Troy H . Middleton Lieutenant General Troy Houston Middleton ( 12 October 1889 – 9 October 1976 ) was a distinguished soldier - educator who served as a corps commander in Europe during World War II and later as President of Louisiana State University ( LSU ) . He is best known for his decision to hold Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge , contrary to the recommendation of General George Patton . Enlisting in the United States Army in 1910 , Middleton was first assigned to the 29th Infantry Regiment where he worked as a clerk . Here he did not become an infantryman as he had hoped , but he was pressed into service playing football , a sport strongly endorsed by the Army . Following two years of enlisted service , Middleton was transferred to Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , where he was given the opportunity to compete for an officer ' s commission . Of the 300 individuals who were vying for a commission , 56 were selected , and four of them , including Middleton , would become general officers . As a new second lieutenant , Middleton was assigned to the 7th Infantry Regiment in Galveston , Texas , which was soon pressed into service , responding to events created by the Mexican Revolution . Middleton spent seven months doing occupation duty in the Mexican port city of Veracruz , and later was assigned to Douglas , Arizona , where his unit skirmished with some of Pancho Villa ' s fighters . Upon the entry of the United States into World War I , Middleton was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division , and soon saw action as a battalion commander during the Second Battle of the Marne . Three months later , following some minor support roles , his unit led the attack during the Meuse - Argonne Offensive , and Middleton became a regimental commander . Because of his exceptional battlefield performance , on 14 October 1918 he was promoted to the rank of colonel , becoming at 29 the youngest officer of that rank in the American Expeditionary Forces . He also received the Distinguished Service Medal for his exemplary service . Following World War I , Middleton served at the United States Army Infantry School , the Command and General Staff School , the Army War College , and as Commandant of Cadets at LSU . He retired from the Army in 1937 to accept an offer as Dean of Administration at LSU and later became comptroller and the acting Vice President . His tenure at LSU was fraught with difficulty , as Middleton became one of the key players in helping the university recover from a major scandal where nearly a million dollars had been embezzled . Recalled to service in early 1942 , Middleton commanded the 45th Infantry Division during the Sicily and Salerno battles in Italy , and then in March 1944 moved up to command the U . S . VIII Corps . His leadership in Operation Cobra led to the capture of the important port city of Brest , France , and for his success he was awarded a second Distinguished Service Medal by General George Patton . His greatest World War II achievement , however , was in his decision to hold the important city of Bastogne , Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge . Following this battle , and his corps ' relentless push across Germany until reaching Czechoslovakia , he was recognized by both Dwight Eisenhower and Patton as being a corps commander of extraordinary abilities . Middleton logged 480 days in combat during World War II , more than any other American general officer . Retiring from the Army again in 1945 , Middleton returned to LSU and in 1951 was appointed to the university presidency , a position he held for 11 years , while continuing to serve the Army in numerous consultative capacities . He resided in Baton Rouge , Louisiana until his death in 1976 and was buried in Baton Rouge National Cemetery . Both the Air Force / Army ROTC building at Mississippi State University , Middleton ' s alma mater , and the library at Louisiana State University are named for him . Family and early life . Ancestry . Troy H . Middleton was born near Georgetown , Copiah County , Mississippi on 12 October 1889 , the son of John Houston Middleton ( 12 May 1856 - 27 August 1935 ) and Laura Catherine " Kate " Thompson ( 25 December 1860 - 20 September 1925 ) . His paternal grandfather , Benjamin Parks Middleton ( 1825 – 1891 ) served as a private in Company G , 6th Regiment , Mississippi Infantry for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War , and his maternal grandfather , Riden M . Thompson , was also a Confederate soldier who died 27 May 1862 at the hospital in Hazlehurst , Mississippi . His great great grandfather , Captain Holland Middleton ( c . 1715 - 1795 / 96 ) served from Georgia in the American Revolutionary War . Holland Middleton was the son of William Middleton ( c . 1685 - 1769 ) and grandson of Robert Middleton ( c . 1651 - c . 1707 ) who had extensive land interests in Charles County and Prince Georges County , both in Maryland . Some of Robert Middleton ' s property was near Piscataway Creek , about twelve miles south of present - day Washington D . C . , across the Potomac River from the future site of Mount Vernon , the home of President George Washington . In 1678 Robert Middleton was paid for expenses incurred in fighting the Nanticoke Indians and in 1681 he was commissioned as cornet ( second lieutenant ) in a troop of cavalry . Early life . Troy Middleton was the fifth of nine children and grew up at the end of the 19th century on a 400 - acre plantation in southeastern Copiah County . The plantation was virtually a self - contained community , and he had a variety of chores to do depending on the season , with sausage - stuffing being one of his favorites . The local Lick Creek and Strong River had plentiful fish that he would catch , and he loved to hunt , particularly with his 12 - gauge shotgun . While his family was Episcopal by heritage , they worshipped at the Bethel Baptist Church , a few miles west of Georgetown , the only church reachable on a Sunday morning . His education was conducted at the small Bethel schoolhouse , near the Bethel Church , but in the summertime he was tutored by his oldest sister Emily , who came home from Blue Mountain College to share her knowledge of different subjects with her family . Having exhausted all the educational opportunities available at home , Middleton ' s father asked him if he was interested in a college education . Finding this an attractive proposition , in the summer of 1904 , at the age of fourteen , Middleton made the 172 - mile train trip to Starkville , where he would begin his studies at Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College ( Mississippi A & M ) , later to become Mississippi State University . College at Mississippi A & M . At his young age , Middleton was required to complete a year of preparatory school before being enrolled in the four - year program at Mississippi A & M . In essence he did a final year of high school while living in the dormitory and following the regimen of the students at the college . The students were treated like cadets at a military academy , marching to and from all meals , and beginning their day with the first bugle call at 5 : 30 a . m . Every week day was the same : cleanup and study time in the morning , march to breakfast , a usually short chapel call , classes from 8 : 30 to 4 : 00 , broken only by lunch , athletics from 4 : 00 to 6 : 30 p . m . , dinner , and then study from 7 : 30 to 10 : 00 p . m . , followed by the playing of taps at 10 : 30 , and lights out at 10 : 40 . While Middleton did not particularly savor the military atmosphere , he settled into the routine , and the year passed quickly . The highlight of his preparatory year came on 10 February 1905 when John Philip Sousa brought his band to A & M , attracting people from around the state , and packing the 2000 - seat mess hall . The train that would take the band to its next stop was held up for over an hour as the concert was extended by repeated calls for encores . The student corps at A & M was organized into a battalion , with a size of about 350 cadets during Middleton ' s Freshman year . He began as a cadet corporal , and by his junior year was appointed as the cadet Sergeant Major . As a senior he had the cadet rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was the student commander of more than 700 cadets , organized into two battalions . Working with the military officer in charge of the cadets , Middleton took on additional responsibilities for which he was paid $ 25 per month . Middleton was involved in numerous activities during his college days , and took leadership roles in most of them . He was the vice president of A & M ' s Collegian Club , and president of the school ' s Gun Club , being photographed on one occasion with his beloved shot gun , which he was allowed to keep in his dormitory room and use for hunting on weekends when campus activities did not fill his schedule . He was the president of his junior class and during his senior year was the commandant of the select Mississippi Sabre Company , which was a club restricted to seniors of good social , academic and military standing . Among his favorite activities were baseball and football , and he played both sports throughout college . Early in his tenure , however , he had to give up a season of baseball when he failed a chemistry course , and spent his afternoons back in the classroom and laboratory instead of on the athletic fields . Whether playing or spectating , the baseball and football games gave the students a chance to leave campus , and they took the train to play various teams around the state or region . Games were played wherever a suitable field could be found , but football games against the University of Mississippi were always played in Jackson . Middleton graduated with a bachelor ' s degree in the spring of 1909 , and was hoping to get an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point . No such opportunity presented itself , however , and at the age of 19 he was too young to take the examination for an Army commission . Taking the advice of an Army officer back at A & M , he decided to enlist in the United States Army . Early service in the U . S . Army . Enlisted service . On 3 March 1910 Troy Middleton enlisted into the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Porter in Buffalo , New York . He was put to work as a company clerk , and as a private earned $ 15 a month , which was paid in gold until it became scarce , and was then paid in silver . Private Middleton tired of this desk work quickly and asked to become a soldier . While this did not happen at Fort Porter , his talents as a football player became known , and he was pressed into duty as the quarterback of the local team , which played civilian teams in the Buffalo area as well as other Army teams such as the one at Fort Niagara near Niagara Falls . For the next several years Middleton would play a lot of football , a sport that was strongly endorsed by the Army . After getting a commission , an officer is never returned to the same unit from which he served as an enlisted member , but Middleton became the exception because of his talents as a quarterback . Middleton felt that football provided him with the finest training he received while in the Army , and he said he never met a good football player who wasn ' t also a good soldier . Officer ' s commission . After 27 months of serving in the Army , Middleton got his first promotion , to corporal . Promotions came very slowly , and occurred only when a position was vacated by someone else getting promoted or retiring . Shortly after his promotion on 10 June 1912 , Corporal Middleton was transferred to Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , where he would have a chance to compete for an Army commission . Here Middleton attended an intensive training course to prepare for the written examination required for a second lieutenant ' s commission . Of the 300 civilians and enlisted men who took the exam , 56 of them passed and were commissioned . Middleton ' s score was just about in the middle of the passing scores . Almost all of those passing were college graduates , coming from schools such as Harvard , Yale , Virginia Military Institute , and Stanford . Four of the 56 , including Middleton , would go on to become general officers . In addition to taking the written exam , all of the applicants had to take a horse - riding test as well . Having grown up riding horses on his family ' s plantation , Middleton scored very well on this exam , and the officer in charge thought that he would want to go into the cavalry . Middleton , however , wanted to go into the infantry , leaving the officer stunned that anyone with such horsemanship skills would even consider spending his time walking instead of riding a fine horse . Having passed his exam , Middleton was recommended for a commission by President Howard Taft in November 1912 , but it wasn ' t until after the new President , Woodrow Wilson , was sworn in the following March , and the new congress convened , that the 56 successful candidates were confirmed by the Senate . Their appointment was back - dated to 30 November 1912 . During this interim period , Middleton was transferred to Fort Crockett in Galveston , Texas , where he arrived early in 1913 . Fort Crockett and deployment to Mexico . In February 1913 Troy Middleton reported to Fort Crockett as a second lieutenant without a commission , being assigned to Company K of the 7th Infantry Regiment . A large part of the United States Army was rotating here in response to trouble in Mexico . In 1910 Mexico ' s President Porfirio Diaz was overthrown by a reform leader , Francisco Madero , beginning the Mexican Revolution which would last for nearly a decade . Madero was supported by General Victoriano Huerta in putting down a series of revolts in 1912 , but the following year was assassinated by the General who then seized power . Though many countries recognized the Huerta government , President Woodrow Wilson would not , and he hoped to return Mexico to a constitutional government by backing Venustiano Carranza . The troops at Fort Crockett went into a waiting mode , preparing for the call from the President to take action in support of American interests . In April 1914 the waiting for the military units ended , and American troops under the command of Brigadier General Frederick Funston were sent into Mexico . The Navy had taken the port city of Veracruz and the 7th Regiment was ordered to take part in the occupation of the city . Middleton ' s landing party went in unopposed and settled into occupation duty without a shot being fired . Middleton spent a total of seven months in Mexico and returned home to Galveston in November 1914 . Marriage . After first arriving at Fort Crockett , Middleton adapted to garrison life while engaging in the Galveston social scene by attending Saturday night dances in town . At one such dance he had a Navy lieutenant introduce him to Jerusha Collins who would later become his wife . She had attended Southwestern University in Georgetown , Texas and had made her debut in Galveston society in 1911 . Following the death of her father , Sidney G . Collins , Jerusha had come to live with her aunt and uncle , Mr . and Mrs . John Hagemann , in the heart of Galveston . As a merchant , Hagemann was well to do , and drove a Studebaker touring car when most people in the town rode in buggies , wagons , and surreys . Middleton met the Hagemanns , soon becoming a regular visitor at their house while calling on Jerusha . Following seven months in Mexico , Middleton ' s return to Galveston brought a special anticipation . He had proposed to Jerusha Collins at an earlier time , and renewed the proposal upon his return . The couple was married on 6 January 1915 , and this allowed them to be in New Orleans two days later with other members of Middleton ' s unit for the one hundredth anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans in which the 7th Regiment had served a century earlier . After a week in New Orleans , the couple returned to Galveston , and were invited to move into the Hagemann ' s house , where they were given a large upstairs room . Fort Bliss . When Galveston ' s second major hurricane hit the Texas coastline in mid - August 1915 , most of the Army units had scattered to safe locations away from the storm ' s path , with a few units remaining in the secure buildings of Fort Crockett or in downtown Galveston . The Middletons chose to ride out the storm at the Hagemann house . Following the storm cleanup , in October 1915 , the 7th Regiment was ordered to Fort Bliss in El Paso , Texas as events in Mexico flared up again . Here they were put under the command of Brigadier General John Pershing , a highly capable officer who had skipped three ranks by being promoted from Captain to Brigadier General for his exceptional service during the Philippine - American War . The Mexican Revolutionary General Pancho Villa , who had at one time been supported by the United States , felt betrayed when the Americans backed Carranza . In January 1916 , Villa ' s followers , known as Villistas , attacked a train and killed 16 American businessmen who were aboard . Two months later Villa ' s men crossed the border into the United States and attacked the town of Columbus , New Mexico , killing an additional 19 Americans . Following these attacks , General Pershing took his forces into Mexico to pursue Pancho Villa . Preceding these events , Middleton ' s 7th Regiment was sent to Douglas , Arizona to perform border security . While there , Middleton and a squad of his men were fired upon by the Villistas who unsuccessfully attacked the Mexican village of Agua Prieta , across the border from Douglas . While several of Middleton ' s men were hit , no one was killed , and they all returned with the 7th Regiment back to Fort Bliss in late December 1915 . Preparation for war . The hunt for Pancho Villa ended unsuccessfully for the Americans . War was raging in Europe , and following several months in Mexico , Pershing was called back to Fort Bliss to begin preparing his troops for this much larger conflict . In April 1917 , President Wilson requested that Congress declare war , which they did . The same month Middleton was assigned to Gettysburg National Park where the 7th Regiment would continue its training . Here , he was promoted to first lieutenant on 1 July 1916 , after a little more than three and a half years as a second lieutenant . With the pending war , his promotions would become much more frequent , and in less than a year he was promoted to captain , on 15 May 1917 . In preparation for its buildup in strength , the Army had to train a large cadre of officers . On 10 June 1917 Middleton was assigned to Fort Myer , Virginia , just outside of Washington , D . C . as the adjutant of a reserve officer training camp . These camps were organized to take civilians and turn them into officers in ninety days , and as adjutant Middleton was responsible for directing the flow of paperwork for 2700 officer candidates . By November 1917 , his camp graduated its last class of officers , and Middleton requested to join a combat division . His request was granted and on 21 December 1917 he reported to the 4th Division at Camp Greene near Charlotte , North Carolina . Two days later , however , he received new orders to become the commander of a reserve officer training camp in Leon Springs , Texas . Here , he reported as ordered , and stayed until the mission was complete in April 1918 . As he was technically on loan from the 4th Division , his request to rejoin that unit was granted , and Middleton was soon on his way to France . World War I . Believing that the 4th Division was still at Camp Greene , Middleton wired there to find out that the unit was already on its way overseas . He caught a train for New York , and when he arrived on 28 April 1918 , he found his division at Camp Mills on Long Island , living in tents and awaiting transport . Middleton was given command of the First Battalion , 47th Infantry Regiment , and departed New York with his regiment aboard the " Princess Matokia " on 11 May in a convoy of fourteen ships . Three days out of France , a fleet of destroyers met the convoy and escorted it to the port city of Brest where they arrived on 23 May . There the division unloaded and organized for several days , subsequently loading onto a troop train to arrive at Calais on 30 May . Calais , Chateau Thierry and Saint - Mihiel . The first assignment of the 4th Division was to become a reserve unit for the British , just south of Calais . The Americans gave up their Springfield Rifles for some British Enfields for which there was available ammunition . When the Germans began an offensive north of Paris , the 4th was put onto trains and sent to the Marne River , about twenty - five miles west of Chateau Thierry . Here the 4th became a reserve unit for the badly battered 42nd Division . In late July 1918 , Middleton , promoted to Major on 7 June , moved his First Battalion in to support the 167th Regiment of the 42nd Division . In the ensuing operation , called the Second Battle of the Marne , four days of heavy fighting took place against the Prussian Fourth Guard Division fresh from a month ' s rest . While the veteran Germans fought with determination , the Americans were able to push them back about twelve miles , though at a considerable cost — more than one in four of the Americans became casualties . When the 4th Division was relieved , they were sent to the Saint - Mihiel area , where they would undertake a small support role . Major Middleton was given the task of directing the unit ' s transport , complicated by the requirement to move at night with equipment and personnel to be drawn by horse and mule . After Saint - Mihiel , the unit was moved to Verdun where hundreds of thousands of French and Germans had become casualties earlier in the war . This would become the last major engagement of the First World War for Middleton , who was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 17 September , shortly before the commencement of the operation , called the Meuse - Argonne Offensive . Meuse - Argonne Offensive . The 4th Division , on its own for the first time in the war , was assigned a front that was one to two miles wide , sandwiched between two seasoned French divisions , about eight miles from Verdun . Lieutenant Colonel Middleton ' s battalion led the attack for the Americans on 26 September 1918 . That day , they covered five miles , breaking through German defenses , after which it was up to the entire 47th Infantry Regiment to hold on to the gains . Middleton then put his second - in - command in charge of the battalion when he was assigned as the Executive Officer of the regiment . He was in this staff position for two weeks when , on 11 October , he was given command of the 39th Infantry Regiment after most of its regimental staff became casualties following a gas attack . At about one o ' clock in the morning , Middleton had to find his way to the 39th headquarters and prepare for battle at daybreak . Shortly before 7 : 30 a . m . , Middleton led his new regiment into enemy - held territory using a tactic called " marching fire , " where all of the troops constantly fired their weapons while moving a mile through heavy woods . This compelled most of the dug - in and concealed Germans to surrender , and allowed the 4th Division to move to the edge of the Meuse River . Three days after taking command of the 39th , and two days after his twenty - ninth birthday , Middleton was promoted to Colonel , becoming the youngest officer in the American Expeditionary Forces to attain that rank . He also received the Distinguished Service Medal for his exceptional battlefield performance . On 19 October , the 4th Division was withdrawn from the battle line after 24 days of continuous contact with the enemy , the longest unbroken period of combat for any American division during the war . Middleton was now given command of his former regiment , the 47th . In early November the 4th Division relieved an African American regiment near Metz , and was preparing to chase German defenders down the Moselle River , with Middleton to lead the attack . The attack did not materialize , however , because , on 10 November , Middleton received confidential news that an armistice was imminent . The following morning a messenger brought word that there would be no more firing after 11 a . m . There was celebration throughout the ranks , but there was still much work to be done ; the 4th Division would soon be assigned to Germany as an occupying force . Occupation of Germany . In late November 1918 the 4th Division began a road march of more than 125 miles from the French city of Metz toward the German city of Koblenz , on the Rhine River . The final destination of Middleton ' s 47th Regiment would be the town of Adenau , 35 miles due west of Koblenz . The road trip took fifteen days of moving through almost incessant rain and ended in a driving snowstorm on 15 December . During the march , Middleton broke character and rode a horse during most of each day , surveying his troops and occasionally dismounting to talk with them . The formation marched for fifty minutes of each hour , and rested for ten , with a full hour for lunch . Once in Adenau , the regiment dispersed to many villages in the area , while Colonel Middleton stayed in a large home in Adenau where the owners continued to live as well . During the stay in Adenau , the 47th continued with its training , building a rifle range , running combat problems , and practicing lessons learned from its recent combat operations . In early March 1919 , after nearly four months in Adenau , the 47th was ordered to the area of Remagen on the Rhine . On the morning of the move , Middleton had breakfast with General Pershing ' s aide , Colonel George C . Marshall , who had come to Adenau the day before to inform Middleton of his regiment ' s new orders . At Remagen the 47th Regiment was given the mission of guarding the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River . Twenty five years later the 47th would once again guard this bridge during World War II . The regiment remained here until given orders to return home in mid - summer 1919 . Before his departure from Europe , Middleton was summoned to report to the Third Army Chief of Staff in Koblenz . Here he was informed that he and other senior officers were being assigned to Camp Benning , Georgia to form the first faculty of the Infantry School that was being established there . Middleton sailed out of Brest in mid - July , met his wife in New York , and together they traveled to Columbus , Georgia by way of Washington , D . C . and Atlanta . Military Schools . For the ten years following World War I , Troy Middleton would be either an instructor or a student in the succession of military schools that Army officers attend during their careers . Middleton arrived in Columbus , Georgia with strong praise from his superiors , and would soon get his efficiency report , in which Brigadier General Benjamin Poore of the 4th Division wrote of him , " The best all - around officer I have yet seen . Unspoiled by his rapid promotion from captain in July to colonel in October ; and made good in every grade . He gets better results in a quiet unobtrusive way than any officer I have ever met . Has a wonderful grasp of situations and a fine sense of proportion . " Infantry School . Up until the World War , other branches of the Army had their own specialty schools , but the infantry did not . This situation was being amended , and Middleton would be part of that change as a new faculty member of the Infantry School at Camp Benning , about nine miles from Columbus . Middleton , who ' s rank had reverted to his permanent rank of captain following the war , was an instructor in the new school for his first two years at Benning , and also a member of the Infantry Board , set up for research on weapons and tactics . One of his jobs on the board was to evaluate new weapons and equipment , and at one point he tested a new semiautomatic rifle which would eventually become the M - 1 rifle , the standard weapon of the infantry in World War II . The first nine - month class of the new infantry school began in September 1919 , and students were taken through a curriculum of weapons and tactics . Captain Middleton , the youngest faculty member on the school staff , was an ideal instructor , fresh with experiences from the recent war . After two years as an instructor , and a promotion to major on 1 July 1920 , Middleton prevailed upon his commanders to be allowed to enroll in the advanced infantry course as a student . This ten - month course included instruction on combined arms , tactical principles and decisions , military history and economics , then ended with a written thesis . Middleton , who was one of the most junior members of his class , finished at the top of the class . Following the advanced course , Middleton spent the summer as the senior instructor at a Reserve Officer Training Camp at Fort Logan , Colorado , then returned to Camp Benning for one more year as a member of the Infantry Board . Four years at Benning had been enough for him and he was ready to move on . After expressing his wishes to a senior officer , he was assigned to Fort Leavenworth in the summer of 1923 , a place he had been eleven years earlier to prepare for his officer ' s commission . Command and General Staff School . As one of the youngest majors in the Army , Middleton found himself among officers who were ten to fifteen years his senior at the Army ' s Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . Students attended this ten - month school to qualify for higher commands . Here Middleton met a classmate , George Patton , who would become one of his friends . Patton had confided to Middleton that he predicted completing the course as an Honor Graduate , one who finishes in the top 25 % of the nearly 200 students . His prediction came true , and he finished 14th in the class . Middleton finished 8th . With his exceptional class performance , Middleton , along with half a dozen other graduates , was invited to stay on for the next four years as an instructor at the school . During his second year of teaching at Command and General Staff School , one of his students , Dwight D . Eisenhower , would come to his office , sit on the corner of his desk , and pump him for information , knowing that Middleton had commanded a regiment in combat in France . Eisenhower asked the most practical questions , and was unquestionably motivated — he finished first in his class . Nearly every officer who commanded a division in Europe during World War II attended the Command and General Staff School during Middleton ' s tenure there from 1924 to 1928 . There was also a point in time during World War II when every corps commander in Europe had been a student of Middleton ' s . War College . In his final year at Leavenworth in 1928 Middleton received orders to attend the Army War College in Washington , D . C . . He found his year at this highest level of professional military education to be very satisfactory , and spent a lot of time in the school library and the Library of Congress . He wrote his staff memorandum , equivalent to a thesis , on the subject of transportation in the Army , recalling his personal experience with horses and mules in France . He felt that the Army could reduce a significant amount of this transportation , and replace some of it with motorized transport . The commandant of the school commended Middleton for work of exceptional merit , and sent his ideas to the highest levels in the War Department . Late career . Having spent the previous ten years in the various Army schools , Major Middleton requested a return to Camp Benning , where he and his wife still had friends . The request was approved and he was assigned as a battalion commander in the 29th Infantry Regiment there , the same unit in which he had enlisted nineteen years earlier at Fort Porter . He was at Benning for only a year when he was told he would be assigned to the General Staff at the War Department in Washington D . C . , but this changed when a new requirement for career officers was brought to his attention . Officers were now expected to have an assignment with a civilian component of the Army such as the National Guard , the Reserves , or the Reserve Officer Training Corps ( ROTC ) . The last option appealed to Middleton the most , and he wanted to work at a school in the south . There was an opening at Louisiana State University ( LSU ) , and this is where Middleton soon headed . ROTC duty at Louisiana State University . In July 1930 Troy Middleton stopped at his new headquarters at Fort McPherson in Atlanta , then drove west with his family to Baton Rouge , Louisiana which would become the family home for many years . Major Middleton became the Commandant of cadets at LSU , along with being the professor of military science . While at headquarters , Middleton had learned that his predecessor did not get along with Louisiana ' s governor , Huey P . Long . Middleton was told a few stories about the governor that made him curious enough to call on him the day after arriving in town . While the meeting turned out to be somewhat awkward for Major Middleton , it began a friendship between the two men . Governor Long loved LSU , and loved the cadet corps there . When Middleton mentioned to him that the cadet band of just a few dozen members was rather rag - tag , the governor saw to it that the band would grow to 250 members . Governor Long was a showman , and enjoyed parades and fanfare , and would negotiate special fares to get the cadets and band transported to athletic events across the region . Because of the governor ' s dealings , LSU transformed from a third rate school in 1930 to the largest university in the south by 1936 . During Middleton ' s tenure at LSU the presidency of the university changed hands from President Atkinson to President James Monroe Smith , the latter an appointee of Governor Long . Towards the end of Middleton ' s fourth year on campus President Smith asked him if he would stay on for an additional year and also become Dean of Men . Middlteon responded that he would accept , but it had to be cleared through the War Department . Smith ' s request to the War Department for both the extension and the deanship for Middleton were approved . Toward the end of the fifth year Smith went a step further , suggesting that Middleton retire from the Army and become a permanent member of the LSU staff . Middleton would not even consider retirement , but accepted an unprecedented sixth year with the ROTC program . As he began his sixth year on campus , on 1 Aug 1935 , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . Early in his final year on campus , Middleton was once again pressed by the university president to retire from the Army and go to work for the college . Again , Middleton could not do that , and began looking for a suitable follow - on assignment . Not having been overseas in over sixteen years , he put in a request for duty in the Philippines . He finished his tenure at LSU in the summer of 1936 , having overseen the increase in students completing the ROTC program from about 500 to over 1700 cadets . Philippines and retirement . In August 1936 the Middletons made a leisurely drive to New York City where they boarded a ship for the Philippines . The trip took them 42 days and included passage through the Panama Canal with stops in Panama , San Francisco , Hawaii , and Guam . When they arrived in Hawaii , they were greeted by George Patton and his wife Bea . Patton was on duty in Honolulu and had sailed his own boat from San Diego to Hawaii , and later sailed it back to the states at the end of his tour . Middleton was assigned as an assistant inspector general in the Army headquarters in Manila . Here he listened to complaints as he travelled to various Army installations including Fort William McKinley and Corregidor . Less than six months into his Philippine tour he received a telegram from President Smith renewing his offer of a job at LSU as the dean of administration with a salary of $ 5400 per year . Middleton was in the hospital undergoing testing for some heart irregularity when the telegram arrived , and he showed it to two other lieutenant colonels who were visiting him . One of them said he should take the offer , the salary being excellent . The other lieutenant colonel , Dwight Eisenhower , said he should stay in the Army . Eisenhower had spent three years in Panama as an aide to General Fox Conner , who knew that the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were being ignored by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis , and who was certain another war was coming soon . Eisenhower reasoned that this was no time for an officer with Middleton ' s combat experience to be getting out of the Army . To Middleton , as a very junior lieutenant colonel , the prospect of becoming a general officer seemed very remote , and upon giving the matter more thought he ultimately decided to retire from the Army . Once his decision was made , he wired President Smith at LSU advising him that he was ready to become a civilian and accept the university post . The Middletons left the Philippines in May 1937 , making a long leisurely trip back to the United States . They stopped in Hong Kong , Japan , and China en route to San Francisco . Lieutenant Colonel Middleton officially retired from the Army on 31 October 1937 , though he began his service at LSU two and a half months earlier . Tenure at LSU . The first year in his new job as administrative dean at Louisiana State went smoothly . The Middletons had a new house built on Highland Road near the campus , and an oil field was discovered under their property , bringing them royalties that would pay for their property many times over . University enrollment began to climb in 1938 and the LSU football team had just finished three outstanding seasons under coach Bernie Moore , winning 27 of their 30 regular season games . Middleton was photographed breaking ground for a new faculty club that year , as the campus grew in many areas . All seemed to be running well when in June 1939 the campus was given a shock from which it would take many years to recover . A New Orleans newspaper ran a photo on the front page showing an LSU truck unloading building materials in suburban New Orleans , revealing an illegal operation . The ensuing investigation led to the discovery that LSU ' s President Smith had embezzled nearly a million dollars from the university , using the money to cover his losses while speculating in the Chicago wheat futures market . Smith stood trial , and was sent to the penitentiary in Angola . The LSU superintendent of grounds and buildings , George Caldwell , was also involved in the scandal and served time in Atlanta for tax evasion . Meanwhile , the state ' s governor , Richard Leche , resigned , but was soon found guilty of several federal charges and sent to Atlanta to serve time . The Board of Supervisors met in a special session at the end of June 1939 and Middleton was directed to take over the business management of the university . The school ' s finances were in a state of chaos , and it would take effort and time to dig out of the mess . The dean of the Law School , Paul M . Hebert , became the acting president , and Middleton became acting vice president and comptroller . Middleton chose two accounting professors , Dr . Daniel Borth and Dr . Mack Hornbeak , to work with him , and a New York firm was hired to come in and establish sound business procedures . Before the revelation of the illegal activities , expenditures had been routinely made on a cash basis , all of the university funding and program money was thrown into a single account , and university bond indentures had been violated . The new leadership had to advertise in Louisiana newspapers to find out to whom they owed money . The first year of dealing with the situation required 16 to 18 hour days , six days a week , and after that the process still required overtime through the year 1941 . Faculty and staff members , accustomed to making purchases without bids , purchase orders or knowledge of the budget , had to be educated on the accepted business procedures on which the rest of the world operated . While Middleton was helping LSU recover from this traumatic ordeal , he was also keeping an eye on events in Europe . In July 1940 he wrote a letter to General George Marshall asking if his services were needed by the Army as the United States was making preparations for war . Marshall replied that as much as the Army would like to have Middleton back in uniform , all the Army could do would be to place him in some training role , which would not effectively use his battle experience . Middleton stayed at LSU until 1942 , describing his days as the comptroller of LSU as long days that he would not want to relive , but after the first year he found both the work and his association with Hebert , Borth and Hornbeak to be satisfying and rewarding . He felt that during this period of time , from 1939 to 1941 , he was able to make his greatest contribution to an institution that had been very good to him in the past . World War II . Troy Middleton was out dove hunting with his son , Troy Jr . , and a friend on Sunday morning , 7 December 1941 . Having had a successful morning , the trio decided to take a break for lunch , then come back out and get their bag limits in the afternoon . When they arrived at home for the mid - day meal , Mrs . Middleton greeted them with the news that Pearl Harbor had just been attacked . This put an end to the dove hunting , and Troy Middleton began to make plans . The next day he reported to the LSU president announcing his intention to offer his services to the U . S . Army , and he sent a telegram to the War Department announcing his availability for service . Within a day or so he received a reply : he would report to active duty as a lieutenant colonel on 20 January 1942 , allowing him time to get his affairs in order . Having returned to active military duty , Middleton was assigned to a training regiment at Camp Wheeler , Georgia where he was quickly promoted to colonel on 1 February , and oversaw the combat training of thousands of recruits . After less than two months , he was given a rapid succession of assignments , including to Camp Gordon , Georgia and Camp Blanding , Florida . While at Blanding he was called to the War Department in Washington , where he was given an assignment to be a staff officer in London , but this rapidly changed when he was subsequently called to the War College , and met a classmate from Command and General Staff School , General Mark Clark , who told him that he was being assigned to the Forty - fifth Infantry Division at Fort Devens , Massachusetts . 45th Infantry Division . Upon returning to Florida in early June 1942 to pick up his personal effects , Middleton received his orders for Fort Devens , and also word that he had been promoted to brigadier general . In mid - June he reported to the Forty - fifth , known as the " Thunderbirds , " an Army National Guard division consisting mostly of troops from Oklahoma , but also including some from Colorado , Arizona , and New Mexico . The commanding general of the forty - fifth , Major General William S . Key , suspected that he was going to be replaced because he had no combat experience . Though Middleton was not informed of this , in late summer this is what happened , and Middleton was given the command of the division along with a promotion to major general . In the summer , the 45th did its training at Cape Cod , Massachusetts , after which Middleton was in command for winter training at Pine Camp , New York . Here the temperature dipped to 36 degrees below zero ( F ) and snow drifted head - high . A soldier in the division by the name of Bill Mauldin did a cartoon showing slop from the kitchen frozen in a column as it descended into the garbage can outside . Mauldin later became famous for his cartoons during World War II , and won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work . In February 1943 the training moved from Pine Camp to Camp Pickett , Virginia for mountain training , and then to the Atlantic Coast for ship - to - shore training between Norfolk , Virginia and Solomons , Maryland . In early April , while the division was at Camp Pickett , Middleton was sent to North Africa with some of his staff to begin planning the ensuing military operation . Here he went to the headquarters of the Seventh Army commander , General George Patton , in Morocco and stayed nearly a month . Patton would command the Seventh Army in the Sicily landing during the summer , and the 45th would be the only combat - loaded division coming from the United States . With the division scheduled to sail from Norfolk on 5 June , Middleton left beforehand to complete the planning for the landing on a hostile shore , this time reporting to the headquarters of General Omar Bradley in Algiers , Algeria . For this operation , Bradley was subordinate to Patton , under British overall direction . By the time the division arrived in Oran , Algeria , the planning was complete , and the unit was able to run one rehearsal in western Algeria before embarking for Sicily . Sicily . The Forty - fifth Division was under Omar Bradley ' s U . S . Army II Corps , which in turn was subordinate to Patton ' s Seventh Army . Overall command of the Sicily invasion , called Operation Husky , was with British General Harold Alexander , and the British forces were organized under the British Eighth Army commanded by General Bernard Montgomery . The Forty - fifth Division consisted of three infantry regiments , the 157th , 179th and 180th , and numerous other elements . Fighting alongside the Forty - fifth Division were the American First Infantry Division , Third Infantry Division , and an element of the 82nd Airborne Division . The forty - fifth departed Oran on 4 July 1943 , with little attention paid to the fact that it was Independence Day . The six - day trip to Sicily was smooth at first , then turned fairly rough , with seasickness prevalent among the troops . The weather calmed as several troop ships rendezvoused near the town of Scoglitti , on the western side of Sicily ' s south coast . At 2 a . m . on 10 July the landing craft were filled with infantrymen , and as the craft approached the shoreline , the Navy opened up with a volley of preparatory fire . The primary mission of the Forty - fifth was to capture two airfields needed for Allied aircraft . Comiso Airfield , about eleven miles from the shore , was captured in a day and was being used by American planes the next day . It took four days for the division to capture Biscari Airfield , about twelve miles inland . The next objective of the forty - fifth was to fight German and Italian forces en route to the north coast of Sicily . The plan was to use Highway 124 , one of Sicily ' s four major highways . This highway , originally in the American sector , had been usurped by Montgomery , with no word of the change of boundaries given to Middleton . Word eventually came down from Alexander that the boundaries had been changed , which meant that when the forty - fifth reached the highway , they became frozen in place with no opportunity to advance . Middleton , not willing to sit out the remainder of the battle , moved his division from the right of II Corps to the left , traveling ninety miles out of the way through back areas of the other American divisions , to get in position for the march north . On 23 July the first elements of the forty - fifth reached the north coast of the island at Station Cerda , five miles east of Termini Imerese , taking thirteen days to move from south coast to north coast . The division then moved east along the coast , reaching its objective of Santo Stefano on 30 July . Here they were stormed by the Germans , but fought back , forcing the German rear guard out of the area by the following morning . This was the end of active fighting for the forty - fifth in Sicily , where the division endured 1156 casualties while taking nearly 11 , 000 prisoners . The Third Infantry Division was moved in to replace the forty - fifth , which was now ticketed for the upcoming invasion of the Italian mainland . In recalling events on Sicily in his biography , Middleton noted a strain in his relationship with Patton . Patton , never comfortable as the brunt of someone else ' s humor , felt that the Mauldin cartoons published in the division newspaper were irreverent and unsoldierly . Middleton consistently defended Mauldin , but was verbally ordered by Patton to get rid of Mauldin and his cartoons . When Middleton told Patton to put the order in writing , the issue was dropped . Soon thereafter , Patton had much more to worry about after he slapped two soldiers who he suspected of malingering in hospitals . These incidents brought Patton public condemnation , and loss of his command . Italian mainland . The month of August 1943 was used by the 45th Division for some rest and planning . Seven plans for the invasion of Italy were put on the table , and three of them were adopted , of which the British had two and the Americans had one , called Operation Avalanche . The 45th Division would be one of eight divisions under Major General Ernest Dawley ' s VI Corps , within Fifth Army commanded by Lieutenant General Mark W . Clark . The plan called for the landing of the Allied forces in the vicinity of Salerno , Italy , about 200 miles north of Sicily . The first Allied landings on the beach occurred on 9 September , with two regiments of Middleton ' s 45th Infantry Division , the 157th and 179th , landing the following day . The other regiment of the division , the 180th , would land at a different point and be held in reserve by General Clark . Middleton was responsible for ten miles of beachhead between the British X Corps and the American 36th Infantry Division . The German defensive positions pounded the Allies , who gained little ground in the first few days of the operation . General Clark faltered and sent around a confidential memo indicating that he was contemplating taking the troops back off the beaches . Middleton , telling his staff that they were not leaving , spread around the word to his troops that it was a good time to do some hard fighting . On the morning of 14 September units of the Forty - fifth did some particularly hard fighting at a large tobacco factory , consisting of five imposing stone buildings in a somewhat circular pattern . The Germans were dug in here , and repulsed the Americans initially , but with the aid of some naval gun fire , the Germans were eventually pushed back . General Clark visited the front later that day , and was convinced that his army was going to stay . General Eisenhower visited the beachhead on 17 September , observing that the battle had been won . The following day the Germans had pulled out of the area , and the Forty - fifth was able to advance to Venafro before meeting any resistance . The division was at the far right of the Fifth Army , working up the center of the Italian boot , adjacent to the British Eighth Army which was responsible for the eastern half of the boot . By 24 September the division had taken Oliveto and Quaglietta after some heavy fighting , and by 3 October they had taken Benevento . On 21 October the division was put into corps reserve , following six weeks of uninterrupted action . There was still some German resistance around Venafro , and elements of the 179th Regiment secured the town on 2 November . With this the fighting came to a large pause as Allied planners studied further action . With the lull in the fighting , and the onset of autumn rains , coupled with endless hills and deepening mud , Middleton ' s left knee , which had been uncomfortable for more than a year , was now becoming agonizing . He had hurt his right knee many years earlier playing football , but there was no immediate explanation for the pain in his left leg . Medics studied his leg , but had no answers . In late November Middleton went to the hospital in Naples , staying well into December , still without adequate diagnosis . He was able to hobble around , and did some staff work , then flew to Eisenhower ' s headquarters in North Africa . He stayed there until mid - January , when he was sent to Walter Reed Hospital back in the states . While Middleton was at Walter Reed , General Eisenhower communicated to General Marshall that he needed Middleton back overseas . Acknowledging Middleton ' s difficulty with his knees , Eisenhower said , " I don ' t give a damn about his knees ; I want his head and his heart . And I ' ll take him into battle on a litter if we have to . " The two generals came up with a plan , and Middleton was sent to six Army installations in Tennessee , Colorado , and Washington D . C . with a brief stopover to visit his family in Baton Rouge . Middleton would be taking command of the VIII Corps in England , and was sent to the various locations to confuse the enemy about the personnel change . Accompanying him was a sergeant who had been a physical therapist in civilian life , and who would massage Middleton ' s knees twice a day for the next year . When asked what staff he needed to take with him , Middleton replied that he would keep the staff that was already in place , except that for an aide he would like his old LSU friend , Mack Hornbeak , who had served with him through Sicily and Italy . VIII Corps . The United States VIII Corps had arrived in Europe in December 1943 , and was being commanded by Major General Emil F . Reinhardt , who Middleton had known for many years . While he was an able commander , his lack of combat experience resulted in his being replaced by Middleton ( though Reinhardt would later command a division in European fighting ) . Middleton ' s first stop in Europe before assuming command of VIII Corps was to confer with his friend and commander Dwight Eisenhower . Eisenhower had asked Middleton about his views on making Patton the commander of an army . Middleton thought it was a good idea since Patton was such an able fighter . Eisenhower agreed , but was concerned about Patton ' s propensity to embarrass the Army by things he said to the press . Following this Patton was given command of the Third Army , which was headquartered north of London during the European invasion preparation . Middleton ' s VIII Corps headquarters was in the town of Kidderminster about fifteen miles from Birmingham , and about 110 miles northwest of London . In order to deceive the Germans , Middleton moved his headquarters another 75 miles to the north , near Liverpool . This made it appear that the corps would move east to the English Channel for a landing near Calais , France . The ruse was effective , keeping the Germans guessing , and compelling them to split their forces among multiple locations along the French coast , instead of concentrating their forces at one probable landing point . The VIII Corps fell under Patton ' s Third Army , and trained in England from March to late May 1944 . Two weeks before the invasion , the corps was pulled out of the Third Army and placed in Omar Bradley ' s First Army . First Army was responsible for the D - Day landings on Normandy , and once the Allies were established on shore , Middleton was to bring his VIII Corps across . Shortly before the invasion , Middleton took his corps to Southampton where they awaited their channel crossing time . Cotentin Peninsula and Operation Cobra . The VIII Corps sat in Southampton from D - Day , 6 June , until 11 June 1944 when it began crossing the English Channel . The corps lost only one of its Landing Ship Tanks ( LSTs ) to a mine during the crossing , but on it was about half of Middleton ' s headquarters complement . Other than the members of the sunken LST , who would rejoin the corps ten days later , the entire corps was ashore on 12 June near Carentan , where Joe Collins ' VII Corps had cleared the beach on D - Day . At this point the VIII Corps divisions included the 82nd Airborne , 101st Airborne , 79th Infantry and 90th Infantry . The 82nd , under Major General Matthew Ridgway , performed admirably , but soon left the corps , and once in Brittany the corps would have an entirely different complement of divisions . After VII Corps took the port city of Cherbourg , VIII corps began moving south against German forces in the middle of the Cotentin Peninsula . The Germans had the high ground , and the fighting was further complicated by the bocage countryside — a series of farmers fields and pastures forming a latticework , with each unit separated by walls of earth up to six feet high supporting dense shrubbery and trees . The German defenders had every advantage over the Americans , whose tanks would tip up and expose the soft underbelly as they attempted to cross the barriers . An American sergeant , Curtis Culin , invented a device that looked like shark ' s teeth and was welded to the front of tanks , allowing them to penetrate the earthen barriers . After breaking out of the bocage , VIII Corps was able to roll fifty miles in seven days , but it , and the remainder of Bradley ' s First Army , remained bottled up on the Cotentin Peninsula . The next phase of the fight , codenamed Operation Cobra was to break out of the peninsula , and once this occurred , Patton ' s Third Army would join the fight . The operation began on 24 July 1944 when American air commanders were asked to lay a carpet of bombs on the Germans to soften them up for the advancing ground forces . Poor weather curtailed the operation on the first day , but more than a thousand bombing missions were carried out the following day . Lieutenant General Lesley McNair , chief of the U . S . Army ground forces , came to Middleton ' s headquarters to witness the bombing . Middleton warned him to stay at corps headquarters , but McNair strayed away far enough that he and other members of his party were killed when they got caught by a stick of allied bombs . More than 600 U . S . troops were killed or wounded in this friendly fire incident when the bombs fell short of their intended target . Despite the mishap , the bombing was effective in reducing the German resistance , and over the next few days the VIII Corps was able to move south along the coast . On 30 July they seized the town of Avranches , the gateway to Brittany and southern Normandy . Once in command of Avranches , VIII Corps then secured the bridges at Pontaubault , and in doing so , broke out of the Cotentin Peninsula and into Brittany . This brought about the planned command change , and at noon on 1 Aug 1944 Omar Bradley moved up to command the 12th Army Group , Courtney Hodges took over the First Army , and Patton ' s Third Army was activated into the group along with First Army , with Middleton ' s VIII Corps now falling under Patton . Following the breakout , Middleton found himself in a doctrinally uncomfortable situation , as the allies were now in a position to pursue the Germans . The cautious and methodical Middleton was in command of two infantry divisions and two armored divisions within his corps , and the impatient and audacious Patton could not understand why Middleton was not moving his armor quickly in pursuit . In early August Patton wrote in his diary , " I cannot make out why Middleton was so apathetic or dumb . I don ' t know what was the matter with him . " Despite his wealth of battlefield experience and years of military schooling , Middleton had only limited experience in conducting pursuit operations , and was a bit overwhelmed by them . Ultimately he allowed his armored divisions some autonomy in their operations , while using his infantry to clean up pockets of resistance en route to Brest . His estimates of enemy strength turned out to be much more accurate than those provided to him by Patton , and Patton ultimately acknowledged Middleton ' s value as a corps commander by presenting him with a Distinguished Service Medal within seven weeks of calling him " dumb " in his diary . Battle for Brest . After the breakout from the Cotentin Peninsula , VIII Corps followed the Brittany coast westward en route to Brest , the port of Middleton ' s arrival and departure from Europe during World War I . As the corps passed St . Malo , Middleton turned his 83rd Division on the town , resulting in the capture of 14 , 000 Germans . Patton had already directed the corps ' 6th Armored Division under Major General Bob Grow to move on to Brest while Middleton was still cleaning up in St . Malo , which fell on 17 August . Grow had arrived outside of Brest on 7 August , and met stiff resistance once there . The city , housing important German submarine pens and extensive machine facilities , was defended by three elite German divisions and several powerful 90 - millimeter guns which were capable of destroying most of the armor in the 6th Division . The siege of Brest required infantry , and once the 2nd Infantry Division under Major General Walter M . Robertson arrived , the armored division was released back to Patton for other operations . Also joining VIII Corps for the siege was the 8th Division commanded by Major General Donald A . Stroh and the 29th Division , a National Guard unit from Virginia , commanded by Major General Charles H . Gerhardt . Middleton also had a cavalry group and two ranger battalions commanded by Colonel Earl Rudder who later became president of Texas A & M University . The city was well organized for defense , and in the Battle for Brest Middleton ' s units went about capturing it methodically . The defense of the city was under German Generalleutnant Hermann Ramcke with whom Middleton carried on a dialog during the siege . Ramcke sent Middleton a map showing where several hundred American prisoners were being held in the city , but also slyly placed on the map a number of red crosses where the allies knew some good bombing targets were located , such as ammunition depots . Middleton wrote back to Ramcke telling him to remove some of the bogus red crosses , or some terms of the Geneva Convention might have to be ignored . Middleton also reminded Ramcke of the Allies ' superior artillery and air power . The battle for Brest was intense and very destructive . After two weeks of constant day and night attacks , Middleton ' s units forced the Germans into ever tighter positions . On 12 September , Middleton sent a letter to Ramcke offering him an opportunity to stop the bloodshed , and to surrender the city in a humane and reasonable way , with terms of surrender spelled out in the letter . Ramcke ' s terse reply was simply , " I must decline your proposal . " Unhappy with the response , Middleton directed his soldiers to " enter the fray with renewed vigor . . . take them apart - - and get the job finished . " One week later , on 19 September , the Germans surrendered to Middleton , who , with much of his staff , had 99 unbroken days of combat . In a formal ceremony , Middleton gave the city back to its mayor , and Patton arrived to pin a Distinguished Service Medal oak leaf cluster on Middleton for outstanding conduct during the campaign in Brittany , resulting in the capture of Brest . The Americans captured more than 36 , 000 Germans , and evacuated 2000 wounded , far exceeding the estimate of 10 , 000 Germans given to Middleton by Patton before the operation . Ramcke was captured by troops of the 8th Division , and asked the deputy division commander for his credentials . The American general pointed to the M - 1 rifle s being carried by his soldiers and told Ramcke that those were his credentials . Ramcke appeared at his formal surrender clean shaven and with a well - groomed Irish setter . With plenty of reporters and photographers documenting the occasion , Ramcke commented in English that he felt like a film star . He was soon sent to a prisoner of war camp in Clinton , Mississippi , not more than 50 miles from where Middleton was born and raised . After the war he spent time in a prison camp in England , and then was sent to France where he was tried and soon released following five total years of incarceration . He went back to Germany and entered the concrete business , continuing a correspondence with Middleton for 15 years following the war . Move to the Ardennes . With western France in the hands of the allies , in late September Middleton made a leisurely trip east across France to the Ardennes Mountains , stopping en route to visit battlefields where he had served with distinction during the first world war . The Germans were now behind a line from west of Metz , France , through Luxembourg , and east of the Belgian cities of Bastogne , Liege and Antwerp . The Allies had outrun their supply lines and had to slow their advance to resupply . Middleton ' s VIII Corps was assigned a 50 - mile front , half of which belonged to the 2nd Division and the other half to the 8th Division . The front extended from Losheim , on the German - Belgian border , to central Luxembourg . On 11 October , the 83rd Division was brought back under VIII Corps control , and another 38 miles of front in Luxembourg was added to the responsibility of the corps . The new 9th Armored Division was added to the lineup on 20 October , but put into corps reserve by Middleton . During October and into November these divisions ran deception maneuvers to confuse the Germans , and also became thoroughly familiar with the terrain so as to be able to absorb a heavy thrust from the enemy should they be attacked . However , from mid - November to early December the three well - prepared infantry divisions were all replaced by two battle - weary divisions and one green division . Both the 28th Infantry Division and the 4th Infantry Division , Middleton ' s old division from World War I , had taken heavy losses in the Huertgen Forest , and were at less than 75 % normal strength . The 106th Infantry Division was just entering the lineup with no combat experience . Middleton now had about 68 , 000 officers and men in his corps , many weary and many uninitiated , along an 88 - mile front facing about 200 , 000 Germans who were deftly moving into position under the cover of darkness . Battle of the Bulge . Striking at 5 : 30 a . m . on Saturday , 16 December , the Germans achieved almost total surprise in breaking through the allied lines , beginning what is commonly called the Battle of the Bulge . The Germans launched their great attack of 1940 through the same region , with Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt in command then as he was once again in this campaign . His goal was to separate the American forces from the British and Canadian forces , and take the important port city of Antwerp . By late afternoon the Germans had 14 divisions operating in the Ardennes , but this number would swell to an estimated 25 divisions , with 600 tanks and 1000 aircraft . The 106th Division , located in the most exposed positions along the corps line , and the 28th Division took the brunt of the attack . Middleton , headquartered in Bastogne , was awakened by a guard and could hear the guns from there . Throughout the day , the 106th was able to hold its position , but additional German units poured in during the night . Much of the 106th was on the German side of the Our River in an area known as the Schnee Eifel . The division ' s commander , Major General Alan Jones , called Middleton , concerned about his two regiments east of the river . The conversation was interrupted by another call , and then resumed . At the end of the conversation Middleton told an aide that he had given his approval to have the two regiments pull back to the west side of the river . Jones , on the other hand was convinced that Middleton had directed these units to stay , and was further convinced of this based on a written order from earlier in the day , but just received . As a result of the miscommunication , the pullback did not occur , and the two regiments were ultimately surrounded with most of the men captured on 17 December . While two of the 28th Division ' s regiments survived the German onslaught intact , the 110th Regiment , commanded by Colonel Hurley Fuller , was directly in the path of the massive advance . On 17 December Fuller counterattacked , but his lone regiment was up against three German divisions , and when Fuller ' s command post was attacked his escape was thwarted and he was taken prisoner . Middleton next heard from him in April when he was released . Though the 110th Regiment was shattered , the stubborn resistance given by them and other VIII Corps units greatly slowed down the German timetable . The city of Bastogne , Belgium was a hub of several major roads and became a prime target for the Germans , seeing its capture as necessary to their advance . Middleton was in continuous communication with Bradley at 12th Army Group headquarters in Luxembourg , and maintained that though Bastogne could soon be surrounded , it should be held . As the Germans advanced on Bastogne , both Bradley and First Army commander Hodges recognized the threat to Middleton and had him move his headquarters . He was supposed to leave Bastogne on 18 December , but spent another night there so that he could brief his relief force , the 101st Airborne Division . Not only did that division ' s acting commander , Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe , show up ahead of schedule , but so did Colonel William Roberts from the 10th Armored Division Combat Command R ( CCR ) , sent by Patton . Another welcome guest arriving later that evening was Major General Matthew B . Ridgway , commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps , en route to his headquarters , but advised by Middleton to stay in Bastogne for the night to avoid capture by the Germans . While Middleton and his guests slept , members of the 101st poured into Bastogne all during the night and into the following day . Having conferred with McAuliffe at length the previous evening , Middleton left Bastogne after full daylight on 19 December , and set up headquarters in a school building in Neufchateau , 17 miles to the southwest . For the next several days , Bastogne was defended by the 101st , along with elements of CCR and some corps artillery assets that Middleton was able to supply . McAuliffe had units scattered in towns surrounding Bastogne , which bore the brunt of attacks by the German Panzer Lehr Division and Second Panzer Division . At one point on 19 December , some of McAuliffe ' s units wanted to fall back , and McAuliffe concurred , calling Middleton for his approval . Middleton ' s response was , " we can ' t hold Bastogne if we keep falling back " and the units were ordered to stay . On 20 December , VIII Corps was moved from Hodges ' First Army back to Patton ' s Third Army . Bastogne was being surrounded by the Germans and without adequate weather for airdrops , supplies were running low . By 22 December the Germans felt that their position around Bastogne was strong enough to send in an emissary with a note advising the Americans to surrender the city , or they would be attacked in the afternoon . McAuliffe ' s famous reply , " Nuts ! " was sent back to the German commander . The Germans did renew their attack that afternoon , but it was muted by freshly falling snow , and a stiff American response . The next morning , 23 December , was the eighth day of fighting and the first day that the sun had emerged from behind the thick fog and clouds since the beginning of the battle . The Ninth Air Force was able to send 240 aircraft over Bastogne that day , each dropping about 1200 pounds of critically needed supplies , including artillery rounds that were delivered in the morning and used against the Germans the same afternoon . Over the next three days , offensives made by the Germans were countered with responses from the Americans . In the late afternoon on 26 December the first elements of the long - awaited 4th Armored Division arrived in Bastogne , breaking the siege of the city . Hitler demanded that Bastogne be taken , but even with nine divisions in the fight , the Germans were not able to break in . With the siege broken and additional elements of the 4th Armored Division coming in , Middleton stipulated that the top priority was to get the 964 wounded troops out of Bastogne and into area hospitals . Despite the small opening to the city , it was clear by 27 December that the Germans were throwing their principal effort against Bastogne . In response to this renewed German thrust against Bastogne , Eisenhower released two new divisions on 28 December , the 87th Infantry and the 11th Armored . These units joined the 101st Airborne Division in the corps lineup just in time for a new offensive on 30 December to shrink the bulge created in the allied line . The Americans began their attack at 7 : 30 that morning , which , coincidently , was the exact time that the Germans , under General der Panzertruppen ( Lieutenant General equivalent ) Hasso von Manteuffel scheduled an attack of their own . The 11th Armored Division had difficulty meeting its objectives ( for reasons not related to the strength of the Germans ) , but the 87th Division fought well in the snow , sleet and deepening cold . On 3 January the new 17th Airborne Division relieved the 11th Armored Division , and the corps stretched along a crude 15 - mile line due west of Bastogne , with the 101st continuing to hold the city . For the next two weeks the corps moved steadily north in heavy , sometimes even desperate , fighting , and on 16 January they met units from First Army pushing south at Houffalize . Over the following twelve days the combined force pushed the Germans back eastward across the Our River , returning the Allied line to its original position before the 16 December battle began , eliminating the bulge created in the Allied line on 16 December . Push across Germany and victory . With the front restored to its previous boundary , Bradley summoned his Army and Corps commanders to his headquarters . He wanted Hodges ' First Army to advance to the Rhine , while Patton ' s Third Army would stay put until First Army reached the river . Patton was very reluctant to hold in place , and questioned the advisability to do so . Bradley explained that all available ammunition and reinforcements would go to First Army , since two armies could not be simultaneously supplied . Patton reluctantly accepted Bradley ' s explanation , but after that meeting he called together his three corps commanders , Manton Eddy of XII Corps , Walton H . Walker of XX Corps , and Middleton . He asked Eddy if he could ease forward and capture Trier , Walker if he could do the same with Bitburg and Middleton if he could take Gerolstein . All three commanders agreed to this , and within a few days all three had reached their objectives . Middleton was then asked by Patton to take his corps all the way to Koblenz on the Rhine River , which he did , and VIII Corps reached the river before any units of First Army arrived . Once the VIII Corps was at Koblenz , Patton took most of its divisions away for an operation with XII Corps further up the river at Mainz , leaving Middleton with some corps units ( mostly artillery ) and a single division , the 87th Infantry . Middleton asked Patton if he could take Koblenz with the 87th , eliciting a laugh from the Army commander . Middleton pressed him to let him try , and with the commander ' s approval he was able to take the city , which only had about 500 defenders . Most of the other German troops were on the other side of the Rhine not wanting to get trapped between the Rhine and the Moselle Rivers . Once Koblenz was captured in mid - March 1945 , VIII Corps was assigned a 25 - mile front from Koblenz upstream ( southeast ) to beyond Boppard and the famous landmark , the Lorelei . Patton then gave Middleton the 89th Division and 76th Division for the river crossing . Middleton chose to cross the river near the Lorelei where the river was narrow , swift , and flanked by steep terrain , eliciting another laugh from Patton . Middleton knew there would be little German resistance there , and he was able to get the entire 89th across in one night using inflatable rafts , and then put a pontoon bridge in place by early morning . The 87th initially attempted to cross at Koblenz but met too much resistance there , compelling them to move further upstream closer to Boppard , where their crossing went smoothly . Within two days Middleton had all three of his divisions across the Rhine . In late March , VIII Corps advanced eastward through Eisenach and then across the Fulda River . Here some of Middleton ' s infantrymen came across the concentration camp at Ohrdruf , discovering the sickening evidence of what had transpired there . Middleton called Patton to come take a look , and Patton was joined by Bradley and Eisenhower . In his diary , Patton described the place as " one of the most apalling sights that I have ever seen . " This was the first Nazi concentration camp to be discovered by the United States Army , and Eisenhower cabled Marshall to get a delegation from congress over to witness and communicate what took place there . Middleton later had officials from the town come in to witness what was going on in their midst . While every one of them denied knowing what was happening , the mayor and his wife both committed suicide that night . The VIII Corps continued its eastward advance well into the month of April , and was ordered to stop between Chemnitz and the Czechoslovakia n border , where the corps would make contact with the Russians . The immediate problem was dealing with the prisoners of war . The Americans were almost overwhelmed by the number of Germans wanting to surrender to them , and despite orders to take no more prisoners , thousands of Germans filtered through VIII Corps lines at night , desperately trying to avoid capture by the Russians . During the last week of April , a Russian cavalry unit made contact with Middleton . While the leaders of both the Americans and the Russians exchanged luncheon inviations , the Russians were extremely reluctant to allow any Americans across the Russian line , and their American lunch guests were taken by a very circuitous route into Russian - held territory . On 25 April 1945 Patton wrote a recommendation , citing Middleton ' s " outstanding tactical skill and determination , " his " magnificent resistance against . . . Von Rundstadt ' s attack , " and his " tireless energy and unfaltering aggressiveness . " With the war in Europe almost over , the disposition of the various units was being decided by higher command . Some would remain as occupation forces in Europe , some would return to the United States , and some would be sent to the Pacific theater to fight against the Japanese . The Germans formally surrendered in the American sector on 7 May 1945 , and two days later Patton issued his General Order Number 98 thanking the soldiers of the Third Army , past and present , for their accomplishments . On 13 May , Middleton wrote a letter to Bradley requesting to be released from active duty , once his combat services were no longer needed . He asked to return to LSU by 1 August 1945 , but also paid compliments to Bradley and others by writing , " That men such as you , Ike , Joe Collins , Courtney Hodges and others have accomplished so much in this war , are available to guide the future of our Army , we cannot but feel the future is in safe hands . " Middleton was the only commander that VIII Corps had ever had in combat . He had been away from home for over 1200 days since departing in January 1942 , and had logged 480 days in combat , more time than any other American general officer during World War II . Near the end of May 1945 groups of general officers , other officers and enlisted men were sent to several major cities across the United States to appear in parades . Middleton was part of a group headed by Courtney Hodges that went to Atlanta , where he and his son reunited with his wife and daughter ( his son , Lieutenant Troy Middleton Jr . had been with him in Europe ) and where they were treated to a reception held by the mayor . From Atlanta the family flew to Baton Rouge where Middleton took 15 days of leave , after which he went to Washington D . C . to meet with General Marshall . Marshall told Middleton that he could either return to Germany to be with his corps , or he could wait at home until the unit returned to the states , Middleton opting for the latter . Marshall also told Middleton that VIII Corps was being ticketed for Japan . When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima , Middleton went back to Washington , and this time Marshall told him he doubted any more units would be sent to the Pacific . Asked if he wanted to stay in the Army , Middleton ' s reply was that he had retired in 1937 , and he intended to be returned to retired status once he was no longer needed as a combat commander . Return to LSU . In late August 1945 Middleton returned to LSU and reported to President Hatcher , requesting his old job as comptroller . While still in Europe in May , he was very busy getting troops returned to the states . Now at LSU he was at the other end of the pipeline , getting things ready for thousands of soldiers who would be going back to school . Enrollments had swollen in 1945 , but in 1946 the bulge in new students became an avalanche . One of Middleton ' s priorities was to get housing for all of these new students , many of whom were married . With keen insights into military procurement , he was able to find a variety of types of excess housing units that the military no longer needed , and was able to provide both students and faculty with adequate housing at a very small cost . Military advisory roles . Though retired from the military , Middleton was soon called to serve in a variety of advisory capacities . In April 1946 he was appointed to the Doolittle board , set up to investigate officer - enlisted men relationships , and headed by former Air Corps General James H . Doolittle . The board made a number of recommendations , one of the more significant ones being to allow the non - commissioned officers to establish their own clubs , a recommendation supported by Bill Mauldin . Three years later Middleton was asked to serve on the Military Education Panel of the Service Academy Board to look at the curricula of the Military and Naval Academies , and the proposed Air Force Academy as well . Working for nine months on recommendations , Middleton stressed a more liberal education for the academies , and much of what he recommended was accepted . Middleton was also asked to speak to military groups on occasion , such as for commissioning exercises at Fort Benning in 1951 . As late as 1958 he was called on by the United States Military Academy to come and review the curriculum offered to the cadets , and then was called again in 1959 to do related work . In the spring of 1951 , Middleton got a call from General J . Lawton Collins , who was now the Army Chief of Staff , asking for Middleton to take an assignment on behalf of the Army . Middleton was compelled to say yes . There were allegations of wholesale honor code violations at the U . S . Military Academy in West Point , and Middleton was to serve on a committee to oversee the proceedings and make recommendations . Though personally painful to Middleton , the committee ' s recommendation was to dismiss 82 cadets for cheating , including most of the members of the football team . A headline in a New Orleans newspaper wryly summarized the event as " Army Football Team Severely Penalized for Illegal Passing . " While this was a drastic undertaking , the committee also recommended that the same tests not be given to different groups on different days , which practice offered the cadets a big temptation to cheat . Though this was not a pleasant assignment for Middleton , he had been selected for the task because of his reputation for fairness . Though he had never attended West Point , in 1952 he was asked to serve the academy on its Board of Visitors , a position which he held for one three - year term . University presidency . Dr . Hatcher , the President of LSU , resigned his position in February 1947 because of ill health . The search went out for a new president , and when Middleton was asked to be considered for the job , he declined , being very content with his job as comptroller . Following the search , Harold W . Stoke was brought in from the University of New Hampshire . Middleton thought Stoke had many good qualities , but he could not work well with the Board of Supervisors . Stoke was sometimes doctrinaire , and his formality when working with the board members was found to be annoying by some . While he was respected by most of the faculty , Stoke continued to have run - ins with the board members , and in December 1950 his differences with the board resulted in his tendering his resignation . Stoke asked the board to hold a special meeting on 28 December to act on his resignation . Following the meeting , three members of the board came to Middleton ' s office , and told him , " The board has elected you president of the university and we are here to notify you . It is the board ' s desire that you accept . " Middleton was pressed to make a quick decision , and feeling confident that he could fulfill the job with no misgivings , he accepted the position . There was some backlash from the resignation of Stoke , as students and members of the community criticized the board . Nevertheless , the resignation became effective on 1 February 1951 , on which day Middleton began his role as university president . The years that Middleton was president of LSU were marked by tremendous growth , resulting in many battles over funding priorities . The four major projects being considered were a new library , enclosure of the football stadium , a new auditorium and an addition to the medical school in New Orleans . Middleton ' s priorities put the library at the head of the list , and the stadium last . The Board of Supervisors , on the other hand , gave priority to the stadium , and in February 1953 voted to accept a bid for the project . After the stadium expansion had been approved , the Board of Supervisors agreed to give priority to a new library in September 1953 . Within a year , the state legislature had given LSU all of the funds it asked for , about 20 % more than the previous request , to be used mostly for higher staff salaries , but also including 3 . 6 million dollars for the new library to be built across from the Hill Memorial Library in the central part of the campus . In 1954 projections indicated that student enrollment would nearly double in the next 15 years , and in response the university entered into its most ambitious building program to date . As the university president , Middleton was constantly involved in personnel decisions , some of them making national news . One such ordeal occurred in February 1955 when the Board of Supervisors decided that it was time for the head football coach , Gaynell Tinsley , to be relieved following a break - even record in seven years . His successor , Paul Dietzel , was a 29 - year old assistant coach at the United States Military Academy . Dietzel had a rough beginning at LSU with three losing seasons , and calls for his removal became louder . Middleton supported Dietzel , however , and in his fourth season as coach the LSU Tigers not only had an undefeated season , but also won the Sugar Bowl and were declared the national champions . A serious issue facing most southern schools in 1956 was that of desegregation . While Middleton , like most white Louisianans , was in favor of segregation , as the university president his responsibility was to uphold the laws of the state and nation , and his intention was to do just that . In April he wrote a sobering report to the Board of Supervisors entitled " LSU and Segregation . " Here he outlined the history of the enrollment of blacks at LSU , which showed how resistant the university had been to such an undertaking . While there were avid segregationists who declared the federal desegregation laws would not be fulfilled , more practical minds could see the futility and extreme expense of having to create duplicate facilities in every area of advanced education , and the process of integration , which had already begun at a slow pace , now became accelerated . When Middleton reached the university ' s mandatory retirement age of 70 in 1959 , the Alumni Council adopted a resolution to have the Board of Supervisors waive the age requirement , and allow Middleton to stay on as president . This was done , and again at the end of the 1959 - 1960 school year he was once again declared to be essential to the university , and once again reluctantly agreed to stay for one , but only one , additional year . Though it became a long year , on 1 February 1962 Middleton officially retired , and three weeks earlier the 11th of January was declared as " Troy H . Middleton Day in Louisiana " by Governor Jimmie H . Davis . LSU classes were suspended , an honor guard from the Cadet Corps was formed , and Secretary of the Army Elvis Stahr came to address the convocation , at which Middleton was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws . Retirement and death . Middleton was a little more than 72 years old when he retired from LSU in 1962 . He was now President Emeritus , and maintained an office on campus in the David F . Boyd building . He went to this office every Wednesday morning where a staff secretary handled the typing of a large number of letters in response to his mail . Two years after his retirement , in May 1964 , Governor John J . McKeithen came to his office hoping that Middleton would accept a job on a commission that he was forming . The governor was wanting to ease the state ' s growing racial tensions by creating a biracial commission composed of 21 blacks and 21 whites . The governor needed a chairman who would command a tremendous amount of respect , and his choice was Middleton . Middleton said he would do it for a year , beginning in 1965 , but as had often happened in the past , the year stretched into five , and it wasn ' t until 1970 when the commission had reached its goals and was disbanded that Middleton was freed from this duty . Middleton ' s black counterpart on the commission was Dr . Albert Dent , president of Dillard University in New Orleans , and the directors chosen to head the staff of this Commission on Human Relations , Rights , and Responsibilities were white attorney John Martzell and black attorney Jesse N . Stone . Some of the potential trouble spots where the commission was able to have a positive affect included the towns of Ferriday and Opelousas , and the commission helped to open the ranks of the Louisiana State Police to qualified blacks . The commission was disbanded in May 1970 , after having effectively served its purpose , and the members each received a letter of thanks from the governor . In January 1969 the Coordinating Council for Higher Education was authorized , and Middleton agreed to serve once again , but this time refused pressure from the governor to become the chairman . After two years , Middleton felt that the council had more than justified itself by merging redundant facilities , and disapproving projects that were wasteful of taxpayer ' s money . Middleton served in this role until 1973 , when he was 83 years old , and also served in a number of other capacities , but continued to hunt and fish when he could , while also enjoying his growing family . Middleton died in Baton Rouge on 9 October 1976 , three days before his 87th birthday . His wife , Jerusha , died on 16 March 1980 , aged 89 , and both were interred in the Baton Rouge National Cemetery , sharing a tall granite marker , one of the few non - standard markers in the cemetery . Legacy . In 1962 , the year of Middleton ' s retirement from LSU , Mississippi State University declared him the " alumnus of the year , " joining the company of earlier honoree , John C . Stennis , who had been the 1958 designate . On 10 September 1966 , the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters awarded Middleton a bronze plaque , honoring him as the Louisianan of the Year for his accomplishments in racial peace - keeping while chairing the Commission on Human Relations , Rights , and Responsibilities . On 24 March 1973 , the Middleton Collection of Memorabilia was dedicated at LSU . Housed in a 24 by 54 foot room in the university ' s library , the collection included pictures , letters , citations , awards , plaques , a uniform , riding boots , a saber and numerous other artifacts and documents . The room was maintained until 1999 , when the space was given to other priorities , and all of the items were cataloged and moved to the university archives in the old Hill Memorial Library on campus . On 3 November 1978 the LSU Board of Supervisors officially named the LSU library the " Troy H . Middleton Library , " 20 years after the building was first dedicated . In Baton Rouge , off of South Foster Drive is a street named Middleton Place in honor of the General ; and in 1986 at Mississippi State University the Army and Air Force ROTC building was named in honor of Middleton . When interviewed by Middleton ' s biographer in 1965 , former United States President Dwight Eisenhower , who had once been a student of Middleton ' s , had this to say about his former instructor : Ancestry of Troy Houston Middleton . References . Notes . A . While some references call her " Katherine Louise , " the 1870 and 1900 federal censuses for Copiah County , Mississippi and her tombstone in the Bethel Church Cemetery all give her name as " Laura Catherine , " the latter spelled with a C .