One hundred years ago this spring, the American Expeditionary Forces entered World War I under the command of General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, who had also led the famous 10^th Cavalry Regiment of African-American “Buffalo Soldiers” during the Indian wars and the Spanish-American conflict. In fact, “Black Jack,” his nickname, was initially an insult leveled against John Pershing for leading African-American troops.

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• General Black Jack Pershing Quotes
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However, while many people may know these and other facts about General Pershing’s distinguished military career, few have heard about the devastating deaths of his wife and three daughters.

• If there is a military stereotype in United States history, it must closely resemble the public impression of John J. Pershing, who was accorded the highest possible rank—General of the Armies—after commanding the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. “Brass hat” was written all over him: the jutting jaw, the cold, direct gaze, the bluntly authoritarian manner, the stiff.
• General of the Armies John J. Pershing State Funeral 15-19 July 1948. General of the Armies John J. Pershing, then the nation's highest ranking military official, died on 15 July 1948, at the age of eighty-seven, at the Army's Walter Reed General Hospital, Washington, D.C.
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John Joseph 'Black Jack' Pershing is among America's most famous generals. Long before he took command as General of the Armies during World War I, he was Professor of Military Science.

Pershing married Helen Frances Warren, the daughter of Wyoming Senator Francis E. Warren, in 1905. She was a Wellesley graduate and some twenty years his junior, but most historians suggest she was enamored of the adventurous officer. Senator Warren defended his son-in-law when a scandal erupted over an affair Pershing was alleged to be having with a local woman in Mindanao, the Philippines, where he served as a military officer after the Spanish-American War.

Other stories suggest Pershing’s rivals fabricated the story in retaliation for President Theodore Roosevelt’s promoting Pershing to brigadier general over some 862 higher ranking officers. Pershing’s critics charged that his prominent father-in-law helped secure the promotion. Regardless, the general’s defenders argued that T.R. admired Pershing and had planned to promote him three years earlier. Whatever the truth may be, the Pershings appeared to be a happy family despite long separations when the general commanded remote posts.

In 1915, Mrs. Pershing and their four children were living at the Presidio in San Francisco while the general was stationed in El Paso, Texas, on the eve of Pancho Villa’s border town raids. Before Pershing would set off in pursuit of Villa, he would experience a devastating family tragedy. On August 27, 1915, Pershing’s wife and three daughters—ages nine, seven, and three—would die in a house fire that engulfed their Presidio home. A few other inhabitants of the home, including the Pershings’ five-year-old son Warren, managed to escape the blaze. The fire started when hot coals from the fireplace popped out on to the heavily waxed floor.

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A day after the fire, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, and the New York Timesall reported that the family might have survived had “flimsy construction” and government “red tape” not been a factor. A spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department told reporters that a standing order prohibited Presidio officials from summoning the city fire department “until an effort had been made to subdue the blaze.” Significantly, in the three years before the Pershings died, nine other people had lost their lives in Presidio fires. However, whether Pershing’s wife and children could have survived is a matter of speculation. When General Pershing saw the charred ruins of the house, he reportedly said, “They had no chance.”

When members of the military are ordered into a combat theater, their families worry they will face serious peril or even death. In addition to the dangers combat personnel face, however, soldiers worry about the threats and dangers their loved ones back home may encounter. One can only imagine Pershing’s sorrow and guilt about the fire. Even an influential general of his caliber could not protect his family from shoddy workmanship, bureaucracy, and fate.

Devastated, Pershing immersed himself in his work. Less than two years after the fire, he would lead the Allied Expeditionary Forces in the final year of World War I. His efforts would prove decisive in the defeat of the Central Powers.

Although he would be romantically linked with a number of women during the remainder of his life—including George S. Patton’s sister—he would never remarry.

Warren Pershing, the only family member who survived the fire, went on to graduate from Yale University. He enlisted as a private in the United States Army and fought in World War II. He died in 1980 at the age of 71.

General Pershing died in 1948, at the age of 88. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His wife and daughters are buried in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

On Thursday, Trump gave a shout-out to the late Gen. John J. Pershing on Twitter, reigniting the public's interest in the American military figure. During his service, Pershing got the nickname 'Black Jack,' and while that's an unassailably cool nickname, it wasn't originally intended as a compliment.

Pershing is most famous nowadays as the subject of a debunked urban legend which claims that he dipped bullets in pig's blood while fighting Muslim enemies in the Philippines. But Pershing had a long career in the U.S. military, commanding U.S. forces in Cuba, the Philippines, and Europe. He's the first and only active-duty officer to become General of the Armies, the highest-ranking position in the U.S. armed forces.

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In 1897, Pershing became a tactical officer at West Point, and that's where he was given the nickname 'Black Jack.' There are two different (but not mutually exclusive) stories about how he got that name. According to one tale, Pershing was called 'Black Jack' because he commanded black troops during the American-Indian Wars of the late 19th century. It's also alleged that he was given the nickname due to the harsh, unforgiving manner of discipline he exerted during his time as a West Point instructor.

The first story makes sense. Pershing's first name is 'John,' for which 'Jack' is a nickname, and he was a white man who commanded black troops. Hence 'Black Jack.' The second story is more confusing, though. What does the nickname have to do with being a harsh disciplinarian? The phrase 'black jack' can be used to refer to a card game or a weapon, but nothing about it alludes to an instructor who rules with an iron fist.

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Although the answer isn't entirely clear, now is probably a good time to mention that Pershing was initially given a much more reprehensible nickname: 'N-----r Jack.' That one didn't stick, and it quickly gave way to 'Black Jack.' But if Pershing was indeed disliked by his cadets as much as historians believe, and if those cadets did indeed him that nickname in response, that would strongly suggest that Pershing's nickname was intended primarily as a racist insult — an attempt to highlight his perceived negative traits by likening him to a black person and referencing his time commanding black troops.

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In any event, Trump was harshly criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for giving new life to the discredited pig's blood myth, endorsing religious bigotry in the U.S. military, and mischaracterizing the service of a celebrated American general. Right-wing blogger Jennifer Rubin wrote on Twitter that, in light of Trump's Pershing comment, she's giving new consideration to the argument that Congress should remove Trump from office by invoking the 25th Amendment.