After graduating from West Point in 1892, Charles Pelot Summerall
(1867--1955) launched a distinguished military career, fighting Filipino
insurgents in 1899 and Boxers in China in 1900. His remarkable service
included brigade, division, and corps commands in World War I; duty as
chief of staff of the U.S. Army from 1926 to 1930; and presidency of the
Citadel for twenty years, where he was instrumental in establishing the
school's national reputation.
Previously available only in the Citadel's archives, Summerall's memoir
offers an eyewitness account of a formative period in U.S. Army history.
Edited and annotated by Timothy K. Nenninger, the memoir documents
critical moments in American military history and details Summerall's
personal life, from his impoverished childhood in Florida to his
retirement from the Citadel in 1953. From the perspective of both a
soldier and a general, Summerall describes how the very nature of war
changed irrevocably during his lifetime.