
The Question of MacArthur's Reputation
Cote De Chatillon, October 14-16, 1918
Robert H. Ferrell(Author)
University of Missouri Press
Will be published approx. on 30. November 2008
Book
Hardback
136 pages
978-0-8262-1830-8 (ISBN)
Description
Perhaps the best known of all American five-star generals, Douglas MacArthur established his military reputation at the hill of Chatillon during the great battle of the Meuse-Argonne in World War I. The thirty-eight-year-old brigadier general in command of the Eighty-fourth Infantry Brigade boasted to a fellow general that he had inspired his troops by example, taking the hill and breaking the main German line in northern France. Ever since, historical accounts and biographies have celebrated his leadership and bravery.That MacArthur's forces prevailed is beyond question, as military historians have shown. Yet in all the annals of the Great War there is no detailed description of what happened at Chatillon, nor of what MacArthur had to do with it. Robert Ferrell examines those events and comes to an unusual conclusion - one that will revise how we view this archetypal American hero.After sifting through the inexact accounts of the battle found in regimental and divisional histories - and through the many biographies of MacArthur that assert his leadership at Chatillon but do not describe it - Ferrell has gone into Army records to determine if what MacArthur claimed was true. In a moment-by-moment account of the battle, he reconstructs the movements of troops and the decisions of officers to show in detail how MacArthur's subordinates were the true heroes.Ferrell describes how the taking of Cote de Chatillon could have been a disaster had the Eighty-fourth Brigade followed MacArthur's original plan, a bayonet charge at night. Wiser heads prevailed, and the attack of the Iowa and Alabama regiments was a great success.Ferrell has completed a chapter in the history of World War I that has stood unfinished for years, showing in masterly fashion how MacArthur exaggerated his reputation at Chatillon. ""The Question of MacArthur's Reputation"" will reward historians seeking to fill gaps in the record, engage readers who enjoy descriptions of battle, and startle all who take their heroes for granted.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Missouri
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Paper over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
20 illustrations, bibliography, index, maps
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
340 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8262-1830-8 (9780826218308)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Professor Emeritus of History at Indiana University, Robert H. Ferrell is the author or editor of many books in American foreign relations, presidential history, and military history, including Five Days in October: The Lost Battalion of World War I; Collapse at Meuse-Argonne: The Failure of the Missouri-Kansas Division; and most recently Argonne Days in World War I (all available from the University of Missouri Press). He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.