General John J. Pershing Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

John J. Pershing (1886-1948), a West Point graduate (1886), saw his first action against Geronimo's Apache Indians. Pershing led the 10th Cavalry, the famed African-American "Buffalo soldiers", in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, earning his enduring nickname, "Black Jack." Other combat commands included action against Moro insurgents in the newly annexed Philippine Islands and his politically constrained pursuit of Pancho Villa's raiders into northern Mexico. In 1917, after U.S. entry into World War I, Pershing was named, over several more senior U.S. generals, to command the American Expeditionary Force in France. There he organized the immense logistical effort to transport, equip and supply a 2.5 million man American army in Europe. He insisted that U.S. forces must fight as their own army, not be dispersed among British and French commands. This decision was vindicated when the major American victories of St. Mihiel and the Meuse Argonne (1918) helped turn the tide of war and hasten Germany's surrender. Promoted to General of the Armies and the Chief of Staff, Pershing served until 1924. His 1932 book, My Experiences in the World War, won a Pulitzer Prize. In 1940, with Europe again at war, the aged Pershing made a final important contribution to American security by strongly advocating active American support for beleaguered Britain.