Few American military figures are more revered than General John J. ‘Black Jack’ Pershing (1860–1948), who is most famous for leading the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. The only soldier besides George Washington to be promoted to the highest rank in the U.S. Army (General of the Armies), Pershing was a mentor to the generation of generals who led America’s forces during the Second World War. Though Pershing published a two-volume memoir, My Experiences in the World War, and has been the subject of numerous biographies, few know that he spent many years drafting a memoir of his experiences prior to the First World War. In My Life Before the World War, 1860–1917, John T. Greenwood rescues this vital resource from obscurity, making Pershing’s valuable insights into key events in history widely available for the first time. Pershing performed frontier duty against the Apaches and Sioux from 1886–1891, fought in Cuba in 1898, served three tours of duty in the Philippines, and was an observer with the Japanese Army in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. He also commanded the Mexican Punitive Expedition to capture Pancho Villa in 1916–1917. My Life Before the World War provides a rich personal account of events, people, and places as told by an observer at the center of the action. Carefully edited and annotated, this memoir is a significant contribution to our understanding of a legendary American soldier and the historic events in which he participated.
Table of Content
Ancestry and Boyhood
Youth—Its Happy Days and Others
West Point—Its Grind and Its Pleasures: 1881–July 1886
The Army—With the Sixth Cavalry in New Mexico:September 1886–November 1890
The Sioux Campaign and Commanding Indian Scouts:November 1890–August 1891
New Assignments, New Challenges, New Friends:September 1891–April 1898
The Spanish-American War to the San Juan Heights:April–30 June 1898
The Spanish-American War—Victory in Cuba and Its Consequences: 1 July–20 August 1898
The Division of Customs and Insular Affairs and My First Assignment to the Philippines: August 1898–November 1899
Duty in the Philippines—Manila, Mindanao, and Iligan: November 1899–April 1902
Dealing with the Hostile Moros around Lake Lanao: April–September 1902
Military Operations against the Lake Lanao Moros and the Routine of Governing: September–December 1902
Finishing the Campaign against the Lake Lanao Moros: January–May 1903
Return to the United States, Duty with the General Staff, and Romance and Marriage: June 1903–January 1905
Off to See a Modern War as the Military Attaché in Tokyo and Observer with the Imperial Japanese Army:February 1905–December 1906
Brigade Commander, Fort Mc Kinley, Philippines: January 1907–August 1908
A Long Journey Home, Taft’s Inauguration, Sick Leave, New Orders, and a Son Arrives: August 1908–October 1909
My Return to Mindanao: November 1909–December 1913
Disarming and Taming the Moros: September 1911–June1913
The Last Military Governor of the Moro Province:11 November 1909–14 December 1913
Diplomatic Missions, Our Return to the United States, and Commanding the Eighth Brigade at the Presidio of San Francisco: June 1911–April 1914
On the Mexican Border with the Eighth Brigade:April 1914–March 1916
The Expedition into Mexico: March 1916–February 1917
About the author
John T. Greenwood is former chief of the Office of Medical History, Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Army. He is the editor of several books, including Normandy to Victory: The War Diary of General Courtney H. Hodges and the First U.S. Army and My Life before the World War, 1860–1917: A Memoir (written by John J. Pershing). He lives in Annandale, Virginia.
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