Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1919-09-08

Leonard Wood, who was superior Of
ficer at the time, selected Pershing
to organize and conduct campaign
against the Moros who for centuries
had successfully resisted all attempts
of the Spanish army to subjugate
them.
Pershing justified the confidence
that Wood had imposed in him in his
Moro campaign. There was a Sui
tan of Bacalod with unknown thous-
ands of followers intrenched in the
marshes and mountains of the tropical
islands behind heavy forts of palm
wood, logs and giant creepers and
thorn bushes woven into what was
supposed to be impregnable defenses.
Pershing had made a study of the
conditions and so well had he
organized his little force consisting Of
a battalion of infantry, a squadron of
cavary and section of artillery that
in two days the Moro's strong holds
were cleared out and the Island of
Mindanao was soon placed under
Pershing's military governorship.
When he returned home in 1914 he
was sent there in command Of the
Eighth Brigade, charged with the
special duty of running down or driv-
ing off Villa. His expedition pene-
trated many miles into Mexico and
army officers believed that the ulti-
mate capture of Villa was prevented
only by recall orders from Washington
where the authorities decided that
they were unwilling to continue a
military policy seeming certain to in
volve the United States in regular war
with Mexico.
When Pershing was chosen to COM
mand the American forces in France,
he took with him many Of the brown
ed and hardened veterans of his Mexi-
can campaign and these men formed
the nucleus of the famous First
division of the American Expedition
ary Force.
A terrible tragedy had come into
Pershing's life during his Mexican
border service through the loss of his
wife and three little children who
were burned to death in their home
at the Preside, in San Francisco,
during his absence. His life became
hard and stern; not towards his
soldiers, however, but in the regimen
he imposed upon himself and in the
objects he had marked for attain
ment. He threw himself into his
work with passon that commanded
success, evidently seeking relief from
his private grief in public service. 1t
was said Of him in France that he
was never tired; he could be called
upon any hour out of the twenty-four
for consultation or direction without
complaint on his part, in contrast with
some of his famous colleagues in the
Entente Armies.
Pershing believed in teamwork; he
knew that whatever success the Ger
mans had attained was through their
unified command of the armies of, the
Central Powers. So he was not only
willing but anxious to see the same
principles adopted by the Entente
armies. He sank his private
ambitions and freely rendered the
services of the last American soldier
and all his army equipment to Cen
eral Foch at the most critical point
in the campaign. There is said to be
no doubt that his example affected
the other commands and went long
way towards bringing about the uni
fication Of the Entente armies under
Marshal Foch.
It was not until Pershing was GER
tain that the plans had made. with
the assistance of his own staff for
sufficient number of American soldiers
that Pershing felt justified in taking
complete command Of an important
sector of the line of battle with the
full assent of Marshal Foch and with
the result that the American army
broke the morale of the Germans and
brought the war to an end.
For what he did in Europe Per-
shing has been praised beyond
measure by the greatest rulers and
soldiers of the world who have been
glad to welcome him and press his
hand.