"For Private Kulolski, Company (deleted)."I have just heard of your splendid conduct onJune 6th when you alone charged a gun, captured it and its crew, together with an officer. I have awarded you the Distinguished Service Cross. I congratulate you."Pershing."
"I have just heard of your splendid conduct onJune 6th when you alone charged a gun, captured it and its crew, together with an officer. I have awarded you the Distinguished Service Cross. I congratulate you.
"Pershing."
Who does not know that Kulolski's deed and the commander's quick and personal as well as official recognition of the heroism of this private soldier at once aroused a spirit of gratitude and enthusiasm not only in the heart of the young Pole, but also caused a thrill in the heart of every doughboy in the ranks that heard the story?
From Paris, July 22, 1918, the Associated Press sent the following despatch:
"Your country is proud of you, and I am more than proud to command such men as you. You have fought splendidly."
"Your country is proud of you, and I am more than proud to command such men as you. You have fought splendidly."
General Pershing thus addressed wounded American soldiers lying in the American Red Cross hospitals in Paris to-day. In each ward of every hospital he talked to the men. He inquired if they were being well cared for, how and where they were wounded, what regimentsthey belonged to, and expressed his sympathy to scores of patients.
General Pershing also talked to the physicians, surgeons, and nurses, and thanked them for the work they were doing in caring for the wounded.
"No one can ask of any fighting force more than that they should do as well as you have done," he said to his troops. The General added that he wished he could speak personally with each and every man in the hospital, but this was impossible. So he asked Major James H. Perkins to repeat his message and say to each individual man, "The American people are proud of you."
It is a very devoted and democratic army which General Pershing commands in France. Those who know him personally have a deep affection for him for they understand what he is. Those who do not have a personal acquaintance admire him no less for what they believe him to be. It is a common remark in the ranks, even by those who never even saw their leader, "What a fine man Pershing is." His nickname"Black Jack" is an expression of admiration and affection, as much so as when the French poilus tenderly refer to "Papa" Joffre.
Whenever General Pershing in his scattered duties arrives at a place where there are wounded American soldiers he never fails to find a few brief minutes when he can visit these boys and speak a word of affectionate appreciation of what they have done. It is usually, however, not to his own but to his country's pride and sympathy that he refers. "Your country is proud of you." Sometimes it is just a handclasp, sometimes only a glance from his dark eyes, expressive of the deep interest and pride in his soldier boys that he can give the wounded. He is a man of few words and as a consequence every spoken word counts.
A direct report states that "faces are brighter, eyes have a new expression whenever, which is as often as the crush of his duties permits—he visits a hospital."
One further incident will illustrate the many-sided activities of the American General. One evening at a certain nameless point hefound that he had a very few minutes free before his automobile was to rush him to the next place he was to visit. Instantly he decided to visit the Y. M. C. A. hut. As he drew near he found that a couple of hundred boys were in the building and that someone was "banging the piano" with a furious rag-time. Hobnailed shoes were noisily keeping time to the music and the lusty voices of the shouting and singing young soldiers were plainly heard far beyond the building. Not one of the boys was aware that the commander was anywhere in the vicinity.
Suddenly a yell arose near the entrance. Instantly every soldier turned to discover the cause of the break. "General Pershing" ran as a loud whisper throughout the assembly and instantly every one of the assembled doughboys sprang to his feet and stood at attention. Then no longer able to repress or restrain their feelings they united in such an enthusiastic yell as might have revealed their presence to an enemy if he was not too far away.
Quickly the General was in the midst of thethrong and was telling his admirers just how he had "dropped in to see how they were getting along." He was delighted, he told them, to find everything in good order and expressed his deep satisfaction with the manner in which they were doing their part in the gigantic struggle. "Your country is proud of you."
Small cause for wonder is it that it is currently reported that "no army ever went to the battlefield better protected against the pitfalls of army life than the American forces in France." Every friendly and helpful activity receives his cordial support—Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., Knights of Columbus, Salvation Army and all. He is deeply concerned not only with the quality and quantity of the work in France but also with the reports that are to go back home concerning what the boys are doing on the far distant fields of France. Still more is he concerned about the effects of their stay upon the boys themselves. "Everything possible is being done to see that these young Americans who will return home some day shall go back clean."
He is deeply interested in all the athletics and sports of his troops. He simply is insistent upon one main quality, "everything must be clean."
A certain reporter for a New York newspaper sends the following incident:
Passing a dark corner one night I encountered a M. P. (Military Policeman). Some of the M. P.s are a bit rough. They have to be, and they would wade into a den of wildcats."Hey, you pencil pusher," he called, "did you see the big boss?"I had."Well," he said, "you've flashed your lamps on the finest man that ever stood in shoe leather."
Passing a dark corner one night I encountered a M. P. (Military Policeman). Some of the M. P.s are a bit rough. They have to be, and they would wade into a den of wildcats.
"Hey, you pencil pusher," he called, "did you see the big boss?"
I had.
"Well," he said, "you've flashed your lamps on the finest man that ever stood in shoe leather."
One day General Pershing arrived at a station where a motley crowd greeted his coming. The following day there was posted on a bulletin board of the barracks a cordial commendation of the young French officer who had so efficiently done his duty at the station in handling the somewhat unruly assembly at the arrival of the American commander and his staff. That is General Pershing's way. Quietly cordial,looking for good in every one of his men and usually finding it, a strict disciplinarian and quick to punish neglect or an evil deed, he is the idol of the army.
"General Pershing is one of the finest men I ever met. Everybody in the army admires him greatly," declares a prominent American officer, and another adds, "I have never met a nobler man in my life than General Perching."
According to a statement of an orderly sergeant of the commander, the General has a regular order for beginning the work of every day. Rising at five o'clock there is first a half hour of setting up exercises which the two men take together. Next the General, although he is at an age when most men abandon running except as a necessity or a last resort, goes out for a run of fifteen minutes. Later there is a united attack upon the medicine ball and there is no slight or "ladylike" exercise. Although the sergeant is twenty-five years younger than the General, he acknowledges that he is usually the first to declare that he has had sufficient for the beginning of the day.
The hour of retirement is usually eleven o'clock, and just before that time there are more setting up exercises, after which the sergeant says he himself is entirely reconciled to the suggestion to turn in.
In this way and because he has followed this somewhat strenuous plan since he was a young man General Pershing has kept himself in magnificent physical condition.
Indeed, the sergeant said that in the ten years during which he had been the commander's orderly he has never known but one day when the General wasincapacitatedfor his duties. That day was in the early rush of the punitive expedition into Mexico to get Villa. The change of water or perhaps the quality of it made him ill, but even then, in spite of the surgeon's advice for him to remain quietly in his tent for a day or two, General Pershing, unmindful of the influence of his example, "disobeyed orders" and resumed his work. Fortunately no ill effects followed his disobedience.
A tender touch in the sergeant's statement is one upon which we have no right to enlargethough the fact is as suggestive as it is characteristic. The first duty of the orderly in unpacking the General's belongings when they move to new quarters is to take the photograph of Mrs. Pershing and the four children as the family was before that terrible fire in the Presidio, and place itona desk or bureau where it is easily seen. Often the General sits in silence before it, and as he looks at the family group, the sergeant believes that, for the time, the tragedy is forgotten and to the silent soldier his family again seems to be complete. It is an occasion into which an outsider, however, has no right to enter and however strong may be his sympathy, the sorrow is too intensely personal for even a close friend to obtrude.
In the letter which General Pershing wrote from Mindanao to his classmates on the occasion of their twenty-fifth anniversary of their graduation from West Point he lightly referred to his difficulties in acquiring French. In view of his ancestry, for his name and lineage can be traced back to Alsace, this at first may appear somewhat strange; but the statement ishis own. However, when he first went to France his fluency in the language of the people of that country was not sufficient to satisfy him and an interpreter was provided, who usually was present when he met with French officers who were as ignorant of his language as he was of theirs. In a brief time, however, the interpreter was discarded. General Pershing, in spite of the difficulty of acquiring a new language when one is older, was soon conversing in their own tongue with Marshal Joffre, General Petain and General Foch. Just what the opinion of his accent was we do not know and they doubtless were too polite to express it. The essential point, however, is that just as the American Commander years before had learned the language of the Moros in order to assist him in his task of dealing with the little brown people, so he resolutely set to work to learn French, at least to an extent that enabled him to understand what was said in his presence and to express himself to his friends without the aid of an interpreter.
Not long before the raid upon Columbus byVilla and his bandits General Pershing, in a letter from which the following extract is taken, wrote: "We do not want war if we can honestly avoid it, but we must not hesitate to make war if the cause of civilization and progress demands it. Nearly every step in human progress has been at the sacrifice of human life. There are some things dearer even than life. If a nation has set up high ideals either for itself or for others it must be prepared to enforce those ideals if need be by armies and navies. Of course it would be better to enforce them through moral prestige." These sentiments were expressed long before the declaration of war with Germany or the President had written his famous words about making the world safe for democracy. They are doubly interesting for that reason and expressive of General Pershing's innermost feelings when there was every reason why he should express himself freely. Most brilliant American fighters have not been lovers of war for its own sake. Washington was reluctant to enter upon war, although when he believed there was no escapehe fought to the uttermost limit of his power. General Grant's most frequently quoted words are not warlike, but "Let us have peace." And General Pershing is not one whit behind the other two.
Early in July, 1918, Chairman Hurley sent a cablegram to the American fighting men in France that the shipbuilders at home would launch one hundred merchant ships July 4th. Promptly from General Pershing came the following appreciative and defiant acknowledgment: "The launching of one hundred ships on the Fourth of July is the most inspiring news that has come to us. All ranks of the Army in France send their congratulations and heartfelt thanks to their patriotic brothers in the ship-yards at home. No more defiant answer could be given to the enemy's challenge. With such backing we cannot fail to win. All hail American shipbuilders."
His quick sense of appreciation is seen also in the following telegram which he sent Premier Clemenceau after the hearty congratulations sent by the great Frenchman on the occasionof the parade of American troops in Paris in the celebration of the Fourth of July:
"Permit me to tell you how much I am touched by the cordial telegram you sent me. I shall not fail to make it known to the troops in question. All the officers and men of the troops who had the privilege of participating in the Fourth of July ceremony in Paris will retain unforgettable recollections of the enthusiastic reception accorded to them. Proud of the confidence France places in them they are heartened more than ever to do their duty until common victory comes."
"Permit me to tell you how much I am touched by the cordial telegram you sent me. I shall not fail to make it known to the troops in question. All the officers and men of the troops who had the privilege of participating in the Fourth of July ceremony in Paris will retain unforgettable recollections of the enthusiastic reception accorded to them. Proud of the confidence France places in them they are heartened more than ever to do their duty until common victory comes."
One day in France he saw two American soldiers at work on a woodpile. One glance was sufficient to show him that the two men were working out a form of punishment for some misdeed. As we know General Pershing is a believer in strict and if necessary stern discipline. Soon after coming to France he had ordered one American soldier to be hanged for a nameless crime and several others to be disciplined severely for drunkenness. Believing in the best and hoping and expecting the good in every one of his men to manifest itself, neverthelesshe is severe when severity is demanded. And he was at once interested when he first saw the two American boys at thewoodpile, manifestly serving a sentence of some kind.
Stopping his automobile, General Pershing sent his orderly to find out what the offense was for which the two soldiers were serving their sentence. Upon the orderly's return he reported that the two men had taken "French leave" of their company several days before this time. They were jealous because certain of their fellows "had been sent up ahead to fight" while they had been left behind. And they were eager to fight. They had enlisted and come to France for that express purpose. And now to be left behind! The thought was more than the two Yankee boys could endure. Fight they could and fight they would—with or without specific orders from their officers. And fight they did, for without any ceremony they departed for the front one night and kept on going until they found it. According to their own story they "found war and mixed in." And also they were found out and sentencedto serve five days at the woodpile as a penalty for their disobedience and over-hasty zeal. It is said General Pershing hastily departed from the spot and that he laughed heartily at the story of Americans who were punished not because they were not willing to fight, but were so eager that they did not wait for such a little thing as orders or commands. And then the General fell to talking about his favorite theme—the daring and bravery of his men in the campaign against the Moros.
One day in Paris, General Pershing saw a tiny man—a dwarf—upon the sidewalk of the street through which he was passing at the time. The little man instantly recalled to the commander the wedding of Datto Dicky of Jolo. The little chieftain was about to be married. There was a current report that he was the smallest man in the world, but the statement has not been verified. At all events, whatever he may have lacked in stature he more than made up in his power over the tribe of which he was a chief.
At a fair in Zamboanga, Datto Dicky wasabout to take unto himself a wife, the little lady being as diminutive as her prospective husband. After the formal wedding General Pershing presented to the bride a tiny house in every way adapted to the needs of such a diminutive couple. The dwelling stood on stilts on the beach, a thing of beauty in the eyes of all the Moros that were attending the fair.
The tiny chieftain and his bride gratefully accepted the present of the little building, which they occupied during their honeymoon. Upon their return to Jolo they in turn gave their present to the children of the General and they used it as a playhouse. As Datto Dicky is said to have been just two feet and three inches in height the little children of the American governor doubtless found the structure much to their liking and well adapted to their needs. They were as delighted over Dicky's generosity to them as the diminutive chieftain had been over the unexpected gift their father had given him.
The following incidents are taken from the New YorkTimes:
"About ten years ago he and Mrs. Pershing were in Paris and the General, who was then a captain, was suffering from a slight indisposition, which his doctor thought might be attributable to smoking. Upon Mrs. Pershing's insistence the captain went to Mannheim where there was a famous cure. The resident doctor examined him and advised that he give up smoking. It happened that Pershing had always been an inveterate smoker. His cigar was a part of his life. He wrestled with the question a day or two and made up his mind that he would follow the medical advice."When asked if he hadn't found the job a hard one and whether he wasn't still tempted the reply was:"'Not in the least, the only hard thing was in making up his mind. He had hardly given the matter a thought since.'"There are two subjects which the General will always talk about with interest—his farming experience and his four years with the Moros in the Philippines."He loves to hark back to those days when his highest obligation was to get out into the cornfield at the very earliest minute in the morning that there was daylight enough to see the ears of corn. When he was fourteen he took the management of the farm. His father had been a rich man, but the panic of 1873 broke him. John was the oldest of nine children and he had to go to the front. In everythingthat he does now I can detect the influence of his early training. I can see in the General of to-day the farmer boy with his contempt of hardship, the country school teacher with his shepherding instinct for those around him and the general wariness of country bringing-up. It is inexorably true that the boy is father to the man."
"About ten years ago he and Mrs. Pershing were in Paris and the General, who was then a captain, was suffering from a slight indisposition, which his doctor thought might be attributable to smoking. Upon Mrs. Pershing's insistence the captain went to Mannheim where there was a famous cure. The resident doctor examined him and advised that he give up smoking. It happened that Pershing had always been an inveterate smoker. His cigar was a part of his life. He wrestled with the question a day or two and made up his mind that he would follow the medical advice.
"When asked if he hadn't found the job a hard one and whether he wasn't still tempted the reply was:
"'Not in the least, the only hard thing was in making up his mind. He had hardly given the matter a thought since.'
"There are two subjects which the General will always talk about with interest—his farming experience and his four years with the Moros in the Philippines.
"He loves to hark back to those days when his highest obligation was to get out into the cornfield at the very earliest minute in the morning that there was daylight enough to see the ears of corn. When he was fourteen he took the management of the farm. His father had been a rich man, but the panic of 1873 broke him. John was the oldest of nine children and he had to go to the front. In everythingthat he does now I can detect the influence of his early training. I can see in the General of to-day the farmer boy with his contempt of hardship, the country school teacher with his shepherding instinct for those around him and the general wariness of country bringing-up. It is inexorably true that the boy is father to the man."
Inquoting a few words from the opinions others have expressed concerning the American Commander doubtless some of them may seem to be a trifle too laudatory. It is not to be forgotten that the words of those who perhaps did not fully share the sentiments have not been recorded. If such opinions exist, their record has not been brought to the attention of the writer. As a rule, Americans have no comparative degree in their estimates of men. They like a man or they do not like him. He is either a success or a failure, good or bad, wise or foolish. Between the two extremes there is little standing room, and into onecategoryor the other they cast nearly everyone. If General Pershing has not escaped this condition, his consolation doubtless is that he ismerely sharing the common lot of his fellow-citizens.
A close friend has this to say of him: "You should meet him at a dinner party and listen to his stories. You should stand with him before his tent in the field, in the sunshine—he loves the sunshine and the wide out-of-doors—and hear him tell stories of his campaigning at his best. You should meet this big man with the heart of a little child, this man who by befriending his enemies has made them his companions, this man who stands up erect and faces the horrors of disaster with a smile and prays in his heart for the sufferers."
Another friend says: "There is something about Pershing that reminds one of Lincoln. It may be his ready wit and never failing good humor or perhaps his big sympathetic heart. In the army the similarity is frequently pointed out."
An officer who served under him in the Punitive Expedition into Mexico and was thrown into close relations with him writes: "I have had the pleasure of knowing many of ourgreat men, but Pershing is the biggest of them all. He combines the rugged simplicity of Lincoln with the dogged perseverance of Grant; the strategic mystical ability of Stonewall Jackson and the debonair personality of McClellan. In one quality, that of intuition, he may be inferior possibly to Roosevelt, but in cold logic and in supreme knowledge of human nature and of soldier nature I have never met his equal."
The colonel of his regiment when Pershing was a lieutenant in the 10th Cavalry said of him: "I have been in many fights but on my word he is the bravest and coolest man under fire I ever saw."
In 1903, Elihu Root, then Secretary of State, in President McKinley's cabinet, cabled him: "The thanks of the War Department for the able and effective accomplishment of a difficult and important task."
A simpler, but no less effective estimate of his character, although it was given in a way to puzzle him and perhaps also was a source of embarrassment was the act of the Sultanof Oato who officially made young Major Pershing the "father" of his eighteen-year-old boy. This was the highest tribute the ruler of the tribe could pay, to give his own son to the American officer. And this was done, too, when by his training and religion the Mohammedan chieftain looked down upon even if he did not despise a Christian.
Georges Clemenceau, whose words have been previously quoted, has this to say concerning the directness and simplicity of the American General: "General Pershing has given us in three phrases devoid of artificiality, an impression of exceptionally virile force. It was no rhetoric, but pure simplicity of the soldier who is here to act and who fears to promise more than he will perform. No bad sign this, for those of us who have grown weary of pompous words when we must pay dearly for each failure of performance."
An intimate friend of his boyhood writes: "John was and still is intensely human and that is why we all love him. His old playmates and friends are proud of his success asa soldier, but they love him because of his high standard of principles and unswerving integrity. John J. Pershing is revered by the entire population of Linn County, Missouri, and I hope in the near future to see a statue of Pershing erected in the beautiful town park of Laclede, in his honor."
A well-known college president writes of him: "It is his foresight as distinct from vision which has most impressed me. He sees what ought to be done and then does it. His spirit of determination, his persistence, his foresightedness, seem to me the predominant traits in a well-rounded character. Strength rather than brilliancy, solidity, reliability, saneness are other terms by which the same qualities might be defined."
Another distinguished president of a college in General Pershing's native State makes the following analysis: "I have been here twenty-six years and have had a good deal to do with young men. I have never seen a man yet that had these characteristics that failed in his life work:
"First, Pershing's modesty.
"Second, His friendliness—his ability to get along with his fellows.
"Third, His industry.
"Fourth, What the boys call, 'everlastingly on the job'—always in his place, always had his lessons, always performed his duties.
"Fifth, His courage in facing every obstacle.
"Sixth, His forward look—his looking ahead.
"My secretary adds that I have omitted one of the strongest of General Pershing's attributes—his sense of right."
It is a great asset when the people of a man's native town speak of him, even of his boyhood, in terms of affection and confidence. It is to his credit when school and college mates write of their belief in his sterling character. It is a source of pride when the early efforts of a young man, in the trying days of his first experiences in his chosen profession, find a cordial response to his efforts and it is a still deeper source of gratification when he has done his best and has received recognition and rewardfrom the nation at large. And then when maturer days havecomeand the glitter and the glamour have lost much of their appeal, for one to find that the great ones of the earth recognize and value more highly than the doer the deeds he has done—all this is a heritage the children and the coming generations will receive with grateful hearts. All these are a part of the possessions of General John Joseph Pershing.
The supreme honor thus far which General Pershing has received is the recognition from his own country which found its expression in his appointment as General, October 6, 1917, "with rank from that date, during the existence of the present emergency, under the provisions of an Act of Congress approved October 6, 1917."
When, on October 8, 1917, he accepted this appointment what thoughts must have been in his mind. He had then received the highest military honor the United States of America could bestow upon a soldier. He was the successor in office of Washington, Grant, Shermanand Sheridan. What a wonderful list of honored names it is! And a half-century had elapsed since anyone had received such an appointment. The wildest dream of the young captain of cadets at West Point had come true. And he had expressed his opinion just before he went to West Point that there would be slight opportunity for promotion in the permanent peace which apparently had settled over the nations of the earth. It is a source of comfort to learn that even the wisest and the best of men are sometimes compelled to revise their judgments.
It is not incredible that the gift which Marshal Joffre provided, or at least one in which he was the prime instigator, the presentation of a small gold-mounted sword for General Pershing's little son, Warren, may have touched the General's heart as deeply as any honor he ever received. A sword from the Field Marshal of France, given in the greatest war ever fought by mankind! And we may be sure that however kindly the feeling of the foremost soldiers of France mayhave been for little Warren Pershing the gift nevertheless was made to the boy because he is the son of his father.
A similar method of expressing the regard for the father by a gift to his son was followed in an incident in the celebration of Bastile Day in Paris, July 14, 1918. At the general headquarters of the American Army in France the members of the graduating class of the Lycee presented to the American Commander a marvelously bound volume of episodes in the history of France. This beautiful work, however, was "to be transmitted to Warren Pershing from his comrades of the Lycee."
What other people than the French would have thought of such a dainty and yet effective way of expressing their admiration of a man? Sometimes a son objects to being known chiefly because he bears the name of his father. It is seldom, however, that a man ever objects to being known as the father of his son.
Just before this volume was given by the students, General Pershing had presented their diplomas to the members of the graduatingclass of the Lycee. This very pleasing duty had followed after he had formally received the American troops and the French societies which had marched through the streets that were gay with brilliant decorations and thronged by cheering thousands.
On August 7, 1918, there appeared in many American newspapers the following brief and simple message from France:
"With the American Armies in France, Aug. 6."PresidentPoincarépersonally decorated General Pershing with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor this morning with impressive military ceremonies at American General Headquarters."
"PresidentPoincarépersonally decorated General Pershing with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor this morning with impressive military ceremonies at American General Headquarters."
This was all that was cabled, but a column would not have added to the meaning. As far as military recognition was concerned France could do no more. Her choicest honor, the one most highly prized by her patriotic soldiers, had been bestowed upon a soldier from across the sea, not only as a token of her esteem for the man, but also for the country which had chosen him to be the leader of her armies.
Nor was this the only honor of its kind. England already had shown her appreciation by awarding him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath—an honor which it is said was then bestowed for the first time upon a soldier of a foreign nation, or at least upon a soldier from the United States.[D]And other similar orders and decorations were given and by different nations. It is difficult in democratic America to appreciate just how much such recognition means in the lands in which they were so generously bestowed. We may be certain, however, that these honors, which are rare, were not bestowed thoughtlessly and that General Pershing was deeply appreciative in each instance of the motive and feeling that lay behind the gift.
Without question, the honor which most deeply touches the General is the confidence and affection of the men he commands. This is more and deeper than mere popularity. The latter varies and shifts as a weathercock veerswith the changing winds. Many of the world's great characters have not only not had it, but have suffered martyrdom because they or their teachings were unpopular. But the deep regard, the confidence and pride which the American forces universally manifest for their leader are based primarily, not upon their impulses or impressions, but upon their belief in the qualities he has quietly manifested, the record he has made, and the power of his own personality.
Deeply impressed as the American commander must be by the receptions given him, the formal honors bestowed upon him by his own and other countries, there is still a minor chord that sounds in the chorus of acclaim. What would the mother, who in the little Missouri village first fired his boyish heart with an earnest desire to make the most of himself, say now if she was here to treasure in her heart the words that have been spoken in memory of the deeds he has done? And his wife—if she had not perished in the fire at the Presidio, and now could follow his career withthe pride which a good woman ever has in the recognition of her husband, what added strength her sympathy and fellowship would give to the arm and heart of the man whose name and lot she shared. Sometimes there are tragedies for our soldiers greater even than the battlefields provide.
Thetwo predominant qualities that have marked General Pershing in other lines of activity naturally appear in his written and spoken words. These are simplicity and forcefulness.
He writes but little and then only when he has something to say. What he has to say he tells and then stops. His style is lucid and interesting; even his early reports make good reading.
Certain of his sayings have almost the force of proverbs. For example, when one has once heard, "Germany can be beaten; Germany must be beaten; Germany will be beaten," he can never forget the terse epigrammatic phrasing. The same thing is true also of his response to the message of the French school children whoinvaded his headquarters, bringing their Fourth of July greetings:
To-day constitutes a new Declaration of Independence, a solemn oath that the liberty for which France has long been fighting will be attained.
To-day constitutes a new Declaration of Independence, a solemn oath that the liberty for which France has long been fighting will be attained.
It is not much when measured in words, but it is enough when behind it is the man.
Similarly terse and appealing are his words already referred to, hanging in every Y. M. C. A. hut in France.
He is not an orator in the sense of being oratorical, but he is conversational, direct and impressive in public address. His soldierly bearing, his fine physique, clear voice and strong face are accessories of no small value.
There is a field in which General Pershing has been a pronounced success as a speaker which perhaps is not commonly known, and that is at dinners and similar public functions. Anyone who notes the corners of Pershing's mouth, at once is aware that the General possesses a keen sense of humor. No better illustration could be given of this fact than an incidentnot long ago recorded in theMissouri Historical Review:
"He was invited to a stag dinner party one evening where a jolly story-telling lot of good fellows were to be present and he went primed with his best stories, a memorandum in his vest pocket to aid him in telling them. The memorandum was accidentally dropped on the floor and was picked up by one of his friends, who immediately saw what it was and decided to have his little joke at the General's expense. The finder got an opportunity to spring the first story and promptly started off with the first one on the list. Pershing said nothing and laughed—he always does when a good story is told, and makes you laugh, too—but when the second one on his list was told he felt in his pocket for the memorandum and discovered its loss. A few minutes later the General, after a consultation with a waiter, announced that he had just received a message which would require his absence for a few minutes on important business."Jumping into a car he was hurried to a hotel. From the clerk he secured the names of half a dozen traveling men—drummers—who were stopping there and announced that he wanted to see these men at once on important business. The drummers responded and in twenty minutes the General was back at the banquet, before the coffee had been poured, with a new stock of yarns. Then ensued a battleroyal between the two famous raconteurs, much to the amusements of the guests, until his friend played out the string and left the General victor in the humorous contest."Just at this juncture one of the drummers, made up as a police officer, arrived, arrested the joker, searched him and found the General's memorandum, which he exposed to the hilarious guests with the significant comment: 'General Pershing has really been the only entertainer this evening, but lots of people are making reputations with the public on the General's ideas.'"
"He was invited to a stag dinner party one evening where a jolly story-telling lot of good fellows were to be present and he went primed with his best stories, a memorandum in his vest pocket to aid him in telling them. The memorandum was accidentally dropped on the floor and was picked up by one of his friends, who immediately saw what it was and decided to have his little joke at the General's expense. The finder got an opportunity to spring the first story and promptly started off with the first one on the list. Pershing said nothing and laughed—he always does when a good story is told, and makes you laugh, too—but when the second one on his list was told he felt in his pocket for the memorandum and discovered its loss. A few minutes later the General, after a consultation with a waiter, announced that he had just received a message which would require his absence for a few minutes on important business.
"Jumping into a car he was hurried to a hotel. From the clerk he secured the names of half a dozen traveling men—drummers—who were stopping there and announced that he wanted to see these men at once on important business. The drummers responded and in twenty minutes the General was back at the banquet, before the coffee had been poured, with a new stock of yarns. Then ensued a battleroyal between the two famous raconteurs, much to the amusements of the guests, until his friend played out the string and left the General victor in the humorous contest.
"Just at this juncture one of the drummers, made up as a police officer, arrived, arrested the joker, searched him and found the General's memorandum, which he exposed to the hilarious guests with the significant comment: 'General Pershing has really been the only entertainer this evening, but lots of people are making reputations with the public on the General's ideas.'"
His words to the British public and his public address in France are alike notable for their simplicity and directness, their friendliness and dignity. He understands thoroughly his part. It is a great advantage for America to have a representative for whose public utterances no apology must be made and no explanations given.
Itwould be as impertinent as it is impossible for one who has not been associated with General Pershing for a long time directly and closely to attempt anything like an analysis of the man or his career. There are, nevertheless, certain qualities that have become more or less the possessions of the public because they have been manifested in his public service. It is therefore permissible to refer briefly to certain of them.
As a foundation for all his work is a strong, vigorous body which at all times has been cared for in a way to make it the servant and not the master of the man. Regular and somewhat strenuous physical exercise maintains the uniformly excellent health and vigor of the Commander. Naturally strong, hard work developed his strength in his boyhood, and hismilitary career has made many demands upon as well as increased these powers. Even when he entered West Point he was an acknowledged expert in horsemanship and his early work in the ten years of his campaigns against the Indians, certainly tested his skill to the utmost in this particular line.
He has known almost every form of active service the American Army can provide. In the demands for rough or heavy work excellent judges asserted when he was sent to France that he has no superior and since his arrival he has shown that he was equally at home in the finer and higher demands that were made upon him. His distinguished bearing, his physical vigor and good health have provided an excellent foundation. The old Latin proverbMens sana in corpore sanohas certainly been verified in the life of General Pershing.
It was Oliver Wendell Holmes who has been frequently quoted as having said that "the foremost qualification for success is the proper selection of one's grandparents." The forcefulness of General Pershing's father, the inspiringwords of his mother form a rare background. "Foremost citizen," "devoted to his family," "sterling," "ambitious"—these are some of the words of old-time friends and neighbors, descriptive and expressive of their estimates of his father. All of them, however, are not more suggestive and tender than a neighbor's description of the General's mother as a "splendid homemaker," and "an inspiration to her children." There are many things a son cherishes more highly than the inheritance of great riches, and foremost is the heritage of a good name.
As the oldest of nine children naturally he learned and assumed certain responsibilities at an early age. With the advice and help of his mother it is said that even when he was only fourteen he was managing a farm in the absence of his father. There was work to be done and in abundance. There is ancient authority for the claim that it is good to "learn to bear the yoke in one's youth." A "yoke," however, is not the burden, it is a contrivance which enables one to bear his burden.
A prominent and successful man of business in New York City declared not long ago that if a man does not learn to work when he is young (this man placed the limit at twenty-two) he does not learn afterward. This was the result of both observation and experience.
Whether or not these conclusions are correct, certain it is that in the case of General Pershing, as it has been also in many other marked instances, he learned not only to work but also learned how to work when he was only a boy.
His birthplace was in the great state of Missouri. Reference has already been made to the semi-slang expression which indicates that a man from that State "must be shown." Not long ago there appeared in one of the foremost newspapers of America a bit of verse applying this saying to the present gigantic task of the Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in France. The following quotation (The Evening Telegram), whatever it may lack in poetic flavor, is expressive of the public conception of the meaning of the statement:
"When 'Jack' Pershing left for EuropeWith his sturdy fighting men,Kaiser Willy said, 'How silly!I'll annihilate them whenI have time to bother with 'em,For that peewee Yankee forceWon't be in it for a minuteWith my Prussian troops, of course.'""Is that so? Well, Kaiser WillyYou have made a foolish bet,You have boasted, then you've roasted,But you haven't whipped 'em yet.Let this, Kaiser, make you wiser,If you really care to know,Jack was born in old Missouri,He's a man you'll 'have to show.'""Pershing, Pershing, 'Black Jack' Pershing,We are with you, one and all,We will ever pull the leverThat will make the Prussians fall.Fighting Pershing,—yes, we know you,Old Missouri born and bred,Here's our motto, we will show you,'All together! Forge ahead!'"
His determination is one of his fundamental qualities. It is seen in the very expression ofhis face, emphasized by the prominent nose and jaw. Although it was doubtless a heritage, nevertheless the trying experiences of his early days intensified and aided in developing the quality.
He knew the meaning of hard work when he was a boy, as has been said, but it did not shake his ultimate purpose. He was eager to obtain an education and with this determination once fixed in his mind he never relaxed. Working, teaching, saving, when he entered the Kirksville Normal School he understood something of the price he was paying for the advantages he received. He knew what the attendance had cost him and it is easily understood why he was determined to get the worth of his money.
At West Point this same element was still prominent. It impressed his classmates and teachers. He saw what he wanted and wasted no time or effort on "asides" that might interfere. To be senior captain of cadets was to him the supreme honor—therefore it was only natural that he won the appointment.
The same spirit carried him through his campaignin the Philippine Islands. The Moros could be brought to reason, therefore the Moros were brought to reason. It animates him in France—"Germany can be beaten," "Germany must be beaten," and the third clause is as natural as the words of the General can make them—"Germany will be beaten." It is fitting that the commander of the best trained army America ever had should lead it in a spirit of determination that cannot be shaken.
Underneath this firmness is an unfailing spirit of fairness. After seven years of hard work he established in the Philippines a new record in diplomacy by winning the complete confidence of the natives. Said one man, "In all the Philippines there is no one so beloved for his gentle yet unrelenting manner, his absolute fairness and justice, as this soldier who had the unusual power of instilling love for himself and fear for his enmity at the same time."
In his boyhood his close friends report that this same quality often made him the protector of the younger boys when they were the victimsof the school bully. "As a young fellow," states one of his early friends, "he was accommodating and never pushed himself forward. He was always ready to help other fellows who were not able to work out their problems. As a boy his decisions were always quick and accurate."
Of course the spirit of fairness implies the possession of a kindly nature as well as imagination. One cannot be fair or just to his enemies unless he can first get their points of view. This was the underlying quality in the work Lincoln did. He saw what his opponents saw but he also saw more. It is the quality which makes of a man or a boy "a good sport." He appreciates his antagonist and also—in the end—is appreciated by his antagonist.
A writer in theMissouri Historical Review, whose words have before been quoted, pays the following tribute to this quality in General Pershing: