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By Duane Schultz

George Patton knew exactly what he wanted to be from childhood on. “When I was a little boy at home, I used to wear a wooden sword and say to myself, ‘George S. Patton, Jr., Lieutenant General,’” he once remembered.

Although there were missteps and setbacks along the way, mostly of his own making, and times when he was sure his career was over, Patton eventually got his three stars and became a lieutenant general. Then he exceeded his childhood dream and earned a fourth star.

“I must be the happiest boy in the world,” he said, while reminiscing about his childhood. He was born in Southern California on November 11, 1885, to wealthy parents whose sole mission in life seemed to be to spoil the boy, rarely to punish or chastise him for his behavior. And they were not the only ones to treat him this way. His mother’s sister, Annie, who at one time had been desperately in love with Patton’s father, moved in with the family and became “Aunt Nannie,” to baby Georgie, whom she always referred to as her boy. She too never allowed a

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Top Image: General George S. Patton, Jr., one of America’s greatest battlefield commanders died on December 21, 1945, in an Army hospital in Heidelberg, Germany. Courtesy of The National Archives and Records Administration.

At 5:55 p.m. on December 21, 1945, General George S. Patton, Jr. passed away in his sleep. A blood clot in his paralyzed body had worked its way to his heart, stopping it and ending the life of one of America’s greatest battlefield commanders.

The 60-year-old general had led a life of adventure, fighting in almost every major American twentieth century conflict. His career climaxed with World War II, where he led corps and armies from North Africa, to Sicily, to the continent of Europe. He often led from the front, and he almost always delivered victory. His swift conquest of Sicily, his race across France, his relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and his drive into Germany destroyed German armies, saved American lives, and captured the collective imagination of the American public.

Yet, all his laurels could not protect the General from a

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George Smith "Old Blood and Guts" Patton, Jr.
General, U.S. Army

The Early Years & Family

George Smith Patton Jr. was born on 11 November 1885, in San Gabriel Township, CA, (in what is now the city of San Marino), to George Smith Patton Sr. (1856-1927) and Ruth Wilson Patton (1861-1928). Although he was technically the third George Smith Patton, he was given the name Junior. The Pattons were an affluent family of Scottish descent.

[His best-known nickname, "Old Blood and Guts" was pinned on him largely by his men for his bold, sometimes costly, plans: "His Guts and Our Blood." Patton detested the nickname, but his men loved it.]

As a boy, Patton read widely in the classics and military history. Patton's father was an acquaintance of John Singleton Mosby, a noted cavalry leader of the Confederate Army in the American Civil War who served first under J.E.B. Stuart and then as a guerrilla fighter. The younger Patton grew up hearing Mosby's stories of military glory, and from an early age the young Patton sought to become a general and hero in his own right.

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