WORLD WAR I: PATTON, GEORGE S. 1885-1945., WOOD, LEONARD. 1860-1927.

WORLD WAR I: PATTON, GEORGE S. 1885-1945.
WOOD, LEONARD. 1860-1927. Universal Military Training, Volume I. New York: B.F. Collier & Son, 1917.
1 volume (of 2). 8vo. Publisher's tan cloth, custom fawn morocco backed clamshell box.
Provenance: George S. Patton, signed on title page; Kenneth W. Rendell Gallery (printed description, loosely inserted).

A FINE MILITARY TEXT FROM PATTON'S LIBRARY, SIGNED BY PATTON. Wood's work is a standard textbook of military training, written by one of the six Major Generals considered by Woodrow Wilson to lead the American Expeditionary Force in France during WWI. Wood, who had been publicly critical of the Wilson administration, was passed over in favor of Pershing.
Patton had served under Pershing as his aide, in the war against Mexico in 1916, and went on to France as Pershing's aide in 1917, where he was put in charge of forming an American Tank Corps using French tanks. He distinguished himself in tanker battles on several occasions in 1918, roaming around the battlefield in his own inimicable way. Patton was a well read man and studied the military tactics of the Romans, Carthaginians and other ancient military campaigns.