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Home Town Easton, PA
Last Address Easton, PA
Date of Passing Apr 13, 1955
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
March was the son of Francis Andrew March, considered the principal founder of modern comparative linguistics in Anglo-Saxon and one of the first professors to advocate and teach English in colleges and universities. Peyton March attended Lafayette College, where his father occupied the first chair of English language and comparative philology in the United States. In 1884, he was appointed to West Point and graduated in 1888. He was assigned to the 3rd Artillery.
He married Josephine Smith Cunningham (d. 1904) in 1891. They had a son, Peyton, Jr. (b. 1896), who was killed in a plane crash during WWI.
In 1894, March was assigned to the 5th Artillery and promoted to 1st lieutenant. He was sent to the Artillery School in 1896. He organized the Astor Battery and was sent to the Philippines in the Spanish-American War. In 1899, March was the aide to Gen. Arthur MacArthur, Jr.. Later that year he was promoted to major. He continued to serve in the Philippines, and was a provincial governor and commissary of prisoners.
In 1903 he was sent to Fort Riley and commanded the 19th Battery of the field artillery. Later that year he was sent to Washington, D.C. and served on the newly created General Staff.
In 1904-1905, March was one of several American military attachés serving with the Japanese army in the Russo-Japanese War. He would become one of eight observers who were later promoted to the rank of General in the U.S. Army.
In 1907, March commanded the 1st Artillery Battalion, 6th Field Artillery. March then served as adjutant of Fort Riley, then served as adjutant at several other commands, including at the War Department.
In 1916, he was promoted to colonel and commanded the 8th Field Artillery on the Mexican border.
During World War I, March was promoted to brigadier general and commanded the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, American Expeditionary Forces. Later that year, he was promoted to major general and commanded the artillery units of the U.S. First Army and all non-divisional artillery units.
In March 1918, he was recalled to Washington, took over as acting Army Chief of Staff on March 4 and was Army Chief of Staff on May 20, 1918. He was promoted to temporary general.
March was highly critical of President Wilson's decision to send an American Expedition to North Russia and Siberia in 1918 The so-called Siberian Intervention ) ostensibly to prop-up the Russian war effort, secure the railroads, support the Czech Legion trapped there, and stop the Japanese from exploiting the chaos in order to colonize Siberia. March wrote after the pull-out of American forces in 1920:
“
The sending of this expedition was the last occasion in which the president reversed the recommendation of the War Department during my service as Chief of Staff of the Army... almost immediately after the Siberian and North Russian forces had reached their theaters of operations, events moved rapidly and uniformly in the direction of complete failure of these expeditions to accomplish anything that their sponsors had claimed for them.
”
He served as Chief of Staff until June 30, 1921. As Chief of Staff he reorganized the Army structure, and abolished the distinctions between the Regular Army, the Army Reserves, and the National Guard during war time. He created new technical branches in the service including the Air Corps, Chemical Warfare Corps, Transportation Corps, and Tank Corps. He also centralized control over supply. After the war ended, he supervised the demobilization of the Army. As Chief of Staff he often came into disagreement with Gen. John J. Pershing, who wanted to conduct the AEF as an independent command.
March retired as a major general in 1921. In 1923, he married Cora V. McEntee.
In June 1930, March was advanced to general on the retired list.
March died on April 13, 1955 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
March was a highly efficient and capable administrator who did much to modernize the American Army and prepare it for combat in the First World War.
Description The Mexican Service Medal is an award of the United States military which was established by General Orders of the United States War Department on December 12, 1917. The Mexican Service Medal recognizes those service members who performed military service against Mexican forces between the dates of April 12, 1911 and June 16, 1919.
To be awarded the Mexican Service Medal, a service member was required to perform military duty during the time period of eligibility and in one of the following military engagements.
Veracruz Expedition: April 21 to November 23, 1914
Punitive Expedition into Mexico: March 14, 1916 to February 7, 1917
Buena Vista, Mexico: December 1, 1917
San Bernardino Canyon, Mexico: December 26, 1917
La Grulla, Texas: January 8 – January 9, 1918
Pilares, Chihuahua: March 28, 1918
Nogales, Arizona: November 1–26, 1915, or August 27, 1918
El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua: June 15 – June 16, 1919
The United States Navy issued the Mexican Service Medal to members of the Navy and Marines who participated in any of the above actions, as well as to service members who served aboard U.S. naval vessels patrolling Mexican waters between April 21 and November 26, 1914, or between March 14, 1916, and February 7, 1917.
The Mexican Service Medal was also awarded to any service member who was wounded or killed while participating in action any against hostile Mexican forces between April 12, 1911 and February 7, 1917.
Although a single decoration, both the Army and Navy issued two different versions of the Mexican Service Medal. The Army Mexican Service Medal displayed an engraving of a yucca plant, while the Navy version depicts the San Juan de Ulúa fortress in Veracruz harbor. Both medals displayed the annotation "1911 - 1917" on the bottom of the medal.
The Mexican Service Medal was a one time decoration and there were no service stars authorized for those who had participated in multiple engagements. For those Army members who had been cited for gallantry in combat, the Citation Star was authorized as a device to the Mexican Service Medal. There were no devices authorized for the Navy's version of the decoration.
A similar decoration, known as the Mexican Border Service Medal also existed for those who had performed support duty to Mexican combat expeditions from within the United States.
