George Smith Patton Jr. (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
Born in 1885, Patton attended the Virginia Military Institute and the United States Military Academy at West Point. He studied fencing and designed the M1913 Cavalry Saber, more commonly known as the "Patton Saber." He competed in the modern pentathlon at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, finishing in fifth place. Patton entered combat during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916, the United States' first military action using motor vehicles. He fought in World War I as part of the Tank Corps: he commanded the U.S. tank school in France, then led tanks into combat and was wounded near the end of the war. In the interwar period, Patton became a central figure in the development of the army's armored warfare doctrine, serving in numerous staff positions throughout the country. At the United States' entry into World War II, he commanded the 2nd Armored Division.
Patton led U.S. troops into the Mediterranean theater with an invasion of Casablanca during Operation Torch in 1942, and soon established himself as an effective commander by rapidly rehabilitating the demoralized II Corps. He commanded the U.S. Seventh Army during the Allied invasion of Sicily, where he was the first Allied commander to reach Messina. There he was embroiled in controversy after he slapped two shell-shocked soldiers, and was temporarily removed from battlefield command. He was assigned a key role in Operation Fortitude, the Allies' military deception campaign for Operation Overlord. At the start of the Western Allied invasion of France, Patton was given command of the Third Army, which conducted a highly successful rapid armored drive across France. Under his decisive leadership, the Third Army took the lead in relieving beleaguered American troops at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, after which his forces drove deep into Nazi Germany by the end of the war. During the Allied occupation of Germany, Patton was named military governor of Bavaria, but was relieved for making aggressive statements towards the Soviet Union and questioning denazification. He also held antisemitic views and made derogatory statements about Jewish people. He commanded the United States Fifteenth Army for slightly more than two months. Severely injured in an auto accident, he died in Germany twelve days later, on 21 December 1945.
Patton's colorful image, hard-driving personality, and success as a commander were at times overshadowed by his controversial public statements. His philosophy of leading from the front, and his ability to inspire troops with attention-getting, vulgarity-laden speeches, such as his famous address to the Third Army, were received favorably by his troops, but much less so by a sharply divided Allied high command. His sending the doomed Task Force Baum to liberate his son-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel John K. Waters, from a prisoner-of-war camp further damaged his standing with his superiors. His emphasis on rapid and aggressive offensive action proved effective, and he was regarded highly by his opponents in the German High Command. The 1970 Oscar-winning biographical film Patton helped popularize his image.
Early life
George Smith Patton Jr. was born on 11 November 1885, in the Los Angeles suburb of San Gabriel, California, to George S. Patton and his wife, Ruth Wilson, the daughter of Benjamin Davis Wilson, the second mayor of Los Angeles, and Margaret Hereford, a widow from Virginia. The wealthy Patton family resided at Lake Vineyard, built by Benjamin Wilson, on in present-day San Marino, California. Patton had a younger sister, Anne, nicknamed "Nita". Nita became engaged to John J. Pershing, Patton's mentor, in 1917, but the engagement ended because of their separation during Pershing's time in France during World War I. Patton's paternal grandfather was Confederate colonel George S. Patton Sr.
thumb|upright|Anne Wilson "Nita" Patton, Patton's sister. She was engaged to [[John J. Pershing in 1917–1918]]
As a child, Patton had difficulty learning to read and write, but eventually overcame this and was known in his adult life to be an avid reader. He was tutored from home until the age of eleven, when he was enrolled in Stephen Cutter Clarks Classical School for Boys, a private school in Pasadena, for six years. Patton was described as an intelligent boy and was widely read in classical military history, particularly the exploits of Hannibal, Scipio Africanus, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, and Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as those of Confederate cavalry commander John Singleton Mosby, a family friend who frequently stopped by the Patton family home when George was a child. He was also a devoted horseback rider.
Patton never seriously considered a career other than the military. At the age of seventeen he sought an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He also applied to several universities with military corps of cadet programs, and was accepted to Princeton, but eventually decided on the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), which his father and grandfather had attended. He attended the school from 1903 to 1904, and though he struggled with reading and writing, performed exceptionally in uniform and appearance inspection, as well as military drill.
thumb|upright|Patton at the [[Virginia Military Institute]]
While he was at VMI, Senator Thomas R. Bard nominated him for West Point. He was an initiate of the Beta Commission of Kappa Alpha Order.
In his plebe (first) year at West Point, Patton adjusted easily to the routine. However, his academic performance was so poor that he was forced to repeat his first year after failing mathematics. He excelled at military drills, though his academic performance remained average. He was cadet sergeant major during his junior year, and the cadet adjutant his senior year. He also joined the football team, but he injured his arm and stopped playing on several occasions. Instead he tried out for the sword team and track and field and specialized in the modern pentathlon. He competed in this sport in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, and he finished in fifth place—right behind four Swedes.
Patton graduated number 46 out of 103 cadets at West Point on 11 June 1909, and received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Cavalry branch of the United States Army.
At age 24, Patton married Beatrice Banning Ayer, the daughter of Boston industrialist Frederick Ayer, on 26 May 1910, in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. They had three children, Beatrice Smith (born March 1911), Ruth Ellen (born February 1915), and George Patton IV (born December 1923). Patton's wife Beatrice died on 30 September 1953, from a ruptured aneurysm after falling while riding her horse in a hunt with her brother and others at the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts.
Patton was an Episcopalian.
Ancestry
The Patton family was of Scottish, Irish, Scots-Irish, French, English and Welsh ancestry. His great-grandmother came from an aristocratic Welsh family, descended from many Welsh lords of Glamorgan, which had an extensive military background. Patton believed he had formerly lived as a soldier and took pride in mystical ties with his ancestors. Though not directly descended from George Washington, Patton traced some of his English colonial roots to Lawrence Washington.
He was also descended from England's King Edward I through Edward's son Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent. Family belief held the Pattons were descended from sixteen barons who had signed Magna Carta. Patton believed in reincarnation, stating that he had fought in previous battles and wars before his time, additionally, his ancestry was very important to him, forming a central part of his personal identity. The first Patton in North America was Robert Patton, born in Ayr, Scotland. He emigrated from Glasgow to Culpeper, Virginia, in either 1769 or 1770.
George Patton, Jr.'s paternal grandfather was George Smith Patton, who commanded the 22nd Virginia Infantry under Jubal Early in the Civil War and was killed in the Third Battle of Winchester; his great-uncle Waller T. Patton was killed in Pickett's Charge leading the 7th Virginia Infantry regiment during the Battle of Gettysburg. Patton also descended from Hugh Mercer, a Scottish Brigadier General, who had been killed in the Battle of Princeton during the American Revolutionary War. Patton's father, who graduated from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), became a lawyer and later the district attorney of Los Angeles County. Patton's maternal grandfather was Benjamin Davis Wilson, a merchant who had been the second Mayor of Los Angeles.
His father was a wealthy rancher and lawyer who owned a ranch near Pasadena, California. Wilson had married into one of the original Southern California settler families by marrying Ramona Yorba, who was the daughter of prominent Californio (Spanish and Mexican settlers in California) Bernardo Yorba, after whom the city of Yorba Linda is named. Patton is also a descendant of French Huguenot Louis DuBois.
Early military career
Patton's first posting was with the 15th Cavalry at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, where he established himself as a diligent leader who impressed superiors with his dedication. In late 1911, Patton was transferred to Fort Myer, Virginia, where many of the Army's senior leaders were stationed. Befriending Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Patton served as his aide at social functions on top of his regular duties as quartermaster for his troop. Patton had a high-pitched voice and worried that this would make it impossible for him to inspire his troops.
1912 Olympics
thumb|right|Patton (right) fencing in the [[modern pentathlon at the 1912 Summer Olympics|modern pentathlon of the 1912 Summer Olympics]]
For his skill in running and fencing, Patton was selected as the Army's entry for the first modern pentathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. Patton was the only American among the 42 pentathletes, who were all officers. Patton placed twenty-first on the pistol range, seventh in swimming, fourth in fencing, sixth in the equestrian competition, and third in the footrace, finishing fifth overall and first among the non-Swedish competitors.
There was some controversy concerning his performance in the pistol shooting competition, in which he used a .38 caliber U.S. Army-issue pistol while most of the other competitors chose .22 caliber firearms. He claimed that the holes in the paper from his early shots were so large that a later bullet passed through them, but the judges decided that one of his bullets missed the target completely. Modern competitions at this level frequently now employ a moving backdrop specifically to track multiple shots through the same hole. If his assertion was correct, Patton would likely have won an Olympic medal in the event. The judges' ruling was upheld. Patton's only comment on the matter was:
Sword design
Following the 1912 Olympics, Patton traveled to Saumur, France, where he learned fencing techniques from Adjutant Charles Cléry, a French "master of arms" and instructor of fencing at the cavalry school there. Bringing these lessons back to Fort Myer, Patton redesigned saber combat doctrine for the U.S. cavalry, favoring thrusting attacks over the standard slashing maneuver and designing a new sword for such attacks. He was temporarily assigned to the Office of the Army Chief of Staff, and in 1913, the first 20,000 of the Model 1913 Cavalry Saber—popularly known as the "Patton saber"—were ordered.
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Patton then returned to Saumur to learn advanced techniques before bringing his skills to the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, where he would be both a student and a fencing instructor. He was the first Army officer to be designated "Master of the Sword", a title denoting the school's top instructor in swordsmanship. Arriving in September 1913, he taught fencing to other cavalry officers, many of whom were senior to him in rank.
thumb|Patton on his steeplechase horse, Wooltex, in 1914
Patton graduated from this school in June 1915. He was originally intended to return to the 15th Cavalry, which was bound for the Philippines. Fearing this assignment would dead-end his career, Patton travelled to Washington, D.C., during 11 days of leave and convinced influential friends to arrange a reassignment for him to the 8th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas, anticipating that instability in Mexico might boil over into a full-scale civil war. In the meantime, Patton was selected to participate in the 1916 Summer Olympics scheduled to be held in Berlin, but that Olympiad was cancelled due to World War I.
Pancho Villa Expedition
In 1915, Lieutenant Patton was assigned to border patrol duty with A Troop of the 8th Cavalry, based in Sierra Blanca. During his time in the town, Patton took to wearing his Colt M1911 in his belt rather than a holster. His firearm discharged accidentally one night in a saloon, so he swapped it for an ivory-handled Colt Single Action Army revolver, a weapon that would later become an icon of Patton's image.
In March 1916, Mexican forces loyal to Pancho Villa crossed into New Mexico and raided the border town of Columbus. The violence in Columbus killed several Americans. In response, the U.S. launched the Pancho Villa Expedition into Mexico. Chagrined to discover that his unit would not participate, Patton appealed to expedition commander John J. Pershing, and was named his personal aide for the expedition. This meant that Patton would have some role in organizing the effort, and his eagerness and dedication to the task impressed Pershing. Patton modeled much of his leadership style after Pershing, who favored strong, decisive actions and commanding from the front. As an aide, Patton oversaw the logistics of Pershing's transportation and acted as his personal courier.
thumb|The durability of the 1915 Dodge Brothers Model 30-35 touring car won renown for the new automaker following its use in the 1916 [[Pancho Villa Expedition]]
In mid-April, Patton asked Pershing for the opportunity to command troops, and was assigned to Troop C of the 13th Cavalry to assist in the manhunt for Villa and his subordinates. His initial combat experience came on 14 May 1916, in what would become the first motorized attack in the history of U.S. warfare. A force of ten soldiers and two civilian guides, under Patton's command, with the 6th Infantry in three Dodge touring cars surprised three of Villa's men during a foraging expedition, killing Julio Cárdenas and two of his guards. It was not clear if Patton personally killed any of the men, but he was known to have wounded all three. The incident garnered Patton both Pershing's good favor and widespread media attention as a "bandit killer". Shortly after, he was promoted to first lieutenant while a part of the 10th Cavalry on 23 May 1916. Patton remained in Mexico until the end of the year. President Woodrow Wilson forbade the expedition from conducting aggressive patrols deeper into Mexico, so it remained encamped in the Mexican border states for much of that time. In October Patton briefly retired to California after being burned by an exploding gas lamp. He returned from the expedition permanently in February 1917.
World War I
thumb|left|Major General John J. Pershing, accompanied by Captain George S. Patton, inspecting men of Patton's headquarters troop at [[American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) headquarters, Chaumont, France, 1917]]
After the Villa Expedition, Patton was detailed to Front Royal, Virginia, to oversee horse procurement for the army, but Pershing intervened on his behalf. After the United States entered World War I, in April 1917, and Pershing was named commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front, Patton requested to join his staff. Patton was promoted to captain on 15 May 1917, and left for Europe, among the 180 men of Pershing's advance party which departed 28 May and arrived in Liverpool, England, on 8 June. Taken as Pershing's personal aide, Patton oversaw the training of American troops in Paris until September, then moved to Chaumont and was assigned as a post adjutant, commanding the headquarters company overseeing the base. Patton was dissatisfied with the post and began to take an interest in tanks, as Pershing sought to give him command of an infantry battalion. While in a hospital for jaundice, Patton met Colonel Fox Conner, who encouraged him to work with tanks instead of infantry.
On 10 November 1917, Patton was assigned to establish the AEF Light Tank School. He left Paris and reported to the French Army's tank training school at Champlieu near Orrouy, where he drove a Renault FT light tank. On 20 November, the British launched an offensive towards the important rail center of Cambrai, using an unprecedented number of tanks. At the conclusion of his tour on 1 December, Patton went to Albert, from Cambrai, to be briefed on the results of this attack by the chief of staff of the British Tank Corps, Colonel J. F. C. Fuller. On the way back to Paris, he visited the Renault factory to observe French tanks being manufactured. Patton was promoted to major on 26 January 1918. He received the first ten tanks on 23 March 1918, at the tank school at Bourg, a small village close to Langres, Haute-Marne département. The only US soldier with tank-driving experience, Patton personally backed seven of the tanks off the train. In the post, Patton trained tank crews to operate in support of infantry, and promoted its acceptance among reluctant infantry officers. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 3 April 1918, and attended the Command and General Staff College in Langres.
thumb|right|Patton at [[Bourg, Haute-Marne|Bourg in France in 1918 with a Renault FT light tank]]
In August 1918, he was placed in charge of the U.S. 1st Provisional Tank Brigade (redesignated the 304th Tank Brigade on 6 November 1918). Patton's Light Tank Brigade was part of Colonel Samuel D. Rockenbach's Tank Corps, part of the American First Army. Personally overseeing the logistics of the tanks in their first combat use by U.S. forces, and reconnoitering the target area for their first attack himself, Patton ordered that no U.S. tank be surrendered. Patton commanded American-crewed Renault FT tanks at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, leading the tanks from the front for much of their attack, which began on 12 September. He walked in front of the tanks into the German-held village of Essey, and rode on top of a tank during the attack into Pannes, seeking to inspire his men.
While outside the village of Essey he had his first chance meeting with Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur, then commanding a brigade of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division, who, at just thirty-eight, was already one of the most highly decorated officers in the AEF, and with whom Patton would serve later in his career.
Patton's brigade was then moved to support I Corps for the upcoming Meuse–Argonne offensive, which began on 26 September. He personally led a troop of tanks through thick fog as they advanced into German lines. Around 09:00, Patton was wounded while leading six men and a tank in an attack on German machine guns near the town of Cheppy. His orderly, Private First Class Joe Angelo, saved Patton, for which he was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). Patton commanded the battle from a shell hole for another hour before being evacuated. Although the 35th Division (of which Patton's tank troop was a component) eventually captured Varennes, it did so with heavy losses. Trying to move his reserve tanks forward, Patton relates that he might have killed one of his own men, stating: "Some of my reserve tanks were stuck by some trenches. So I went back and made some Americans hiding in the trenches dig a passage. I think I killed one man here. He would not work so I hit him over the head with a shovel."
thumb|left|Tank Corps School near Langres, France, 15 July 1918. Tank crew receiving instruction from officers, from left to right: Captain [[Ranulf Compton, Chief Instructor, and Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton (center, with back towards the camera), the Commanding Officer]]
Patton stopped at a rear command post to submit his report before heading to a hospital. Sereno E. Brett, commander of the U.S. 326th Tank Battalion, took command of the brigade in Patton's absence. Patton wrote in a letter to his wife: "The bullet went into the front of my left leg and came out just at the crack of my bottom about two inches to the left of my rectum. It was fired at about so made a hole about the size of a [silver] dollar where it came out."
While recuperating from his wound, Patton was promoted to temporary colonel in the Tank Corps of the U.S. National Army on 17 October. He returned to duty on 28 October but saw no further action before hostilities ended on his 33rd birthday with the armistice of 11 November 1918. For his actions in Cheppy, Patton received the Silver Star, later upgraded to the DSC. The citation for the medal read:
For his leadership of the tank brigade and tank school, he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the citation for which reads: