Images(2)

General Pershing Medal

Period1918 - 1920

MediumBronze

Dimensions0.13 × 1.63 in. (0.3 × 4.1 cm)

SignedThe medal is signed on the obverse side beneath the bust of Pershing, reading "J. P. Legastelois." A second artist's signature appears on the reverse side along the lower left, above the inscription border, "J. P. Legastelois."

ClassificationsThe Robert Hartshorne World War I Collection

Credit LineGift of Mary Minturn Adams in memory of her Hartshorne Ancestors, 2018

Object number2018.10.20.12

DescriptionA small circular medal struck in bronze, depicting on the obverse a bust length portrait of General John Joseph Pershing (1860 - 1948). Encircling his head is the inscription "GENERAL PERSHING." On the reverse, soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force march across a battlefield, with biplanes overhead, above the inscription "FOR HONOR / AND LIBERTY / OF NATIONS." The medal is signed by the artist on both obverse and reverse sides.
Curatorial RemarksJohn Joseph Pershing was born in Missouri in 1860. He entered West Point as a cadet in 1882 and graduated in 1886. He fought out west during the last of the Lakota Sioux uprisings, in the Spanish American War, in the Philippines between 1909 and 1913, and in Mexico between 1916 and 1917. His nickname, "Black Jack," was given to him by West Point cadets whom he taught in 1897, in pejorative reference to his command of the 10th Cavalry Regiment in 1895, one of the original "Buffalo Soldier" units comprised of African American troops. In 1915, his wife and three of his four children died in a fire in San Francisco. He never remarried. When the United States entered the First World War, Pershing was appointed Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces. Towards the end of the war, Pershing contracted the flu during the great pandemic of 1918, but recovered. He received the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for history for his autobiography. He died in 1948 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Pershing is the only American to be promoted during his lifetime to the rank of General of the Armies, the highest possible rank in the service. He is also considered the father of the Army Military Police. Sculptor and artist Jules-Prosper-Joseph-Marie-Edmond Legastelois was born in Paris in 1855. He studied under Eugene Levasseur, Emile Carlier, Oscar Roty, and Georges Tonneier. Legastelois received numerous medals and awards during his career as a celebrated Art Nouveau sculptor and medalist, including silver and bronze medals at the Universal Exposition of 1889. Legastelois died in Paris in 1931. Please see accession number 2018.10.20 for the Bataille de la Marne medal, also by Legastelois.NotesThis medal was collected by Robert Hartshorne during his service in the First World War. Hartshorne joined the American Red Cross in 1916. His association with that organization apparently put him in touch with the American Committee for Devastated France, which intended to introduce modern American farming methods in those battlefield areas heavily damaged near Rheims. Hartshorne arrived in France in May of 1918 and returned to the United States at the end of December the same year. Hartshorne collected numerous medals, uniform insignia, and souvenirs commemorating his time abroad. For a more complete biography of Robert Hartshorne, please see the portrait miniature of Robert Hartshorne (accession number 2018.10.9).

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