Pershing, John Joseph (1860–1948)

US general. He served in the Spanish‐American War in 1898, the Philippines 1899–1903, and Mexico 1916–17. In World War I, he stuck to the principle of using US forces as a coherent formation, and refused to attach regiments or brigades to British or French divisions. He commanded the American Expeditionary Force sent to France 1917–18.

Pershing was made brigadier general in 1906, major‐general in 1913, and in 1919 a full general of the US army, a rank that had been previously held by only four people: George Washington, Ulysses S Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Philip Henry Sheridan. In 1921 Pershing became army chief of staff; he retired in 1924.