1885165438+1October1kloc-0/Barton was born in a military family in California, USA. His father and grandfather both graduated from private Virginia Military Academy and engaged in military career. Barton learned to ride a horse in his teens, and was sent to West Point Military Academy for higher education at the age of 19. Because of his poor math performance, he reread the first grade, but Barton was still ambitious and believed that he was destined to be a great man. So he often urges himself to be an important person, appreciated and applauded. He loves sports and is good at football, field events and fencing, especially fencing. He thinks that "this is the best publicity." Under the guidance of this excellent psychology and purpose, he constantly strives for strength and never slackens. He once said in a letter to his parents: "As long as I can be great today, I will suffer and die tomorrow."
Barton takes Jackson's warning as his motto: "Don't let fear control you", which he thinks is the fundamental factor for soldiers to be brave and fearless. He clearly knows that although he is brave, he is not without scruple in the face of danger. So he often deliberately exercises himself and challenges his fears.
1909 After graduating from West Point Military Academy, Barton was sent to a cavalry unit in Fort Surrey near Chicago and was appointed as a second lieutenant. 19 10, he married Beatrice, the daughter of a wealthy businessman in Massachusetts. Married life is happy, with a man and a woman. 19 1 1 year, Barton was transferred to Fort Ye Mei near Washington, which was a turning point in his life. Because he can have more contact opportunities with important people in the government here, he once temporarily served as the aide and secretary Stimson of Chief of Staff Wood.
19 12, a military event called modern pentathlon was added to the Olympic Games. 19 15, Barton went to Stockholm to participate in the competition at his own expense, desperately trying to win. With tenacious perseverance, he finally won the fifth place among 43 competitors and became the best performer in the regular army of the United States. According to his wife Beatrice, he immediately went to France for his honeymoon, while Barton spent several weeks studying kendo in cavalry school. This effort earned him the title of "Master of Kendo".
After the outbreak of World War I, Barton's request to go to France to fight in the war was not approved, so he was transferred to Brisborg to serve in the Eighth Cavalry under Pershing's command. Here, his military career reached its first peak. 19 16, went to Mexico with Pershing to intervene in the peasant revolution, which made him quite conspicuous, gained Pershing's appreciation and became Pershing's adjutant and confidant. On April 19 17, Barton went to France with Pershing. He felt it was an honor to work in the general's staff, but he was as big as Mexico. In the huge and complex organization of American Expeditionary Force, Barton not only failed to achieve great things, but also appeared very introverted. At the beginning of September, Barton went to see Pershing and requested to be transferred to the combat post. At this time, Pershing is trying to organize the first American tank force. He said to Barton, "I put forward two positions for you to choose from." One is to command an infantry battalion, and the other is to organize tank troops. " Barton chose the latter.
Barton, as the first American officer sent to join the tank arms, first visited the tank training centers in Britain and France and then wrote a detailed report in order to familiarize himself with the performance and usage of this weapon. His main idea at that time was to support the infantry with tanks in order to break through the defense of the other side. 19 18 At the beginning of this year, Barton opened a school in South Grice to train tank and chariot personnel, and turned the trained personnel into a brigade with French light tanks at that time, and he himself was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel. In the battle of St. Jebel, Barton led two tank battalions to participate, showing a brave spirit. After the war, he won a medal and was promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel. 19 19, Barton returned home in triumph and was sent to fort meade Tank Training Center. There, he met Eisenhower, a classmate in the later period of West Point Military Academy, and they had a consistent discussion on any development of armored forces to powerful mobile arms. However, the 1920 national defense act reorganized the US Army, placed armored forces under infantry, and lowered the rank of regular officers. Barton was demoted to major and returned to the cavalry. In the next 20 years, Barton held more than a dozen different positions in Hawaii and the United States, and was sent to cavalry school, command school and army university for further study.
1in July, 940, Barton, 55, returned to the armored forces and became the brigade commander of the 2nd armored division, and was soon promoted to the rank of Major General of the 2nd armored division. At the beginning of 1942, the United States officially entered the war, and Barton was promoted to 1 armored commander. Because he is familiar with the art of war and the history of war, he has a deep understanding of the new operational theory put forward by Fuller, liddell hart and Gideon, and has unique views on the application of armored forces in combat. With the development of the war, Barton foresaw that American troops might be sent to fight in North Africa and the Middle East, so he opened a desert battlefield training center in the southern United States to train its personnel strictly. In July, when deciding to carry out the "Torch" operation, Barton was appointed as the commander of the US military campaign cluster, led his troops to Casablanca, occupied french morocco, and served as the governor in Morocco. 1943 February, on the battlefield in Tunisia, Axis forces launched a counterattack under Rommel's command, and the 2nd Army of the United States was defeated. Eisenhower immediately transferred Barton to take over the Second Army, saved Tunisia's defeat, and awarded the important task of restoring American morale. After Barton arrived, he ordered to rectify the military discipline, stipulating that every soldier must wear a helmet and tie leggings at all times, even nurses are no exception. In less than a week, he put his fighting spirit into the army. Under his command, the army was brave and tenacious in the future battles, with outstanding achievements, and cooperated with the British army to annihilate 250,000 German-Italian North African troops. Barton was called "the most inspiring person" by the soldiers. Soon, he was promoted to lieutenant general and handed over the position of commander to his deputy Bradley. In July, he was transferred to the commander of the US Seventh Army. Under the command of Alexander, the British general, he landed in Sicily, Italy with Montgomery's Eighth Army and captured Palermo and other places. Barton's style is rude. He was opposed by the US military and domestic public opinion for beating soldiers twice. Under the protection of Marshall, Eisenhower and others, he survived.
1944 65438+ 10 In October, Barton left Africa by plane and went to Britain to accept the post of commander of the third army. Before that, many people objected to handing over an army to Barton because of the beating of soldiers, but Eisenhower knew Barton's tactical genius and chose him. After Barton took office, he made a series of planning preparations for the "Great Monarch" campaign. At the beginning of the campaign, under the unified command of Montgomery, Bradley's troops landed on June 6 and occupied the beachhead. In this strategic campaign, the Allies dispatched more than 9,000 ships of various types, including 1.37 million aircraft, with a total strength of more than 2.87 million people. Barton's troops assembled in Curtentin Peninsula in July. In order to break the "static state" of war in the bush wall area, the "Cobra" operation was launched on July 25. This breakthrough operation is very suitable for Barton's military genius. In fact, this breakthrough battle plan was made under the influence of a series of bold plans designed by Barton in 1944. The implementation of this plan led to the victory of "overlord" in history.
The "overlord" plan began to be implemented. Barton's task itself is to capture Brittany to the west. However, his offensive spirit and the speed of mobile warfare eventually turned local breakthroughs into full-scale mobile warfare, forcing the Germans to retreat in an all-round way. By August 4th, Barton's troops had advanced to Rouen, occupied Rennes, arrived in Fougere, and continued to advance to Vaughan. But Eisenhower was not excited about Barton's record and the opportunities he created, and thought it was only the fruit of precocity. He is interested in decisively and continuously attacking the troops in the central theater around De Ville and destroying it so that it cannot retreat to siegfried line. Barton understood the intention of the supreme commander and attacked desperately. With the consent of Breville, he attacked the Jin Tan Line on August 13, and after three days, he moved eastward to the Hanna River, blocking the retreat of the remaining Germans. Immediately, the allies attacked again, and Barton tended to the gap between Paris and Orleans. With half an armored division as the vanguard, it persisted until the Mujie River at the end of August. In September, when supplies and fuel were very difficult, he crossed the Mosley River and caught Nancy. 65438+ 10 stopped attacking for one month, 10 8 attacked again 165438, and soon entered siegfried line. 12 On February 22nd, he led three armies to attack Bastogne to meet the trapped American paratroopers. Then, a month later, he crossed the Rhine and went straight to Germany. At this point, the Germans have completely collapsed, and soon, the Allies joined forces with the Soviets. Barton is a four-star general at this time.
After the end of the European battlefield, Barton caused an uproar because he opposed the policy of eliminating Nazi remnants. The commander of the third army was relieved and appointed as the nominal commander of the 15 army. Here, he began the task of writing the history of war.
1945 65438+February 9, that is, Barton was injured in a car accident on the eve of his scheduled retirement and returned to the United States, and died on February 221945.
Barton is a general with great personality in American history. He is keen on war, so he is familiar with the art of war and studies military history. He has a keen mind and deliberately explores new technologies and weapons and their applications in combat; However, because of his shallow understanding of strategy, especially political strategy, and his rude and arrogant style, he was criticized, even in wartime. However, he was one of the most outstanding military generals in World War II.