| Robert L. Bullard | |
|---|---|
Robert Lee Bullard |
|
| Born | January 5, 1861 Lee County, Alabama |
| Died | September 11, 1947 (aged 86) New York City |
| Buried at | West Point Cemetery |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1885 to 1925 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Unit | 10th Infantry Regiment (Fort Union, New Mexico) U.S. Second Army |
| Commands held | 26th Infantry Regiment (1913) 1st Infantry Division III Corps U.S. Second Army (first commander) |
| Battles/wars | Spanish-American War Philippine-American War Mexican Border Service World War I *Battle of Cantigny |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal |
| Other work | President of National Security League author orator |
Robert Lee Bullard (January 5, 1861 – September 11, 1947) was a United States General.
General Bullard attended the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1885. He was involved in conflicts in the American Western Frontier, the Philippines, and World War I.
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After the American entry in WWI, Bullard was quickly promoted from Colonel (since 1911) to Brigadier General (June 1917) and Major General (August 1917). He commanded the 1st Infantry Division ("Big Red One") from December 1917 to July 1918.
During World War I he led men in the Battle of Cantigny (1918) and captured the village of Cantigny. It had been held by the German Eighteenth Army. It was the site of a German advance observation point and strongly fortified. This was the first sustained American offensive of the war. It was considered a success in that it expanded the American front by about a mile. General John J. Pershing said of the attack:
"The enemy reaction against our troops at Cantigny was extremely violent, and apparently he was determined at all costs to counteract the most excellent effect the American success had produced. For three days his guns of all calibres were concentrated on our new position and counter-attack succeeded counter-attack. The desperate efforts of the Germans gave the fighting at Cantigny a seeming tactical importance entirely out of proportion to the numbers involved." 1
Bullard was fluent in French and often served in joint U.S. - French operations.
General Pershing created the Second U.S. Army and appointed Bullard as its first commander with the rank of Lieutenant General. At the same time he turned over command of First United States Army to Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett. Pershing himself moved up to become commander of an Army Group.
His behavior in sending troops into battle, at the risk of dying, with full knowledge that the Armistice was due in a few hours, was severely criticized by Alden Brooks in his post-war account of the war, As I Saw It, (1930).
After the war, his rank was reduced (this is normal procedure) to corps command in the smaller U.S. army. He retired from active duty in 1925 to concentrate on writing. He served as President of the National Security League.
He was author of the following books:
Bullard also wrote several magazine articles.
He died in 1947. Bullard is buried at the U.S. Military Academy Post Cemetery, with his wife Ella (Reiff) Bullard (5 November 1870 to 3 March 1963).
A biography was written about him: The General: Robert L. Bullard and Officership in the United States Army, 1881-1925, by Allan R. Millett (1975).
^1 Source Records of the Great War, Vol. VI, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni 1923