By Wesley Harris
General George Patton in Ruston?
As much as I have studied Lincoln Parish history, it was a story that had escaped my research. Many Rustonites, including myself, were unfamiliar with the legendary World War II general’s time in Ruston in 1941 until Rick Godley at the Lincoln Parish Museum & Historical Society uncovered long-hidden photographs documenting the brief stopover.
Major General George Patton, who became one of the most colorful and successful commanders of WWII, spent August and September 1941 in north Louisiana for massive military maneuvers. The “war games” involved over 400,000 soldiers and all of northwest Louisiana.
To the “Greatest Generation,” as Tom Brokaw labeled them, George Patton was a true American hero. Eighty years removed from the fleeting visit, many younger citizens may know nothing of the general unless they’ve seen the 1970 film “Patton” which won eight Oscars including Best Actor to George C. Scott, Best Picture, Best Director, and others.
Patton’s emphasis on hard-charging, aggressive action proved effective in operations across North Africa and Europe. His opponents in the German High Command regarded him highly. The 1970 movie helped popularize his image among later American generations.
But before America entered the war, the military trained for the conflict already underway in Europe and East Asia. And those war games helped Patton perfect his military tactics.
When World War II began in Europe in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt realized the Nazis posed a worldwide threat and worked to increase the size of the U.S. Army and to train more vigorously. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall wanted to develop ways to defeat Germany’s blitzkrieg tactics. Seeking the roughest terrain possible for training, he chose the Louisiana-Texas border area to be the site of large-scale military maneuvers, with Camp Beauregard in Pineville serving as the maneuver’s headquarters.
Maneuvers took place in Louisiana each year from 1940-1944, the largest and most well-known being the GHQ Louisiana Maneuvers of 1941 involving some 472,000 soldiers and support personnel, making it the “densest military concentration in United States history.”
Military units from across the U.S. traveled to Louisiana to start the war games. Patton passed through Ruston with several thousand troops of his 2nd Armored Division on August 12, 1941. The museum’s photos show Patton visiting with some Ruston children as his troops enjoyed refreshments and swimming at the city pool.
The troops camped that night at Woodland Park, now Elmore Mayfield Park. Patton likely stayed somewhere other than a tent, opting for hotels whenever possible during the Louisiana maneuvers.
Newspaper coverage of Patton’s Ruston stop was brief and subdued. His celebrity had not yet captivated the nation.
Soldiers of the “Red” Army (160,000 troops) and the “Blue” Army (240,000 troops)—which included Patton’s men—maneuvered against each other throughout central and northwest Louisiana and partially through east Texas from mid to late September in wargame scenarios.
While the main forces “battled” near Mansfield, George Patton slipped his tanks around the Red Army, sneaked away into east Texas, and made an end run to Shreveport, effectively ending the 1941 war games with the assumed capture of the opposition’s headquarters.
Stories abound about Patton during the Louisiana maneuvers, such as the time his troop column became stuck in a traffic jam in a small town. Famous for a fiery temper, Patton yelled and cursed at the men working to get the vehicles moving again when a priest conducting Mass emerged from a nearby church. When the priest told the general the foul language was interrupting the service, Patton respectively saluted him and left the area. Another story claims the wealthy Patton used his own money to buy all the gasoline from service stations south of Many so his opponent would run out of fuel.
The Louisiana Maneuvers permanently affected how the U.S. Army fights. After encountering numerous problems in coordinating tanks with infantry, the army made changes. Patton and other generals supposedly met in the basement of Alexandria High School and drew up plans to create a new army unit organized around armored vehicles to fight the war in Europe.
