Creating An American Army - John J. Pershing I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1? (Mungkin 2024)
John J. Pershing, secara penuh John Joseph Pershing, nama panggilan Black Jack, (lahir 13 September 1860, Laclede, Missouri, AS — meninggal 15 Julai 1948, Washington, DC), jeneral Tentera AS yang memerintahkan Angkatan Ekspedisi Amerika (AEF) di Eropah semasa Perang Dunia I.
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Pershing lulus dari Akademi Ketenteraan Amerika Syarikat di West Point, New York, pada tahun 1886. Dia ditugaskan sebagai letnan kedua dan ditugaskan untuk pasukan berkuda ke-6, yang kemudian menjalankan operasi menentang Geronimo dan Chiricahua Apache di Barat Daya. Pada tahun 1890 Pershing bertugas dalam kempen untuk menekan gerakan Ghost Dance dan pemberontakan di kalangan Sioux di Wilayah Dakota, tetapi unitnya tidak turut serta dalam pembunuhan di Wounded Knee. Pada tahun 1891 dia menjadi tenaga pengajar sains ketenteraan di University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Semasa di sana, dia juga memperoleh gelar undang-undang (1893). Dia dilantik sebagai pengajar taktik di West Point pada tahun 1897.
Perang Sepanyol-Amerika memberi peluang kepada Pershing untuk promosi pantas. Dia berkhidmat di Cuba melalui kempen Santiago (1898) dan dilantik sebagai pegawai ordinan dengan pangkat utama sukarelawan. Pada bulan Jun 1899 ia dijadikan jeneral jeneral. Dia menganjurkan Biro Hal Ehwal Kepulauan di Jabatan Perang dan bertindak sebagai ketua biro itu selama beberapa bulan. Pershing dihantar ke Filipina sebagai jendral jabatan Mindanao pada bulan November 1899. Dia dijadikan kapten dalam tentera biasa pada tahun 1901 dan melakukan kempen menentang orang Moros hingga tahun 1903. Pada tahun 1905 dia dihantar ke Jepun sebagai atase ketenteraan kepada kedutaan AS, dan semasa Perang Rusia-Jepun dia menghabiskan beberapa bulan sebagai pemerhati dengan tentera Jepun di Manchuria. Sebagai penghargaan atas perkhidmatannya di Filipina, US Pres.Theodore Roosevelt mempromosikan Pershing menjadi brigadier jeneral dari pangkat kapten pada tahun 1906, melewati lebih dari 862 pegawai lebih tinggi dalam melakukannya. Pershing kembali ke Filipina dan tetap di sana hingga tahun 1913, bertugas sebagai komandan jabatan Mindanao dan gabenor Provinsi Moro. Seterusnya dia mendapat perhatian sebagai komandan ekspedisi hukuman yang dikirimkan melawan Pancho Villa revolusioner Mexico, yang telah menyerang Columbus, New Mexico, pada tahun 1916. Setelah kematian Jeneral Jeneral Frederick Funston pada tahun 1917, Pershing menggantikannya sebagai komandan di AS -Sempadan Mexico.Seterusnya dia mendapat perhatian sebagai komandan ekspedisi hukuman yang dikirimkan melawan Pancho Villa revolusioner Mexico, yang telah menyerang Columbus, New Mexico, pada tahun 1916. Setelah kematian Jeneral Jeneral Frederick Funston pada tahun 1917, Pershing menggantikannya sebagai komandan di AS -Sempadan Mexico.Seterusnya dia mendapat perhatian sebagai komandan ekspedisi hukuman yang dikirimkan melawan Pancho Villa revolusioner Mexico, yang telah menyerang Columbus, New Mexico, pada tahun 1916. Setelah kematian Jeneral Jeneral Frederick Funston pada tahun 1917, Pershing menggantikannya sebagai komandan di AS -Sempadan Mexico.
After the United States declared war on Germany (April 1917), Pres. Woodrow Wilson selected Pershing to command the American troops being sent to Europe. The transition from the anti-insurgency campaigns that had characterized much of Pershing’s career to the vast stagnant siege of the Western Front was an extreme test, but Pershing brought to the challenge a keen administrative sense and a knack for carrying out plans in spite of adversity. With his staff, Pershing landed in France on June 9, 1917, and that month he submitted a “General Organization Report” recommending the creation of an army of one million men by 1918 and three million by 1919. Earlier American planning had not contemplated such a large army. Having assumed that the AEF could not be organized in time to support military operations on the Western Front, the Allies had asked only for financial, economic, and naval assistance. Pershing’s recommendations regarding the numbers and disposition of troops prevailed, however, especially after Allied fortunes worsened during 1917. By early 1918, American plans had called for concentrating an independent army on the Western Front, which Pershing hoped would spearhead a decisive offensive against Germany.
The exhaustion of the Allies, stemming from the setbacks of 1917, increased their dependence on U.S. arms. It also engendered pressure on Pershing to condone the “amalgamation” of small units of American troops into European armies, as the Allies desperately wanted replacements for their depleted formations to resist expected attacks. From the start, Pershing insisted that the integrity of the American army be preserved, making a firm stand against French tutelage and the French desire to infuse the new American blood into their ranks. Pershing also opposed proposals to divert some U.S. troops to secondary theatres. The Supreme War Council, an institution established to coordinate the political-military strategy of the Allies, continually recommended amalgamation and that diversionary operations be conducted elsewhere than in France, but Pershing remained unmoved. If Pershing’s stance imposed a strain on the exhausted Allies, it was justified by the oft-cited warning against “pouring new wine into old bottles.” Pershing also felt that such an arrangement would represent an unprecedented sacrifice of national prestige. He argued that the fielding of an independent American army would be a serious blow to German morale and provide a permanent uplift to American self-confidence.
The disasters of early 1918 seemed to demonstrate the great risk that had been taken in pursuit of Pershing’s ideal. The Germans, their Western Front armies having been strongly reinforced because of the armistice recently concluded between the German-led Central Powers and Russia, embarked on a fresh wave of attacks designed to break the Allies’ will before the Americans could deploy in strength. At the Second Battle of the Somme, German armies advanced 40 miles (64 km) and captured some 70,000 Allied prisoners. When the German offensives of March–June 1918 threatened Paris, Pershing placed all his resources firmly at the disposal of French Marshal Ferdinand Foch. These pressures subsided when the Allies assumed the offensive during the summer, however, and Pershing reverted to his previous policy.
Pershing’s army never became entirely self-sufficient, but it conducted two significant operations. In September 1918 the AEF assaulted the Saint-Mihiel salient successfully. Then, at Foch’s request, later that month Pershing quickly regrouped his forces for the Meuse-Argonne offensive, despite his original plans to advance toward Metz. Though incomplete preparations and inexperience slowed the Meuse-Argonne operations, the inter-Allied offensive in France destroyed German resistance in early October and led to the Armistice the following month.
Pershing was criticized for operational and logistic errors, but his creation of the AEF was a remarkable achievement. He returned home with a sound reputation, and, on September 1, 1919, he was given the rank of general of the armies of the United States. Pershing’s nickname, “Black Jack,” derived from his service with a black regiment early in his career, had come to signify his stern bearing and rigid discipline. His determination and dedication had gained him the respect and admiration of his men, if not their affection. Eschewing politics, Pershing remained in the army, serving as chief of staff from 1921 until his retirement three years later. Pershing’s memoirs were published as My Experiences in the World War, 2 vol. (1931).
