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Library » Subject Guides » Patton, George S.


COLLECTIONS

Patton, George S.

George Smith Patton, Jr., was born Nov. 11, 1885 in San Gabriel, CA. He was tutored at home until he was 11, and had trouble learning to read and write, but became an avid reader, particularly of military history. He also loved horseback riding.

Patton started college at the Virginia Military Institute but left after a year when he got an appointment to the United States Military Academy. He had to repeat his first year there when he failed math. Patton graduated from the Military Academy in 1909 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Patton competed in the modern pentathlon in the 1912 Summer Olympics and finished fifth.

Patton was stationed with the cavalry at Fort Sheridan, IL, and Fort Myer, VA, where he met and served as an aide at social functions for Secretary of War Henry Stimson. He served as Gen. Pershing’s aide during the Pancho Villa expedition in 1916. It was during this time that Patton started wearing the ivory-handled revolvers that he was well-known for.

Patton served in France during World War I when he first got interested in tank warfare. He was wounded in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. After the war, he wrote a manual on tank operations where he asserted that tanks should not be used to support Infantry, but as its own fighting force. It was during this time that Patton met Dwight Eisenhower. He attended Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College. In 1932, Patton was ordered by Army Chief of Staff MacArthur to use tear gas and bayonets on the “Bonus Army,” and although he disagreed, he followed orders. While serving in Hawaii in the mid-1930s, Patton wrote a paper which described a surprise attack by the Japanese on Hawaii.

Patton, and his wife, Beatrice, enjoyed outdoor activities of Hawaii. They rode horses (Patton also played polo,) and sailed their schooner “When and If.”

After Hawaii, Patton was again stationed at Fort Myer, where he met Gen. George Marshall. Patton was promoted to brigadier general in 1940, major general in 1941, and lieutenant general in 1943.

He was tasked to plan the Allied invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch. Patton commanded the Seventh U.S. Army during the invasion of Sicily. Patton got in trouble with Gen. Eisenhower after two incidents of Patton slapping soldiers suffering from PTSD. He got in trouble again after making ill-conceived remarks at the opening of a welcome center in England that nearly got him sent back to the states.

During Operation Overlord, Patton led the “Ghost Army” that appeared to be heading to Pas de Calais. He did not get his tanks into combat until later in the summer of 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge, Patton’s troops were directed to relieve the 101st Airborne. After Patton’s troops had crossed into Germany, he organized a task force to liberate the POW camp where his son-in-law was being held. He considered its failure to be the only mistake he made in the war.

After the war, Patton was appointed the military governor of Bavaria. He again made statements that got him in trouble with Eisenhower and was relieved of his position. He was on a pheasant hunting trip in December 1945 when he was severely injured in a car accident. He died several days later and is buried in the Luxembourg American Cemetery.

To find other items that the Marshall Foundation has on George Patton, search “Patton” in the library catalog: https://www.marshallfoundation.org/library/results/

Digitized items in the George C. Marshall archives:

1-417 To Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton, Jr., September 29, 1936
2-017 To Colonel George S. Patton, Jr., July 24, 1939
2-042 To Mrs. George S. Patton, Jr., September 1, 1939
2-226 To Colonel George S. Patton, Jr., July 19, 1940
3-077 To Major General George S. Patton, Jr., January 26, 1942
3-165 To Major General George S. Patton, Jr., April 24, 1942
3-485 To Major General George S. Patton, Jr., January 23, 1943
4-513 To Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr., September 18, 1944
4-551 To Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr., October 23, 1944
4-553 To Mrs. George S. Patton, Jr., October 25, 1944
Before the colors fade a portrait of a soldier: George S. Patton, Jr., by Fred Ayer, Jr. With a foreword by Omar N. Bradley
Blood-and-Guts Patton the swashbuckling life story of America’s most daring and controversial general
Brig. Gen. O’Daniel, Major Gen. Bull, Major Gen. Omar N. Bradley, Lt. Gen. Joseph Stilwell, Gen. George C. Marshall, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Major Gen. Terry Allen, and Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt on a beach where invasion maneuvers are being conducted. I Armored Corps
Brothers, rivals, victors : Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and the partnership that drove the Allied conquest in Europe
Fighting Patton : George S. Patton Jr. through the eyes of his enemies
General Dunlop, Col. Leach, General Abrams, and Col. George Patton conversing in the field
General Eisenhower decorating General Patton
General George C. Marshall Visits General George S. Patton in Etain, France
General George C. Marshall, General Mark W. Clark accompanied by Lt. General George S. Patton during a visit to I Armored Corps Headquarters
General George S. Patton explaining the removal of barbed wire on a beach as General Marshall gives his close attention. I Armored Corps
General George S. Patton watches demonstration of invasion boats coming in to the beach from the top of the hill. I Armored Corps
General George S. Patton, General George C. Marshall and General O’Daniel stand against the rail of a landing barge as another barge cuts across the bow. I Armored Corps
General George S. Patton, General George C. Marshall, Major General Omar N. Bradley and Brig. General O’Daniel witnessing a tactical problem demonstration by an infantry company. US Army I Armored Corps
General Marshall and General Patton watch a practice landing by assault infantry. I Armored Corps
General Marshall, Col. Thomas H. Nixon, an ordnance officer, General Patton, and Lt. Col. Frank McCarthy, aide to General Marshall. General Patton is explaining the use of piece of ordnance equipment. I Armored Corps
General Patton as Commanding General, Third Army
General Patton as Commanding General, Third Army
General Patton as Commanding General, Third Army
General Patton as Commanding General, Third Army
General Patton in European Theater. July – December 1944
General Patton in European Theater. July – December 1944
General Patton in European Theater. July – December 1944
General Patton’s funeral
General Patton’s principles for life and leadership / by Porter B. Williamson
Generals Bradley, Hodges, Patton, Simpson, Brereton, Gerow, and Vandenberg presented with the Legion of Honor by Gen. Alphonse Juin, Chief of Staff, French Armed Forces. European Theater of Operations, March 9, 1945
George Patton, general in spurs
George S. Patton, George C. Marshall, and Omar N. Bradley
George Smith Patton as a child
Making Patton : a classic war film’s epic journey to the silver screen
Patton
Patton a study in command, by H. Essame
Patton and his pistols the favorite side arms of General George S. Patton, Jr., by Milton F. Perry and Barbara W. Parke
Patton, fighting man, by William Bancroft Mellor
Patton, the man behind the legend, 1885-1945 / Martin Blumenson
Patton: ordeal and triumph
Patton’s ghost corps : cracking the Siegfried Line / Nathan N. Prefer
Patton’s photographs : war as he saw it / [compiled by] Kevin Hymel ; foreword by Martin Blunemson
Patton’s Third Army : a daily combat diary / Charles M. Province
Portrait of Patton
President Roosevelt and General George Patton at Casablanca Conference
President Roosevelt decorates Brig. Gen. William Wilbur with the Congressional Medal of Honor in presence of Gen. Marshall and Gen. Patton during Casablanca Conference
President Roosevelt eats from an Army mess kit after review of American troops during Casablanca Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, Harry Hopkins, and Maj. Gen. George Patton
Production Stills from the movie PATTON by Frank McCarthy
SC 196272-S, Lieut. Gen. Patton eats a carrot.
Scenes of General Patton and Army Maneuvers
Scenes of George S. Patton during the North Africa Campaign, Tunisia, North Africa
Tape 13 – World War II; Eisenhower and Patton, 1944; logistics and manpower problems; Battle of the Bulge; Malta and Yalta Conferences.
Tape 18 – Marshall Plan; lessons of World War I; reforming the Infantry School, 1927-32; Patton
The armies of George S. Patton / George Forty
The man in a helmet the life of General Patton
The Patton mind : the professional development of an extraordinary leader / Roger H. Nye
The Patton papers [by] Martin Blumenson. Illustrated with photos. and with maps by Samuel H. Bryant
Warrior; the story of General George S. Patton, by the editors of the Army times
When the Third cracked Europe the story of Patton’s incredible army, by Paul D. Harkins, with the editors, Army Times Pub. Co

Collection Formats:

War Department Chiefs and Executives, October 19,
Collection: F. Gorham Brigham Collection

Documents


Organization Chart Offices of the Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff & Secretary, General Staff, September 15,
Collection: F. Gorham Brigham Collection

Documents


Organization Chart Offices of the Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff & Secretariat, General Staff, March 1,
Collection: F. Gorham Brigham Collection

Documents


Statistics Branch War Department General Staff organization chart
Collection: F. Gorham Brigham Collection

Documents


Secretariat, War Department General Staff, June 7,
Call Number: GCM 7890 Collection: F. Gorham Brigham Collection, George C. Marshall Photographs

Photographs


Handshake after award from Gen. George C. Marshall, 1945
Collection: F. Gorham Brigham Collection

Photographs


Legion of Merit awarded by Gen. George C. Marshall, 1945
Collection: F. Gorham Brigham Collection

Photographs

Legion of Merit awarded by Gen. George C. Marshall


Newspaper clipping of Pershing attending Brown-Marshall Wedding, October 12,
Collection: George Catlett Marshall and Katherine Tupper Marshall Collection

Notice of Marshall-Brown wedding


Invitation list to wedding of Katherine T. Brown and Lt. Col. George C. Marshall, 1930
Collection: George Catlett Marshall and Katherine Tupper Marshall Collection

Documents

Inivtation list to the wedding of Katherine T. Brown and Lt. Col. George C. Marshall


Marshall Day at Virginia Military Institute, May 15,
Author: Virginia Military Institute
Collection: George C. Marshall Collection

Documents

Marshall Day Virginia Military Institute


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