History In Ink®  Historical Autographs


1431522

John J. Pershing

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Pershing sends thanks for an editorial clipping:  “I have read it with interest . . . ."

John Joseph Pershing, known as “Black Jack" Pershing, 18601948.  General of the Armies of the United States; Commander in Chief of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I.  Partial Typed Letter Signed, John J. Pershing, one page, 7¼" x 6", [no place, no date].

In this conclusion from a letter, the American military icon thanks a correspondent for a clipping.  He writes:  “Thank you very much for letting me see the little editorial from the Knoxville Journal.  I have read it with interest, and appreciate your thought in sending it to me."

After the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson named Pershing to command the American Expeditionary Force.  Pershing was responsible for organizing, training, and supplying an inexperienced force that eventually grew from 27,000 men to more than 2,000,000 soldiers.  He thus was credited with creating the “National Army,” a combined draft and professional Army force called upon to fight World War I.  Pershing held that command until World War I ended in 1918.  He became Army Chief of Staff in 1921 and served for three years until he retired in 1924. He subsequently won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for history for his memoirs, My Experiences in the World War, which were published in 1931.

In 1920, in recognition of his distinguished service during World War I,  Congress authorized the President to promote Pershing to General of the Armies of the United States, a rank created especially for him.  It is sometimes mentioned as six-star general, since it is superior to the rank of General of the Army, the five-star rank created during World War II.  Pershing was authorized to create an insignia for the new rank, but he decided instead to wear the four stars of a regular general for the rest of his career.  Although Pershing continued to wear only four stars, he remained preeminent among all Army personnel, by virtue of Congressional action and Army Regulations governing rank and precedence, until his death on July 15, 1948.

Pershing was the only general to hold the rank of General of the Armies of the United States until President Gerald R. Ford posthumously promoted General George Washington to it in 1976 and specified that he would rank first among all officers of the Army, past and present.

This item has not been on the autograph market for some 70 years.  It comes from a large collection assembled in the 1940s. 

The letter has been trimmed at the top, likely to remove the inside address.  There are two horizontal folds, neither of which touches Pershingʼs large, 3½" black fountain pen signature.  A small vertical tear in the top margin, affecting one letter of the text, has been archivally repaired.  The piece is in fine condition.

Unframed.  Click here for information about custom framing this piece.

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