March, Peyton Conway

March, Peyton Conway

(1864–1955) soldier; born in Easton, Pa. Son of a philologist, he graduated from Lafayette College, then from West Point (1888). He served in the Spanish-American War and then in putting down the Philippine insurrection. In 1917 he was made chief of artillery of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I. Appointed army chief of staff in 1918, he reformed and improved army logistics in support of the enormous buildup of American troops and matériel in France. A rival of Gen. John Pershing, the American field commander who favored limits on the powers of the chief of staff, March left the army in 1921. In 1932 he published The Nation at War, which continued his feud with Pershing.