Posted on 04/30/2008 1:20:52 PM PDT by devane617
One of the most complicated military men of all time, General George Smith Patton, Jr. was born November 11, 1885 in San Gabriel, California. He was known for carrying pistols with ivory handles and his intemperate manner, and is regarded as one of the most successful United States field commanders of any war. He continually strove to train his troops to the highest standard of excellence.
Patton decided during childhood that his goal in life was to become a hero. His ancestors had fought in the Revolutionary War, the Mexican War and the Civil War, and he grew up listening to stories of their brave and successful endeavors. He attended the Virginia Military Institute for one year and went on to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point on June 11, 1909. He was then commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 15th cavalry Regiment.
Patton married Beatrice Ayer, whom he dated while at West Point, on May 26, 1910. In 1912 he represented the United States at the Stockholm Olympics in the first Modern Pentathlon. Originally open only to military officers, it was considered a rigorous test of the skills a soldier should possess. Twenty-six year old Patton did remarkably well in the multi-event sport, consisting of pistol shooting from 25 meters, sword fencing, a 300 meter free style swim, 800 meters horse back riding and a 4-kilometer cross country run. He placed fifth overall, despite a disappointing development in the shooting portion. While most chose .22 revolvers, Patton felt the event's military roots garnered a more appropriate weapon, the .38. During the competition Patton was docked for missing the target, though he contended the lost bullet had simply passed through a large opening created by previous rounds from the .38, which left considerably larger holes.
After the Olympics, Patton kept busy taking lessons at the French cavalry School and studying French sword drills. In the summer of 1913, Patton received orders to report to the commandant of the Mounted Service School in Fort Riley, Kansas, where he became the school's first Master of the Sword. He designed and taught a course in swordsmanship while he was a student at the school.
Patton's first real exposure to battle occurred when he served as a member of legendary General John J. Pershing's staff during the expedition to Mexico. In 1915, Patton was sent to Fort Bliss along the Mexican border where he led routine cavalry patrols. A year later, he accompanied Pershing as an aide on his expedition against Francisco "Pancho" Villa into Mexico. Patton gained recognition from the press for his attacks on several of Villa's men.
Impressed by Patton's determination, Pershing promoted him to Captain and asked him to command his Headquarters Troop upon their return from Mexico. With the onset of World War I in 1914, tanks were not being widely used. In 1917, however, Patton became the first member of the newly established United States Tank Corps, where he served until the Corps were abolished in 1920. He took full command of the Corps, directing ideas, procedures and even the design of their uniforms. Along with the British tankers, he and his men achieved victory at Cambrai, France, during the world's first major tank battle in 1917.
Using his first-hand knowledge of tanks, Patton organized the American tank school in Bourg, France and trained the first 500 American tankers. He had 345 tanks by the time he took the brigade into the Meuse-Argonne Operation in September 1918. When they entered into battle, Patton had worked out a plan where he could be in the front lines maintaining communications with his rear command post by means of pigeons and a group of runners. Patton continually exposed himself to gunfire and was shot once in the leg while he was directing the tanks. His actions during that battle earned him the Distinguished Service Cross for Heroism, one of the many medals he would collect during his lifetime.
An outspoken advocate for tanks, Patton saw them as the future of modern combat. Congress, however, was not willing to appropriate funds to build a large armored force. Even so, Patton studied, wrote extensively and carried out experiments to improve radio communications between tanks. He also helped invent the co-axial tank mount for cannons and machine guns.
After WWI, Patton held a variety of staff jobs in Hawaii and Washington, D.C. He graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1924, and completed his military schooling as a distinguished graduate of the Army War College in 1932.
When the German Blitzkrieg began on Europe, Patton finally convinced Congress that the United States needed a more powerful armored striking force. With the formation of the Armored Force in 1940, he was transferred to the Second Armored Division at Fort Benning, Georgia and named Commanding General on April 11, 1941. Two months later, Patton appeared on the cover of Life magazine. Also during this time, Patton began giving his famous "Blood and Guts" speeches in an amphitheater he had built to accommodate the entire division.
The United States officially entered World War II in December 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. By November 8, 1942, Patton was commanding the Western Task Force, the only all-American force landing for Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. After succeeding there, Patton commanded the Seventh Army during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and in conjunction with the British Eighth Army restored Sicily to its citizens.
Patton commanded the Seventh Army until 1944, when he was given command of the Third Army in France. Patton and his troops dashed across Europe after the battle of Normandy and exploited German weaknesses with great success, covering the 600 miles across France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. When the Third Army liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp, Patton slowed his pace. He instituted a policy, later adopted by other commanders, of making local German civilians tour the camps. By the time WWII was over, the Third Army had liberated or conquered 81,522 square miles of territory.
In October 1945, Patton assumed command of the Fifteenth Army in American-occupied Germany. On December 9, he suffered injuries as the result of an automobile accident. He died 12 days later, on December 21, 1945 and is buried among the soldiers who died in the Battle of the Bulge in Hamm, Luxembourg.
Remembered for his fierce determination and ability to lead soldiers, Patton is now considered one of the greatest military figures in history. The 1970 film, "Patton," starring George C. Scott in the title role, provoked renewed interest in Patton. The movie won seven Academy Awards, including Best Actor and Best Picture, and immortalized General George Smith Patton, Jr. as one of the world's most intriguing military men.
Rommel had similar criticism from some of his soldiers during the initial Tobruck attacks for lack of concern for his men.
Rommel's quick advances in the battle of France early in the war rivaled Patton's fast movements.
Rommel criticized Hitlers strategic thinking and constantly tried to change it. Patton resisted against the strategic decisions of his leadership.
One interesting contrast, if Rommel had survived he may have transitioned from the military to civilian leadership in postwar Germany. He was regarded as naive in politics, yet began to learn it later in the war.
With Patton, every day of postwar Europe caused him more problems, and the Allied leadership was desperately looking for ways to get rid of him, or send him home and quiet him.
I think if Rommel & Patton played simulations against each other with equal forces, there would have been no clear cut winner, they would alternate wins.
***Rommel. Hands down.***
That's a Hollywood quote.
Read my post 17.
Bradley, Eisenhower, MacArthur and Patton were all accomplished politicians and administrators.
You could not work your way up to general officer in the regular US Army at any point in US history without administrative or political skills.
Only brevet promotions in the midst of actual warfare would enable someone lacking those skillsets to rise in the ranks.
Patton worked his way from captain to brigadier during 1920-1940 in a peacetime army.
You could not do that then, any more than you could do that now, without doing the bureaucratic work necessary.
Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein.
Well....OK, but it’s still kind of difficult to imagine George S. Patton as a `politician and administrator’.
Different command styles (in the case of Patton and Bradley, profoundly different) often have the same outcome in achieving high rank.
BTW, Omar Bradley exercised his administrative skills for many years after WWII. Wonder what Patton would have done postwar, had he survived.
Rommel ran shoestring operations in Africa, especially in 1942 I'm not sure Patton [or anyone else] could have pulled off. Way fewer tanks than the enemy, no air superiority. etc. His Gazala campaign is one of the greatest in history.
Rommel could [and did] fight set piece battles, one of the flaws in Patton's game [see the above mentioned Cherbourg].
As a junior officer in WWI, while not rising above the rank of Captain, Rommel achieved a record Patton could only envy. His contribution to the victory at Caporetto earned him the Pour La Merite [the ‘Blue Max’]. His inter war writings, ‘Infanterie Greift An’ [”On Infantry Attacks”] was not only a best seller, but led to an assignment as an instructor at the Dresden Military Academy.
Finally, it should be noted that the first time Rommel handled armor was 1940. He had been an infantryman through his entire career. He not only made the transition seamlessly, he proved to be a major innovator as well. Although the Germans may have experimented with 88s in the antitank role in Spain, the first time they were used in that role in WWII was at Arras - by Rommel. By the cauldron in 1942 at Gazala, the had turned the technique into a lethal art.
Rommel, hands down.
Patton seemed to be worried he’d screwed himself by going into tanks.
The Blitzkrieg came at an opportune time for his career.
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