George Smith PATTON

Early 1943 - The North African Campaign: During the North African campaign, Major General Patton was in command of the western task force of the United States Army. Patton and his troops arrived in Morocco aboard the cruiser USS Augusta while entering the port of Casablanca. Casablanca fell within just four days of fighting. The Sultan of Morocco was so impressed that he presented Patton with the order of Ouissam Alaouite with the citation: “Les lion’s dans leurs tanieres tremblent en le voyant approacher” (The lions in their dens tremble at his approach).

On March 6, 1943, General Patton took Major General Lloyd Fredendall's place as commander of the II Corps. By mid-March, Patton, along with his troops, joined the rest of the British I Army and pushed the Germans and Italians back into a smaller portion of Tunisia. Finally, they were pushed out of North Africa by Mid-May.

Sicily Campaign: As a result of Patton’s performance during the North African Campaign, Patton received command of the Seventh Army in preparation for the 1943 invasion of Sicily. Patton formed a provisional corps under his chief of staff and swiftly pushed through Western Sicily, liberating the Capital, Palermo. After that, Patton quickly turned east toward Messenia.

Slapping incident and removal from command: While General Patton was visiting a military hospital in Sicily on August 3, 1943, he was greeting soldiers. Patton came upon a soldier that was 24 years old and his name was Charles H. Kuhl. When Patton came upon him, he was weeping. Patton asked “whats a matter with you?” The soldier replied "I can’t stand the shelling it’s my nerves". Patton burst out in rage saying much profanity and calling the soldier a coward and ordered him back to the frontline. Patton was so mad that he slapped the soldier in the back of the head.

When General Eisenhower found out about the incident, he ordered Patton to make amends and apologize to the soldier. Kuhl later found out that he had malaria. That was why his nerves were acting up, and that was the reason that he was suffering. Patton personally apologized to the soldier at Patton Headquarters and did not know that the soldier had malaria. Charles H. Kuhl died on January 24, 1971 from natural causes.

Normandy: Patton was placed in command of the third army following the Normandy Invasion, which was on the far west of the allied forces landing. He led this army in the late stages of Operation Cobra. The third army simultaneously attacked west, south, east toward Seine, and north. Patton used Germany's own blitzkrieg tactics. The third army covered more than 60 miles in just 2 weeks from Avranches to Argentan.

Lorraine: General Patton’s offense came to a halt on August 31, 1944 as the third army literally ran out of gas next to the Mosselle River just outside of Metz, France. Patton expected that the Theater commander would keep fuel and supplies coming to help the successful advantages.

Patton’s experience suggested that a major U.S. and Allied advantage was in mobility. This lead to more numbers of U.S. trucks, U.S. tanks, and better radio communication. In October and November, the third army was in a full on battle with the Germans with heavy casualties on both sides. However on November 23, Metz finally fell to the Americans. This was the first time the city had been taken since the Franco-Prussian war in 1870.

Battle of the Bulge: In 1944, the German army launched a last ditch offensive across Belgium, Luxembourg and northeastern France popularly as the Battle of the Bulge. On December 16, 1944 the German army massed 29 divisions at a weak point in the allied lines and made massive headways toward the Muese River. Patton turned the third army, disengaging the 3rd army from the front line of the German forces and besieged the 101st airborne Division.

General Patton's Legacy

In the end General Patton left his mark on U.S. history by being one of the most decorated Generals of every one of the other wars throughout history.

General Patton got the right to go command the highly commended Third army who with General Patton captured or conquered a total of 82,000 square miles of German territory during World War II that was used as German outposts and a few generals in Germany.

Patton's Third Army inflicted a shocking total of 55% of all Germans killed, wounded, or captured This means more than half of the German army was killed, wounded, or captured by the Third Army with General Patton at its head. When the United States of America needed a strong driven leader There was only one man for the job and that was General Patton.