Sculptor: Carl C. Mose (1903-1973).
Fabricator: Roman Bronze Works.
County of Statue: Linn County.
Location of Statue: Pershing Dr, next to Missouri State Historic Site Pershings Boyhood Home, Laclede.
Base Text:
Front:
JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING
September 13, 1860 - July 15, 1948
General of the Armies
Of the United States
1914 ---- 1924Right Side:
Born at Laclede Missouri
General Pershing by his
Soldierly qualities earned
The highest rank ever accorded
In the United State ArmyLeft Side:
In 1917 General Pershing
Organized in Europe the
2,000,000 men of the American
Expeditionary Force and led
Them to Allied victory in
November 1918Plaque Text:
In commemoration of the rededication
Held on 14 September 1996 whereat
The restoration of this statue of
GENERAL OF THE ARMIES
JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING
Was presented by
Colonel Homer G. Schmidt,
National Commander-In-Chief
Military Order of the World Wars
To
The State of Missouri
One of America's highest ranked military officers, General John J. Pershing spent most of his childhood years in this small town of Laclede. There is little in Pershing's childhood to suggest that one day he would become a national wart hero.
Pershing born in 1860, moved to this home in 1866. He taught school here, and in 1886 graduated from U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Between 1886 and his retirement in 1924, Pershing fought his way up through the military ranks. His first assignment was with the 6th Cavalry at Fort Baynard, NM, against the Apache Indians led by Medicine Man named Jerome, but in Spanish is called Geronimo. He fought with the 6th Cavalry in 1891 on the Dakota-Nebraska border where Chief Sitting Bull was killed, and the 10th (Black) Calvary in the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War in 1898.
In 1900, he was assigned to the Philippine Islands, was an observer of the Russo-Japanese War in Manchuria in 1905 and in 1906 was promoted to captain brigadier by President Theodore Roosevelt. He returned to the Philippines where, in 1909, he became governor of the Moro Province, thoroughly defeating the Moros. In 1914, Pershing took command of the American Forces on the Mexican border in the campaign against the revolutionary leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa.
In 1917, Pershing was sent to France as Commander-In-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. His tasks included organizing, training and supplying an inexperienced force that quickly grew to more than 2 million. In 1919, he was named the General of the Armies of the United States (one rank above five-star general) by a special act of Congress.
During his military career, Pershing was a professor at University of Nebraska and an assistant instructor at West Point. Here, he was given the name "Black Jack" because of his previous affiliation with the black cavalry. He married Frances Warren in 1905 and had four children, 3 of which perished in a fire along with Mrs. Pershing in 1915. Pershing won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1932 for his memoirs, My Experiences in the World War. He died July 15, 1948 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with highest military honors.
More can be read about Pershing Here: John J. Pershing or Here: Pershing Rifles or Here: Who's Who