his last, and he was removed from command. He re-
turned to Warsaw, where he died less than two years later
on 13 February 1856. He is one of only four Russian
field marshals to have worn all four classes of the Military
Order of St. George the Great Martyr and Vanquisher,
the most important of Russian military decorations.
References: Czerapowicz, Josephine Mary, Kingdom of
Poland during the Paskevich Viceroyalty, 1832–1856: Ero-
sion of Autonomy (Master’s Thesis, Michigan State Uni-
versity, 1975); Royal, Trevor, Crimea: The Great Crimean
War, 1854–56 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000).
Patton, George Smith, Jr. (1885–1945)
American general
George Patton was born in Lake Vineyard Ranch in San
Gabriel (now San Marino), California, on 11 November
1885, the son of George Smith Patton Sr. He attended
local schools and the Virginia Military Institute, then
was admitted to the United States Military Academy
at West Point, New York; however, he was forced to
leave when he failed several exams. Allowed to reenter,
he improved his aptitude and in 1909 graduated 46th
out of 103, upon which he was given a commission
in the cavalry. A talented athlete, Patton competed in
the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. In
1916, he was assigned to serve under General John J.
Pershing and saw action in the American invasion of
Mexico against the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa. In
the First World War, he served on the western front in
France, again under Pershing, fighting in the St. Mihiel
offensive and the offensive at Meuse-Argonne, where
he was wounded. He was eventually named as the com-
mander of the 304th Tank Brigade, one of the first to
use tanks in modern combat. In the years after the end
of the First World War, he studied the use of tanks in
warfare and served in several administrative posts in the
U.S. Army.
When the United States entered the Second World
War in 1941, the army deployed a strong tank force,
due largely to Patton’s leadership. (Although budget cuts
in the interwar years had hindered research, Patton had
worked to keep development of tank studies alive. Dur-
ing this period, he also had become close friends with
another rising star in the American military, Dwight D.
eisenhoWer.) Patton was made a three-star general
and put in command of II Corps in North Africa. In
November 1942, a series of battles led to a combined
American and British victory against the Germans led by
General Erwin rommel. Following the defeat of Nazi
forces in northern Africa, the Allies planned to move
into southern Europe through Sicily, and Patton was
placed in command of the Seventh Army. The combined
American and British armies (the latter commanded by
General Harold alexander) landed on 10 July 1943,
and Patton’s forces quickly took a series of local villages,
including Gela, Licata, and Vittoria. Working with the
British, the Americans took Niscemi and the Biscani air-
field (14 July 1943). An American force under General
Omar bradley moved north as Patton’s men moved
onto Palermo (22 July 1943), and Messina (17 August
1943), the capture of which forced the resignation of
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Although considered one of the American army’s
finest commanders, Patton had a volcanic temperament,
which got him in trouble when he hit two soldiers who
he felt were evading their duty. In January 1944, he was
quietly replaced by General Mark clark as commander
of the Seventh Army and sent to England, where heLieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr., in 1944 pAtton, geoRge Smith, JR.