Robert Lee Bullard

Lieutenant General Robert Lee Bullard (January 5, 1861 – September 11, 1947) was a senior officer of the United States Army. He was involved in conflicts in the American Western Frontier, the Philippines, and World War I, where he commanded the 1st Infantry Division (nicknamed "The Big Red One") during the Battle of Cantigny while serving on the Western Front. He later was an administrator in Cuba.

Robert L. Bullard
General Robert L. Bullard, 2nd Army Corps, Toul, 1918
Born	January 5, 1861 Lee County, Alabama, United States
Died	September 11, 1947 (aged 86) New York City, United States
Buried	West Point Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1885–1925
Rank	Lieutenant General
Unit	Infantry Branch
Commands held	26th Infantry Regiment 1st Infantry Division III Corps Second Army
Battles/wars	Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Mexican Border Service World War I
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal
Other work	President of National Security League author orator

Biography

A native of Alabama, Bullard attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, now Auburn University, and the United States Military Academy, graduated in 1885, and was appointed first lieutenant in 1892. He served in various capacities in the Spanish–American War, and in the Philippines from 1902 to 1904. He was made lieutenant colonel in 1906. In 1907, he was special investigator for the U.S. provisional government in Cuba, and the following year was superintendent of public instruction there. In 1911, he was promoted to colonel.¹[1]

World War I

After the American entry in World War I, Bullard was quickly promoted to brigadier general (June 1917) and major general N.A. (August 1917). He commanded the 1st Infantry Division ("Big Red One") from December 1917 to July 1918.[1]

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 calibers 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."²

Bullard was fluent in French and often served in joint U.S.–French operations.

General Pershing created the Second U.S. Army in October 1918 and appointed Bullard as its first commander with the rank of lieutenant general. At the same time he turned over command of First United States Army to Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett. Pershing retained his position as commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) with authority over both of the armies.

Bullard's military actions have also been subject to criticism. In the Battle of Montfaucon, Bullard reportedly refused orders to turn the flank of the German troops with his 4th division as he did not want to help Major General George H. Cameron get credit for taking the German fortress at Montfaucon.[2] Due to his alleged disobedience or deliberate misinterpretation of orders, Cameron's 79th division had no support to their right and suffered unnecessarily severe casualties as they performed a frontal attack on the fortress.[3] Additionally, Bullard continued to conduct offensive operations, with full knowledge that the Armistice was due to take effect in a few hours, was criticized by Alden Brooks in his post-war account of the war, As I Saw It (1930).

Post war

Bullard (far left) travels to Brazil with Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes in August 1922

The Second Army was deactivated in April 1919 and Bullard reverted to his permanent rank of major general in June 1920. He was assigned to corps command in the much smaller post war U.S. Army. He retired from active duty in 1925 to concentrate on writing.[1] He served as last president of the National Security League from 1925 until he disbanded it in 1947.[4]

Bullard wrote American Soldiers Also Fought in 1936.[1]

He died on September 11, 1947.[1] Bullard is buried at the U.S. Military Academy Post Cemetery, with his wife Ella (Reiff) Bullard (5 November 1870 to 3 March 1963).

Writing

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. OCLC 2854191

Bullard also wrote several magazine articles.

Further reading

• Millett, Allan R. (1975). The General: Robert L. Bullard and Officership in the United States Army, 1881–1925. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0837179572. OCLC 1530541.
• Davenport, Matthew J. (2015). First Over There: The Battle of Cantigny, America's First Battle of World War I. Thomas Dunne Books.
• Walker, William (2016). Betrayal at Little Gibraltar: A German Fortress, a Treacherous American General, and the Battle to End World War I. Scribner. ISBN 978-1-5011-1789-3.

Military awards

• Distinguished Service Medal
• Indian Campaign Medal
• Spanish War Service Medal
• Philippine Campaign Medal
• Army of Cuban Pacification Medal
• Mexican Border Service Medal
• Victory Medal
• Commander, French Legion of Honor
• Commander, Belgian Order of Leopold
• Commander, Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
• French Croix de Guerre with 2 palms [5]

Dates of rank

Insignia	Rank	Component	Date
None	Cadet	United States Military Academy	1 July 1881
None in 1885	Second Lieutenant	Regular Army	14 June 1885
	First Lieutenant	Regular Army	2 April 1892
	Major	Volunteers	2 June 1898
	Captain	Regular Army	11 July 1898 (Date of rank was 22 June 1898.)
	Colonel	Volunteers	6 August 1898 (Mustered out of Volunteers on 20 March 1899.)
	Colonel	Volunteers	17 August 1899 (Honorably discharged from Volunteers on 6 May 1901.)
	Major	Regular Army	1 April 1901
	Lieutenant Colonel	Regular Army	31 October 1906
	Colonel	Regular Army	11 March 1911
	Brigadier General	Regular Army	29 June 1917 (Date of rank was 16 June 1917.)
	Major General	National Army	3 September 1917 (Date of rank was 6 August 1917.)
	Lieutenant General	Emergency	1 November 1918 (Date of rank was 16 October 1918. Discharged and reverted to permanent rank 30 June 1920.)
	Major General	Regular Army	16 February 1919 (Date of rank 27 November 1918.)
	Major General	Retired List	15 January 1925
	Lieutenant General	Retired List	21 June 1930

Source: Army Register, 1931[6]

Notes

^1 "Bullard, Robert Lee" . Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). 1922.

^2 Source Records of the Great War, Vol. VI, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni 1923

References

1. Davis, Jr., Henry Blaine (1998). Generals in Khaki. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press, Inc. p. 58. ISBN 1571970886.
2. Walker, William (2017). "Mystery At Montfaucon". MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History. Vienna, Virginia: History.Net. 29 (3): 36.
3. Walker, William (2016). Betrayal at Little Gibraltar: A German Fortress, a Treacherous American General, and the Battle to End World War I. Scribner.
4. Shulman, I. The Progressive Era Origins of the National Security Act (Winter 2000 ed.). Dickinson Law Review.
5. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/3084*.html
6. The Adjutant General's Office, War Department (1931). Official Army Register for 1931 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. p. 780. Retrieved September 21, 2020.

External links

• The Battle of Cantigny, 1918
• Robert Lee Bullard at Find a Grave
• Martin T. Olliff: Bullard, Robert Lee, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.