was B rescued by the servants. The blow was a j hard one, bub the general met it like a solu dier. "Black Jack" Pershing is loved by. 3 his men and respected by his superiors. The 'Ledger' draws this pen-picture of him: — (, Lean but rugged, his six feet' and better s every inch bone and muscle, he typifies s " the ideal cavalry officer. He has been •'. hardened by field service physically, and 't has been broadened in executive service e by several difficult posts. He cares little d for swivel chairs and desks, but he dotes t on boots and saddles.