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CLASS OF 1888
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Commissioned in artillery after graduation from West Point, March proved an able combat
commander in the Spanish-American and Philippine Wars, repeatedly cited for gallantry and
recommended for the medal of honor.
In 1903 he was selected for the new War Department General Staff. When America entered World War I,
March became chief of artillery in the American Expeditionary Force. Recalled to Washington as the
army’s chief of staff in March 1918, March held an expansive view of his authority. That brought
endless clashes with General Pershing commanding the field army, but also greatly advanced the war effort.
March reorganized the general staff, bolstered logistics, established new technical branches to reflect
the new kind of war—Air Service, Tank Corps, Motor Transport Corps, and Chemical Warfare Service—and,
above all, orchestrated manpower mobilization to create the mass army that industrial warfare required.
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