After serving 43 years in the U.S. Army, Gen. George Marshall planned to retire. He and his wife, Katherine, would spend warm months at their home in Leesburg, VA, and cool months at their home in Pinehurst, NC. Marshall’s days would be occupied gardening, fishing, riding, and spending uninterrupted time with Katherine. After the ceremony […]
While a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute, George Marshall studied military history and tactics, and was doubtless familiar with Napoleon Bonaparte’s ill-fated attack on Russia that ended with French soldiers freezing in the Russian winter. As a young officer in World War I, Capt. Marshall first met Gen. Pershing when he disputed Pershing’s scathing […]
When Lt. Col. George Marshall served in World War I, he gained a personal knowledge how hard it is to be separated from loved ones for the holidays. In France 1917, soldiers enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast much like they were used to at home: This must have left quite an impression on Marshall, for in […]
Lt. Col. George Marshall had just taken a position teaching at Army War College in Washington, D.C., when his wife, Lily, passed away unexpectedly. Marshall was devastated and unhappy. “At a War College desk I thought I would explode,” he wrote to Leavenworth friend Stephen Fuqua. Realizing that Marshall’s despondency was in part connected to […]
After the United States declared war on the Central Powers April 6, 1917, the first U.S. troops arrived in France at the end of June 1917. Gen. Pershing, American Expeditionary Forces commander, refused to allow American soldiers to be used to fill in shorthanded Allied units, and the French and British were leery of the […]
This is a previously published blog. General George S. Patton’s comments at the opening of a British Welcome Club for American soldiers in Knutsford, England, are one of many well-known and controversial episodes from Patton’s army career. U.S. Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall’s response to Patton’s comments are less well known. They serve […]
George Marshall never led troops into battle, and this fact disappointed him. In World War I, though he asked to be assigned to combat troops, he was pulled from 1st Division to General Headquarters after planning the pivotal attack at Cantigny. His superiors felt that his talent for planning and logistics was more valuable on […]
Although he was not an outstanding student at the Virginia Military Institute, George Marshall proved to be a leader among his fellow cadets as he served as corporal and first sergeant in his second and third years at VMI. He was known for his “impressively military bearing and a voice which could be heard the […]
A few days after Christmas in December 1903 George C. Marshall and his detachment of Company G, Thirtieth Infantry, arrived for a routine assignment at Fort Reno in Oklahoma Territory. According to author William Frye in his 1947 biography Marshall: Citizen Soldier, Marshall noticed the Ninth Cavalry “Buffalo Soldiers” stationed there and “lectured his own […]
On December 16, 1944, General George C. Marshall became the first army officer to be promoted to the newly created five-star rank. Only nine army and navy officers have been selected for promotion to this distinguished rank. They were: Admiral William D. Leahy, Chair of the Chiefs of Staff: (December 15, 1944) General George C. […]
This post was originally published on June 19, 2015. June graduations and commencement addresses are great collegiate traditions and the last opportunity to influence students. General Marshall said he tried his “best to influence young people whenever I came in contact with them in public talks.” In this digital era, when there is so much […]
Noted World War I scholar Dr. Edward Lengel talked about American military entry into WWI last night to open the Marshall Legacy Series sequence called The World Wars. His talk, “Testing the American Way of War: Doughboys in Combat, 1917-1918,” can be viewed on our YouTube channel. Dr. Lengel discussed the first American military engagements […]
Reading a great biography allows a reader to stand on the shoulders of giants. George C. Marshall was one such giant. His character defined him as someone who could be trusted by colleagues, subordinates and superiors. It was one reason why Congress supported his many requests for funding and superiors listened to his thoughtful, yet strong, […]
June graduations and commencement addresses are great collegiate traditions and the last opportunity to influence students. General Marshall said he tried his “best to influence young people whenever I came in contact with them in public talks.” In this digital era, when there is so much information available, General Marshall’s reply to Edward R. Morrow’s question, “I […]
In a February 2014 Congressional Research Service Report, Army Drawdown and Restructuring: Background and Issues for Congress, noted that Army endstrength would go from 570,000 in 2010 to 490,000 by the end of 2017. The drawdown of American forces has been a cyclical part of the nation’s military experience and “the Army has historically focused […]
At our recent leadership seminar for the National Association of Counties, we communicated Secretary of State Marshall’s powerful example of transformational leadership to secure European economic recovery following World War II. Known as the Marshall Plan, the European Recovery Program represents the power of a person to transform. It was not easy, however. Marshall met […]