Peyton C. March

Peyton C. March as four star general

Official portrait as Chief of Staff

Peyton Conway March (born December 27, 1864 in Easton , Pennsylvania , † April 13, 1955 in Washington, DC ) was an American general and the 9th Chief of Staff of the Army .

Life

March was born the son of philologist and college professor Francis Andrew March and attended Lafayette College in Easton, where he taught. In 1884 he was inducted into the United States Military Academy , from which he graduated in 1888. He was then assigned to the 3rd Artillery Regiment as 2nd Lieutenant , and later to the 5th Artillery Regiment from 1894 as 1st Lieutenant . From 1896 to 1898 he attended the artillery school at Fort Monroe . With the 5th Artillery Regiment he took in 1898 to the Philippines in the Spanish-American War in part. In 1899 he was appointed assistant to Major General Arthur MacArthur , who was to become military governor of the Philippines in 1900. As a temporary major and lieutenant colonel in the 33rd Volunteer Infantry Regiment, he took part in numerous combat operations in the Philippine-American War . At times he also served as provincial governor and commissioner for prison systems.

In 1903 he became a member of the General Staff of the War Ministry and in 1904 sent to Asia as an observer in the Russo-Japanese War . From 1907 he served in succession as an adjutant of Fort Riley , the Department of the Missouri , the Central Department , the 2nd Infantry Division and finally the Department of War. As a colonel , he commanded the 8th artillery regiment on the Mexican border from 1916.

Promoted to Brigadier General and then Major General in 1917, he commanded the 1st Artillery Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division during World War I , and later the artillery of the entire American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).

In March 1918 he became acting chief of staff and took over this post as a temporary four-star general (May 1918). March was responsible for the rapid development of the AEF in France, modernized the structures of the army and established the primacy of the chief of staff as the military leader of the army. As chief of staff, he often came to disagreement with General John J. Pershing , Commander in Chief of US forces on the Western Front during World War I.

March resigned in June 1921 and was retired as major general in November. In 1930 he was promoted back to four-star general on the retired list .

March was married twice and had one son, Peyton Jr., after whom March Air Force Base , California was named. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery .

Awards and a.

	Distinguished Service Cross
	Silver Star
	Spanish Campaign Medal
	Philippine Campaign Medal
	Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (UK)

Web links

Commons : Peyton Conway March  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biographical abstract from William Gardner Bell: Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff, 1775–2005. Portraits & Biographical Sketches of the United States Army's Senior Officer , Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, DC, 2005.
• Peyton C. March: The Greatest Unsung American General of the Great War on worldwar1.com