Peyton Conway March | |
|---|---|
 March in 1919 | |
| Born | (1864-12-27)December 27, 1864 Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 13, 1955(1955-04-13) (aged 90) Walter Reed Army Medical Center,Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Buried | 38°52′59.6″N77°04′11.3″W / 38.883222°N 77.069806°W /38.883222; -77.069806 |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1888–1921 |
| Rank | General |
| Service number | 0-6[1] |
| Unit | Field Artillery Branch |
| Commands | |
| Wars | |
| Awards | |
| Children | Peyton C. March Jr. (son) |
| Relations | Dr.Francis March (father) |
GeneralPeyton Conway March (December 27, 1864 – April 13, 1955) was a seniorofficer of theUnited States Army. He served in thePhilippines, on the Mexican border, andWorld War I. March was the ninthChief of Staff from 1918 to 1921, accomplishing centralized control over supply, the creation of theAir Service,Tank Corps, andChemical Warfare Service.
March was born on December 27, 1864, inEaston, Pennsylvania, toFrancis Andrew and Mildred (née Conway) March. His father was a college professor, and is regarded as the principal founder of moderncomparative linguistics inOld English. His mother descended fromThomas Stone, a signer of theDeclaration of Independence, and wasMoncure D. Conway's sister.[2]
March attendedLafayette College in Easton, where his father occupied the first chair of English language andcomparative philology in the United States.[3] While at Lafayette College, March was a member of the Rho chapter ofDelta Kappa Epsilon. After graduating with honors in 1884,[4] he was appointed toWest Point and graduated on June 11, 1888, ranked 10th in a class of 44.[3] Among his classmates there were several men who would, like March himself, eventually attain the rank ofgeneral officer, such asJames W. McAndrew,William M. Morrow,William Robert Dashiell,Robert Lee Howze,Peter Charles Harris,Eli Alva Helmick,Charles Hedges McKinstry,Henry Jervey,William Voorhees Judson,John Louis Hayden,Edward Anderson,Charles Aloysius Hedekin,John S. Winn (who had been March's roommate),[5] andWilliam S. Peirce.[6]
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After his initial assignment to the 3rd Artillery, March was assigned to the 5th Artillery as a 1st lieutenant in 1894. He was sent to the Artillery School atFort Monroe, Virginia in September 1896 and graduated in April 1898, at the outbreak of theSpanish–American War. As he was not immediately assigned, he watched as his classmates went off to various commands, and began fearing he would not see combat. In early May, that changed when he was offered to lead what later became known as the Astor Battery, named so because it was personally financed byJohn Jacob Astor IV. He organized, equipped and subsequently commanded the battery when it was sent to thePhilippines during theSpanish–American War.[7] Historian Bruce Campbell Adamson has written about Henry Bidwell Ely (Adamson's great grandfather) who was placed in charge of The Astor Battery by John Jacob Astor IV, to give Peyton March whatever he needed. March credited Ely as having "an open check book" to purchase uniforms, mules and the cannons.[8]
After the battery returned from the Philippines in 1899, March was assigned as the aide to Major GeneralArthur MacArthur, Jr. during thePhilippine–American War. Later that year he was promoted to major. He continued to serve in the Philippines, participated as part of GeneralLoyd Wheaton's expedition in battles atSan Fabian, Buntayan Bridge and San Jacinto. He commanded the U.S. forces in theBattle of Tirad Pass, 2 December 1899, where GeneralGregorio del Pilar was killed, and received the surrender of GeneralVenacio Concepción, chief of staff to Philippine PresidentAguinaldo atCayan, 5 December 1899. He served as provincial governor of districts includingLepanto-Bontoc and Ilocos Sur from February to June 1900, and then theAbra Province from June 1900 to February 1901. He then served asCommissary General ofPrisoners for thePhilippine Islands through 30 June 1901, when he mustered out of theU.S. Volunteers.[9]
In 1903, he was sent toFort Riley and commanded the 19th Battery of theField Artillery. Later that year, he was sent toWashington, D.C., and served on the newly createdGeneral Staff.
From March 21 to November 30, 1904, March was one of several Americanmilitary attachés serving with theImperial Japanese Army in theRusso-Japanese War.[3] Of the seventeen military attachés observing both sides of the Russo-Japanese War for the United States, eight were later promoted to be generals.[10]
In 1907, March commanded the 1st Battalion,6th Field Artillery. March then served asadjutant ofFort Riley, Kansas and then served as adjutant at several other commands, including at the War Department.
In 1916, he was promoted to colonel and commanded the 8th Field Artillery Regiment on the Mexican border during thePancho Villa Expedition.
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In June 1917, shortly after theAmerican entry into World War I, March was promoted to brigadier general and commanded the1st Field Artillery Brigade,1st Division,American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and, accompanied byFirst LieutenantStanley E. Reinhart (later a major general inWorld War II) as hisaide-de-camp, went to France with the 1st Division. Later that year, March was promoted to major general and commanded the artillery units of theFirst Army and all non-divisional artillery units.[3]
In March 1918, he was recalled to Washington, took over as acting Army Chief of Staff on March 4 and was Army Chief of Staff on May 20, 1918. He was promoted to temporary general.Joseph M. Swing (a lieutenant general in World War II) was his new aide-de-camp.
March was highly critical of President Wilson's decision to send an American Expedition to North Russia and Siberia in 1918 during theRussian Civil War (the so-calledSiberian Intervention) ostensibly to prop-up theWhite movement war effort, secure the railroads, support theCzech Legion trapped there, and stop the Japanese from exploiting the chaos in order to colonize Siberia. March wrote after the pull-out of American forces in 1920:
The sending of this expedition was the last occasion in which the president reversed the recommendation of the War Department during my service as Chief of Staff of the Army. ... almost immediately after the Siberian and North Russian forces had reached their theaters of operations, events moved rapidly and uniformly in the direction of complete failure of these expeditions to accomplish anything that their sponsors had claimed for them.[11]
He served as chief of staff until June 30, 1921. As chief of staff he reorganized the Army structure, and abolished the distinctions between the Regular Army, the Army Reserves, and theNational Guard during wartime. He created new technical branches in the service including the Air Service, Tank Corps, and Chemical Warfare Service. He also centralized control over supply. After the war ended, he supervised the demobilization of the Army. As chief of staff he often came into disagreement with GeneralJohn J. Pershing, who wanted to conduct the AEF as an independent command. March was a highly efficient and capable administrator who did much to modernize the American Army and prepare it for combat in the First World War.[12]
March retired as a major general in 1921 at the age of 56.[13] He was furious that Pershing was made a permanent four-star general with the rank ofGeneral of the Armies of the United States, therefore outranking March, nominally Pershing's superior.[14] In June 1930, March was advanced to general on the retired list as the result of a law which enabled World War I generals to retire at the highest rank they had held.
After retirement, he travelled Europe, Africa, and Turkey.[15] In 1932, he published his war memoirs,The Nation at War.[16] During World War II, reporters forTime andLife magazines regularly sought his opinions of events.[15] He was a fan of theWashington Senators and regularly attended their home games.[17]
March married Josephine Cunningham (née Smith, December 18, 1862 – November 18, 1904), the widowed daughter of his battery commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lewis Smith,[15][18] on July 4, 1891. She died in November 1904, while March was still observing the Imperial Japanese Army.[3] Between November 28, 1917, and June 8, 1918, their daughters Mildred (1893–1967), Josephine (1895–1972) and Vivian (1899–1932) had all married army officers, Josephine marrying March's aide-de-camp in World War I, Joseph M. Swing.[19] Josephine had a twin brother, named Peyton Jr. who died ten days after their birth. March's second son, also namedPeyton Jr., was killed in a plane crash in Texas during World War I.March AFB inRiverside, California, was named in his honor.[20] A third son, Lewis Alden March, was born in 1904 and died in 1928.[15][21]
While traveling in Italy, he met Cora Virginia McEntee (1897–1964), and married her in August 1923.[15][21][22]
March died at theWalter Reed Army Medical Center inWashington, D.C., on April 13, 1955.[3] He was buried atArlington National Cemetery.
His funeral march included "the escort commander and his staff, theUnited States Army Band, one battalion ofcadets from theU.S. Military Academy, one company ofinfantry, one battery offield artillery, one company ofarmor, theU.S. Marine Band, one company ofMarines. one company ofbluejackets, one squadron ofairmen, and one composite company ofservicewomen." The estimated total strength of the military escort was 1,200 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.
At his gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery "was a large group of military, civilian, and foreign dignitaries headed byVice PresidentRichard M. Nixon. Also in attendance were representatives of theSociety of the Cincinnati, the descendants of theSigners of the Declaration of Independence, and theDelta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, to all of which General March had belonged."[23]
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| Distinguished Service Cross[24] | Army Distinguished Service Medal[24] | Silver Star with fouroak leaf clusters[24] | ||||||
| Spanish Campaign Medal | Philippine Campaign Medal | Mexican Border Service Medal | World War I Victory Medal |
| Honorary Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of St Michael and St George (United Kingdom) | Grand OfficierLégion d'honneur (France) | Grand CrossOrder of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Italy) | Grand CordonOrder of the Rising Sun (Japan) |
| Grand CrossOrder of George I (Greece) | Grand CrossOrder of the Crown (Belgium) | Grand CrossOrder of Polonia Restituta (Poland) | WWI War Cross (Czechoslovakia) |
| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | Cadet | United States Military Academy | June 15, 1884 |
| None in 1888 | Second Lieutenant | Regular Army | June 11, 1888 |
 | First Lieutenant | Regular Army | March 25, 1894 |
 | Major | Volunteers | July 5, 1899 |
 | Lieutenant Colonel | Volunteers | June 9, 1900 |
 | Captain | Regular Army | February 2, 1901 (Discharged from Volunteers on June 30, 1901.) |
| Major | Regular Army | January 25, 1907 |
| Lieutenant Colonel | Regular Army | February 8, 1912 |
 | Colonel | Regular Army | July 1, 1916 |
 | Brigadier General | Regular Army | June 22, 1917 (Date of rank was June 17, 1917.) |
 | Major General | National Army | September 3, 1917 (Date of rank was August 5, 1917.) |
| Major General | Regular Army | February 12, 1918 (Date of rank was September 23, 1917.) |
 | General | Emergency | May 25, 1918 (Date of rank was May 20, 1918.) |
| Major General | Regular Army | July 1, 1920 (Reverted to permanent rank.) |
| Major General | Retired List | November 1, 1921 |
| General | Retired List | June 21, 1930 |
Source:Army Register, 1946[25]
In 1919, March was admitted as an honorary member of the VirginiaSociety of the Cincinnati. In December 1922, he was elected honorary president of Delta Kappa Epsilon during the fraternity's 78th Annual Convention.[26]
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| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief of Staff of the United States Army 1918–1921 | Succeeded by |
Leaders of theUnited States Army | ||
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| Senior sfficers / commanding generals |   | |
| Chiefs of staff | ||
| Vice chiefs of staff | ||
| International | |
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