Patton: America's Favorite General

The story of General George S. Patton

Patton’s name has become synonymous with American military strength and excellence. The gruff, no-nonsense general is best remembered for his victories against the Axis powers, particularly in North Africa.

George Smith Patton was born on November 11, 1885 in California. He came from a prominent military family. His grandfather, George Patton Sr, had been a Confederate colonel who was mortally wounded by Union artillery at the Third Battle of Winchester in 1864. His great uncle, Walter Patton, had been killed at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1865. Young George was raised a spoiled, pampered child. He was the focal point of his parents’ lies, and was overindulged by his affectionate aunt. Patton’s childhood was something out of a storybook. He had a lifelong fascination with books, and was especially infatuated with military history. His father would read aloud Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey when George was age 7. His loving aunt read him everything from the Bible, to Napoleon, to the American Civil War. By his teenage years, the adolescent Patton was well-versed in Shakespeare, Kipling, Homer, and military heroes such as Caesar and Hannibal.

George, who was never formally schooled until the age of 12, only narrowed passed the entrance for West Point. There, Patton’s peers found him to be arrogant and unlikable. He lacked self-confidence, and constantly sought out the approval of his father. He often expressed his inner turmoil in his letters back home. “I am a characterless, lazy, stupid, yet ambitious dreamer who will degenerate into a third-rate second lieutenant, and never command anything more than a platoon,” he once bemoaned. At the same time, he possessed an iron-clad ambition to succeed. He played sports, such as polo and football, with such aggression that he even broke several bones. During this formative period, Patton skillfully crafted his now-iconic macho persona. The athletic Patton was selected to represent the US at the Stockholm Olympic Games in 1912, where he competed in a fierce pentathlon of riding, shooting, fencing, running, and swimming.

Patton received his first significant military commission in 1916, when Mexican revolutionaries spilled over into the border towns of the southern United States. On March 9, 400 heavily armed bandits, led by Francisco “Pancho” villa, stormed across the border. For two hours, the Mexicans ravaged and looted the American border town of Columbus, but were chased away from US cavalry. In response, President Woodrow Wilson ordered a punitive expedition to hunt down Pancho Villa. It was led by General John J. Pershing, who selected Patton as his aide. There, in Mexico, Patton participated in the first-ever motorized action in the history of warfare. Traveling in three Dodge Touring cars, Patton and his men launched a raid against Villa’s forces. Patton himself killed three of the bandits, and ordered their bodies be strapped to the cars to drive back to headquarters. About a year after the Pancho Villa expedition, the US declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917. Pershing was given command of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), which was sent over to liberate Europe from German aggression. Pershing offered Patton command of an infantry battalion. By that time, Patton had been fascinated by the burgeoning technology of tanks. Tanks were powerful, albeit unreliable, weapons that were still in their infancy. The awe-inspiring technology was first introduced by the British at the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. Patton, the first officer to be assigned to the AEF’s Tank Corps, was one of the first Americans to learn how to use a tank. He personally instructed some of America’s first-ever tank crews. The Tank Corps sprang into action against the Germans in September 1918. Patton participated in the St. Mihiel Offensive, which beat back the invading Germans. The general’s unbounded tenacity at the Meuse-Argonne Offensive solidified his reputation as a world-class warrior.

The mythos surrounding Patton only grew after his exploits in North Africa, where he commanded the legendary Seventh Army against the Axis powers. Patton was a bold, aggressive man who often relied on his gut instinct. He often clashed with General Bernard Montgomery, the cautious commander of the British Eighth Army. Patton didn’t like how deferential Montgomery was to General Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied commander in Europe. Patton’s instincts were only confirmed when Montgomery proceeded with Operation Husky, the Allies’ ill-fated invasion of Sicily. In August 1943, controversy erupted from General Patton’s infamous slapping incidents. While visiting his wounded soldiers, the general witnessed some of them exhibiting signs of what would now be called PTSD. The wrathful Patton angrily slapped a couple of his men. When news broke of the incidents, the American public was outraged. Patton’s reputation was permanently damaged. Even today, he is equally remembered for his brash cruelty as his heroic valor. Amid the controversy, Patton was ignominiously relieved of command. After the Allies invaded Sicily, they proceeded to the Italian mainland. Then came the invasion of Western Europe, which took place in June of 1944. For this momentous operation, Patton was used as a decoy. This tricked the Nazi Germans into thinking that the Allies had a second invasion force. The ruse worked. The Germans never imagined that the Allies would keep Patton out of the war’s most important offensive. Although the Allies successfully invaded Western Europe, they struggled to advance inlaid. Finally, by the end of July, US forces finally punched a hole through German lines. Omar Bradley, commander of US ground forces, saw an opportunity to put Patton back into action. General Bradley strongly disliked Patton, seeing him as vulgar and difficult to control. Nevertheless, Bradley couldn’t overlook Patton’s unmistakable talents. Patton was given command of the newly formed Third Army, a mobile force equipped with armed vehicles. The Allies unleashed Patton like a rabid dog onto the German lines. Within a matter of days, Patton’s Third Army ripped through into Brittany. In danger of being encircled, Hitler ordered a last-ditch offensive. On December 16, 1944, the Nazis led their counterattack against the thinly fortified American lines at the Ardennes, known as the Battle of the Bulge. Much to Patton’s delight, Hitler had made a huge mistake. The Führer chewed through his remaining reserves. Defeat was soon inevitable for the Third Reich.

With the collapse of Nazi Germany, General Patton hoped to secure a post in the Far East to fight Imperial Japan. Instead, he was appointed as Governor of Bavaria. Patton clashed bitterly with the Russians over Germany’s fate. He refused to depose Nazi officials from Germany’s government administration. Patton was tripped up by reporters, seemingly implying that the Nazi Party was akin to Republicans and Democrats in America. Patton’s comments outraged the press, and his subsequent apology was deemed insufficient. For a second time, he was removed from his post. On December 9, 1945, Patton was driven to a hunting expedition, when the car got into an accident. No one else was hurt except the unlucky Patton, who was paralyzed from the neck down. The injured general was rushed to the hospital, where he died eleven days later. He was buried in Europe, alongside the fallen troops of his beloved Third Army. In a strange twist of irony, the heroic general died not in battle, but in a low-speed car crash in peacetime.

Patton was, in many respects, a deeply flawed man. He was a flagrant narcissist. His volatile temper flared up unpredictably. Regardless of these imperfections, the tough-as-nails Yankee general played an indispensable role in defending America—and the world—from the grips of Nazi totalitarianism. In popular culture, he was immortalized by the eponymous 1970 film Patton, where the general was played by actor George C. Scott. The movie’s introductory scene features Patton’s profanity-laced speech to the Third Army, which has since become widely regarded as one of the most inspirational speeches of all time.