Patton, George (1885–1945)

United States general who achieved near-legendary fame in World War II, leading U.S. field armies in North Africa and Europe. Known as Old Blood and Guts, Patton's fiery and unusual character, combined with a high degree of professional insight and competence, made him well respected by friends and enemies, both foreign and domestic.

Born in San Gabriel, California, Patton grew up in a wealthy Southern California family and attended both Virginia Military Institute and West Point, taking his commission in the Army in 1909. He served initially in the cavalry branch, excelling in horsemanship, athletics, and most military skills. Shamelessly romantic in his quest to be a heroic soldier, Patton immersed himself in military history and lore. Outwardly brusque and tough-minded, he inwardly harbored insecurities and sensitivities that he strived to conceal from the public.

Luck also favored Patton, beginning with his participation in General John Pershing's Mexican Expedition of 1916, which gave Patton a future patron, contact with motor vehicles in military operations, and his first encounter with publicity. Promoted quickly to colonel during World War I, Patton formed the Army's Tank Corps with the assistance of Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, who remained behind in the United States while Patton took command of the first U.S. tank units in combat in France.

Peacetime boded ill for Patton, and he languished in several posts after World War I, always able, thanks to his family fortune, to entertain well and keep a fine stable of horses. He graduated from all the Army staff courses and continued to study history and military affairs, being equally at home with concepts of mechanization in the Army as well as furnishing the design [Page 570]of the last U.S. cavalry saber to be adopted. By 1939, however, the 54-year-old colonel feared that his opportunity to perform great feats had passed him by.

The U.S. entry into World War II gave Patton another opportunity to excel, and he was not found wanting. In command of an armored division, he trained it in the Carolina Maneuvers of 1941, demonstrating to all his incredible energy and zeal. His public persona by now had been purposely molded into his ideal of a modern warrior, and he used his various personal connections well, gaining command of the Western Task Force, which he landed on the Atlantic coast of Morocco in the North Africa landings of November 1942. Patton quickly succeeded to the command of the U.S. II Corps in the Tunisian Campaign and formed the Seventh Army for the invasion of Sicily. There he impetuously converted a supporting operation for the British Eighth Army into an Anglo-American race for the Straits of Messina and military honors that almost neglected the enemy situation. Ironically, in midst of his first clear operational victory, his public and military reputation almost collapsed because of incidents in August 1943, in which he slapped enlisted soldiers.

After the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, Patton's mission was to transport his Third Army to France and use it to break out of the Normandy landing region, spearheading the U.S. forces engaged in defeating the German forces in France. This he did with the greatest aplomb, outmaneuvering the Germans and pushing his forces in a madcap race to the Franco-German border. The Battle of the Bulge (December 1944–February 1945) gave Patton his greatest moment in command, redeploying his army on short notice, saving the Belgian town of Bastogne and assisting in the final rout of the Germans. Ironically, Patton died in a traffic accident after the war, having achieved his greatest vainglorious hopes. His memory remains as an icon of aggressive and competent command in battle.

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