Road Trip – Missouri (Part 11)

…continuing with exploratory road trip wandering the backroads and highways of Missouri.  We didn’t have to drive far for our next historical experience, one more that we’ve driven past so many times.  Now we could see what it is all about.

The General John J. (Blackjack) Pershing Missouri State Historical Site is in Laclede Missouri, just about 13 miles west from the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline.  So, who is General Pershing and why is he memorialized?

John Joseph Pershing (1860 – 1948) was commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, from 1917 to 1920.  It was called the ‘war to end all wars’.  In addition to leading the AEF and its allies to victory in the war, he later served as a mentor to many generations of U.S. Army generals who followed him.  They included George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur.  It is an impressive list for sure! 

In addition to General Pershing’s statue, the garden area features a Wall of Honor with the names of veterans who served in various wars...

John J. Pershing was born on a farm outside of the town of Laclede Missouri.  However, the Pershing family moved into this 9-room Gothic-style home when he was six.  He lived here from six to adulthood. 

The home was built ca 1857 and it was purchased by the Pershing family in 1866.  Pershing lived in the home even after completing high school.  He took a teaching position at nearby Prairie Mound School until he left to attend the First District Normal School, now Truman State University, in Kirksville Missouri.  After he graduated from that school with a Bachelor’s degree, he returned to teach at the Prairie Mound School, where he taught African American students.

The Pershing home has been well preserved and maintained.  It features period-specific furnishings from the mid to late 1800s as well as a small museum which chronicles General Pershing’s life.  I love that Eastlake style desk!  Of course, there is also a small gift shop…where we invested in a pin for Laurie’s collection and I bought a book entitled “Pershing – General of the Armies” written by Donald Smythe. (309 pages of fine print)

  

There are several stoves in the Pershing home.  This one, made by G.F. Filley in St. Louis back in 1865 is quite handsome.  I love these old stoves.  They have so much character… These stoves were the heating system back in the day.

So, allow me to digress… Giles Filley founded Excelsior Stove Works in St. Louis Missouri in 1849.  His family had the financial resources to back him and he didn’t exactly have to invent the business.  He bought the patterns the company used rather than having to deal with product design.  The name “Excelsior” suggested a New York pedigree…at a time when that state produced almost 40 percent of the nation’s stoves.  Excelsior hit the ground running with 25 molders and 20 other employees.  Capacity quickly hit 60 stoves a day and the company built 6,000 stoves in 1850, his first full year of business.  Then he went into the cooking stove business…but that is yet another story...

The tour of the Pershing home is self-guided.  While the home itself is substantial and historic, the story is all about the man who grew up here.

Back to General Pershing and his history.  After graduating from West Point, he was assigned to the 6^th US Cavalry in New Mexico in 1887.  He was involved in several military campaigns against Native American tribes and was recognized for his bravery fighting with the Apaches. 

In 1891, he was assigned to the University of Nebraska – Lincoln where he taught military science and tactics until 1895.  While he was the university, he also earned his law degree.  In 1895 he took command of a troop of the 10^th Cavalry Regiment, one of the original Buffalo Soldier regiments comprised of African American troops commanded by white officers.

The first photo above shows General Pershing in the back ground with related Army photos included in the display.  The photo immediately above is of the General in 1906. 

Pershing fought in Cuba during the Spanish American War where he caught the eye and earned the admiration of Teddy Roosevelt who was also fighting with his “Rough Riders” at the Battle of San Juan Hill.  Pershing commanded the American expedition in the pursuit of Pancho Villa. He also fought in the Philippine-American War.

President Theodore Roosevelt promoted Pershing to the rank of General but it was President Wilson who put him in command of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe upon America’s entry into that war.  By a stroke of fate, Pershing’s commanding officer who would have been given this challenge, died suddenly of a heart attack.

The American forces were thrust into WWI with little preparation or training.  To speed up their arrival in France, they boarded their ships quickly, leaving heavy equipment behind.  Upon arrival they used French and British equipment and munitions.  In September 1918, under General Pershing’s command, the First Army overwhelmed the German encroachment into Allied territory, which the Germans had held for 3 years.  Then Pershing shifted roughly 600,000 American soldiers to the heavily defended Argonne area, keeping his forced engaged in hard fighting for 47 days alongside the French. 

This offensive contributed to Germany’s call for an armistice…which was agreed to.  General Pershing was convinced that the war should continue and that Germany should be totally occupied.  He wanted to totally destroy German militarism...

The building in the first photo is the Prairie Mound School where John Pershing taught.  It was built in 1874.  The building traces much of Pershing’s life for visitor’s to follow and read about.  But again, I’ll digress just a little bit…

The bicycle shown in the second photos is an “Iron Rider Bicycle.  In 1897 the US Army wanted to determine how effective it would be to move troops by bicycle.

I’m not making this up!  After all, this is the same military that tried to institute a camel corps, experimented with hiding missiles under the ice in Greenland and, tried developing flying aircraft carriers, actually big dirigibles.

So the all-Black 25^th Infantry Regiment Bicycle Corps took on an epic bicycle ride from Fort Missoula Montana to St. Louis Missouri, a 1,900 mile virtually road free journey.  The heavy duty one speed “Military Special” bicycles were built by A.G. Spalding and Brothers.  The bikes weighed 32 pounds and the average weight of a packed bicycle was 60 pounds.

Yes, the Bicycle Corps did complete their journey.  Riders carried only 2-day’s rations with stops scheduled every 100 miles, so riders had to cover 50 miles every day.  They completed the journey in 40 days, faster than they could have covered the distance on horseback.  But, by the time the Corps riders reached St. Louis, the government had lost interest in the project…

I’m assuming that this display was included in the Pershing State Historical Park because of the General’s connection with the Buffalo Soldiers

As the verbiage with the photo above states, this is General Pershing in 1944 sitting for a photo in his suite at the Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington D.C.  He looks tough and unyielding…and ramrod straight.

John J. (Black Jack) Pershing is the only American to be promoted in his lifetime as General of the Armies, the highest possible rank in the Army.  From time to time his tactics were criticized by other commanders and modern historians.  He relied on costly frontal assaults, long after other Allied armies had abandoned these tactics.

There are two different stories as to why he was given the nickname, “Black Jack”.  One is that the name came about because he commanded black troops during the American-Native American Wars.  The other possibility…and my belief…is that he got the nickname due to the harsh, unforgiving way he applied discipline during his time as an Instructor at West Point. 

Factoids:

         ·         Pershing won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for history with his memoir, “My Experiences in the World War”. 

         ·         General Pershing’s wife and 3 daughters perished in a fire at San Francisco’s Presidio while the General was preparing to take command of US forces in Texas to pursue Pancho Villa.  He’d been making arrangements to move the family down to Texas…

General Pershing died at the age of 87 at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington D.C.  Walter Reed Hospital had been his home after 1944.  Upon his death, he lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda, then was given a state funeral and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. To learn more about this historic site in Laclede Missouri, go to https://mostateparks.com/park/gen-john-j-pershing-boyhood-home-state-historic-site.  To read more about General Pershing, just go to John J. Pershing - Wikipedia.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave