Generals of the Army

by James H. Willbanks

  When Major Eisenhower reported to Fort Benning, he was told that he would assume a secondary duty beyond his commitments to the 24th Infantry—the Army wanted him to coach the football team at Fort Benning. Eisenhower declined the offer to serve as head coach and instead struck a deal that allowed him to serve as the backfield coach as well as the coach who was in charge of offensive tactics.49 After a lackluster season, Eisenhower no longer had to endure the tribulations of being a football coach because he received reassignment orders.

  In December 1926 Eisenhower was ordered by the War Department to report to Washington, D.C., to serve on the Battle Monuments Commission headed by General Pershing. The objective of the commission was to build and beautify cemeteries that honored those soldiers, sailors, and marines who had sacrificed their lives in the recent war. Additionally, the Battle Monuments Commission had the responsibility of writing guides to the battlefields on which Americans had fought in the conflict. Eisenhower reported for duty in January 1927 and was promptly assigned the duty of writing the battlefield guides. In many ways this was a choice assignment for Eisenhower, who had been a keen student of military history since his boyhood days in Abilene.

  Despite his interest and desire to stay with the commission, the Army offered Eisenhower the opportunity to attend the Army War College for the 1927–28 academic year.

  In At Ease, Eisenhower observes that “for once the Department has given me a choice, and for once I am going to say yes to something that I’m anxious to do.”50 Therefore, despite his continued deep interest in military history, Eisenhower chose to attend the War College. He graduated from that course in June 1928, after which he was again given options by the War Department. This time the options were an assignment to the General Staff or a return to the Battle Monuments Commission. Eisenhower chose to go back to the commission, because it allowed him to finish the battlefield guide that he had worked on previously. This time, however, the assignment entailed travel to France and a tour of the World War I battlefields while based in Paris.

  The year in Paris, where Eisenhower “first got acquainted with the European countryside,” proved inspiring and beneficial for Eisenhower’s future as supreme Allied commander. Eisenhower relished the opportunity to walk the various battlefields of World War I where American units had engaged in combat. When he returned to the United States in the fall of 1929, Eisenhower finished writing the battlefield guides, while also assisting General Pershing in the completion of his memoirs.

  After reading Pershing’s first draft, Eisenhower determined that the memoir was really just a rewriting of Pershing’s wartime diaries, and he suggested to General Pershing: “Everything in that war, as far as the Army is concerned, pointed up to two great battles, Saint-Mihiel and the Argonne. Now I don’t believe you should tell the story in those two chapters in the form a diary. It takes the reader’s attention away from the development of the battles and just follows your own actions, your own decisions, and your own travels.”51

  This suggestion led Pershing to tell Eisenhower to take the two chapters and rewrite them “how they should be.”52 Eisenhower carefully and meticulously recrafted the two chapters and submitted them to Pershing. Pershing passed the chapters to his trusted friend Colonel George C. Marshall, an officer who had served with Pershing during World War I. After reading Eisenhower’s rewrites, Marshall met with Pershing and advised the general to keep his memoirs the way they were, as Eisenhower’s chapters, though well written, changed the format and continuity of the text.53 After briefing Pershing, Marshall stopped by Eisenhower’s desk and explained his decision. This was the first time Marshall and Eisenhower met.

  After completing his assignment with the Battle Monuments Commission, Eisenhower received an opportunity to work in the assistant secretary of War’s office, which was busy drafting and refining studies that dealt with mobilization for future war. Working under General George Moseley, Eisenhower received the assignment of drafting reports that dealt with mobilizing industry. This assignment involved visiting American factories and getting information about their production processes, as well as inquiring how the industries could increase their production when the need arose.

  As he widened his knowledge of industrial mobilization, Eisenhower met with Bernard Baruch, a financier who had been chief of the War Industries Board during World War I. Baruch advocated significant government control in times of emergency, and he believed that an agency akin to the War Industries Board needed to have the power to exercise centralized control over vital economic resources. Baruch convinced Eisenhower.54 In 1930 Congress created the War Policies Commission to perform the duties outlined by Baruch. The new commission wanted mobilization plans as a foundation for its work, and it fell to Eisenhower, Major Gilbert Wilkes, and Moseley to draft the report, the majority of the writing being assigned to Eisenhower. The document was entitled Industrial Mobilization Plan—1930. Eisenhower paved the way for this report by publishing an article, “Fundamentals of Industrial Mobilization,” in the summer 1930 issue of Army Ordnance.55

  Moseley, Wilkes, and Eisenhower toiled away under Army Chief of Staff Charles P. Summerall, who gave little attention or support to their work. In 1930 General Douglas MacArthur succeeded Summerall. MacArthur encouraged the work on industrial mobilization and saw the need as well as the benefit for the nation. Eisenhower continued his work with mobilization plans and graduated from the Industrial War College in 1931, before he completed his assignment with the assistant secretary of War in February 1933.56

  Rather than going back to command troops, Eisenhower had the opportunity to serve as MacArthur’s military assistant. He accepted the position. Eisenhower commented in At Ease that his new position was “on the verge of political, even on the edge of partisan politics,” which was an unknown world for most military officers.57 Despite his initial uneasiness, Eisenhower found MacArthur “a rewarding man to work for.”58 In constant awe of MacArthur’s comprehensive knowledge, Eisenhower excelled under MacArthur’s style of command. Eisenhower stated that once General MacArthur gave an assignment, he did not needlessly follow up with his subordinates about their progress. MacArthur simply expected the assignment to be completed on time and as ordered.

  During his time as MacArthur’s military assistant, Eisenhower witnessed the Bonus March incident in Washington, D.C. In 1932 unemployed veterans of World War I gathered in Washington to demand early payment of service bonuses due to them, which were supposed to be paid by the U.S. government in 1945. President Herbert Hoover refused to meet with the veterans, whose numbers had swollen to approximately 5,000 to 7,000. They had erected camps and occupied vacant buildings on the edge of the nation’s capital. The Hoover administration wanted the veterans dispersed, and the order went first to the police, who were not trained to deal with “large groups organized under discipline learned in the Armed Forces.”59 The final order went to the Army and General MacArthur. MacArthur, on July 28, 1932, used Cavalry, Infantry, and tanks to disperse the Bonus Marchers and burn their camps. In the context of the Great Depression, MacArthur’s actions were viewed by many in the United States as heavy-handed and overly harsh. In his memoirs Eisenhower goes to great length to explain the circumstances that led to the decision to intervene in the marchers’ camps, maintaining that it was not MacArthur’s boldness or insensitivity that led him to make the final decision, but rather a series of miscommunications. In these passages in At Ease there is a real sense of respect and admiration for MacArthur.60

  Shortly after this time, the U.S. Congress was working on legislation to confer commonwealth status on the Philippines for a period of ten years. The administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt needed to assign a military adviser to oversee the military development of the Philippines. MacArthur would serve this role, and Eisenhower would accompany him.

  Although Eisenhower had worked on plans for the Philippine military in the closing months of his assignment with MacArthur, he was not keenly interested in going to
the Philippines. MacArthur, however, did not wish to let go of Eisenhower. The general convinced the younger officer that he should accompany him to the Philippines, although MacArthur never gave Eisenhower a straight answer as to the length of the assignment. Respecting MacArthur, Eisenhower agreed to be his special assistant as he served as military adviser to the Philippines.

  While in the islands, Eisenhower and Major James Ord, a West Point classmate, assisted MacArthur in mobilizing and training the Philippine military, as well as developing a defense plan for the major islands. This intensive process required the two staff officers to travel extensively throughout the 7,000 islands that compose the Philippines. To accomplish his duties Eisenhower finally achieved an old dream and received his private pilot’s license so he could fly from point to point and accomplish his mission in an efficient and effective manner. Besides minor disagreements with MacArthur, such as MacArthur’s recommendation that Eisenhower and Ord take commissions in the Philippine army, Eisenhower and MacArthur worked well together.

  As war clouds gathered over Europe, Eisenhower returned from the Philippines in February 1940 to join the 15th Infantry, and within a few months he became chief of staff of the 3rd Division at Fort Lewis, Washington. Despite shortfalls in men, matériel, and experienced officers, Eisenhower worked with his troops to get the division into fighting shape. Of this period back with a line unit, Eisenhower stated that “the experience fortified my conviction that I belonged with troops.”61 As he was training his soldiers, Eisenhower’s friend Patton sent him a note stating that he was “about to get a new armor division” that was to be organized soon and that he wanted Eisenhower to be a regimental commander.62 Eisenhower, who had missed out on combat in World War I to train troops, wanted to be sure that in the event of war he “would not be left at home.”63

  In March 1941 Eisenhower moved to become chief of staff of the IX Army Corps, also at Fort Lewis, and received a promotion to the temporary rank of colonel. Three months later, as he prepared his corps for exercises, he received orders to move to the Third Army in San Antonio, and he became the first deputy chief of staff to Lieutenant General Walter Krueger. Eisenhower was soon promoted to chief of staff for the Third Army.64 Five days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower received a telephone message from General Marshall, who summoned him for “emergency duty” and told him to “get on a plane and get up here [Washington, D.C.] right away.”65 World War II had begun for the United States, and Eisenhower would start the war as chief of war plans for the General Staff.

  In the opening days of the war, Eisenhower came to respect Marshall, although he was worried that he would not get a combat command.66 One afternoon, after a promotions board meeting, Marshall stopped by Eisenhower’s desk and talked about how field commanders were the ones who needed to be promoted in this war, not staff officers. Marshall said: “Take your case, I know that you were recommended by one general for division command, and by another for corps command. That’s all very well, I’m glad they have that opinion of you, but you are going to stay right here and fill your position, and that’s that…. While this may seem like a sacrifice to you, that’s the way it must be.”67

  Not believing what he was hearing, and certainly not wanting to be confined to a desk for the duration of a second war, Eisenhower in a fit of anger responded, “General, I’m interested in what you say, but I want you to know that I don’t give a damn about your promotion plans as far as I am concerned. I came into this office from the field and I am trying to do my duty. I expect to do so as long as you want me here. If that locks me to a desk for the rest of the war, so be it!”68

  Three days later General Marshall wrote an impressive recommendation to President Roosevelt stating that Eisenhower was not a “staff officer” in the traditional sense, but rather a “subordinate commander” who merited promotion. Eisenhower became a major general; he would not be confined to a war plans office in Washington, D.C., but, rather, sent to Europe to command.

  After his promotion, General Marshall sent Eisenhower to London to serve as commanding general, European Theater of Operations, in June 1942. By this time the war was not going well for the Allies. The Soviets had suffered significant losses to the Germans, who were about to turn toward the south to seize the vast oil fields of the Caucasus. In Africa, Erwin Rommel had been stopped short of his conquest of Egypt, but Tobruk had once again fallen under the control of the Germans. Eisenhower recounts that despite the situation, President Roosevelt, in consultation with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, had approved the planning process and buildup for the invasion of Europe, which had been given the code name Roundup. Since the actual invasion, Operation Overlord, could not reach fruition until late 1943 or early 1944, Roosevelt and Churchill wanted to launch some ground operation against the Axis in 1942.69 To meet this requirement, the decision to invade North Africa was made. This was the first major operation that Eisenhower, promoted to lieutenant general, would command.

  In planning for Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, Eisenhower came face to face with the lack of training, equipment, and shipping needed for the operation.70 In preparing for the invasion, Eisenhower selected Major General Mark Clark as his deputy. Clark previously had been training II Corps in England in preparation for Operation Roundup. The first major issue was making sure that the troops were trained and that the proper equipment and logistical supply system were in place.71 The sheer size of the operation and the vast numbers of men, matériel, and equipment impressed Eisenhower as he flew to his operations center at Gibraltar on the eve of the commencement of Operation Torch.72 The stakes were high; Eisenhower was aware that the operation might “push two neutral countries—Spain and France—into the Axis, and if it failed, any invasion of Europe might be ruled out for years, until after Japan surrendered.”73

  On November 8, 1942, Operation Torch commenced with landing forces divided into three elements. The Western Assault Force, under the command of Major General George S. Patton, with 35,000 American troops, had the objective of seizing Casablanca, Morocco. The Central Task Force, under the command of Major General Lloyd R. Fredendall, began with 18,500 American troops to seize Oran, Algeria. Finally, the Eastern Task Force, under the command of British Lieutenant General Kenneth Arthur Noel Anderson, with 10,000 American troops and 10,000 British troops, was given the objective of Algiers, Algeria. In addition to the ground forces, Eisenhower had three naval task forces, each assigned to support the landings of the respective ground assault forces, as well as an Eastern Air Command and a Western Air Command. By November 12, 1942, the initial objectives had been secured, and Eisenhower, following through on a political arrangement made earlier, told Mark Clark to place French Admiral Jean-François Darlan in charge of French North Africa.74 Despite significant public outcry over the “Darlan deal,” for which Eisenhower thought he would be fired, both Roosevelt and Churchill stood by Eisenhower, even though Darlan was widely believed to have collaborated with the Nazis. All in all, Operation Torch was a success, providing a vast learning experience for Eisenhower. Between Operation Torch and Operation Overlord, however, Eisenhower oversaw Operation Husky, which was the Allied invasion of Sicily.

  On July 10, 1943, an armada of 2,500 ships and 180,000 troops from the United States and the Commonwealth countries approached the shore of Sicily, in the largest amphibious operation before Operation Overlord. Eisenhower was in overall command of Operation Husky; Harold Alexander was his deputy for ground forces and lead planner for the invasion. To oversee the actual invasion forces, Eisenhower had George S. Patton in command of the Seventh Army and Bernard Montgomery in command of the British Eighth Army. The plan called for the Allied forces to land at a stretch of beaches between Licata and Syracuse. Although the Allied invasion force met little initial resistance from the Italians, by July 11 the Germans had mounted a fierce counterattack attempting to push the Allies back into the sea. Under the aggressive leadership of Patton and Montgomery, t
he Allies held fast and secured their beachheads on July 12. Overall, the invasion proved successful for Eisenhower and his subordinate commanders.75

  On the basis of his experience in Operations Torch and Husky, in December 1943 Eisenhower was named supreme Allied commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces. With this new position, as well as a new promotion to general in February 1943, Eisenhower was in charge of planning for the invasion of the European mainland, which had been a major Allied objective since 1942. He supervised training, equipping, and planning for the invasion force, which consisted of major land elements from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and France, supported by a vast flotilla of combat ships and support vessels, to be followed by a massive logistical infrastructure that would be necessary to sustain the drive toward Berlin. The plans also incorporated airborne (parachute and glider) troops as well as massive air support from both the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Royal Air Force.76

  The process of selecting the appropriate landing sites and coordinating the pre-invasion naval gunfire and aerial bombardment, while also creating necessary deception operations to cover the actual landings, seemed like simple tasks compared to the need to train the approximately 130,000 combat troops that would conduct the initial invasion.77 The final plan for Operation Overlord included an impressive array of Allied forces. The United States committed ground forces that included the First Army, V Corps, VII Corps, 1st Infantry, 4th Infantry, 29th Infantry, 82nd Airborne, and 101st Airborne divisions. These ground forces were supported by the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces, as well as the Navy’s Western Task Force. The objective was to land at Omaha and Utah beaches in Normandy.