In world war 1 Who were the brilliant generals in the US?

Answer 1

John J. "Black Jack" Pershing was the commander of the American Army sent to France. No one has called him brilliant in a long time, but in the tactical situation of the trench warfare of WWI, few officers of either side got to demonstrate brilliance. Pershing was at least as competent as any other Allied general, maybe more so. But Pershing was an extremely strong leader, able to hold to his own course despite all threats, pleas and distractions. From the minute he set foot in France Pershing was beset by his Allies, both the French and the British, who wanted one thing from him, and one thing only: American soldiers. They wanted America to draft every man of military age and send them to France to SERVE IN BRITISH AND FRENCH UNITS, UNDER BRITISH AND FRENCH OFFICERS. Having gotten all their OWN men killed over the previous three years in one senseless, idiotic attack after another, they had run out of cannon fodder, and wanted America to obligingly fill the need. They actually really, truly wanted this, thinking a) it would be politically acceptable to the American people and b) that even though they were basically saying that the American army did not know what it was doing and was too stupid to learn, that it ought to be perfectly obvious to Pershing that they NEEDED shiploads of Americans to get slaughtered, just as they had done to their own armies. The French Army had mutinied in 1917, the men refusing any longer to go running across no-mans-land at the entrenched enemy with his machine guns. The average French soldier had seen enough rows of slaughtered friends to understand this was not the way to go about it, but his generals never learned. When President Wilson called in Pershing to tell him he was to command the AEF ("American Expeditionary Force" - the American Army in France) he told him that he was going to give him only about three orders - one to go, another to come back when it was over, and, in the meantime, to fight his men as an AMERICAN army. Pershing was having to hold off the demands of the French and the British right to the end. The British did have over 150,000 American troops loaned to them by Pershing at the end - six of the huge WWI divisions - but you'd never know it from reading British histories of the war. The US was dependent on British shipping to move the American force to France. At one point the British told Pershing there were no ships available, so long as Pershing insisted on moving entire US divisions to France. BUT, if Pershing would agree to send only infantry companies, and no officer higher than the rank of captain, and machine gunners, all to serve with the British, THEN, suddenly, there were ample ships available.

Another fine officer no one has heard of today, unless you live in California where there is a Fort named for him, was Hunter Liggett. Liggett was an enormously fat man, so obese that at first Pershing considered sending him home. He soon convinced Pershing that there was no fat above his neck. When enough American troops had arrived in France that there was a First American Army, Pershing commanded it initially, and as more arrived Pershing went up to command the American Army Group and Liggett took over the First Army. The day after the Armistice someone called on Liggett in his quarters and found him going over maps, with a table spread with maps and papers. A comment was made to the effect of "its over" and Liggett explained that he was trying to see where they might have done better. Liggett also accurately prophesied that the Germans, allowed an Armistice, did not KNOW they were beaten and "it will all have to be done over again".

Two officers who became much better known to history for WWII were brilliant junior officers in WWI. George C. Marshall was rose to the temporary wartime rank of colonel, though he had only been in the army three years, after graduating from Virginia Military Institute. Marshall was a brilliant staff officer in the 1st Division and later on Pershing's staff at army headquarters. Marshall would go on to command the US Army and Air Force during all of WWII, and was the true architect of victory in the second war. Douglas MacArthur became the youngest general in the army and rose to command the 42nd "Rainbow" Division in the last weeks of the war.

These officers, whom no one knows of today, were all extremely able and rose to command army corps:

Joseph T. Dickman

Robert L. Bullard (also commanded the US 2nd Army at the end)

John L. Hines

Charles H. Muir

George H. Cameron

Charles P. Summerall

Omar Bundy

Charles T. Menoher

Here are some of the better two star generals, who commanded divisions in the AEF:

William L. Sibert

Beaumont Buck

John A. Lejeune (only one star, but the first Marine ever to be a general)

John F. O'Ryan