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6 Patton’s Lorraine Campaign
- Indiana University Press
- Chapter
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198 6 Patton’s Lorraine Campaign The 29th of August was one of the most important days of the war. . . . I presented my case for a rapid advance to the east for the purpose of cutting the Siegfried line before it could be manned. Bradley was very sympathetic but Bull (General Bull, Eisenhower’s G3) and, I gather, the rest of SHAEF’s staff did not concur. It was my opinion then that this was the momentous event of the war. George Patton At the end of August, virtually no organized resistance impeded American columns as they sped eastward. Patton believed that in another ten days he could breach the West Wall, enter Germany, and maybe end the war. “Now is the moment, Hap [General “Hap” Gay, Third Army assistant chief of staff]. They are ours for the taking. If we delay, the price will be written in blood.” Patton added, “It is such a sure thing, that I fear someone will stop it.”1 Patton Sixty years after the events in Western Europe, the stars of many American commanders have faded. Patton’s flag, bright and colorful as ever, still snaps smartly in the breeze. Patton, the caricature of a rough talking, hard-charging general, captures the imagination of a legion of admirers. His strident “war face” attracts many who seek the quintessential warrior. Others, put off by his bellicose, profane, and crude histrionics, say he bordered on madness. No other commander in World War II more deeply impressed his personality on his command than George Patton.2 Some say Patton transformed Third Army into his own image. Many believed Third Army began to exhibit the mannerisms and idiosyncrasies of its colorful commander. Patton’s Lorraine Campaign · 199 Another American general summed up the consensus opinion of the Third Army’s commander’s point of view: “He gave one the impression that he considered World War II, so far, to be Patton vs. the Wehrmacht.”3 And colorful he was. Patton had the kind of personality that humans warm to and admire—and large organizations abhor. Only through the intervention of Marshall and Eisenhower was Patton saved from repeated efforts at self-immolation—the “slapping” incidents in Sicily, where Patton struck hospitalized GIs the general thought were malingering. That process cost Patton his close friendship with Ike. Despite his brusque demeanor, Patton cared deeply for his own troops. Like the better-advertised actions of Eisenhower, Bradley, and Hodges, Patton saw to the welfare of his men. Remembering his own World War I experience, he saw to it that drying rooms were established for frontline troops caught in the incessant Lorraine rain of fall 1944. He personally wrote and distributed detailed instructions on the prevention of trench foot. To his subordinates, he stressed the individual officers’ responsibility for the health and well-being of their troops at all times.4 Behind the tough image stood a towering intellect self-taught in the operational art. While he struck an anti-intellectual tone popular with the culture that produced him, here was an officer who had spent a lifetime thinking deeply about his profession. “The source of his genius was in his library and on the job learning, rather than in the Army schooling system.”5 Patton read extensively on strategy and the operational art, glossing many of the works as he read. British General Essame, who wrote a book analyzing Patton as a military commander, stated, “In the hours of peace time reading and reflection which he had spent in his study lies part of the explanation of his speed of decision when these very problems arise again in a new form.”6 Patton was the master of mechanized warfare in exploitation. Once on the move he made decisions quickly and maneuvered his units with speed and confidence. Von Rundstedt considered him a far more dangerous opponent than Montgomery.7 Patton simply moved faster than the Germans could react. As much as his tanks, Patton’s mental agility created the speed of his maneuvers.8 Patton was also influenced by his belief that he was a warrior continuously reincarnated through the long march of time. History influenced him heavily, as we shall see in discussing Metz. Patton felt it was his destiny to attack through Lorraine and conquer Germany. This was the same route where his revered World War I commander, General Pershing, intended to win that war.9 [44.213.80.174] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 08:50 GMT...