U.S. Army 

World War II 

Corps Commanders: 

A Composite Biography ’ 

BY 

Dr. Robert H. Berlin 

U.S. Army Command and General Staff Coflege 

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 66027-6900 
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 

Berlin, Robert H. (Robert Harry), 1946 

U.S. Army World War II corps commanders : a composite biography / 

Robert H. Berlin. 

p. cm. 

1. World War, 19341945-Biography. 2. GeneraIs-United StatesBiography. 3. Command of troops-IIistory-29th century. 4. United 

States. Army-Biography. I. Title. II. Title: US Army World War 

II corps commanders. 

D769.1.B48 1989 

940.54’12’730922--&20 39-15912 

CIP 

’ .’ 

Reproduced at the CGSC by special permission and may not be further 

.. reproduced in whole orin part without express permission from the copyright awner. , , 

: / 

* -: ,A.’ 
United States Army 

World War II Corps Commanders: 

A Composite Biography 

3% 

Robert I-L Berlin 

HE United States Army ccrrps commander in World War II was the 

highest-level officer who was engaged in battle at the front and who 

concentrated on high-level tactics. Leaving administrative matters 

largely at army level, be caordinated the use of-combined arms on the 

battlefield. He was, as one general describes him, “the last man towards 

the rear who directs tactical fire on the enemy. He is the commander 

who conducts the battle.” 1 

The corps commander was responsible for coordinating and directing the effort of the corps as a combined arms whole. According to 

1942 FieM Service ReguEatiomjior Larger Units, the corps commander 

left the details of executing his operational plan t;o division commanders. In combat, be influenced the outcome of the battle by maintaining 

close contact with the leading divisions and coordinating the use of 

This paper was originally presented at the 1988 Organization of American 

Historians Annual Meeting. I wish to thank the session participants: Roger J. Spiller, 

Larry I. Bland, Peter Maslowski, and Lee Kennett for their helpful comments. The 

paper ah benefited from review by Edward J. Drea, Timothy K. Nenninger, Christapher IL GabeT, and Edward M. Hoffman. 

1. Major General Wade H. Waislip, “Corps in Combat,” unpaged and undated 

leeture given at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School and at the Air 

University, Waislip Papers, U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, 

PennsyIvania (hereafter eited at USAMHI). 
forces. His task, according to doctrine, was-to follow the progress of 

battle, adjust or modify assigned missions of subordinate elements, and 

make “such changes in zones of action and objectives as may be necessary to take full advantage of enemy weaknesses, to exploit those weaknesses, and defeat decisively the hostile force.“2 

General Matthew B. Ridgway, who successfully commanded at both 

the division and corps level during World War II, describes in his 

memoirs certain characteristics of the World War II U.S. Army corps 

commander: 

He is responsible for a large sector of a battle area, and ail he 

must worry about in that zone is fighting. He must be a man of 

great flexibility of mind, for he may be fighting six divisions one 

day and one division the next as the higher commanders transfer 

divisions to and from his corps. He must be a man of tremendous physical stamina, too, for his battle zone may cover a front 

of one hundred miles or more, with a depth of fifty to sixty miles, 

and by plane and jeep he must cover this area, day and night, 

anticipating where the hardest fighting is to come, and being 

there in person, ready to help his division commanders in any 

way he can.3 

For the U.S. Army in World War II “the corps was the key headquarters for employing all combat elements in proper tactical combinations.“4 Situated below army and above division in the hierarchy of 

command, the corps consisted essentially of a commander and his 

staff, headquarters units, and certain organic elements. The corps controlled a varying number of divisions. While the U.S. Army World War II 

infantry division was standardized and usually included about fifteen 

thousand men, the corps, as one commander described it, was an 

amorphous, elastic tactical unit that “expands and contracts according 

to the allocation of troops from higher headquarters based on the 

enemy, the terrain and the contemplated missions”5 

Combat units moved from one corps to another at the discretion of 

the army commander. In addition, the corps controhed pools of non2. U.S. War Department, FM 100-15, Field Service Regulations: Larger Units 

(Washington: GPO, 29 June 1942), 56-65. 

3. Matthew 6. Rid&vay, Soldier: The Memoirs of Matthew B. Ridgwuy (New 

York: Harper, 19.56), 18. 

4. Kent Roberts Greenfield, Robert R. Palmer, and Bell 1. Wiley, The Organtation OJ Ground Combat Troops, U.S. Army in World War II (Washington: GPO, 

1947), 365. 

S. Lieutenant General Alvan C. Gillem, “‘Action of a Corps,” lecture presented 

at Fort Benniq!,, Georgia, 3 March 1948, Box S1 Gillem Papers, USAMHJ. 

2 
divisional combat units, such as corps artillery, engineers, tanks, and 

tank destroyers, which were distributed to divisions as dictated by need 

and availability. As part of a multi-corps army, the corps had few administrative funotions. In essence, “the corps became the key headquarters 

for employing all combat elements in proper tactical combinations.“6 

Twenty-two U.S. Army corps were actively engaged in combat 

operations at some time during World War II.7 Successful corps command made a significant, yet largely unrecognized, contribution to 

Allied victory in World War II. Thirty-four U.S. Army general officers 

commanded these corps in battle. For a professional officer, corps 

command was the ultimate position of tactical leadership. Corps commanders who moved on to higher military positions during or after the 

war, such as Omar N. Bradley, George S. Patton, Jr., J. Lawton Collins, 

and Matthew B. Ridgway, are well known to military historians, and 

many have published their memoirs. However, the majority of corps 

commanders have evoked little historical interest. Innis P. Swift led First 

Corps in the Pacific for nearly a year and a half, Alvan C. Gillem led 

Thirteenth Corps for twenty-two months in the European Theater of 

Operations (ETO), and Geoffrey Keyes commanded Second Corps during twenty-one months of combat in Italy. Despite such accomplishments, these distinguished officers are relatively unknown. 

This study describes and assesses the common baokground of World 

War II corps commanders from their entrance on active duty during 

1904-17 through the end of World War II. My hypothesis is that these 

officers developed common professiona skills and abilities. Early service with troops; education at the Command and Genera1 Staff School; 

and tours as instructors, staff officers, and commanders during the 

interwar years provided a career path that ably prepared most of these 

officers for high-level command. However, such preparation did not in 

itself enable these officers to attain their positions, and thus this paper 

also examines how the U.S. Army selected corps commanders during 

World War II. Finally, this paper provides a brief evaluation of those 

corps commanders who were relieved and those who were promoted. 

6. FM 100-15 (1942), 56-57; Greenfield, Palmer, and Wiley, Organia;ation, 

365. 

7. U.S. Adjutant General’s Office, General Officer Management Office, Alphabetical Rosters for World War II Generals (Washington: The Pentagon, n.d.); and 

Shelby L. Stanton, Order of Battle, U.S. Army, World War Ii (Novato, Calif.: Presidio Press, 1984), 6. 

3 
The thirty-four commanders who led corps in World War II combat 

were born between 1882 and 1896. The eldest was Innis P. Swift, and 

the youngest corps commander was J. Lawton Collins. In between, one 

was born in 1883, one in 1885, four in 1886, five in X888, six in 1889, 

three in 1890, two in 1891, three in 1892, four in 1893, one in 1894, 

and two in 1895.8 They were born in twenty-four states-four in Virginia, three in Indiana, and the remaining states had no more than two per 

state. Their fathers fohowed diverse occupations, in&ding farming, 

ranching, business, law, and medicine. Some came from wealthy households, others were orphans raised by relatives. 

Seven of the thirty-four corps commanders-Lloyd R. FredendaEl, 

S. LeRoy Irwin, Geoffrey Keyes, Alexander M. Patch, Matthew B. Ridgway, Franklin C. Sibert, and Innis P. Swift-had fathers on active duty in 

the U.S. Army at the time of their birth. The fathers of Irwin, Ridgway, 

Sibert, and Swift were graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. Sibert’s 

father was a general officer. Swift’s grandfather was an academy graduate, and his great-grandfather had been a general officer. Clearly, however, these were the exceptions, and if the corps commanders are an 

indication, high command in the U.S. Army during World ?Var II was 

not determined by state of origin OF father’s occupation.9 

Of greater significance were military education, experience, and 

successful performance of duty as evaluated by officer efficiency reports. 

Twenty-four of the thirty-four future corps commanders attended the 

U.S. Military Academy at West Point, twenty-three graduating The 

twenty-fourth, Lloyd R. FredendaIl was dismissed in both 1902 and 

8. See Table 1 for corps commanders listed by date of birth. 

9. Biographical data cm these officers has been compiled from kiilitary Personnel Records Jackets (201 Files originally kept by the Adjutant General’s Office) at 

the Sational Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration, St. Louis, Missouri, hereafter cited as NPRC. The NPRC does not have sli corps 

commanders’ records. A fire at the NPRC on 12 July 1973 destroyed many military 

records. Records of living and recently deceased officers are still controlled by the 

army and are closed. Published sources of biographical data used in this seedy 

include George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register oj the 0.t’ficer.s and 

Graduates ojthe lJ.5’. Mihxy Academy at West Point, X.X. From Its Establishment, in 1882, to ELK@, 3d ed., rev. and enlarged, 3 vols. (Eioston: Houghton, 

.Mifffin, 1891), with Supplements, 1890-l 9.50, 6~01s. (West Point, N.Y.: Association 

of Graduates, United States hlilitary Academy, 1900- ); Roger J. Spiller, ed., Dictionary of American Military Biography, 3 ~01s. (Westport, Corm.: Greenwood 

Press, 1984); U’ebster’s American Military Biographies (Springfield, Mass.: 6. and 

C. Merriam Company, 1978). The Webster’s volume has been republished in 

paperback and carries the following official bibliographic description: Robert 

MeHenry, ed., Webster’s American MilitaryBio,graphies (New York: Rover, 19R1). 

4 
1903 for failing mathematics .lO At least four officers had a year or more 

of higher education before entering the military academy. 

The majority of academy graduates who attained corps command 

during World War II were in the classes of 1909 through 1917. The 

classes of 1912 and 1913 each produced four? and three each came 

from the classes of 1910, 1915, and 1917. In their memoirs, these 

officers speak highly of their West Point experiences. Major General 

Charles H. Corlett recalled the trials of his plebe year and noted that 

“aside from the academic and military knowledge acquired, the fixed 

and unalterable code became part of us.“*1 Besides an education and a 

set of ethics, West Point students acquired reputations that remained 

with them throughout their careers. 

The class yearbook, The Howitzer, records that Ernest J. Dawley 

was “a quiet lad that one seldom sees or hears of.” Omar Bradley, class 

of 1915, was a great baseball player whose “most promising characterfstic is ‘getting there,’ and if he keeps up the clip he’s started, some of us 

will some day be bragging to our grandchildren that ‘sure, General 

Bradley was a classmate of mine.“’ The 1917 Howitzer observed that 

typical of the cadet life of J. Lawton Coilins was “first, concentration 

and decision, second, rapid and hearty action.“12 In terms of class 

standing, these future generals were an average lot. Seven graduated in 

the top third and seven in the lower third of their classes. The highest 

class standing was that of Charles P. Hall who stood 22d in the class of 

1911. Corlett graduated 8lst of 93 in the X913 class, and Swift stood 

115th of 124 in the 1904 class. If these officers are any indication, there 

was little correlation between academic success at West Point and 

attaining corps command. 

Other military and civilian schools are also represented in the education of World War II corps commanders. Edward H. Brooks graduated 

from Norwich University, and Ernest Harmon studied there for a year 

before entering the military academy. Leonard T. Gerow was a 1911 

graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, and Manton S. Eddy graduIO. Philip D. .Jones, “Lloyd Ralston Fredendalt,” in Dictionary qf American 

?&licary Biography, 1:350. Fredendall attended the Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology, passed an examination for a commission in 1906, and entered the 

army in early 1907. 

11, Cowboy Pete: An Au.tobiography of Major General Charles H. Corlett, ed. 

William Farrington (Santa Fe, N.M.: Sleeping Fox Publishers, [ 1974]), 25. Others 

echo these comments: see ,Joseph Lawton Collins. Lighrning J/cae: An Autobiogruphy (Baton Kou,ge: Louisiana State University Press. 19791, 6. 

12. United States Military Academy, The Howitzer (West Point, N.I’~, lYlO- : 

New I’wk, 1% ), 1910, SY; f915, 55: and 1917, 50. 

5 
Table 1 

U.S. Army World War II Combat Corps Commanders 

Birth Date Name Birth Date Name 

7 Feb 82 Swift, lnnis P 30 Dee 89 Cook, Gilbert R. 

28 Dee 83 Fredendall, Lloyd R. 14 Jan 90 Lucas, John P. 

11 Nov $5 Patton, George S., Jr. 4 Apr 90 McLain, Raymond S. 

17 Feb 86 Dawley, Ernest J. 2 Dee 90 Crittenberger, Willis D. 

9 Mar 86 Eichelberger, Robert L. 3 Jan 91 Sibert, Franklin 6. 

22 Oet 86 Griswold, Oscar 10 Mar 91 Anderson, John B. 

12 Dee 86 Hall, Charles P. I1 Jan 92 Milburn, Frank W. 

7 Jan 88 Mill&in, John 19 Mar 92 Van Fleet, James A. 

13 Jul 88 Gerow, Leonard T. 16 May 92 Eddy, Manton S. 

8 Aug 88 Gillem, AIvan C. 12 Feb 93 Bradley, Omar N. 

30 Ott 88 Keyes, Geoffrey 23 Mar 93 h-win, S. LeRoy 

24 Nov S8 Huebner, Clarence R 25 Apr 93 Brooks, Edward H. 

9 Jul 89 Haislip, Wade H. 12 Jun 93 Hedge, John R. 

31 Jul 89 Corlett, Charles H. 26 Feb 94 Harmon, Ernest N. 

12 Ott 89 Middleton, Troy H. 9 Jan 95 Truscott, Lucian K., Jr. 

23 Nov 89 Patch, Alexander M. 3 Mar 95 Ridgway, Matthew B. 

3 Dee 89 Walker, Walton H. 1 May 96 Coflins, J. Lawton 

ated from Shattuck AMilitary School. Five-including Troy H. Middleton, 

who graduated from the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1909, and Lucian Truscatt, who attended the Cleveland Teachers 

institute-attended civilian colleges. Only one corps commander, Oklahoma National Guardsman Raymond S. McLain, did not receive some 

form of higher education.13 

The infantryman was the backbone of the World War 11 army, so it 

should not be surprising that twenty-two of these leaders were assigned 

to the infantry. Ten were initially cavalrymen and two joined the field 

artillery. Three officers-S. LeRoy Irwin, Edward H. Brooks, and John P. 

Lucas-transferred from cavalry to field artillery between 1917 and 

1920. Service with field artillery units prior to or during World War 1 

evidently prompted these branch transfers. J. Lawton Collins recalled 

that he requested assignment to the infantry upon graduation from 

West Point and %ever regretted the choice.” Graduating in 1917, Collins requested a regiment that he thought would be sent overseas. To his 

13. Military Personnel Retards Jackets, NPRC. MeLain, the only National 

Guardsman to command a corps, left school after the sixth grade. 

6 
disappointment, the regiment remained in the United States throughout the war, and he did not get to Europe until after the armistice.14 

The relationship between combat experience as a junior officer and 

later success as a high-level commander is of both historic and current 

interest. Unlike other professionals, the officer encounters his reason 

for existence-armed combat-infrequently. Twenty-three of the thirtyfour subjects of this study served in the American Expeditionary Forces 

in France. Sixteen of these were in combat; four-including Manton S. 

Eddy, Gearge S. Patton, Jr., John P. Lucas, and Clarence R. Huebnerwere wounded. Huebner, who was wounded three times, began the war 

as a captain and company commander; by October 1918, he was a 

Iieutenant colonel in command of an infantry regiment. His World War 

I service earned him two Distinguished Service Crosses and the Distinguished Service MedaLIs 

Others who were in combat in World War I not only gained combat 

experience but attained reputations which Xived with them after the war. 

In September and October 1918 in the Meuse-Argonne, Troy H. Middleton showed “the fine tactical intuition and calmness under fire that 

were the hallmarks of his career. “16 By war’s end, he was the youngest 

colonel in the A,E.F.lr Manton S. Eddy participated in the Aisne-Marne 

offensive and in the IMeuse-Argonne, ending the war in command of a 

machine-gun battalion. Aiexander iM. Patch commanded a machinegun battalion, was director of the A.E.F. machine-gun school, and during the Meuse-Argonne fighting, led an infantry battalion.r* Ernest h‘. 

Harmon led his cavalry troop on successful reconnoitering missions 

against the Germans, and George S. Patton, Jr., is recognized as “the 

combat leader of the American tankers” of World War 1.19 

14. Coilins, Lightning Joe, 7. 

15. OR Huebner, see ,&fat-tin BEumenson and James L. Stokesbuxy, Musters of 

the Art of Command (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 19751, 164-72; and Major R J. 

Rogers, “A Study of Leadership in the First Infantry Division During World War II: 

Terry De La Mesa Allen and Clarence Ralph Huebner” (Master’s thesis, U S. Army 

Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1965). 

16. Mark M. iowenthal, ‘“Troy H. MiddEeton,” in Dictionary c$American Military Biography, 2: 765. 

17. Ibid.; and Frank James Price, Troy H. Middleton: A Biography (Baton 

Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1974). 

18. Manton S. Eddy, Military Personnel Records Jacket, NPRC. On Patch see 

Truman R. Strobridge and Bernard C. Nalty, “From the South Pass to the Brenner 

Pass: General Alexander M. Patch,” Military Review 61 (June 1981): 41-48. 

19. Edward M. Coffman, The War to End All Wars: The American Mi&itary 

Experience in World War I (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 19861, 282, 

313. 

7 
Of the thirty-four officers in this study, seven were in France but not 

in direct combat. Several served in significant staff positions, Charles H. 

Corlett was executive officer for the chief signal officer of the A.E.F. 

and, later, was his director of supplies. Leonard T. Gerow also served on 

the signal corps staff in France. Wade H. Haislip was secretary of the 

general staff for Fifth Corps. Innis P. Swift held several staff positions 

related to personnel matters. Ernest J. Dawley was executive officer of 

the Saumur Artillery School in France,20 

Robert L. Eichelberger and Alvan C. Gillem served with the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia-Eichelberger for nineteen months 

and Gillem for eight. Eichelberger, who served as assistant chief of staff 

and later as chief intelligence officer, observed the rival factions in their 

contest for power and also witnessed most of the fighting in which 

American soldiers were engaged. For Eichelberger, the experience of 

combat, his observations of Japanese soldiers, and his study of Eeaelership were of great future vaIue when, as a corps and army commander, 

he faced the challenges of Wrorld War II in the Pacific.zr 

To their dismay, nine of the future corps commanders did not 

participate in World War I either in France or Siberia. Keyes and Crittenberger were instructors at the military academy during the war, 

while Irwin taught at the Field Artillery School. Ridgway and Truseott 

served in Texas and Arizona along the Mexican border, whiIe Bradley 

trained troops in Washington state. Collins served with troops in New 

York state and did not go to France until 1919. Frank W. Miiburn served 

in the Canal Zone, and Oscar We Griswold, as an aide to a major 

general, accompanied him on an inspection tour of British, French, 

and American forces on the Western Front in France from November 

1917 to February 1918.22 Obviously, there were ways to gain experience from World War I without serving at the front. 

Nonetheless, over one-half of the officers in this study were in battle 

during World War I. But although valuable, this experience did not 

prove to be critical for future advancement and selection for high-level 

command. Omar Bradley, whose initial combat assignment was as a 

corps commander in I\‘orth Africa and Sicily, performed brilliantly 

20. Military Personnel Records Jackets, NPRC; and Cullurn, Biographical 

Register. 

21. Robert L. Eichelberger, Dear Mss Em: GeneraE Eichetberger’s Wur in the 

Pac$ic, 1942-194.5, ed. Jay Luvaas (Westport, Corm.: Greenwood Press, 19721, 

7-11. 

22. Military Personnel Records Jackets, NPRC; Cullurn, Biographical Register 

and R. If. D., ““Oscar Woolverton Griswold. obituary, Assembly 19(FalI 19hO): 82. 

8 
without having participated in combat during World War I.23 The key to 

advancement and preparation for the demands of high-level ieadership 

positions during World War II is not necessariEy found in World War I 

battlefield service. 

The interwar period following the demobilization of the 1920s gave 

officers time to study and teach at professional military schools. These 

schooh laid the foundation for corps command in World War II. Between 

1922 and 1930, thirty of the thirty-four corps eommanders attended 

officer advanced courses at the Infantry, Cavalry, and Field Artillery 

schools at Forts Benning, Riley, and Sill. These courses provided instruction and practical exercises directed to advancing an officer’s branch 

expertise. Officers aliso made important contacts with contemporaries 

and superiors who would influence their careers. Notable, of course, is 

the connection several of them established with George C. Marshall, the 

future chief of staff of the army, who was assistant commandant at the 

Infantry School from November 192’7 to June 1932. Marshall’s chief 

biographer has decIared that “‘when in I940 and 1941 the Chief of Staff 

looked for division and corps commanders, he knew intimately scores 

of officers who had worked with him at Benning and who valued the 

same essentials of batrle,leadership. “24 Among them were Bradley, CoIlins, Ridgway, Van Fleet, Huebner, Eddy, and Cook, all of whom had 

studied or taught with Marshall at Fort Eenning. 

Among the group, seventeen were graduates of the Infantry Advanced Course, eight the Artillery Course, and seven the Cavalry Course. 

Two officers, Collins and Walker, were graduates of both the Infantry 

and Artillery Courses. Only four officers-Corlett, Eiehelberger, Gillem, and Griswold-did not attend an advanced course between the 

world wars. 

After the advanced branch course, the next level on the pyramid of 

U.S. Army professional military education was the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. Kansas. During the interwar 

period, instruction at Leavenworth concentrated on tactics and operations using practical exercises and problem solving as the instructional 

methodology. Between 1930 and 1936, the Command and General 

Staff School (C.G.S.S.) had a two-year program that included additional 

instruction on corps and army-level operations. The school aimed to 

23. This subject is ably, though briefly, explored in Martin Hlumenson, “\\‘orId 

\Var I: Proving Ground for world war 11 ?” Army 31 (March 1981): 48-56. Rlumenson cites the case of Bradley. 

24. Forrest C. Po$,ue, George C. Marshail, vol. 1, Eciucarion qf a General, 

IHNO-1939 (New York: Viking Press, lY63), 269. 

9 
prepare officers for command and staff duties at the division and corps 

leveIs.“s 

Thirty-three of the thirty-four U.S. Army World War II combat corps 

commanders were Leavenworth graduates. Of these, twenty-four graduated from the one-year course between 1923 and 1929, and eight 

from the two-year course between 1930 and 1936. Raymond S. McLain 

attended a three-month National Guard officers course at Leavenworth 

in 1938. Only one of tbe group, James A. Van Fleet, did not attend 

Leavenworth at ah.26 Van Fleet claims he did not attend C.G.S.S. 

because he was needed at the University of Florida where he was professor of military science and tactics-and the football coach.27 

The instruction at Leavenworth provided the officers in this study 

with an understanding of common staff procedures and tactical doctrine. This common knowledge was both an essential part of their military education and a professional tool that enhanced the flexibility of 

World War II division and corps operations.28 According to J. Lawton 

Collins, who graduated in 1933, “for the Army as a whole, the courses at 

the Command and General Staff School were probably the most important in the entire system of military education, and were to prove 

invaluable in Warid War II. “29 Thirteen of the group graduated near the 

top of their classes and were honor or distinguished graduates. Only two 

of the thirty-three-Corlett and Griswold-graduated in the lower half 

of their cIasses at Leavenworth .sc (Table 2 lists the year each commander graduated and his class standing.) 

25. Timothy K. Nenninger, “The Command and General Staff School, 1919-40.” 

unpublished manuscript, Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command and 

General Staff CoBege, Fort Leavenworth. Kansas, 1988. 

26. Military Personnel Reeords Jackets, NPRC; and Cullurn, BiogruphicuE 

Register. 

27. General James A. LTan Fleet, interview with Lieutenant Colonel Bruce WIhams, 20 January 1973, Oral History Collections, USAMHI. 

28. In his memoirs, one corps commander observed, “A military historian 

recently asked me bow the United States, indifferent and even contemptuous of the 

military in peacetime, had been able to produce a group of generals proficient 

enough to lead armies successfully against German might. . . I am now convinced 

that the intensive and imaginative training at the Command and General Staff 

College bad a great deal to do with it.” Ernest N. Harmon with Milton MacKaye and 

William Ross MacKaye, Combat Commander: Autobiography ofa Soidier (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1970) 49-50. 

29. Collins, Lightning Joe, 57. 

30. Class records of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School in the 

Registrar’s Office, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leaven 

worth, Kansas; and MiEitary Personnel Records Jackets, NPRC. 

10 
Table 2 

. Corps Commanders’ Education and Teaching Experiences 

at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School 

Name CGSS Year Class Faculty 

Graduate Course Standing Member 

Anderson 1925 

Bradley 1929 

Br00k.S 1934 

Collins 1933 

Cook 1925 

Corlett 1923 

Crietenberger 192.5 

Dawiey 1927 

Eddy 1934 

Eichetberger 1926 

Fredendafi 1923 

Gerow 1926 

Gillem 1923 

Griswold 1925 

Haislip 1925 

Hail 1925 

Harmon 1933 

Hod&e 1934 

Huebner 1925 

Irwin 1927 

Kep 1926 

IJlcas 1924 

McLain 1938’ 

Middleton 1924 

MiIburn 1933 

Mithkin 1926 

Patch 1925 

Patton 1923 

Ridgway 1935 

Sibert 1925 

Swift 1923 

Truscott 1936 

Van Fleet No 

Walker 1926 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

NA 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2W258 

l/S8 

13/X18 

22/125 

38/T% 

100/151 

27/258 

SO/‘201 

49/118 

27/245 

30/151 

1 l/245 

57/151 

189/258 

671258 

431258 

14/125 

S/118 

6/258 

41/201 

84/245 

78/247 

18/40 

S/240 

18/125 

301245 

30/258 

25’248 

46/118 

281258 

123/151 

32/121 

117/245 

1934-38 

1937-39 

1939-41 

1927-3 1 

1934-38 

1926-29 

1932-36 

1929-33 

1924-28 

1934-38 

1926-30 

1925-28 

1923-29 

1936-40 

’ Three-month National Cuard officers course. 

11 
The Army W’ar College in Washington, D.C., was another step on 

the ladder to corps command in World War II. Students at the .4rmy 

War College studied how to prepare for and conduct war and engaged 

as well in an analytical study of historical campaigns. The War College 

emphasized educating officers for both general staff service and higher 

command. There were no class standings, and work was done by student committees.Jr Corps command during World War II was an intellectually demanding job; classroom education at the War College, 

therefore, was valuable preparation for the task. Between 1926 and 

1938, twenty-nine of the thirty-four officers graduated from the Army 

War College. Their formal professional education was now nearly 

complete.3” 

One reason for the vitality of interwar professional military education was the quality of instructors. During the interwar period, every 

one of the Regular Army officers in this study served as an instruetar 

somewhere in the army educational system. Between the two world 

wars, eleven officers served as instructors at the military academy, fourteen were instructors at the Infantry School, five taught at the Cavalry 

School, three served at the Field Artillery School, and two were on the 

faculty of the Coast Artillery School. Fourteen were instructors at the 

Command and General Staff School. Fifteen had tours at colIeges and 

universities as R.O.T.C. professors of military science and tactics. One 

was an instructor at the Army War College. These figures do not include 

multiple tours, several of which occurred at the Infantry School and 

R.O.T.C. schools. World War II corps commanders recognized the 

connection between teaching and military command.33 They used 

their tours of duty as instructors to continue their education and 

development. 

During the interwar period, twenty-five corps commanders spent 

over ten years in the classroom either as students or instructors. For 

example, foIlowing World War I, Troy Middleton spent two years on the 

3 I. Harry P. Ball, OvfResponsible Command: A History of the U.S. Army War 

College (Carlisle Barracks, Pa.: Alumni Association of the United States Army LVar 

College, 1983), 212-19. 

32. LIilitary Personnel Records Jackets, NPRC; and Cullurn, Biographical Register. Eddy, M&lain, Milburn, Truscott. and Van Fleet did not attend the Army War 

College. Collins and Swift were also graduates of the Army Industrial College. 

33. Military Personnel Records Jackets, NPRC. As instructors, these officers 

could influence each other. While Troy Niddleton was an instructor at the Command and General Staff School from 1924 to 1928, he taught seventeen of the 

thirty-four corps commanders. According to his biographer, “At one time in World 

War II, every corps commander in Europe had been a student under Middleton at 

the Command and General Staff School.” Price, Mddleton, 91. 

12 
Infantry School faculty; a year as a student; another year on the Infantry Board; yet anoeher year as a student, this time at C.G.S.S.; four years 

on the faeulty at Leavenworth; and a year at the Army War Collegci.34 

From 1921 to 1939, Edward H. Brooks was a student at the Artillery 

School, an instructor at the Artillery School for more than four years, a 

student at G.G.S.S., a professor of military science and tactics at Harvard University for two years, a student at the Army War College, and 

ultimately an instructor at Leavenworth for two years. During this 

eighteen-year period, Brooks was outside the classroom for only onethird of the time-about six years -when he commanded artillery batteries in the Philippines and at Fort Riley.35 

Certainly, the size of the U.S. Army during the interwar period 

governed the number of available command and staff assignments and 

steered officers into the classroom. In 1926, the army totaled less than 

135,000 officers and men, and it was not until 1938 that the army had 

over 185,000. In 1938, there were still fewer than 14,000 officers.36 

However, my study of the career patterns of these thirty-four officers 

indicates that instructor duty during the interwar period was career 

enhancing. A review of officer efficiency reports reveals a conscientious 

effort by these officers to perform instructor duties with dedicated 

enthusiasm. But although instructor duty was the norm for these officers during much of the interwar period, it was not their sole concern. 

They also sought command and staff assignments. 

Command of troop units was a desirable assignment for officers 

during the interwar period because it could result in highly beneficial 

officer efficiency reports, such as the one Alvan C. Gillem earned in 

June 1925. Gillem’s regimental commander remarked that “Major Gillem is the best Battalion Commander I have ever known. [He] understands how to handle and instruct his men and officers, [is] dependable 

and loyai.YYf7 Prior to World War II, Gillem commanded an infantry 

battalion for two years, an infantry regiment for ten months, an armored 

brigade in 1941, and an armored division for ten months before and 

shortly after Pearl Harbor. 

Twenty-two of the thirty-four officers gained extensive command 

experience during the interwar period. As their experience grew, they 

34. Price, Middletan, 94. 

35. Edward H. Brooks, Military Personnel Records Jacket, NPRC. 

36. Russell Frank Weigley, H+stazy of the United States Army, enlarged ed. 

(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984), 599. 

37. Efficiency Report prepared by Colonel Woodson Hacker, 3 August 1925, 

Nogales, Arizona, in Alvan C. CXlem, Military Personnel Records Jacket, NPRC. 

13 
usually led successively larger units, moving from company to battalion 

to regiment. Nine commanded only one or two units between the wars. 

Only three did not command troops at all between the wars. Of these, 

Huebner and Middleton had already had extensive command experience during World War I. Bradley was solely on instructor and staff 

duty the entire interwar period.38 

All thirty-four officers heId staff assignments during the interwar 

period, varying from regimental staff duty to service on the General 

Staff in Washington where twenty of the future corps commanders 

served. Often, these staff assignments were long tours of duty lasting 

from three to five years. John R. Hodge spent five years with the Operations and Training Division, G-3, of the War Department General Staff. 

Walton Walker was a member of the Supply and Projects Section and 

executive officer of the War Plans Division from 1937 to 1941. Omar 

Bradley served on the General Staff in Washington from June 1938 to 

February 1941. 

At the beginning of World War II, the thirty-four officers who would 

become corps commanders were exceptionally well prepared for the 

challenges of high-level command in modern warfare. By December 

194 1, most were colonels holding key assignments. Their professional 

education and extensive experience as instructors, commanders, and 

staff officers made them ready for high-level command as the nation 

prepared to deploy large ground combat forces. Several factors led to 

selection of our thirty-four subjects for high-level command in World 

War II. Age was, of course, a major factor; most successful candidates 

for high command were in their late forties or early fifties at the outbreak of the war. They had extensive education and experience and an 

aptitude for tactical thought. They also had records of continued suecess in a variety of assignments between 1939 and 1942.a9 

However, performance of duty was not always sufficient for attainment of high-level command. A favorable reputation with George C. 

Marshall, army chief of staff; Leslie J. McNair, chief of Army Ground 

Forces; and later Dwight D. Eisenhower was also an important factor in 

command selection. There was a personal connection between these 

three officers. and twenty-one of the thirty-four corps commanders. 

General Marshal1 viewed “the selection of officers for high command as 

one of our most complicated and important duties and one which will 

38. Military Personnel Records Jackets, NPRC; and Cullurn, Bio,graphieul 

Register. 

39. Ibid. For a discussion of factors leading to high command positions in the 

U.S. Army in World War II, see Blumenson and Stokesbury, Musters gfthe Art yf 

Command, 4. 

14 
have to be approached directly.‘” In a memorandum on this subject 

dated December 1, 1942, to General McNair, Marshall emphasized that 

“vital qualifications for a general officer are leadership, force, and vigor. 

Ordinary training, experience, and education cannot compensate for 

these and the officers who possess them must be singled out and 

advanced regardless of other considerations.“‘40 Marshall adhered to 

this policy. While he considered the recommendations of his G-1 personnet officer, General Headquarters, and area commanders, he personally made the initial command assignments.4l 

Marshall looked for corps commanders among “men who have 

proven themselves very able in organizing and training divisions.‘“42 

Oscar Griswold, George S. Patton, Jr., and Innis Swift commanded 

divisions in the United States before World War II. The other officers in 

this study first commanded divisions, either in training or in combat, 

during WorEd War II and then rose to assume corps commands. Clearly, 

successful division command in the U.S. training base or in combat was 

the essential prerequisite for corps command. As the number of divisions in combat expanded during the war, they became the training 

grounds for future corps commanders. After June 1944, officer promotions that were deserved on account of assignment to high command 

were deferred pending the test of battle.43 In the European Theater of 

Operations, General Eisenhower decided which generals should be 

promoted from division to corps command, and he personally approved 

those corps commanders nominated by Marshall and McNair.44 In the 

Pacific, General MacArthur approved all corps commander appointments, with General Marshall’s recommendations. MacArthur’s army 

40. Marsha11 Memorandum for MeNair, 1 December 1942, microfilm of Mar. 

shall files in the h’ational Archives, George C. hlarshali Research Library, Lexington, Virginia. 

41. Mark Skinner Watson, ChiefofStaff: Prepexxr Plans and Prepararions, U.S. 

Army in World War II (Washington: GPO, 1950), 274-76. 

42. Marshall to Major General Walter S. Grant, 7 July 1941, in The Papers of 

George Catlett Marshall, vol. 2, “We Cannot Delay,” Ju?y I, 193%December 6, 

1941, ed. Larry I. Bland, Sharon R. Ritenour, and Clarence E. Wunderiin, Jr. 

(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986), 561. 

43. Lieutenant General Lesley J. M&air, Memorandum for the Chief of Staff, 

Subject: Carps and Division Commanders, 27 June 1944, Box 427, Records of the 

General Staff, U.S. War Department, Record Group 165, National Archives. (Such 

record groups hereafter cited as RG with record number.) 

44. Stephen F,. Ambrose, Supreme Commander: The War Years of General 

Dwight D. Eisenhoeeer (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1970), 597.. Also see Memorandum and Messages on Corps and Division Command Appointments, 25 September 1944, RG 165, Hox 7, Records of the Executive Office, Operations Division. 

15 
commanders also recommended to him those division commanders 

capable of corps command.45 

The average age of officers upon assuming corps command during 

the war was fifty-three,*6 though it tended to be slightly older in the 

Pacific.47 The oldest corps commander. Innis P. Swift, was sixty-two 

when he commanded First Corps in the Pacific in 1944. J. Lawton 

Collins, commander of Seventh Corps in the European Theater, was, at 

forty-seven, the youngest. (See Table 3 for commands held.) 

Once corps commanders entered combat, they usually remained in 

command of the same corps unless relieved or promoted to command 

of a field army. Seven corps commanders were relieved during World 

War II. Medical problems were the sole cause for two reliefs and played 

a part in two others. Lack of an aggressive advance of forces was the 

principal reason for the other reliefs. The first to be relieved of command was Lloyd R. Fredendall in North Africa in March 1943. In the 

battle of Kasserine Pass, his troop dispositions were faulty, and when 

surprised by the enemy, be failed to exert the type of leadership that 

could have prevented an embarrassing defeat. His subordinate commanders and his superiors all concurred with his reliefs’s 

In September 1943, General Mark Clark‘relieved Ernest J. Dawley 

from command of Sixth Corps after the battle of the Salerno beachhead. According to an authoritative history of the campaign, “the inevitable confusion of the beachhead, the intermingling of units and the 

consequent lack of neat dispositions on a situation map, Dawley’s failure to impress visiting officers of high rank, his fatigue after several days 

and nights of strenuous activity and little sleep-these raised doubts in 

45. Marshall to MacArthur, 7 July 1942, Records of the U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. 

War Department, Record Group 4; and Walter Kreuger to MacArthur, 2 July 1944, 

Papers of Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland, Record Group 30; both items 

at the MacArthur Memorial Library and Archives, Norfolk, Virginia. 

46. My calculations show an average age of 53.23 years on assuming corps 

command. The files of the General Officer Management Office, U.S. Adjutant 

General’s Office, the Pentagon, show the average age of corps commanders in the 

European Theater of Operations in 1944 as 53 years and 3 months. The General 

Staff kept track of the average ages of World War II general officers. 

47. The Pacific corps commanders were Robert L. Eichelherger. Oscar Griswold, Charles I? Ifall, John R. Hedge, Alexander M. Patch, Franklin C. Sibert, and 

lnnis t? Swift. 

48. A brief account of the relief based on the opinions of Eisenhower, Jlarmon, 

and Truscott is Jones, “Lloyd Ralston Fredendall,” 350-53. 

16 

__----- 
the minds of his superiors.“@ Ironically, Fredendall was promoted to 

lieutenant general after his relief, while DawIey reverted to his permanent rank of colonel. Fredendall’s promotion had been initiated prior 

to his relief and Eisenhower and Marshah believed he could still serve 

the war effort.50 For the remainder of World War 11 Fredendall was 

commanding general of the Second Army with headquarters in Memphis. Tennessee. 

Mark Clark was also instrumental in relievfng John J? Lucas from 

Sixth Corps at Anzio in February 1944. Clark relieved Lucas without 

prejudice. He felt Lucas was worn out and could have been more 

aggressive.sr Lucas retained his rank and returned to the states to 

command training armies. 

*Major General Gilbert R. Cook, who led ‘L’welfth Corps in the drive 

to the Seine after the breakout in Normandy, was relieved in August 

1944 at his own request om account of “the increasingly painful effects 

of a circulatory disease which kept him from moving about the way he 

thought he should . . . to meet his own high standards of command.” 52 

General Charles H. Corlett had heakh problems brought on by service 

in the Pacific early in the war and an infection contracted in Normandy. Corlett was relieved of command of Nineteenth Corps in October 1944 during the Aaehen campaign. While his relief was done 

without prejudice, the army commander, General Courtney Hodges, 

was dissatisfied with his corps’ progress against the fortifications of the 

U’estwall.5j 

General Hodges, commander of the First Army, was also unhappy 

with the way Major General John Mill&in handled the situation at the 

49. Martin Blumenson, Salerno to Cassino. U.S. Army in World War fl (Washington: GPO, 1969), 152. Dawiey returned to the United States and served as 

commanding general of the Tank Destroyer Center from March 1944 to March 

1945. Ernest J. Dawley, Military Personnel Records Jacket, NPRC. 

50. See Eisenhower to Marshall, March 5, 1943, No. 4580, RG 337, document 

number 740112. 

5 1, Martin Blumenson, “General Lucas at .4nzio,” in Command Decisions, ed. 

Kent Roberts Greenfield (Washington: GPO, 1960), 323-50. 

52. P. Wood, “‘Gilbert Richard Cook,” obituary, Assembly 2.5 (Spring 1966): 

86-S7. Also see Martin Blumenson, Breakout and Pursuit, U.S. Army in World 

\Var II (Washington: GPO, 1961), 565-68. George S. Patton, Cook’s army commander, rated him number one of the ten unbattle-tried corps commanders known 

to him in June 1944. Gilbert R. Cook, Efficiency Report prepared by General 

Patton, Military Personnel Records Jacket, NPRC. 

53. Russell Frank Weigley, Eisenhower’s Lieutenants: The Campaign ofFrance 

and Germany, 1944-1945 (Bloomington: Indiana IJniversity Press, 19R1). 129-30, 

430-32, 755. 

17 
Table 3 

U.S. Army World War II Combat Corps Commanders 

Name Birth Date Command(s) Theater 

Anderson, John B. 

Bradley, Qmar N. 

10 Mar 91 

12 Feb 93 

Brooks, Edward H. 2.5 Apr 93 

Collins, J. Lawton 1 May96 

Cook, Gilbert R. 30 Dee 89 

Corlett, Charles H. 31 JuI89 

Crittenberger, Willis D. 

Dawley, Ernest J. 

2 Dee 90 

17 Feb 86 

Eddy, Manton S. 16 May 92 

Eichelberger, Robert L. 9 Mar 86 

Fredendall, Lloyd R. 28 Dee 83 

Gerow, Leonard T. 13 Jul88 

Gillem, Alvan C. 

Griswold) Oscar 

Haislip, Wade H. 

Hail, Charles P. 

8 At@ 88 

22 act 86 

9 Jul89 

12 Dee 86 

Harmon, Ernest N’. 

(deployed June 44) Pacific 

26 Feb 94 XXII Corps, Jan 45 ET0 

XVI Corps, Jan 44 

II Corps, 

Apr 43-Sep 43 

VI Corps, Ott 44 

VII Corps, Feb 44 

XII Corps, 

Nov 43-A@ 44 

XIX Corps, 

Mar-Nov 44 

IV Corps, Mar 44 

VI Corps, 

Apr 42-Sep 43 

XII Corps, 

A@ 44-Apr 45 

I Corps, 

A@ 42-A@ 44 

11 Corps, 

Ott 42-Mar 43 

V Corps, 

Jul43-Jan 45 

XIII Corps, Dee 43 

XIV Corps, Apr 43 

XV Corps, Feb 43 

XI Corps, Oet 42 

ETQ 

North Africa 

Sicily 

ET0 

ET0 

ET0 

ET0 

Italy 

Italy 

ET0 

Pacific 

North Africa 

ET0 

ETQ 

Pacific 

ET0 

18 
Table 3 (continued) 

U.S. Army World War IE Combat Corps Commanders 

Name Birth Date Command(s) Theater 

Hedge, John R. 

Huebner, Clarence R. 

Irwin, S. LeRoy 

Keyes, Geoffrey 

Lucas. John P 

12 Jun 93 

24 Nov 88 

23 Alar 93 

30 Oet 88 

14 Jan 90 

McLain, Raymond S. 4 Apr 90 

Middleton, Troy H. 12 Oot 89 

Milburn, Frank W. 11 Jan 92 

iMilIikin, John 7 Jan 88 

Patch, Alexander M. 23 Nov 89 

Patton, George S., Jr. 11 No\785 

Ridgway, Matthew B. 

Sibert, Franklin 6. 

Swift, Innis I? 

Truscott, Lucian K., Jr. 

Van Fleet, James A. 

Walker, Q’alton II. 

3 -Mar 95 XVIII Airborne Corps, 

Aug 44 ET0 

3 Jan 91 X Corps, Aug 44 Pacific 

7 Feb 82 I Corps, Aug 44 Pacific 

9 Jan 9.5 VI Corps 

Feb 44-&t 44 Italy 

19 Mar 92 XXIII Corps, 

Feb 4%Mar 45 ET0 

III Corps, Mar 45 ET0 

3 Dee 89 XX Corps, Sep 42 ET0 

XXIV Corps, Jun 43 

V Corps, Jan 4.5 

XII Corps, Apr 45 

11 corps 

VI Corps, 

Sep 43-Feb 44 

XIX Corps, Nov 44 

VIII Corps, Mar 44 

XXI Corps, Dee 43 

III Corps, 

Qct 43-Mar 45 

XIV Corps 

Jan 43-Apr 43 

I Armored Corps 

Jan 43 

II corps, 

Mar 43-Apr 43 

Pacific 

ET0 

ET0 

ET0 

Italy 

ET0 

ET0 

ET0 

ET0 

Pacific 

North Africa 

North Africa 

19 
Remagen bridge and the bridgebead, and so be ordered his relief on 17 

arch 1945--just prior to the collapse of the bridge. Within‘s month, 

ill&in assumed command of a division whose commander had been 

seriously wounded.s* The final relief of a corps commander occurred in 

April 1945; with victory in sight, Manton S. Eddy left command of 

Twelfth Corps on the orders of medical officers alarmed by his high 

blood pressure.ss 

Besides being relieved, corps commanders could leave their posts 

by being promoted to higher commarrd. Four corps commandersBradley, Eichelberger, Patton, and Truscott-received army commands 

during World War El. br a famous memo prepared by General Eisenhower in February 1945, he listed officers in order of merit based on the 

value of services rendered in the war .S6 Bradley heads the list; Patton is 

fourth. Eighth, ninth, and tenth are Gerow, Colhins, and Patch. Eisenhower describes Collins as a “particularly fine C.G. In a battle; energetic, always optimistic, a leader.“” Also Included on Eisenhawer’s list 

are Ridgway% Brooks, Waishp (described as a ‘“Fine Corps C.G., fighter, 

cast”), Eddy, Huebner, Harmon, and Van Fleet. The list not only provides Eisenhower”s assessment but almost serves as a roster af senior 

commanders in the postwar army. Bradley7 Collins, and Rid&way were 

iefs of staff; Ha&lip was army vice chief of staff. Ridgway and 

ommanded U.S. forces in Korea. ConverseEy by 1948, sixteen of the thirty-four corps commanders had retired from active duty. 

The thirty-four combat corps commanders contributed directly to 

tbe Allied victory. Their professional military education, experience in 

a variety of positions, and operational knowhedge combined with combat leadersship prepared them to serve the army ably at war. 

54. Charles B. chnald, The Last C@n.sioe, U.S. Army in World War El 

~~ash~~~t~~: GPO, 73), 222-35,367. Mill&n, previausly highly rated by Patton, 

f0rrBdlY objected to an unsatisfactcmy rating given him after his retief on 7 May 

1945 b C%mtnep Had&s, commander of the U.S. First Army. ~&llikia affirmed 

that, ““under the existi@ conditions my aetians taken on rhe grmmd were justified 

in the light of successful resub.” BradEey noted en the efficiency report that Milti- 

&“s successor, General Van Fleet, “was better q&fled ta command the corps 

than General ~i~~~~~ with his limited experience.“’ Bradley added that Mill&in’s 

record ~hauld not be adversely affected by his relief. Bradley to Commanding 

eenr?r& European Theater of Operations, 26 June 1945, in John hWikin, Military 

Personnel Records Ja 

55. Manton S. Eddy, ilitary Persannel Records Jacket, NPRC. 

56. Llwight David , Document No. 2271, ‘“Mema, Eisenhower MS, 

utcher Diary, Febru;rw 1, 1945,” Tire Papers afDwt@zt .&mid Eisenhswer: The 

War Years, ed. Alfred D. Chandler, et al. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University 

Press, P976- ), 4: 2466-69. 

%I? 
After the war, one corps commander, Ernest I!?. Harmon, addressed 

the issue of war and peace. He wrote: 

As a professional soldier, I have always been one of the true 

advocates of peace, because I realize perhaps more than any 

other class of people the terrific waste, misery and expenditure 

of war. 1 assure you, there is nothing pretty about it, except the 

great spirit of sacrifice and comradeship that is developed by the 

men who have the dirty business to da.57 

Lengthy professional preparation involving extensive education, training, and command experience during peacetime is required to prepare 

a mature corps commander. The often unrecognized efforts of U.S. 

Army combat corps commanders in World War II merit historical 

attention, for such leaders do not simply just appear when the dirty 

business of war begins. 

57. Harmon to Mr. E. 6. Davis, undated letter, Ernest N. Harmon Papers, 

USAMWI. 
Dr. Robert H. Berlin is a supervisory 

histm-ian and chief of the Historical Services 

Committee at the Combat Studies Institute, 

U.S. Army Command and General Staff Callegs, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. A graduate of 

Rackford Callege in Illinois, he earned his 

doctorate in history at the University of 

CaIifornia-Santa Barbara. He has taught 

military history at Manafield College in Pennsylvania and the University of Kansas. He is 

also the author af CSL Historical ~ibl~ogra~h~ 

No. 8, Military Classics. 

COMBAT STUDIES INSTITUTE 

The Combat Studies Institute was established on 18 June 1979 as a 

debarment-lever activity within the U.S. Army Command and General Staff 

College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. CSI has the following missions: 

1. Conduct research on historical topics pertinent to the doctrinal concerns of 

the Army and publish the results in a variety of formats for the Active Army 

and Reserve Components. 

2. Prepare and present instruction in military history at USACGSG and assist 

other USACGSC departments in integrating military history inta their 

instruction. 

3. Serve as the U.S. Army Training and IIoctrine C~ommand’s executive agent 

for the development and coordination of an integrated, prqessive program of 

mihtary history ~s~c~o~ in the TKAlX3C service school system. 
U.S. Army Command and Genera! Staff College 

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 66027-6900