Robert Lee Bullard

Infobox Military Person
name=Robert L. Bullard
lived= birth date|1861|1|5 – death date and age|1947|9|11|1861|1|5
placeofbirth=Lee County, Alabama
placeofdeath=New York City
placeofburial=West Point Cemetery


caption=Robert Lee Bullard
allegiance=United States of America
branch= United States Army
serviceyears=1885 to 1925
rank = Lieutenant General
commands=26th Infantry Regiment (1913) 1st Infantry Division III Corps U.S. Second Army (first commander)
unit=10th Infantry Regiment (Fort Union, New Mexico) U.S. Second Army
battles= Spanish-American War World War I
awards=Distinguished Service Medal
laterwork=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.

World War I

Bullard was given command of 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." fn|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. At the same time he turned over command of First United States Army to General Hunter Liggett. Pershing himself moved up to become commander of an Army Group.

Post war

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.

Retirement

He was author of the following books:

* "Personalities and Reminiscences of the War", New York: Doubleday Page, 1925 (ISBN 0-7661-9742-5)
* "American Soldiers also Fought" New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1936

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).

Notes

fnb|1 "Source Records of the Great War, Vol. VI, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni 1923"

External links

* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/cantigny.htm The Battle of Cantigny, 1918]

Persondata
NAME = Bullard, Robert Lee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States Army general
DATE OF BIRTH = January 5, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH = Lee County, Alabama
DATE OF DEATH = September 11, 1947
PLACE OF DEATH = New York City