THE LAST CAVALRYMAN: The Life of General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr.

1-207650

'Truscott was one of the really tough generals, soldier-cartoonist Bill Mauldin of the 45th Infantry Division once wrote. 'He could have eaten a ham like Patton for breakfast any morning and picked his teeth with the man's pearl-handled pistols.' Truscott spent half his time at the front - the real front - with nobody in attendance but a nervous Jeep driver and a worried aide.

This biography of Lucian K. Truscott, Jr. tells the story of his hardscrabble beginnings, patchy education, and questionable luck to rise to the rank of lieutenant general, earning a reputation as one of World War II's most effective officers along the way.

Drawing on his personal papers -- only recently made available -- Ferguson describes Truscott's near-accidental entry into the US Cavalry (propelled by Pancho Villa's 1916 raids) and his somewhat halting rise through the ranks - aided by fellow cavalryman George S. Patton, Jr., who steered him into the nascent armored force at the right time. Includes his service in the WWII, from creating the US Army Rangers to engineering the breakout from Anzio and leading the invasion of southern France, and then details postwar work with the CIA under President Dwight Eisenhower. Includes 23 b/w illust and 10 b/w maps.