The Last Cavalryman: The Life of General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr. (Campaigns and Commanders Series Book 48)

Campaigns and Commanders #48

by Harvey Ferguson

“Truscott was one of the really tough generals,” soldier-cartoonist Bill Mauldin of the 45th Infantry Division once wrote. “He could have eaten a ham like Patton for breakfast any morning and picked his teeth with the man’s pearl-handled pistols.” Not one merely to act the part of commander, Mauldin remembered, “Truscott spent half his time at the front—the real front—with nobody in attendance but a nervous Jeep driver and a worried aide.” In this biography of Lucian K. Truscott, Jr., author Harvey Ferguson tells the story of how Truscott—despite his hardscrabble beginnings, patchy education, and questionable luck—not only made the rank of army lieutenant general, earning a reputation as one of World War II’s most effective officers along the way, but was also given an honorary promotion to four-star general seven years after his retirement. For all his accomplishments and celebrated heroic action, Truscott was not one for self-aggrandizement, which may explain in part why historians have neglected him until now. The Last Cavalryman, drawing on personal papers only recently made available, gives the first full picture of this singular man’s extraordinary life and career. Ferguson describes Truscott’s near-accidental entry into the U.S. Cavalry (propelled by Pancho Villa’s 1916 raids) and his somewhat halting rise through the ranks—aided by fellow cavalryman George S. Patton, Jr., who steered him into the nascent armored force at the right time. The author takes us through Truscott’s service in the Second World War, from creating the U.S. Army Rangers to engineering the breakout from Anzio and leading the “masterpiece” invasion of southern France. Ferguson finishes his narrative by detailing the general’s postwar work with the CIA, where he acted as President Dwight Eisenhower’s eyes and ears within the agency. A compelling story in itself, this biography of Lucian K. Truscott, Jr.—a cavalryman to the last—fills out an important chapter in American military history.

Genres: Biography, World War II, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, History, American History, Military History

449 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2015

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

One very much gets the impression that the author is simply not up to the job of covering his interesting subject. Disappointing in almost every regard, the author simply hasn't done sufficiently thorough and rigorous research, nor does his writing ever transcend pedestrian recounting of events. The minor errors - like continually misidentifying the standard 10.5 cm leFH 18 as an '88' - could perhaps be overlooked. So to we could perhaps overlook the journeyman storytelling. But there are far more serious problems, such as the fact that when you peruse the footnotes, you quickly realize that the book is basically Truscott's 'Command Missions' retold in third person, with very few other sources informing the account at all. The author through a family friend managed to get Truscott's private letters, which serves to give us good insight into the mind of Truscott's wife, but little to no insight into Truscott's conduct of the war or the reasoning that animated his decision making. We are continually told what happened, but rarely what Truscott did, and almost never why he did it. In short, we'd probably just be better off reading Truscott's own words rather than getting them second hand with little added context. Instead of giving us multiple perspectives on the man and his thinking, the third person account is tinged with the same biases and tunnel vision perspective that you'd expect of a first person account.

The heart of good military history, and even good military biography, is good operational analysis. The writer needs to be able to pick out on a day to day basis why things actually happened the way they did. You need to be able to count trucks in the motor pool, or the minutes required to load a bomb on a plane, and figure out in the data where the really critical decisions were made. Then you need to tell the reader why those decisions were made and explain how consequential they turned out to be. There are snatches and bits of trains of thought here and there, but maddeningly never fully explored or followed up on. Where are the communiques? The memos? The responses? The orders? What are the day to day operations of the 3rd Infantry like? Why the heck don't I already intimately know the men under Truscott's command? Truscott gets orders - and then nothing. The plans he formulated either aren't worthy of mention or couldn't be uncovered from the research, assuming the author tried. I found it almost impossible to get really into the head of the commander that is the subject of the book.

Ok, I get it: Truscott's tough and you admire him. His back story is fascinating. But by the middle of the book, I'm starting to think you should have written about Field Marshall Kesselring, whom you seem to feel more interested in explain his plans and thinking than your protagonist.

The soul of good military history is the drama. Make me feel like I'm there. Put me in those boots. Let me feel it. Let me weep and grieve and rage. It's not too much to ask, because the best books do that. This one committed the sin of being as boring as a high school textbook, a crime that I find hard to forgive, because it's a crime that turns so many away from the study of history.

[Mark Hertling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having the honor of long ago meeting Anton Myrer ( author of Once An Eagle), I asked him who was the model for the Sam Damon character. He smiled and said Damon's origin lay in elements of Clarence Huebner, Terry de la Mesa Allen, Bob Eichelberger, but most especially Lucian Truscott. The reader of that work quickly makes the connection in this exceedingly well-written history. Ferguson does a masterful job of combining collected documents with personal interviews of those who knew Truscott into a riveting and useful history. At the same time, this is a combat and general officer leadership primer for a time that sees our emerging leaders looking for an example. Exceedingly well written and a fascinating history.

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Command failures do not stem from the lower ranks, although they may exist there. Usually they originate in the higher echelons and are merely reflected downwards." - Lucian Truscott Jr.

Interesting to note at the Anzio beachhead American military members would go swimming even when enemy dropped artillery shells within 500 feet of them in the water. So much shelling you could easily have those rounds hitting that close on land so might as well take a break and have some fun swimming sometimes too.

At the invasion into Africa Patton told some of his officers after giving them their attack assignments: "If you don't succeed, I don't want to see you alive."

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing that will strike you about Lucian K. Truscott, Jr. is that he had to be good to get where he
was. The man who picked most of the commanders in World War 2 was George C. Marshall and Truscott was not on his radar for advancement.

Truscott was born in Texas and raised in Oklahoma and had a hardscrabble childhood. He joined the
army and worked his way up the ranks. When World War I broke out Truscott missed it being an instructor in the army's cavalry school.

The horse soldier was becoming a thing of the past with automatic weapons and armor the symbol
of a modern army. And not having a West Point or other prestige military school background it was
not likely Truscott be noticed.

But on army maneuvers he was by Dwight Eisenhower and he brought him to Marshall's attention.
Truscott made his combat debut as part of our landing in Morocco. He got command of the 3rd
Division and it was one of the premier divisions in the Sicily campaign.

Truscott landed in Salerno with his troops and later took over command of the troops who leapfrogged up the Italian west coast and landed at Anzio. He was in Italy for the duration of the
war. At the war's conclusion Truscott was in command of 5th Army in charge of all our troops in
the Italian campaign.

Some very famous folks served under Truscott as just your average soldiers. Author Harvey Ferguson made good use of the war correspondence of people like cartoonist Bill Mauldin, future
Senator Bob Dole, and our most decorated soldier Audie Murphy.

Truscott believed in the unorthodox and two who also served under him are General Robert Frederick and William O. Darby both commanding Ranger batallions and whose correspondence is
also used.

After the war Truscott was an adviser to the new Central Intelligence Agency. Ill health forced his
retirement and he died in 1965.

Truscott was a true GI general although Omar Bradley got the title. A courageous soldier he's
someone we should all know more about.

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

So long as you're just looking for a life and times of the man, this biography of Lucian K. Truscott is perfectly acceptable, as Ferguson examines how a temporary officer managed to climb to high rank, and than wielded that rank once achieved. This means that the author is trying to tease out the strands of character that allowed Truscott to navigate Army politics and thrive. It also means that the first half of the book, say through Operation Torch in North Africa, is the most enlightening portion. I'm not sure that the chapters dealing with the campaigns in Sicily, Italy, and Southern France really transcend the basic historical literature that Ferguson draws upon. Still, I do get the sense that Ferguson is at least not trying to gloss over Truscott's personal failures, such as the fiasco of the combat deployment of the 92nd Infantry Division (Colored), or Truscott's apparent "fling" with Clare Booth Luce. Overall rating: A workmanlike 3.5 would be more accurate.

An additional thought is that this biography might be best for people who have previously read Truscott's own memoirs, or those who have already read the campaign histories and want to know more about the man.

[John Holter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds me of "Once an Eagle" by Anton Myrer. Then to my surprise, according to another review on Goodreads the main character in "Once an Eagle" is in part, loosely based on Lucian Truscott. Regardless, this is an excellent biography of one of the less famous Generals of WWII. It is well worth the read. It gives good insight on how our military functioned and was led during the first half of the twentieth century.

[William J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read General Truscott's memoir of World War II, Command Missions, I thought I'd read a biography of him to learn more about this highly thought of Division, Corps and Army Commander of World War II. This book by Harvey Ferguson is a thorough and interesting biography. Truscott started in the horse cavalry as a private and earned his commission through the forerunner of Officer Candidate School. He saw no combat in World War I because he served as an instructor at the Cavalry School and after the war served as an instructor at the Command and General Staff School. He was identified as a superb trainer of soldiers. He was an excellent horseman and played a lot of polo. Both of these skills brought him exposure to future senior leaders like General Patton, General Eisenhower, General Clark and General Marshall who would eventually influence his rise to senior command. General Truscott was the first senior officer to experience War in Europe. He was at Dieppe working with British Commandos with U.S. Army Rangers, a unit he raised and organized. He became experienced in amphibious operations and landed in North Africa serving in numerous positions until he assumed division command. He commanded the 3rd Infantry Division training them to reach the same levels as the Rangers especially in road marching. The Truscott Trot became famous in Italy because the Division moved so quickly. General Truscott assumed command of the VI Corps at Anzio and strengthened the defense and then orchestrated the breakout. He led the VI Corps in the Italian Campaign until it was removed to land in Southern France in Operation Dragoon. He was raised to Army Command initially to Fifteenth Army, a training command, but was sent to Italy again to command Fifth Army when General Clark was moved to Army Group Command. After the European Campaign ended General Truscott assumed occupation duties eventually taking over from General Patton in Bavaria. After WWII he worked in the CIA as a Deputy. His career is worthy of examination for those who seek to learn from successful leaders. He was tactically and technically proficient as was one of the buzz phrases in my Army experience. He was innovative and demanding and not abusive or glory seeking. This is a good read for those interested in military history and biography.

[Adam Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Cavalryman by Harvey Ferguson is an excellent treatment of a truly interesting life. General Truscott was held to be one of the premier combat leaders of WWII, both by his superior officers and by the men under his command. His humility and lack of personal aggrandizement in the face of success is something for leaders to aspire to, and his pursuit of excellence and achievement of his mission in the face of difficult terrain and a determined enemy is admirable. Mr. Ferguson's narrative is easy to follow, interspersed with interesting anecdotes, and flows well. I thoroughly enjoyed this book on a general who I had found highly regarded in numerous treatments of the war.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly engrossing from the first sentence. In depth and fascinating insights and rich in detail while maintaining easy flow.
Through the Author’s writing style, one really gets to know General Truscott and has a front row seat to his life and military career. The review by James M. McCaffrey on the back book jacket says it best.
Perfect title.
Enthusiastically recommend for a General … understanding and appreciation of this very interesting General.

[Steve Dedier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the read. I would agree that you get some sense of who Truscott is from his early years. Then you pretty much get a skim of operations from Torch through the end of the war with little insight on personal choices. There is a bit more depth at the end. A pleasant read but not a great deal more.

[Fragmaster Jed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and interesting history — nice to have the full story of Truscott’s life for perspective instead of just WWII accomplishments. The documentation through letters makes it extra intriguing.

[JerryDeanHalleck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book a 3 star rating, as a compromise. If you know little about General Truscott or the Italian campaign - this is a good place to start. The Author covers Truscott's early life, his WW2 experiences in North Africa, Italy, etc. and his work at the CIA. The book describes all his campaigns and details what Truscott's Division or Corps did. And we get a little side trips - like a discussion of the 10th mountain division or the 442nd Regiment. So its very informative - if you don't know much about WW2.

OTOH, if you already know the basics about Truscott's life or the Italian Campaign, this book is very disappointing. There's very little of Truscott "the human being" in the book. What was his personality? What were his personal flaws and virtues?

Nor is there any critical analysis of Truscott "the General". Why didn't Truscott like Mark Clark? Was Clark -or Truscott -right about attacking Rome? Why did everyone - except Clark - think he was such a great General? What did he do right and what did he do wrong? What were his military principles and beliefs? What did he think of the Germans or General Alexander? The author gives us very little analysis or informed opinion. And if he does venture an opinion, its completely conventional. As a sophisticated reader I needed more than 450 pages of "And then Truscott ordered the 3rd Division to attack toward..." and didn't get it.

[Edgar Raines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucian Truscott entered the U.S. Army if not by the back door then by the side door, a product of the Officer Training Camp Program of World War I. Truscott spent the war, however, on the Mexican border, in large part because he had selected the cavalry as his branch of choice. For a time it was problematic whether he could continue in the service after the war given how many officers with combat experience filled the officer corps. Still he did well in both troop assignments and posting to the various Army schools that were the life-blood of service professionalism in the interwar period. He did well and impressed contemporaries somewhat his senior, notably George Patton and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Assigned to Admiral Mountbatten's headquarters, Truscott played a major role in organizing U.S. Army Rangers, an American version of the British Commandos, commanded the U.S. 3d Infantry Division (introducing in the process "the Truscott trot") in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy; the VI Corps at Anzio and the south of France; and ended the war in command of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy. A heart condition forced his early medical retirement shortly after the war, but he continued his service in the CIA, where he served as Eisenhower's eyes and ears in the agency. Harvey Ferguson has provided a very well researched and written account of the life and career of one of the ablest American field army commanders of World War II. This is his first book. Let us hope that it is but the first of several.