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JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 A STORY 
 
 AND 
 A PLAY 
 
LITTLE FOLKS' PLAYS 
 OF AMERICAN HEROES 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT 
 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 RICHARD G. BADGER, PXJBLISHER, BOSTON 
 
Little Folks* Plays of American Heroes 
 
 John Joseph Pershing 
 
 A STORY AND A PLAY 
 RUTH HILL 
 
 ARTIctVeRITXTt' 
 
 RICHARD G. BADGER 
 
 THE GORHAM RRESS 
 BOSTON 
 
Copyright, 1919, by Richard G. Badger 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 Made in the United States of America 
 
 The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A 
 
 (g)ni.A52f).107 
 
V 
 
 ri: 
 
 dedicated::,to all American boys 
 
 WHO INTEND TO GROW UP INTO 
 
 DETERMINED AND FEARLESS MEN 
 
 LIKE GENERAL PERSfflNG 
 
Foreword to Historians and Other 
 Truth-Lovers 
 
 If facts have been twisted in this little volume, 
 please pardon the distortions. 
 
 If, however, the book fails in showing the splen- 
 did achievement, the unswerving determination, 
 and the perfect courage of General John Joseph 
 Pershing; no pardon should be asked or granted. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE STORY 
 
 Concerning Johnny Pershing .... ii 
 
 The School Teacher 15 
 
 West Point 17 
 
 Indian Warfare 20 
 
 Pershing, the Military Instructor ... 24 
 
 Indian Trouble in Montana 25 
 
 Back to West Point 26 
 
 The Spanish War 28 
 
 Pershing in the Philippines 29 
 
 Pershing's Marriage 33 
 
 Back to the Philippines 35 
 
 Pershing in Mexico 37 
 
 The War with Germany 41 
 
 THE PLAY 
 
 Act I 49 
 
 Act II 55 
 
 Act III 61 
 
 Act IV 69 
 
 ActV 72 
 
THE STORY. 
 
JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 Concerning Johnny Pershing. 
 
 ALL of you probably know the fairy 
 tale about the man who could neither 
 shiver nor shake. There are not 
 many people like that. Most of us 
 are afraid of a good many things. 
 Perhaps we are afraid of going upstairs In the 
 dark, or perhaps we are afraid of tramps, or per- 
 haps we are afraid of telling the truth when we 
 know we will be punished for it. 
 
 There was once a little boy who was not 
 afraid of any of these things or even worse ones. 
 His name was John Joseph Pershing and he lived 
 out in Laclede, Missouri. 
 
 Perhaps you will be surprised to learn that 
 John's great-great-grandfather's last name was 
 Pfoerschin, It was only after the Alsatian family 
 came to this country that the name was changed 
 to Pershing. Little did they know then that there 
 
 II 
 
12 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 would be a man In their family who would lead 
 a great American army over to their old country, 
 Alsace, to free It from Germany. 
 
 Johnny Pershing was a tow-headed little fellow 
 with deep blue eyes. Like any other boy, some- 
 times he was good, and sometimes he was just 
 bad, but not very bad, not really bad at all, — just 
 mischievous. His colored mammy called him "a 
 fightin,' sturdy little rascal.'' 
 
 It was lucky for him that he was fighting and 
 that he was sturdy, for the year i860 in which 
 he was born was just before the Civil War; and 
 Missouri was almost exactly halfway between the 
 North and the South. Slaves were held in the 
 state, and the settlers were divided in their sym- 
 pathies. 
 
 John's father kept a store, and you can just 
 Imagine the wonderful times that the little boy 
 had prowling around the place. Perhaps his father 
 did not enjoy It quite so much. John started 
 straight for the guns every chance he got, so Mr. 
 Pershing had to keep them unloaded. One day 
 when Johnny was four years old, a company of 
 Bushwhackers came to town. Bushwhackers were 
 Confederate soldiers who were not part of the 
 
THE STORY 13 
 
 regular army but would dash down on places 
 where they were least expected and cause a great 
 deal of trouble. 
 
 In the store was the only safe in town, and 
 every one kept his valuables there. When Mr. 
 Pershing heard that the Bushwhackers were In 
 town, he locked the safe, took the key, grabbed 
 up John, and started away. As they were going 
 along, they came upon one of the men whom the 
 raiders had shot, so Mr. Pershing helped him 
 along, while John trudged by his side. The little 
 hoy did not realize how many, many wounded men 
 he would see In his lifetime; but he acted like a 
 hero even then, wanting to help and trying to help. 
 
 The boys where John lived, had a wonderful 
 time, and John played with them all. He did not 
 care whether they were rich or poor, black or white. 
 In winter they played at war with snow forts, 
 and In the summer they played at war without 
 the snow forts. They had wooden sticks for guns, 
 and dish-pans for drums. Johnny's wooden stick 
 was a sword, because he was always the leader, 
 and like all good leaders, he generally won. 
 
 One warm Sunday morning, as Johnny and his 
 friends were on the way to Sunday School, they 
 
14 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 went by Mr. Margrave^s peach orchard. Now 
 Mr. Margrave had the most delicious peaches in 
 town and they never looked so tempting as they 
 did to the boys this morning. They seemed so 
 ripe and sweet and juicy that the boys just started 
 for them. They never tasted them, because Mr. 
 Margrave saw them first. 
 
 John's conscience kept reminding him of George 
 Washington. Because John was a boy who was 
 not afraid of anything, even of telling the truth 
 when he had done something wrong, he went and 
 confessed to his father, who was the Sunday School 
 Superintendent. 
 
 "Get any peaches, John?" 
 
 "No sir, we had to leave too quickly." 
 
 "Well, if Mr. Margrave should ever ask you 
 about the affair, look him in the eye and tell the 
 truth. I guess the Lord understands what a temp- 
 tation an orchard is to a boy, but He will not 
 stand for lying." 
 
 One day one of John's friends found him pok- 
 ing around the underbrush with a stick. 
 
 "What are you doing?" asked his friend. 
 
 "Oh, just killing buzzers," he said. 
 
 That may sound harmless to you, but "buz- 
 zers" were rattlesnakes. 
 
THE STORY 15 
 
 Of course his friend did not want to be outdone, 
 so he started to kill buzzers too, but he did not 
 have John*s knack of doing it. Just as one was 
 all coiled, ready to sting his friend, John saved him 
 just in time by killing the rattlesnake. 
 
 John went about his lessons just as successfully 
 as he went about killing snakes. He was not a 
 brilliant pupil but he took his lessons seriously 
 and he studied hard. He went to school to learn, 
 not because he had to go. He was not the sort of 
 boy to show off. No one said, "That boy will 
 make his mark in the world." But they knew all 
 the time that he was the sort of boy that sticks 
 to anything he once takes hold of. Whatever he 
 did, he did with all his might. 
 
 The School Teacher 
 
 When John had finished school in Laclede, his 
 father could not afford to send him away for an 
 education. In fact, he was so poor just at this 
 time that John wanted to earn some money to 
 help out. 
 
 Ever since Abraham Lincoln had freed the 
 slaves, there had been a negroes* school in Laclede. 
 You will remember, though, that Missouri had been 
 
i6 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 a slave state, so you can imagine that the man who 
 taught the negro school was not respected. John, 
 however, was not one to let public opinion stop 
 him when he knew he was right. There was a 
 chance to teach in the negro school, and he took it. 
 
 Perhaps it was his work here that later helped 
 to make him such a successful officer over negro 
 troops. But we are getting ahead of our story. 
 Anyway, I know he made a good teacher then, 
 don't you? 
 
 Mr. Pershing after a while, was earning enough 
 money so that John could afford to go where he 
 had been planning to go right along, the Missouri 
 State Normal School at Kirksvllle. He intended to 
 become a lawyer and he was determined to get 
 an education. 
 
 Here we can see him studying just as hard as 
 he did at the little school house he first went to. 
 He was seldom at the head of his class, but he 
 always got his lessons. 
 
 When he graduated, he obtained a position as 
 teacher at a Prairie Mound for forty dollars a 
 month. Here he had his first taste of real dis- 
 cipline. 
 
 There was a bully in the school, as there is in 
 
THE STORY 17 
 
 almost every school. Just to show off, he refused 
 to do what Pershing told him to and was pun- 
 ished. The bully boasted that his father would 
 settle with the teacher, and, sure enough, the next 
 morning bright and early, there was the father. 
 The man must have been as much of a bully as 
 his son, for he brought a revolver with him and 
 threatened to use it. Pershing tried to convince 
 the man that he was in the wrong, but it was no 
 use. Then John who was never one to run away 
 from a fight, grabbed the revolver from the bully's 
 father and gave him a far harsher punishment 
 than he had given the man's son. There was no 
 trouble in making the pupils mind after that. 
 
 West Point 
 
 A very small announcement in the little Laclede 
 weekly paper, was perhaps the most important 
 thing that ever came into the life of John Persh- 
 ing. The announcement was this: 
 
 On July 15, there will be a competitive examin- 
 ation for the appointment of a cadet at the United 
 States Military Academy at West Point. All hon- 
 est, strong. God-fearing boys of this district may 
 take part. 
 
 J. H. Burroughs, Member of Congress, Second 
 Pistrict 
 
1 8 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 At first It was not the idea of being a soldier 
 that appealed to John. It was the thought that 
 here was the chance for a real education. He did 
 not suppose it likely that the United States would 
 go to war in his lifetime. 
 
 His mother, who was everything to him, did 
 not want him to go to West Point at first; but 
 when she thought of what the opportunity meant 
 to him, she consented. 
 
 Seventeen other boys went to take the examin- 
 ation, but after a while all dropped behind but 
 John and another boy. Finally, John won first 
 place on a question of grammar. 
 
 Winning first place in that contest, however, 
 did not admit him to West Point. He had to 
 take another examination there In September. 
 Here was where his hard study helped him again, 
 and he passed the test. 
 
 It Is no wonder that West Point turns out such 
 good soldiers. There is plenty of hard work, 
 plenty of hard study, plenty of hard drilling, and 
 in Jack Pershlng^s day — there was plenty of hard- 
 ship. 
 
 There were good times enough to make up, 
 though. We may know that Jack Pershing was well 
 
THE STORY 19 
 
 liked by his classmates, for they made him presi- 
 dent after he had been at West Point only a few 
 months. 
 
 We may know that he was a good soldier, be- 
 cause he was made a corporal, then a ranking 
 corporal, then a sergeant, then a ranking sergeant 
 just as soon as he could be. Finally, when he could 
 be made a lieutenant or a captain, he was made 
 first captain, the highest honor that a West Point 
 cadet could earn. 
 
 He was earnest, ambitious, energetic, and 
 manly. He was not a brilliant student but he 
 studied hard. As his friends said, "He was solid, 
 — the sort of fellow that you feel you can always 
 depend on." 
 
 Just to show how little one ever knows what will 
 happen to him, listen to what Jack told one of his 
 friends when he asked him how he liked West 
 Point. 
 
 "The training is a good thing, but as for fol- 
 lowing it as a life work — why, I don't suppose 
 there'll be another gun fired in a hundred years. 
 I shall go on and finish though, just to get the 
 education." 
 
20 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 Indian Warfare 
 
 When graduation time came at West Point, all 
 the men were excited to find out what commissions 
 they would get. Every one wanted to be in the 
 calvary, for that was by far the most important 
 branch of the service. What was Jack's pleasure 
 when he learned that he had been given a com- 
 mission as second lieutenant in the Sixth Cavalry. 
 Better than that, the Sixth Cavalry was busy fight- 
 ing Indians under General Miles! 
 
 The West Point Cadets were always given a 
 leave after they graduated, so Lieutenant Persh- 
 ing did not report at Fort Bayard, New Mexico, 
 until the next fall. 
 
 Here was the same sort of country in which 
 later he was to hunt Villa. Much the same prob- 
 lem was before the United States Army, for the 
 Indian Chief, Geronimo, had broken away from 
 the Indian reservation and had hidden with his 
 warriors in the mountains. Orders came from 
 Washington to get Geronimo dead or alive. This 
 v/as no simple task, for the Apache Indians have 
 been said to be able to run a hundred miles a day. 
 They used every trick of cunning known to their 
 
THE STORY 21 
 
 race, but before Pershing reached New Mexico, 
 Geronimo had surrendered to General Miles. This 
 did not put an end to the trouble, however, for 
 many of the Indians still kept on fighting. 
 
 Lieutenant Pershing used to lead scouting par- 
 ties against them. Scouting In New Mexico was 
 no joke. There were only a few water holes In 
 the deserts. Horses and men would become 
 crazed for drink. Then they would see mirages, or 
 perhaps they would come to a water hole and 
 find that the Indians had thrown in a dead animal 
 to poison the water. 
 
 While Lieutenant Pershing was stationed in New 
 Mexico he worked hard and he played hard, but 
 when he had work to do, he did not let play inter- 
 fere with it. 
 
 One day Indians came running to the fort with 
 the news that some cowboys had murdered three 
 Indians. It seems that the white men had been 
 caught stealing the Indians' horses, and in getting 
 away, they killed three red men. At present, the 
 cowboys were In a log cabin surrounded by In- 
 dians. Lieutenant Pershing was sent to bring 
 them back to justice at the fort. 
 
 When he came to the cabin, he found a hundred 
 
22 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 and fifty Indians surrounding it. He told them 
 he had come to bring the white men to justice and 
 that they must not interfere. The Indians knew 
 him for a man of his word, so after talking it over, 
 they gave their promise not to harm the cowboys. 
 
 Then Pershing walked up to the cabin, put his 
 shoulder against the door and opened it. 
 
 *'Boys," said he, "I've come to get you." 
 
 Every one of the men had a gun. They threat- 
 ened to kill him, but his control was perfect enough 
 so that he did not even have to draw his revolver. 
 
 At first they said they would not go back past 
 the Indians without their guns; but when he com- 
 manded them to do so, they disarmed, and he 
 drove them safely back to the fort. Later they 
 were tried for murder. 
 
 Jack remained in New Mexico for four years. 
 Then he was ordered to the Dakotas in the Sioux 
 Campaign. 
 
 A Messiah or Savior had risen up among the 
 Indians who claimed that their own land would 
 be changed to the Happy Hunting Ground; that 
 all dead Indians would return to life and that 
 their favorite wild animals, — horses, buffaloes, 
 elks, deer, and antelopes would arrive In great 
 
THE STORY 23 
 
 droves. The Messiah taught the Indians many 
 mystic ceremonies, among them the ghost dance. 
 They believed that if they did the ghost dance 
 wearing a shirt with a buffalo's head painted on 
 it, that a white man could not kill them. The 
 Indians would dance until they worked themselves 
 into a frenzy. Under this excitement, they were 
 liable to kill the white people. 
 
 The Indians on the reservation had not been 
 treated fairly by the white men. The chief. Sit- 
 ting Bull, roused his people by saying there was no 
 need for them to wait until the Messiah came to 
 save them. They would go out to meet him. So 
 they took to the war path. 
 
 The campaign against the Indians began in De- 
 cember and ended January. Every night during 
 the bitter cold Lieutenant Pershing was in a new 
 camp, sometimes in a tent, sometimes in the open. 
 At last, however, the Indians were under control 
 again. 
 
 Pershing was given the command of a company 
 of Indian scouts. This was not a position for a 
 coward, because Indians had been known to kill 
 their officers. Our Lieutenant, however, always 
 won the confidence of native troops because of 
 his perfect fairness. 
 
24 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 Pershing, the Military Instructor 
 
 The next fall Jack became Military Instructor 
 at the University of Nebraska. Students were 
 cbliged to take military drill ; and for that reason, 
 It was very unpopular. When their new professor 
 came, they slouched into the office as if becoming 
 soldiers was the last thing they wanted to do. 
 
 They found, however, that they had a different 
 type of officer to deal with than they thought. 
 Although Pershing had no way of really enfor- 
 cing his orders, there was a certain commanding 
 quality in him that made the college man obey 
 his orders. 
 
 A wonderful change came over the attitude of 
 the students with regard to their drills, and after 
 three months, we might have seen them at seven 
 o'clock In the morning drilling for two hours at 
 a time, and again at four o'clock in the afternoon 
 there were three more hours of drill. Such good 
 soldiers did they become that they won over -a 
 thousand dollars in prize money as well as a prize 
 cup. Instead of the students trying their best to 
 get out of being in the cadet battalions, they now 
 tried their best to get in ; and they were so proud 
 
THE STORY 25 
 
 of their uniforms that a good many of the students 
 wore them when they were not at drill. 
 
 You will remember that when Jack was a boy 
 he had intended to become a lawyer. Perhaps 
 you will be surprised to learn that he did become 
 one. For while he was instructor at the Univer- 
 sity of Nebraska, he studied law and was admitted 
 to the bar. Evidently, however, he had changed 
 his mind about not wanting to be a soldier, for he 
 made no effort whatever to practice law. 
 
 Indian Trouble in Montana 
 
 From the University, Jack sent this telegram 
 to the Adjutant General : 
 
 If my regiment should be ordered for duty on the 
 Northern Pacific or elsewhere, as now seems prob- 
 able, I desire to be relieved from duty at the Uni- 
 versity of Nebraska and ordered to join. 
 
 He preferred to give up the comforts of city 
 life and endure the hardships of Indian campaign- 
 ing, which he knew so well, in order to be of value 
 to his country. His regiment was the Tenth Cav- 
 alry in which he had been commissioned first lieu- 
 tenant two years before. 
 
26 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 It was not for over a year after he had sent 
 his telegram that he was ordered to join his regi- 
 ment in Montana. 
 
 Some Cree Indians had passed the frontier from 
 Canada and were causing trouble In Montana. 
 After a good deal of effort, the United States 
 Government gained the promise of the Canadian 
 government to take these Indians back if the 
 Americans would deliver them at the border line. 
 You can see that It was not an easy task to collect 
 them. This, however, was the work that was given 
 Lieutenant Pershing. When the Indians heard 
 the news that they were to be sent back to Can- 
 ada, many of them said they would fight, others 
 fled. In the end, however, they all took to flight. 
 It was very easy for them to hide in the many 
 dry guUeys of Montana. Pershing, however, suc- 
 ceeded in collecting these scattered bands of Crees 
 without any fighting whatever, and safely deliver- 
 ed them to the Canadian authorities. 
 
 Back To West Point 
 
 After this, Pershing had an experience entirely 
 different from anything he had had before. He 
 
THE STORY 27 
 
 was obliged to command men who disliked him. 
 Wherever he had been, he had enforced discipline 
 strictly; yet the men liked him because they knew 
 he was fair. Now, however, he was assigned as 
 tactical officer at West Point. The students always 
 call their tactical officers "Tacs." A Tac was sup- 
 posed to Inspect the rooms of the cadets, see that 
 their rifles were free from dirt and rust, and that 
 their uniforms were in good condition. It was 
 his duty to enforce the discipline of the corps and 
 we may be sure that Pershing did it. It was rather 
 to his credit that the cadets disliked him, for the 
 only kind of tactical officer they would have liked, 
 would have been one that would allow them to do 
 as they pleased. Like most students when they 
 dislike their Instructors, they tried to find a dis- 
 agreeable nickname for him. There was nothing 
 disagreeable about this lieutenant from which they 
 could take an ugly nickname. One bright cadet, 
 however, remembered that Pershing's regiment, 
 the Tenth Cavalry, was negro; and so gave him 
 the name "Black Jack** which has stuck from that 
 time to this. The name did not really apply, for 
 Pershing was a blonde. 
 
28 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 The Spanish War 
 
 While Pershing was at West Point, news came 
 that the Maine had been sunk. Immediately he 
 sent this letter to headquarters at Washington : 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to request that I be re- 
 lieved from duty at the United States Military 
 Academy and directed to join my regiment now 
 under orders to take the field. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 John J. Pershing, 
 
 1st Lieut., 10th Cavalry. 
 
 This request was refused. Not satisfied, how- 
 ever, Pershing went directly to the War Depart- 
 ment at Washington. He said to the Assistant 
 Secretary of War, "The government trained me 
 to be a soldier, not a teacher, I have been waiting 
 twelve years now for a chance to get some real 
 action. If I cannot go to Cuba as a regular army 
 man, I am going to get Into this fight, if I have 
 to go out and join the volunteers." His request 
 was granted and he was ordered to join his regi- 
 ment at Tampa, Florida. It was some time, how- 
 ever, before the troops were sent to Cuba; but 
 finally the transports sailed. 
 
THE STORY 29 
 
 In Cuba, Pershing was praised by the officers 
 over him for personal gallantry, untiring energy, 
 and faithfulness. One officer said that Jack was 
 the coolest man under fire he ever saw in his life. 
 
 There was no opportunity, of course, for mount- 
 ed cavalry in Cuba; but the cavalry dismounted 
 fought only as the best infantry could fight. Per- 
 shing's colored regiment was particularly valuable, 
 for they did not mind the intense heat so much 
 as the white troops did. 
 
 You all know how the Rough Riders were 
 charging up the hill near San Juan. There was 
 terrible firing from the block houses at the top. 
 Just as things were at the worst, Pershing came 
 rushing up the hill with the Tenth Cavalry, and 
 the Americans won the day. 
 
 Pershing was taken ill shortly after the battle 
 of San Juan and was invalided home. When he 
 recovered, he was ordered to the headquarters of 
 the army at Washington where he proved himself 
 very valuable. 
 
 Pershing in the Philippines 
 
 As usual, Pershing was not satisfied to be away 
 from the fighting when there was fighting going 
 
30 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 on; so he kept up his efforts, and finally he was 
 ordered to the Philippines. He was sent to the 
 very worst part, inhabited by the savage Moros. 
 They were the wildest of the Philippine races. 
 Since they were Mohammedans, they believed that 
 if they killed a Christian, they would receive n 
 ravored place in their paradise. The Spaniards 
 had never been able to conquer them. 
 
 Jack was not allowed to be in active service, 
 however, until almost three years later. He was 
 kept busy with government affairs in the principal 
 city. In the meantime, he had been made Captain 
 of the First Cavalry. 
 
 Captain John Joseph Pershing like a good sol- 
 dier never questioned orders and never delayed 
 their execution. When the government ordered 
 that proclamations be sent to the Moros warning 
 them against resistance, he immediately delivered 
 such proclamations. His experience with the In- 
 dians, however, helped him in dealing with these 
 savage tribes. In his messages, he addressed every 
 chief as his friend. 
 
 All the time he had been in the Philippines, he 
 had been studying the conditions there. He had 
 gone alone Into the villages where no white man 
 
THE STORY 31 
 
 ever had been before. No more difficult mission 
 had ever been given him, however, than when 
 he was sent to the worst part of the Moro country. 
 He and his soldiers took the proclamations to the 
 Moro villages. Whole tribes would start to resist, 
 but he would convince the chieftain that he came 
 in friendship, and there was fittle trouble. In the 
 late summer, there was the most severe earth- 
 quake that even the oldest Moros ever could re- 
 member. They believed that the Americans had 
 caused the trouble and started to attack the camp. 
 When the offenders were not punished, the natives 
 thought the Americans were cowards, so Pershing 
 was sent on an expedition against them. Although 
 he was only a captain, he had many officers under 
 him. He really had the command of a Brigadier- 
 General. 
 
 The country that he passed through was very 
 different from the deserts of New Mexico and 
 the canyons of Arizona. Here in the jungle, 
 the men were obliged to pass through mud some- 
 times up to their necks. To add to the trouble, 
 cholera broke out among the natives; but In spite 
 of the difficulties in passing through the country, 
 Pershing convinced the Moros that he meant busi- 
 
32 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 ness. A great many of the chieftains were friendly 
 to him, and so great was their confidence that they 
 proclaimed him a chieftain of their tribe. This 
 v/as a great help to him in handling the natives. 
 A good many of them helped him in his expedi- 
 tions against hostile chiefs. 
 
 Four expeditions Pershing led against the 
 Moros. To those who surrendered, he was 
 friendly and fair; to those who disobeyed orders, 
 he was severe. In this way, he convinced the 
 natives of his determination and his fair play. 
 
 The worst section of the country was around 
 Lake Lanao. Pershing accomplished what no 
 white man ever had done before. He marched 
 completely around the lake and forced the surren- 
 der of all the natives. 
 
 No boy was probably ever fonder of his 
 mother than was Jack Pershing of his. The 
 blow that came to him, therefore, as he was 
 about to start on a Moro expedition was a 
 very heavy one. He was informed by an orderly 
 that his mother was dead. This, together with 
 the hardships that He had undergone in his cam- 
 paigns, brought on an illness, so that the next 
 summer he returned to the United States. 
 
THE STORY 33 
 
 Pershing's Marriage 
 
 About the same time that Pershing was leaving 
 the Philippines for Washington, Helen Frances 
 Warren, daughter of the United States Senator 
 Warren of Wyoming, left Wellesley College for 
 her home. There were more than six thousand 
 miles between the Philippines and Wellesley, yet 
 these two people were soon to meet In Washing- 
 ton. Of course Frances, like every other American, 
 had read of Pershlng^s wonderful work In the 
 Philippines. Every one was talking about him. 
 
 "Father," she said, "I want to meet Captain 
 Pershing." Strange to say, the very night she 
 arrived In Washington, she met Captain Pershing 
 at dinner. Frances had met her hero. The day 
 after the dance she sat In the Senate gallery and 
 heard President Roosevelt mention Pershing In his 
 message, — ^the first time a president ever had men- 
 tioned an army officer In a message. Roosevelt 
 asked Congress for the right to promote officers 
 by selection, rather than for length of service. He 
 could, with the approval of the senate, make 
 officers generals, but he could not promote a cap- 
 tain to colonel. 
 
34 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 Several years later, he got tired of waiting for 
 Congress to allow him to make Pershing colonel, 
 and so promoted him from a captain to a briga- 
 dier generalship, the first time that had ever hap- 
 pened. Pershing was jumped over the heads of 
 more than eight hundred officers. 
 
 In less than a year after Jack had met Frances 
 Warren, she consented to become his wife. Then 
 all of a sudden, before any one had thought of 
 planning a wedding. Secretary of War Taft ap- 
 pointed Captain Pershing for service in Tokyo. 
 
 This would have been a welcome appointment 
 except for the fact that the position was not in- 
 tended for a married man. Here was a difficulty. 
 It was not the first by any means that Pershing had 
 encountered, so he went to Secretary Taft to talk 
 the matter over with him. Some one evidently 
 had spoken to Taft of the matter, so when Persh- 
 ing asked whether a married man could have the 
 post at Tokyo, Taft smiled and said that although 
 no married man could be appointed, that the ap- 
 pointment would not be taken away if Pershing 
 married afterwards. That was enough for Jack 
 Pwshlng. Before the month was over, Frances 
 Warren had become Mrs. Pershing. The next day, 
 the couple started for Japan. 
 
THE STORY 35 
 
 The Russo-Japanese War was going on at this 
 time, so almost as soon as Captain Pershing ar- 
 rived in Tokyo, he was sent as American observer 
 with the Japanese army. The report that he made 
 to the war department was one of the best of its 
 kind. The Japanese Emperor was so much pleased 
 with the American officer's ability that he gave him 
 a highly-valued decoration. 
 
 In the summer of 1908, there was a good deal 
 of trouble in the Balkan States. Pershing was sent 
 by the government to Paris in the interests of the 
 United States in case war should be declared. 
 
 Back to the Philippines 
 
 After that, he was sent to the Philippines again, 
 this time as the Governor of the Moro Province. 
 In taking office, he said just as we would expect 
 him to : "I shall act in accordance with my judg- 
 ment without permitting myself to be swayed by 
 outside influence and I shall do all the work possi- 
 ble for tlie well-being of the people." 
 
 In spite of the difficult tasks here, these days 
 were probably the happiest of his life. Three of 
 his four children that he loved so dearly were 
 born here. 
 
36 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 One of the first things he did In subduing the 
 province was to frobid the Moros to carry weap- 
 ons. This might seem a simple thing to do, but it 
 was far from that. It was as natural for a Moro to 
 carry knives and spears as it Is for us to carry 
 purses and watches. As a matter of fact, no self- 
 respecting Moro would think of leaving his house 
 without two or three weapons. Human life meant 
 nothing to a Moro, not even his own life; so that 
 the weapons were not used just as ornaments. 
 
 Pershing knew, however, that until he stopped 
 the natives carrying knives and spears he could not 
 bring peace In that part of the Philippines. He 
 personally visited all the chiefs who were his 
 friends, and hundreds of the Moros gave up the 
 weapons. There were hundreds, however, who 
 did not; and campaigns were started against them. 
 
 In the fall, six hundred of the very worst Moros 
 collected in the empty crater of a dead volcano, 
 and defied the Americans. The natives had left 
 in such a hurry that they had not taken enough 
 supplies with them. Pershing, instead of attacking 
 them as they expected, scattered his soldiers around 
 the volcano, so that the Moros could not get any 
 supplies. He said he would get them out if it took 
 
THE STORY 37 
 
 ten years. But on Christmas Day, all the Moros 
 who were left — about four hundred — marched 
 down the volcano and surrendered. 
 
 This had a far greater effect on the natives than 
 as if they had been conquered in battle. They 
 thought they would gain eternal happiness if they 
 were killed while bravely fighting their enemies, 
 but to surrender was the greatest disgrace they 
 could possibly undergo. This, however, was what 
 Pershing had forced them to do. 
 
 This victory had great influence in the Philip- 
 pines, so that in less than two years Pershing had 
 brought about peace in the Moro province. This 
 was a wonderful accomplishment, for no tribe ever 
 liked fighting as the Moros liked it. It was now 
 possible to withdraw troops from the Philippines. 
 
 Pershing in Mexico 
 
 When Brigadier-General Pershing returned from 
 the Philippines, there was more trouble waiting 
 for him. The conditions in Mexico were so bad 
 that an American citizen could not be safe there. 
 General Huerta had killed the President of Mex- 
 ico and declared himself ruler in his place. Gen- 
 
38 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 eral Carranza and General Villa were opposed to 
 him. 
 
 The United States did not Interfere in spite of 
 the trouble that Mexico was causing her. Haven't 
 you ever seen a great big dog refuse to pay at- 
 tention to a very little dog who Is annoying him? 
 After a while, however, If the little dog keeps up 
 his bad manners, the big dog is very likely to pun- 
 ish him. At last Huerta insulted the American 
 flag, and troops were sent to the border immedi- 
 ately. As soon as Pershing arrived there, he in- 
 spected his forces, and said, "I am ready to take 
 the field on five minutes* notice." 
 
 It was not for some time, however, that he was 
 to invade Mexico. It was his duty to see that no 
 arms or munitions went across the border. 
 
 Finally Huerta was deposed, but Carranza step- 
 ped Into his place. Then he declared his former 
 ally. Villa, a bandit. 
 
 It was at this time that General Pershing re- 
 ceived a telephone call at headquarters. The oper- 
 ator asked If he should read a telegram which had 
 just arrived. This was what he read: 
 
 Wife and three children suffocated in lire. War- 
 ren in serious condition. 
 
THE STORY 39 
 
 Pershing had been expecting his family to join 
 him and had prepared a house for them. They 
 would have been there before that day, if Mrs. 
 Pershing had not waited over to go to a reunion 
 of her Wellesley class held in San Francisco. 
 
 No man ever cared more for his wife and chil- 
 dren than did John Joseph Pershing. Heart- 
 broken, he took the first train to San Francisco 
 where he found that Warren, his son, was alive. 
 He was the only one left of the family he loved 
 so well. 
 
 In a card that he sent to a friend who had writ- 
 ten him at this time, he said: "It was fine of you 
 and other Laclede friends to remember me at a 
 time when it takes more than mortal courage to 
 continue.'* 
 
 Many men would have given up at this time, 
 but not General Pershing. He was no coward even 
 when it came to sorrow. With a heavy heart he 
 returned to his duties at the border. 
 
 Villa, becoming more daring than ever, had dash- 
 ed across the border, raided the town of Columbus, 
 New Mexico, killed many of the inhabitants, and 
 had returned to Mexico before the American 
 troops could reach Columbus. 
 
40 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 Pershing was placed in command of the troops 
 sent to capture Villa. He was familiar with this 
 country, for he had ridden through it during the 
 Indian wars. 
 
 One by one, Villa's men deserted him. Be- 
 cause of Pershing's watchfulness, while stationed at 
 the border. Villa had not been able to get enough 
 guns for his men. He with the few followers who 
 were left him, succeeded in hiding in the mountains 
 of Mexico, so that he was not captured. 
 
 The real purpose of an American army in Mex- 
 ico had been accomplished, for there was peace 
 and safety for Americans on the border. 
 
 Better than that, the militia of the country had 
 received training that was to be priceless to them 
 in the war that was to come. 
 
 Pershing had been made a major-general, the 
 youngest of his rank in the country. When Gen- 
 eral Funston died, he was placed in supreme com- 
 mand of the forces in Mexico and on the border. 
 When he came back, he brought with him the 
 finest trained body of soldiers that this country 
 ever had seen. 
 
THE STORY 41 
 
 The War With Germany 
 
 In the spring of 19 17, Pershing was called to 
 Washington. When he reported, he was informed 
 that he was to be Commander-in-Chief of the Ex- 
 peditionary Force in France. This was the high- 
 est honor that the United States could confer upon 
 a military man. Step by step, Pershing had won 
 it, by steadily and successfully doing everything 
 that had been given him to do, from the time he 
 was a small boy working at lessons, all through the 
 different commands he had been given in the army 
 
 You all know how quietly he slipped out of New 
 York Harbor one May Day In 19 17 and how he 
 arrived safely in England and then in France. You 
 all know how the people of Europe hailed him as 
 the man who was to deliver them from German 
 conquest. Listen to his words when he arrived 
 in France: 
 
 America has entered the war with the intention 
 of doing her share, no matter how great or how 
 small that share may be. Our Allies can depend 
 upon that. From the present moment our aims are 
 the same. 
 
 You have read, no doubt, of his visit to the 
 tomb of Lafayette and of how he said, thinking 
 
42 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 of France's aid to us In the time of the Revolution, 
 "Lafayette, we have come." 
 
 Pershing had come just when France needed her 
 most. For years she had been fighting the Hun. 
 Not content with killing French soldiers, the Ger- 
 mans had killed French babies by dropping bombs 
 from aeroplanes. Later, she set up a horrible gun 
 that could shoot right into Paris from a long dis- 
 tance away. It was no wonder that France hailed 
 Pershing as her savior. He was not one to disap- 
 point her. 
 
 Many were the tasks that had confronted him, 
 but never so mighty a one as this. Not only must 
 America send troops over three thousand miles 
 through waters in which lurked German submar- 
 ines; but she must send food and supplies as well. 
 Food was terribly scarce In Europe. At Pershing's 
 request, the food of the United States was looked 
 after in order that none might be wasted and our 
 army fed. 
 
 Not only must troops and supplies be sent across 
 the ocean, but Pershing had to build railroads to 
 carry them when they got to France. 
 
 In three weeks after he had landed, he had pre- 
 pared a great base camp for the American sol- 
 
THE STORY 43 
 
 diers. He then wired the War Department that 
 everything was ready for the troops. 
 
 You know how they were sent and how they es- 
 caped the submarines. 
 
 General Pershing knew It was not enough for 
 the Americans to be soldiers, they must be men 
 as well. Never were the morals of an army so 
 strictly guarded. Never was there a cleaner, more 
 splendid body of men than those under his com- 
 mand. They behaved as gentlemen and as Ameri- 
 cans. Germans might have told you they behaved 
 as wild cats. 
 
 In the fall, Congress made Pershing a general. 
 Before this, Washington, Grant, and Sherman had 
 been the only American generals. General Persh- 
 ing felt that some of our forces had received 
 enough training, so under French command they 
 were placed in the front line trenches. 
 
 In the spring, the Germans began another of 
 their terrible drives. By sacrificing countless num- 
 bers of their men for thirty miles they advanced, 
 nothing seemed to stop them. 
 
 Then General Pershing went to General Foch, 
 in command of the French army, and said, "There 
 is at this time no other question than that of fight- 
 
44 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 ing. Infantry, artillery, aviation, all that we have, 
 are yours to dispose of as you will. I have come to 
 say that the American people would be proud to 
 be engaged in the greatest battle in history." He 
 knew how Americans could fight even without all 
 the training they were expected to have. 
 
 France accepted the offer and gave the Ameri- 
 cans a place in the battle line. 
 
 No doubt Pershing was the man who had most 
 to do in getting the Allies to unite under one head, 
 — General Foch. This was a wonderful help in 
 beating the Germans. 
 
 No American girl or boy needs to be told that 
 the Americans were conquerors from the time 
 they took up the battle line against the Germans, 
 until Germany sued for peace. In six hours they 
 re-took as much land as the Germans had spent 
 six days in capturing. They were the first to 
 Invade a German city. 
 
 As General Pershing said: 
 
 Whether keeping lonely vigil in the trenches, 
 whether attacking machine gun nests or performing 
 the drudgery of the rear or supplying the front line, 
 each man has done his duty. And he has felt that 
 he had behind him the support of the whole coun- 
 try. By his courage, indomitable will, splendid or- 
 
THE STORY 45 
 
 ganization, and tenacity, the American soldier has 
 turned impending defeat into overwhelming vic- 
 tory. I drink to the American soldier, than whom 
 there is no better in the world to-day. Long live 
 the American soldier! 
 
 And long live the greatest of all our American 
 soldiers, General John Joseph Pershing I 
 
THE PLAY 
 
JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 A PLAY 
 
 Act I 
 
 SCENE I 
 
 Scene — Outside Laclede, Missouri, the ground 
 is covered with underbrush. Johnny is poking 
 i?ito it with a stick. Enter his friend, Lee. 
 
 LEE — Hello, Johnny, what are you doing? 
 
 JOHNNY — Oh nothing much, just killing 
 buzzers. 
 
 LEE — You don't mean to tell me you're stand- 
 ing there in your bare feet, killing rattlesnakes 1 
 Why, one is liable to kill you any minute! 
 
 JOHNNY— Sure I am. But you can just bet 
 if another one shows up here, it isn't going to kill 
 me! I'm going to kill it! It's easy enough. 
 
 LEE — It is not easy; you're just bragging. 
 
 JOHNNY — If you weren't a friend of mine, 
 I'd knock you down for saying that. Anyway, 
 you'd better take it back. 
 
 LEE— Oh, I didn't mean anything, Johnny I I 
 49 
 
50 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 know you never brag. Honest, I didn't think 
 when I said It. 
 
 JOHNNY— That's all right, Lee, I shouldn't 
 have got mad so easily, but you see there is 
 nothing I hate so much as a bragger. Anyway, I 
 never do anything worth bragging about. 
 
 LEE — Well, I should say you do a lot of things 
 you could brag about. If you were that kind of a 
 boy. Why, If I had killed as many buzzers as you 
 have, Fd spend all the rest of my time talking 
 about It. 
 
 JOHNNY — No, Lee, It's better spending the 
 time killing more buzzers. Words don't make 
 much difference. 
 
 LEE — That's right, they don't. But is it really 
 easy to kill buzzers ? I'd like to kill one. 
 
 JOHNNY— Of course It's easy. Didn't I tell 
 you it was ? Come on, quick. I see one now, and 
 if you hurry, I'll let you kill it I 
 
 LEE — My, isn't that a big one! Oh, I am 
 going to skin It, after I've killed It. 
 
 JOHNNY— Hurry! Don't let him coil, or 
 he'll sting you. 
 
 LEE— Oh, John! He's colled! What'll I do? 
 (Johnny kills the snake.) 
 
THE PLAY 51 
 
 JOHNNY— There, he's out of the way. You 
 better keep away from buzzers until you can kill 
 fast. 
 
 SCENE II 
 
 Scene — The porch of one of the negro homes 
 in Laclede, It is evening, Rastus Johnson, his 
 Wife, and little Rastus are seated on the porch, 
 
 RASTUS — I know that when President Lincoln 
 done make us free, he didn't want us to be treated 
 like slaves no moah. 
 
 MRS. JOHNSON— He certainly did not, but 
 Lordyl most of us is treated worse'n slaves here 
 in Laclede. 
 
 RASTUS — I sure am glad the gov'nment 
 makes them keep a school for colored folks' 
 chil'ren. Little Rastus can learn a heap o' things 
 his father never had no chance to learn, can't you, 
 Rastus ? 
 
 LITTLE RASTUS— I sure can. Pa. But you 
 shouldn't say *'never had no chance," it ain't 
 grammatical. 
 
 RASTUS — Perhaps it ain't, but I just reckon 
 your teacher. Mister Pershing, wouldn't thank 
 
52 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 you none for correcting your poor old father that 
 never had any chance whatsoever. 
 
 LITTLE RASTUS— That's right, Pa. He 
 done told us we couldn't be good enough to our 
 fathers and mothers, no matter how hard we tried. 
 
 RASTUS — I knew John Pershing wouldn't put 
 no silly notions into your head. I've known him 
 ever since he was a boy. It didn't seem to make 
 no difference to him whether a boy was rich or 
 poor, black or white. He done play with them all. 
 But if they was crooked, Lawsyl He wouldn't 
 have nothing to do with them, anyhow. 
 
 MRS. JOHNSON— Some of the white trash 
 around heah make me plum disgusted. I heard 
 two gals talking in the postoffice t'other day. One 
 said, "Oh, have you heard the news?" T'other 
 one said, "No, what?" Then the first one said, 
 "Why, John Pershing is teaching the nigger school 
 and of course we can't have anything more to do 
 with him." 
 
 RASTUS (chuckling)— I reckon that won't 
 bother him none. 
 
THE PLAY 53 
 
 SCENE III 
 
 The Pershing home at Laclede, Mrs. Pershing 
 is seated, mending, John comes rushing in, 
 
 JOHN — Hurrah, Mother, IVe won! IVe 
 won! (Mrs. Pershing, getting up, puts both her 
 hands on his shoulders.) 
 
 MRS, PERSHING— Oh, my dear boy, I am 
 so glad and so proud! But I knew all the time 
 you would win. 
 
 JOHN — I think that was what made me win. 
 I just simply couldn't disappoint you. 
 
 MRS. PERSHING— Isn't it queer? I didn't 
 want you to go to West Point at all at first. I 
 couldn't bear to think of your being a soldier, 
 Johnny. To think of your being cold and hungry 
 and lonely in some place far away where I couldn't 
 help you at all. Then if you should be wounded, 
 or even killed! (Hiding her face in her hands.) 
 Oh, Johnny, I know I couldn't stand it. You 
 know how dear you are to me! 
 
 JOHN — Don't worry. Mother ! I don't intend 
 to be a soldier. Probably there won't be another 
 war while I am alive. I wouldn't be much use as 
 
54 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 a soldier if there weren't a war, now would I, 
 Mother? 
 
 MOTHER— Well, if you were a soldier, I 
 should certainly pray that there would never be 
 any war. 
 
 JOHN — Then I certainly won't be a soldier, 
 because I know you are so good that all your 
 prayers are answered. No, I think FU be a law- 
 yer. He can fight even in times of peace, can't he. 
 Mother? 
 
 MOTHER — Oh, John, how you do carry on I 
 But think of the wonderful education you will get 
 at West Point! — the education you have always 
 wanted, even when you were only a little fellow. 
 
 JOHN — Yes, Mother, that is what I am going 
 for. And think of their wonderful motto, "Duty, 
 Honor, Country!" 
 
Act II 
 
 SCENE I 
 
 A cabin in New Mexico surrounded by Indians, 
 Enter Lieutenant Pershing with United States 
 soldiers, 
 
 PERSHING (speaking to Indians)— Friends, 
 I have come to get the men In that hut. 
 
 INDIANS (speaking all at once in their excite- 
 ment) — They kill our men I They steal our 
 horses I 
 
 PERSHING— Yes, I know they have stolen 
 your horses and killed your men. That is why I 
 have come to take them back for trial at fort. 
 
 FIRST INDIAN— What mean trial? 
 
 PERSHING— I mean by trial, we find out 
 whether or not they have stolen the horses and 
 killed the men. 
 
 INDIANS (together)— Ugh I No need trial. 
 We know they steal and kill. 
 
 PERSHING — ^AU right, then; you can come to 
 55 
 
56 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 the trial and tell what you know. Then we will 
 punish the white men who killed the Indians. 
 
 FIRST INDIAN— You no tell lies like some 
 white men? 
 
 PERSHING— No, I never tell lies. Do I, my 
 friends ? 
 
 INDIANS (together)— He no lie. He do 
 what he say. 
 
 PERSHING — Yes, I always intend to do what 
 I say, just as good Indians do. Now will you 
 promise not to hurt the white men when I take 
 them from the cabin to the fort? 
 
 FIRST INDIAN— Kill them here I No need 
 trial I 
 
 PERSHING— No, I will not bring out the 
 white men until you promise not to harm them. 
 Do you all promise? 
 
 INDIANS^ — Very well, we know you keep your 
 word. (Walks up to the cabin door, puts his 
 shoulder against it, and opens it.) 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 Interior of the cabin. Cowboys seated around 
 a table, playing cards. Enter Second Lieutenant 
 Pershing, The men drop their cards in their sur- 
 prise. 
 
THE PLAY 57 
 
 PERSHING— Boys, I've come to get you I 
 
 COWBOYS— Not by a long shot I 
 
 FIRST COWBOY— Perhaps you think we 
 haven't guns. But we have. What's more, we 
 intend to use them I 
 
 SECOND COWBOY— That's right I Ask the 
 Indians out there If we don't know how to shoot 
 straight, too! 
 
 PERSHING— I didn't come to hear how well 
 you can shoot or to see how well you can shoot. 
 I came to get you. 
 
 FIRST COWBOY— Well, you'll have a pretty 
 tough time trying to get me, I'll tell you right 
 now. You better run back to the fort before 
 things get too rough for you here. 
 
 PERSHING — I don't want to hear any more 
 nonsense. You come along, and be quick about It I 
 (Cowboys start to aim guns at him.) Put down 
 those guns ! Do you want my men and all those 
 Indians both after you at once? (Men put down 
 guns.) 
 
 SECOND COWBOY— Well, perhaps there \s 
 something In what he says. What do you think, 
 boys? 
 
 FIRST COWBOY— I suppose we're In a hole 
 and we might as well let him get us out of it. 
 
58 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 We'll have our guns along in case the Indians 
 get gay. 
 
 PERSHING — Pass those guns over to me. PU 
 look after them. 
 
 FIRST COWBOY— Can you beat that? What 
 do you think those there Indians are, Angels of 
 Mercy? 
 
 PERSHING— You heard me tell you to sur- 
 render those guns. Be quick about it. I haven't 
 any time to waste. 
 
 SECOND COWBOY— Do you promise not to 
 let the Indians kill us? 
 
 FIRST COWBOY— Does he promise a fox 
 won't touch a goose when one runs past him? 
 
 PERSHING — No more insolence! Pass over 
 the guns! (Cowboys sulkily surrender their 
 weapons.) 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 Office of the Assistant Secretary of War. First 
 Lieutenant Pershing and his friend, also a first 
 lieutenant, seated on a couch, 
 
 PERSHING— Yes, I wrote to the general and 
 asked him to relieve me of my duties at West 
 
THE PLAY 59 
 
 Point, so I could get into this fight, but he refused. 
 That Is why I came here. 
 
 FRIEND — I can tell you now, there's no use 
 In wasting time hanging around to see the Assist- 
 ant Secretary of War. He won't do a thing for 
 you. I tried to get him to send me away from 
 Washington, so I could get to Cuba. But he 
 wouldn't. You see, I'm still here, and I'll prob- 
 ably be here until the trouble is all over. I don't 
 suppose I'd get a chance to fight if a hundred 
 Maines were blown up. 
 
 PERSHING — I've made up my mind to get 
 into active service and I'm going to do it some 
 way. 
 
 FRIEND— Well, I wish you luck, but I'm 
 afraid it can't be done. Good-bye and good luck! 
 
 PERSHING— Thank you, and good-bye! 
 
 (Exit Friend.) 
 
 (Enter Assistant Secretary of War. Pershing 
 salutes.) 
 
 SECRETARY — Good morning, Lieutenant, 
 what can I do for you? 
 
 PERSHING— What can you do for any 
 American lieutenant who is stationed at West 
 Point just now? 
 
6o JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 SECRETARY— WeU, what? 
 
 PERSHING— Why, give him a chance to fight, 
 of course. 
 
 SECRETARY— That is impossible. You men 
 are needed at West Point more than ever. 
 
 PERSHING — The government trained me to 
 be a soldier, not a teacher. IVe been waiting 
 twelve years for a chance to get some real action. 
 If I can't go to Cuba as a regular army officer, I 
 shall resign. I'm going to get into this fight if I 
 have to go out and join the volunteers. 
 
 SECRETARY— Bravo, my boy! I'll see that 
 you have a chance to go with the regulars. 
 
Act III 
 
 SCENE I 
 
 Camp Vicars, Moro Province, Philippines. 
 {Captain Pershing standing in his tent. Enter old 
 Moro Chief.) 
 
 PERSHING— Welcome, my friend. I am in- 
 deed glad to see you in the camp of your friends. 
 
 MORO — I glad to see you. I thank my friend 
 for medicine he send when all tribe very sick with 
 what you call cholera. 
 
 PERSHING— We want to help Moros all we 
 can. We are their friends. We never want to 
 quarrel with our friends. Only when they do 
 wrong do we fight them. 
 
 MORO — ^That is true. I know you always 
 keep word to Moro friends. 
 
 PERSHING — Yes, and I always will keep my 
 promises to you. But why do you not want me to 
 visit your fort? I am glad to have you come here. 
 
 6i 
 
62 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 MORO — I glad to see you. But my people, 
 my people, very fierce! 
 
 PERSHING— Surely your people will be glad 
 to see their friends. Haven't we built good roads 
 for them? 
 
 MORO — Yes, but the Moro, he love Jungle 
 better than roads. Jungle better to fight in. 
 
 PERSHING — But your people don't want to 
 spend all their time fighting. Isn't peace better? 
 
 MORO— What is peace? 
 
 PERSHING — Peace Is when there is no war, 
 when all people live In love together. 
 
 MORO— Ugh! That Is life for women I 
 Moros are brave men ! Moros kill enemies ! 
 
 PERSHING— Yes, but what if enemies kill 
 Moros? 
 
 MORO — Then Moros, if they die bravely, go 
 to Heaven and be happy always. 
 
 PERSHING — But we are not your enemies, 
 we are your friends. 
 
 MORO — Yes, yes. You, my friend, my friend 
 always. You do not steal from my people, like 
 white men here before, what you call Spaniards. 
 When you want food, you give much money to my 
 people for it. 
 
THE PLAY 63 
 
 PERSHING — Of course we pay for what we 
 get. All honest men do that. 
 
 MORO — Yes, and when there Is work to do, 
 you no beat Moros to get It done. You give him 
 more money. 
 
 PERSHING — Of course, Americans do not 
 hurt their friends, the Moros. 
 MORO — Americans our friends. 
 
 PERSHING— Now that you have visited me, 
 your friend, here, when shall I visit you at your 
 fort? 
 
 MORO — Oh, I glad to see you any time, but 
 my people so great fighters, they might hurt you. 
 
 PERSHING— That is no sort of friendship If 
 I cannot come to see you. Since you are my friend, 
 I shall come to see you. 
 
 MORO — Oh, my friend, you are a brave man I 
 Come, my people will not harm you I 
 
 SCENE II 
 
 Pershin^s tent. Early morning. Enter Orderly, 
 Salutes and hands Captain Pershing a telegram, 
 Pershing opens it. His hand trembles as he reads 
 it. 
 
64 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 ORDERLY (Saluting)— Beg Pardon, Captain, 
 may I speak? 
 
 PERSHING— Yes, Jim, don't I remember 
 when we were boys together in Laclede ? Jim, you 
 remember my dear mother? The telegram says 
 she Is dead! 
 
 ORDERLY— Oh, Captain ! There is nothing I 
 can say. Sorry is too small a word. 
 
 PERSHING— Poor mother! And I wasn't 
 there at all to help her at the last! She knew how 
 it would be when she didn't want me to be a sol- 
 dier! 
 
 ORDERLY — You should spare yourself, now. 
 You must not go out through the jungles among 
 those terrible Moros. Just now you would be in 
 just the right condition to catch the cholera. 
 
 PERSHING— Nothing must interfere with the 
 duty of a soldier. I shall start against the Moros 
 to-day. I remember how I was talking with my 
 mother before I went to West Point and we spoke 
 of its fine motto "Duty, Honor, Country." I will 
 be true to that motto and to my mother. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 A Parlor Car in which are seated Senator War- 
 ren of Wyoming and his daughter Frances , later 
 
THE PLAY 6s 
 
 Pershing's wife. Frances Warren is reading a 
 newspaper. 
 
 FRANCES (Putting down her paper)— Oh, 
 Father, I have just been reading about the most 
 wonderful man I ever heard of! 
 
 SENATOR— Well, well, well, and of course a 
 girl who has just graduated from college must 
 know all about everything! 
 
 FRANCES— Well, a girl who is just out of 
 college knows a real hero when she sees one ! 
 
 SENATOR — Don't tell me you have seen a 
 real hero! 
 
 FRANCES — No, I haven't seen him yet, but 
 I'm going to see him the very first chance I get! 
 
 SENATOR — Don't you think you might at 
 least tell your father who the man is? 
 
 FRANCES— Can't you even guess? Why, the 
 paper is full of him, and all the girls at college 
 are simply wild about the things he has been doing, 
 
 SENATOR — Don't keep me in suspense an- 
 other minute! I simply can't stand the strain. 
 
 FRANCES — ^Why, of course you are only fool- 
 ing. You know I am talking about Captain Persh- 
 ing. 
 
 SENATOR— Well, Frances, I see you didn't 
 
66 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 lose all your brains at college. You picked a real 
 man that time ! 
 
 FRANCES — It doesn't take much ability to pick 
 a man that the whole country calls a hero. 
 
 SENATOR — And the country Is right, too. No 
 man ever did a harder task than Captain Persh- 
 ing when he marched around Lake Lanao. Those 
 Moros are the worst savages a man ever tackled. 
 He had to go through jungles that most men 
 never could pass. Worse than that, the natives 
 were suffering from cholera that he and his men 
 would have caught If he had not taken every pos- 
 sible precaution. Yes, Frances, he Is a real hero 
 If ever there was one. 
 
 SCENE IV 
 
 Pershing^ s camp near the extinct volcano in the 
 Philippines in zvhich the Moros are awaiting the 
 Americans' attack. Time, Christmas Day, 191 1. 
 Pershing is seated at dinner with his officers. 
 
 PERSHING — There Is no telling how much 
 longer those Moros will stay In that volcano, but 
 I'll get them out of there. If It takes ten years. 
 
 FIRST CAPTAIN— Wouldn' t I just like a 
 chance to get at them! 
 
THE PLAY 67 
 
 PERSHING— You wouldn't like a chance to 
 get at them nearly so well as they would like to 
 get at you I 
 
 SECOND CAPTAIN— Didn't those fellows 
 that dashed out of there the other night put up 
 an awful fight before we killed them I 
 
 FIRST CAPTAIN— Why, shouldn't they fight 
 and be killed? That is their shortest route to 
 Heaven. 
 
 PERSHING— Yes, they would like nothing 
 better than to have us attack them, so they could 
 kill many of our men. They wouldn't much care 
 if we did kill most of them. They would be think- 
 ing of the joys of their future life. 
 
 SECOND CAPTAIN— But won't we have to 
 attack them some time? 
 
 PERSHING — What do the army regulations 
 say about questioning a superior officer? 
 
 SECOND CAPTAIN— I beg pardon. General, 
 I didn't think. 
 
 PERSHING — I know you didn't. I was only 
 joking. No, I don't think we will ever attack them. 
 They are getting no more supplies. They will 
 have to starve or come out, one or the other. 
 
 (Silence on the part of the officers.) 
 
68 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 PERSHING — I know you are too polite to say 
 you don't believe a Moro will ever surrender. But 
 a Moro has just as much of an appetite as any one 
 else, and when their food is gone, out they will 
 have to come. 
 
 (Enter soldier In great excitement. Catches 
 his breath as he salutes.) 
 
 PERSHING (Saluting)— What Is your mes- 
 sage? 
 
 SOLDIER— General, the Moros 
 
 PERSHING— Yes? 
 
 SOLDIER — They are marching down the 
 mountain with a flag of truce. 
 
 PERSHING— How Is that for a Christmas 
 present? 
 
Act IV. 
 
 SCENE I 
 
 General Funston seated in his Quarters on the 
 Mexican border. Enter General Pershing, Both 
 salute. General Funston walks up to General 
 Pershing and places his hands on Pershing's 
 shoulders. 
 
 FUNSTON — Jack, old man, my heart bleeds 
 for you. 
 
 PERSHING— Thank you, General. 
 
 FUNSTON — I always knew you were brave, 
 Jack. But in all your life, you never had such 
 need of courage as now. 
 
 PERSHING — I need more than mortal cour- 
 age. 
 
 FUNSTON — You have more than mortal 
 courage, Jack. 
 
 PERSHING — I did not suppose it was possi- 
 ble for a man to suffer so much and still live. 
 
 69 
 
70 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 FUNSTON— It would be hard to kill so stout 
 a heart as yours. 
 
 PERSHING — No man could hope always to 
 be so happy as I was with my family. They were 
 all the world to me I If it could only have been I 
 to suffer in that horrible fire, and not they I 
 
 FUNSTON— How is Warren? 
 
 PERSHING— Warren will recover. He must 
 grow up to be a whole family to his father. 
 
 FUNSTON — He must grow up to be a man like 
 his father and the whole nation will be proud 
 of him ! 
 
 PERSHING— God grant that he be a greater 
 and a happier man than his father! 
 
 FUNSTON — I hope he may be *» happier man, 
 but I do not wish him to be a greater one I Jack, 
 I have some work for you. Do you feel able 
 to do it? 
 
 PERSHING — If my country needs me, I am al- 
 ways at her service. 
 
 FUNSTON — Your country does have need of 
 you! Villa and his men have raided Columbus 
 and killed American citizens. You are to avenge 
 them. Get Villa dead or alive ! 
 
 PERSHING— I will start immediately, and 
 
THE PLAY 71 
 
 will see to It that Villa kills no more women and 
 children. My wife and daughters are forever 
 lost, but I will save those of others. I have my 
 country to live and work for I 
 
Act V 
 
 SCENE I 
 
 The pier at Boulogne. Crowds of Frenchmen, 
 The French General Dumas and his men are lined 
 up to greet the Americans. Behind them are 
 several German prisoners, 
 
 FRENCH CROWD— Long live the Ameri- 
 cans I Long live the great General Pershing ! 
 FIRST GERMAN PRISONER— (Speaking 
 
 to his comrades). These Frenchmen lie. No 
 Americans could come to France. The mighty 
 submarines of the Fatherland would sink them I 
 
 (General Pershing and his staff walk down the 
 gang-plank from the ship. The crowd cheers and 
 the soldiers salute.) 
 
 SECOND GERMAN PRISONER— (To his 
 comrades) . Our officers have lied to us. General 
 Pershing has come. God punish America I 
 
 72 
 
THE PLAY 73 
 
 GENERAL DUMAS (Greeting Pershing)— I 
 salute the United States of America, which has 
 now become united to the United States of Europe. 
 
 PERSHING (Saluting)— This reception is of 
 great significance. It makes us realize to the fullest 
 the Importance of American participation. America 
 has entered the war with the Intention of doing 
 her share, no matter how great or how small that 
 share may be. Our Allies can depend upon that. 
 From the present moment our aims are the same. 
 
 SCENE II 
 
 General Foch, commander of the French Army, 
 seated at his desk in his headquarters somewhere 
 in France, Enter General Pershing, Both Gen- 
 erals salute, 
 
 FOCH— Welcome, General Pershing! Our 
 quarters are honored by your presence ! 
 
 PERSHING — It is a pleasure to greet our 
 ally who Is making so brave a stand against our 
 common enemy, the Germans. 
 
 FOCH — Their attack Is heavier than ever this 
 time. They are sacrificing hundreds of thousands 
 
74 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 cf men for their advance. Nothing seems to stop 
 them! 
 
 PERSHING — General Foch, our men have been 
 in training ever since they came across. Some of 
 them have fought in the front line trenches. 
 
 FOCH — And they have fought like heroes! 
 
 PERSHING— They have only fought like 
 Americans ! 
 
 FOCH — Wait until the American army is in 
 the trenches, and the Hun will have to stop ! 
 
 PERSHING— Why should not the American 
 army be in the trenches now ? I know they could 
 beat the Germans without more training! 
 
 FOCH — Oh, General, your nation is more than 
 generous ! 
 
 PERSHING— There is at this time no other 
 question than that of fighting. Infantry, artillery, 
 aviation, all that we have, are yours to dispose of 
 as you will. I have come to say that the American 
 people would be proud to be engaged in the great- 
 est battle in history. 
 
 SCENE III 
 
 General Pershing's headquarters Christmas 
 morning, 191 8. General Pershing is seated in an 
 
THE PLAY 
 
 75 
 
 arm chair with one of the regulation boxes provided 
 for the soldiers* Christmas presents. Enter an 
 old servant, 
 
 SERVANT — I beg pardon, General, I came to 
 tidy the room. I thought it was empty. 
 
 PERSHING — Come in and see what my little 
 son has sent me for Christmas. You see our coun- 
 try has had to send so many things across the ocean 
 that every soldier could have only one Christmas 
 box, just this size. See? (Holding it up). This 
 is the one that my little boy sent to his soldier 
 daddy. 
 
 SERVANT — Ah, General, have you but one 
 child? 
 
 PERSHING— Yes, only one now. Once I had 
 four and they had the loveliest mother that chil- 
 dren ever knew. 
 
 SERVANT— Oh, General, I did not know I I 
 am so sorry I 
 
 PERSHING— The story's too sad a one to 
 tell on Christmas. Come, let us see what Warren 
 has sent his fathen (Unwraps box, servant 
 watches.) Well, if here aren't some silk socks! 
 He must think his father is a dandy I Some hand- 
 
76 JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 
 
 kerchiefs, a knife, some chocolate and some can- 
 died fruit. Take some, I know Warren would 
 like to know that a loyal Frenchman had shared 
 his father's Christmas box! 
 
 SERVANT — Oh, General, you do me too much 
 honor I 
 
 PERSHING— And here Is his card ''Daddy, 
 from Warren." That Is a present! 
 
 SERVANT — Ah, but what Christmas present 
 did his father give? Peace to the whole world! 
 
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