Pershing, Roosevelt and the Tenth Cavalry

Today is a day to remember the nation's first responders and those in our military service who sacrifice so much in defending our country. In that regard, I would like to do something a bit unusual and highlight some of this nation's most honored defenders.  I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the careers of John J. Pershing, the highest ranking general in American history, -- the only General of the Armies to be so named during his lifetime; of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt; and of the Tenth Cavalry, the unit that played a important role in both of their careers.

Why Pershing?  Well, as this country was preparing to embark on yet another undefined war in a country it does not understand, I decided to pay my daughter a visit.  My daughter moved to the fine state of Montana in April of this year and, with her boyfriend, currently resides in the City of Havre, a municipality of some 9,000 souls that is situated on the "Hi-Line" of northern Montana.  Last Saturday was spent with my daughter and her boyfriend on a sentimental journey back to Glasgow Air Force Base during which I could reminisce about a couple of memorable years I spent there in the 1960s.  It was only after spending most of the day reflecting about my time on that outpost where the inhabitants were prepared to fly B-52s to the Soviet Union in the event of a nuclear confrontation that my daugther and her boyfriend deposited me at my Havre hotel with a couple of hours of daylight still to spare. Curious as to what the town might have to offer, I first ventured over to the Buffalo Jump, a cliff located a couple of blocks from the hotel where, a few hundred years ago, the native people would stampede the bison over the cliff and proceed to harvest the remains of the bison who did not survive. Unfortunately, it was after 4pm and the Buffalo Jump was closed.  So I then proceeded to my next destination the local golf course, the Beaver Creek Golf Course located two miles west of Havre on the "Hi-Line", Highway 2.  

The Golf Course was still open and the course operator explained that the 18 hole course was really a nine hole course with two sets of tees. On the second round of nine, the golfers would have a different experience by having to hit from the second set of tees that would be located behind the first set.  Interesting, but I did not have enough daylight for even a nine hole course and besides, as I experienced in Glasgow, it was still mosquito season and I was sans repellent.

Leaving the Beaver Creek Golf Course, my next stop was Fort Assinniboine, and it was at Fort Assinniboine that I became intrigued. Fort Assinniboine, is now a historic heritage site located about five miles south of Havre on Highway 87.  You can read about it at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Assinniboine

I arrived after the normal hours of operation but it was still light and I was still able to read the interpretative signs.  One explained that Fort Assinniboine was most famously the home of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry -- the famed Buffalo Soldiers -- and that one of the commanders of the Tenth Cavalry (from 1895 to 1896) while at Fort Assinniboine was a First Lieutenant named John Pershing.  Knowing that Pershing was the commander of the American forces that fought in Europe during World War I and having heard that Pershing got his nickname "Black Jack"  ("N.... Jack" actually) from his time spent commanding the Buffalo Soldiers, I suddenly felt a connection to Havre that I had not expected to find.  

You can read about Pershing at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J._Pershing

and you can read about the Tenth Cavalry at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_Cavalry_Regiment_(United_States)

In reading about Pershing and the Tenth Cavalry, I was also struck by the fact that the relationship that Pershing forged with his troops at Fort Assinniboine enabled them to play such an instrumental role in the greatest day in the life of Theodore Roosevelt -- the day that Roosevelt and his Rough Riders charged up San Juan Hill.   Please see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Juan_Hill

Because of what happened on that day, Roosevelt became a national hero and Pershing's military star began to shine.  Indeed, quite probably because of the link the two men shared at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt, once he became President, became personally involved in promoting Pershing from captain to brigadier general and paving the way for Pershing's subsequent elevation to higher stars.

And yet, underneath all of the glory achieved by Roosevelt and Pershing lay the blood and toil of the Tenth Cavalry.  Those men are mostly forgotten now, but at least on one September day in 2014, while visiting Havre, Montana, I was compelled to remember them and to not forget.

And so, on this day of remembrance of those who most recently served, I also offer up a brief memory of those who also served so many years ago.

Peace.

P.S. You can read about Pershing's feelings about his time with the Tenth Cavalry at

https://archive.org/stream/historyoftenthca00glasrich#page/134/mode/2up

Enjoy!