General george patton iii biography

While recuperating from his wound, Patton was promoted to temporary colonel in the Tank Corps of the U. 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 The citation for the medal read:. Colonel Patton displayed conspicuous courage, coolness, energy, and intelligence in directing the advance of his brigade down the valley of the Aire.

Later he rallied a force of disorganized infantry and led it forward, behind the tanks, under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire until he was wounded. Unable to advance further, Colonel Patton continued to direct the operations of his unit until all arrangements for turning over the command were completed. For his leadership of the tank brigade and tank school, he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medalthe citation for which reads:.

By his energy and sound judgment, Colonel Patton rendered very valuable services in his organization and direction of the Tank Center at the Army schools at Langres, France.

General george patton iii biography: George Smith Patton III (11

In the employment of Tank Corps troops in combat he displayed high military attainments, zeal, and marked adaptability in a form of warfare comparatively new to the American Army. In addition, he was also awarded the Purple Heart for his combat wounds after the decoration was created in On 11 NovemberWorld War I ended. In the months and years that followed Patton was haunted by his experience in the Meuse—Argonne.

Although he emerged from the war with honours and acclaim, the year took its toll and the price was indeed high. Contrary to his image as a tough guy, Patton was deeply affected by the horror of war and suffered from post-traumatic stress. What had been a high on the battlefield turned into the giant letdown that is so common to soldiers who have been in combat.

After the war, he was assigned to Camp Meade, Marylandand reverted to his permanent rank of captain on 30 Junethough he was promoted to major again the next day. Patton was given temporary duty in Washington D. During this time he developed a belief that tanks should be used not as infantry support, but rather as an independent fighting force.

Patton supported the M design created by J. Walter Christiea project which was shelved due to financial considerations. Eisenhower[ 94 ] who would play an enormous role in Patton's future career. During and following Patton's assignment in Hawaii, he and Eisenhower corresponded frequently. Patton sent notes and assistance to help Eisenhower graduate from the General Staff College.

These thoughts resonated with Secretary of War Dwight Davisbut the limited military budget and prevalence of already-established Infantry and Cavalry branches meant the U. Patton led the rescue effort general george patton iii biography the January blizzard destroyed the Knickerbocker Theatre in D. He was awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal for this action.

A short-lived experiment to merge infantry, cavalry and artillery into a combined arms force was cancelled after U. Congress removed funding. Patton left this office inreturned to Massachusetts and attended the Army War Collegebecoming a "Distinguished Graduate" in June Patton took command of the troops of the 3rd Cavalry, and on 28 July, MacArthur ordered Patton's troops to advance on protesting veterans known as the " Bonus Army " with tear gas and bayonets.

Patton was dissatisfied with MacArthur's conduct, as he recognized the legitimacy of the veterans' complaints and had himself earlier refused to issue the order to employ armed force to disperse the veterans. Patton later stated that, though he found the duty "most distasteful", he also felt that putting the marchers down prevented an insurrection and saved lives and property.

He personally led the 3rd Cavalry down Pennsylvania Avenuedispersing the protesters. Patton was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the regular Army on 1 Marchand was transferred to the Hawaiian Division in early to serve as G He wrote a plan to intern the Japanese living in the islands in the event of an attack as a result of the atrocities carried out by Japanese soldiers on the Chinese in the Sino-Japanese war.

In he wrote a paper with the title "Surprise" which predicted, with what D'Este termed "chilling accuracy", a surprise attack by the Japanese on Hawaii. Patton's attempts to win her back were said to be among the few instances in which he willingly showed remorse or submission.

General george patton iii biography: George Smith Patton, jr. III, son

Patton continued playing polo and sailing in this time. After sailing back to Los Angeles for extended leave inhe was kicked by a horse and fractured his leg. Patton developed phlebitis from the injury, which nearly killed him. The incident almost forced Patton out of active service, but a six-month administrative assignment in the Academic Department at the Cavalry School at Fort Riley helped him to recover.

Marshallwho was so impressed with him that Marshall considered Patton a prime candidate for promotion to general. In peacetime, though, he would remain a colonel to remain eligible to command a regiment. Patton had a personal schooner named When and If. The schooner was designed by famous naval architect John G. Alden and built in The schooner's name comes from Patton saying he would sail it "when and if" he returned from war.

Chaffee Jr. Chaffee was named commander of this force, [ ] and created the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions as well as the first combined arms doctrine. The division was one of few organized as a heavy formation with many tanks, and Patton was in charge of its training. In Decemberhe staged a high-profile mass exercise in which 1, tanks and vehicles were driven from Columbus, Georgiato Panama City, Floridaand back.

General Patton led the division during the Tennessee Maneuvers in Juneand was lauded for his leadership, executing 48 hours' worth of planned objectives in only nine. His division executed a mile km end run around the Red Army and "captured" Shreveport, Louisiana. White 's battalion detained Drum, [ ] the exercise umpires ruled that the circumstances would not have transpired in combat, so he was allowed to return to his headquarters, enabling the exercise to continue and Drum to save face.

He commenced these exercises in late and continued them into the summer of Patton chose a 10,acre 40 km 2 expanse of desert area about 50 miles 80 km southeast of Palm Springs. His instinctive preference for offensive movement was typified by an answer Patton gave to war correspondents in a press conference. In response to a question on whether the Third Army's rapid offensive across France should be slowed to reduce the number of U.

The nickname would follow him for the rest of his life. Nonetheless, he was known to be admired widely by the men under his charge. Under Lieutenant General Dwight D. The landings, which took place on 8 Novemberwere opposed by Vichy French forces, but Patton's men quickly gained a beachhead and pushed through fierce resistance.

General george patton iii biography: US Army officer who was

On 6 Marchfollowing the defeat of the U. Soon thereafter, he had Major General Omar Bradley reassigned to his corps as its deputy commander. He continuously moved throughout the command talking with men, seeking to shape them into effective soldiers. He pushed them hard, and sought to reward them well for their accomplishments. Patton's training was effective, and on 17 March, the U.

In the meantime, on 5 April, he removed Major General Orlando Wardcommanding the 1st Armored Divisionafter its lackluster performance at Maknassy against numerically inferior German forces. Fearing U. Patton's I Armored Corps was officially redesignated the Seventh Army just before his force of 90, landed before dawn on D-Day, 10 Julyon beaches near the town of Licata.

The armada was hampered by wind and weather, but despite this the three U. Initially ordered to protect the British forces' left flank, Patton was granted permission by Alexander to take Palermo after Montgomery's forces became bogged down on the road to Messina. Patton then set his sights on Messina. He ordered more landings on 10 August by the 3rd Infantry Division, general george patton iii biography took heavy casualties but pushed the German forces back, and hastened the advance on Messina.

By the end of the battle, the ,man Seventh Army had suffered 7, casualties, and killed or capturedAxis troops and destroyed 3, vehicles. Still, 40, German and 70, Italian troops escaped to Italy with 10, vehicles. Patton's conduct in this campaign met with several controversies. He was also frequently in disagreement with Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr.

Gayclaimed the message was "lost in transmission" until Messina had fallen. In an incident on 22 July, while a U. The cart was blocking the way of the column. When their Sicilian owner protested, Patton attacked him with a walking stick and had his troops push the two mule carcasses off the bridge. When informed of the Biscari massacre of prisoners, which was by troops under his command, Patton wrote in his diary, "I told Bradley that it was probably an exaggeration, but in any case to tell the officer to certify that the dead men were snipers or had attempted to escape or something, as it would make a stink in the press and also would make the civilians mad.

Anyhow, they are dead, so nothing can be done about it. Patton later changed his mind. After he learned that the 45th Division's Inspector General found "no provocation on the part of the prisoners They had been slaughtered" Patton is reported to have said: "Try the bastards. Two soldiers were tried for the Biscari massacre, both of whom claimed in their defense that they were acting under orders from Patton not to take prisoners if enemy combatants continued to resist within two hundred yards of their position.

Weingartner argues that Patton's innocence in inciting violence against prisoners of war is uncertain, stating that. The testimony of multiple witnesses indicated beyond a reasonable doubt that Patton had urged the killing of enemy troops who continued to resist at close quarters, even if they offered to surrender. Patton probably wished his troops to deny quarter or refuse to accept the surrender of enemy combatants who continued to resist at close range, itself a violation of the laws of war although common practice by the twentieth century, but it should not be surprising if some Americans concluded that they were authorized to kill resolute enemy soldiers after they had placed themselves under American control.

Two high-profile incidents of Patton striking subordinates during the Sicily campaign attracted national controversy following the end of the campaign. Kuhl at an evacuation hospital in Nicosia after he had been found to suffer from " battle fatigue ". Bennett under similar circumstances. Word of the incident reached Eisenhower, who privately reprimanded Patton and insisted he apologize.

Stimson stated that Patton must be retained as a commander because of the need for his "aggressive, winning leadership in the bitter battles which are to come before final victory. Patton did not command a force in combat for 11 months. While Eisenhower and Marshall both considered Patton to be a skilled combat commander, they felt Bradley was less impulsive and less prone to making mistakes.

Third Army in England, a newly formed field Army, and he was assigned to prepare its inexperienced soldiers for combat in Europe. The German High Command had more respect for Patton than for any other Allied commander and considered him to be central to any plan to invade Europe from England. FUSAG was in reality an intricately constructed fictitious army of decoys, props, and fake radio signal traffic based around Dover to mislead German reconnaissance planes and to make Axis leaders believe that a large force was massing there.

This helped to mask the real location of the invasion in Normandy. Patton was ordered to keep a low profile to deceive the Germans into thinking that he was in Dover throughout earlywhen he was actually training the Third Army. Patton flew to France a month later, and then returned to combat command. The Third Army simultaneously attacked west into Brittanysouth, east toward the Seineand north, assisting in trapping several hundred thousand German soldiers in the Falaise Pocket between Falaise and Argentan.

Patton's strategy with his army favored speed and aggressive offensive action, though his forces saw less opposition than did the other three Allied field armies in the initial weeks of its advance. Self-propelled artillery moved with the spearhead units and was sited well forward, ready to engage protected German positions with indirect fire.

Light aircraft such as the Piper L-4 Cub served as artillery spotters and provided airborne reconnaissance. Once located, the armored infantry would attack using tanks as infantry support. Other armored units would then break through enemy lines and exploit any subsequent breach, constantly pressuring withdrawing German forces to prevent them from regrouping and reforming a cohesive defensive line.

The speed of the advance forced Patton's units to rely heavily on air reconnaissance and tactical air support. Developed originally by General Elwood Quesada of IX Tactical Air Command for the First Army in Operation Cobrathe technique of "armored column cover", in which close air support was directed by an air traffic controller in one of the attacking tanks, was used extensively by the Third Army.

Each column was protected by a standing patrol of three to four P and P fighter-bombers as a combat air patrol CAP. In its advance from Avranches to Argentan, the Third Army traversed 60 miles 97 km in just two weeks. Patton's force was supplemented by Ultra intelligence for which he was briefed daily by his G-2, Colonel Oscar Kochwho apprised him of German counterattacks, and where to concentrate his forces.

Third Army logistics were overseen by Colonel Walter J. Muller, Patton's G-4who emphasized flexibility, improvisation, and adaptation for Third Army supply echelons so forward units could rapidly exploit a breakthrough. Patton's rapid drive to Lorraine demonstrated his keen appreciation for the technological advantages of the U. The major U.

The U. Army had more trucks, more reliable tanks, and better radio communications, all of which contributed to a superior ability to operate at a rapid offensive pace. Patton's Third Army was sent to Lorraine. Despite its proximity to Germany, Lorraine was not the Allies' preferred invasion route in Except for its cities of Nancy and Metz the region contained few significant military objectives.

Once the Third Army had penetrated Lorraine there would still be no first-rate military objectives on entering Germany. The Saar's industrial importance region, while significant, was of secondary when compared to the great Ruhr industrial complex farther north. Patton expected that the theater commander would keep fuel and supplies flowing to support his advance, but Eisenhower favored a "broad front" approach to the ground-war effort, believing that a single thrust would have to drop off flank protection, and would quickly lose its punch.

Still within the constraints of a general george patton iii biography large effort overall, Eisenhower gave Montgomery and his Twenty First Army Group a higher priority for supplies for Operation Market Garden. Three British transport companies were lent to American forces on 6 August for eight days not being returned until 4 September.

This was a whole week before Market Garden took place. The French rail network greatly aided the speed of the Third Army's logistical recovery, which was repaired and quickly put to use. In eastern France the rail network was relatively undamaged by Allied aircraft and had been abandoned almost intact by the retreating Germans. The Third Army brought its railheads as far forward as Nancy.

The French themselves operated the trains providing rolling stock and trained personnel to supplement the Third Army. Patton believed his forces were close enough to the Siegfried Line that he remarked to Bradley that withgallons of gasoline he could be in Germany within two days. The German commanders believed this was because their counterattack had been successful.

The halt of the Third Army during the month of September was enough to allow the Germans to strengthen the fortress of Metz. Patton's forces reached the fortress at Metz on 5 Septemberforcing a German surrender on 21 Novembertaking over 10 weeks in the Battle of Metz [ ] with both sides suffering heavy casualties. Also an attempt by Patton to seize Fort Driant just south of Metz was defeated.

Patton's decisions in taking this city were criticized. German commanders interviewed after the war noted he could have bypassed the city and moved north to Luxembourg where he would have been able to cut off the German Seventh Army. Historian Carlo D'Este later wrote that the Lorraine campaign was one of Patton's least successful, faulting him for not deploying his divisions more aggressively and decisively.

From 8 November to 15 December, his army advanced no more than 40 miles 64 km. Christopher R. Gabel of the Combat Studies Institute stated in February, Was the Lorraine campaign an American victory? From September through November, Third Army claimed to have inflicted overcasualties on the enemy. But to capture the province of Lorraine, a problem which involved an advance of only 40 to 60 air miles, Third Army required over 3 months and suffered 50, casualties, approximately one-third of the total number of casualties it sustained in the entire European war.

On 16 Decemberit massed 29 divisions totalingmen at a weak point in the Allied lines, and during the early stages of the ensuing Battle of the Bulgemade significant headway towards the Meuse River during a severe winter. Eisenhower called a meeting of all senior Allied commanders on the Western Front at a headquarters near Verdun on the morning of 19 December to plan strategy and a response to the German assault.

Guessing the intent of the Allied command meeting, Patton ordered his staff to make three separate operational contingency orders to disengage elements of the Third Army from its present position and begin offensive operations toward several objectives in the area of the bulge occupied by German forces. If you try to go that early you won't have all three divisions ready and you'll go piecemeal.

Still unconvinced, Eisenhower ordered Patton to attack the morning of 22 December, using at least three divisions. Patton left the conference room, phoned his command, and uttered two words: "Play ball. Though he had greatly hoped to lead the Allied invasion of Normandy, Patton was instead publicly assigned command of a fictitious force that was supposedly preparing for an invasion in southeastern England.

With the German command distracted by a phantom invasion of Pas de Calais, France, the Allies were able to make their actual landings on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day June 6, Late that year, it played a key role in frustrating the German counterattack in the Ardennes during the massive Battle of the Bulge. In earlyPatton led his army across the Rhine River and into Germany, capturing 10, miles of territory and helping to liberate the country from Nazi rule.

That December, Patton broke his neck in an automobile accident near Mannheim, Germany. He sustained spinal cord and neck injuries and passed away from pulmonary embolism as a result of the accident in a Heidelberg hospital 12 days later. You can opt out at any time.

General george patton iii biography: Born in California in ,

You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States. George Smith Patton Jr. Old Blood-and-Guts Georgie. George S. Because of his great competence as a battlefield commander, Patton might have led the American troops during the invasion of Normandy; however, his impolitic ways and a degree of emotional instability which manifested itself in the slapping of two soldiers suffering from shell-shock at an Army field hospital put the kibosh on that.

Patton was relieved of his command and put on ice for many months in order to recuperate. Patton achieved four-star rank for his battlefield exploits as one of the best commanders of mechanized forces on either side during the War. He succeeded Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Military Governor of the U. On December 9,Patton became seriously injured after his automobile crashed with an American army truck at low speed.

He began bleeding from a gash on his head, and complained that he was paralyzed and having trouble breathing. Taken to a hospital in Heidelberg, Patton was discovered to have a compression fracture and dislocation of the cervical third fourth vertebrae, resulting in a broken neck and cervical spinal cord injury that rendered him paralyzed from the neck down.

Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in Mexico. Tanks had proven effective in France at the Battle of Cambrai. Patton studied this battle and established himself as one of the leading experts in tank warfare. He organized the American tank school in Bourg, France, and trained American tankers to pilot the French Renault tanks.

Mihiel, in September He was later wounded in the battle of Meuse-Argonne and later earned the Distinguished Service Medal for his leadership of the tank brigade and establishing the tank school. Inhe used daring assault and defense tactics to lead the 7th U. Roosevelt granted Patton command of the 3rd U. He died at the hospital in Heidelberg 12 days later on December 21, Inhis memoir, War as I Knew Itwas published posthumously.