The General's General is an interesting and entertaining life of one of the 19th Century's most influential soldiers. Although little remembered today, MacArthur was an heroic lieutenant, an influential middle level officer and eventually the leading General in the U.S. Army.

The book touches on several aspects of U.S. history. In reading the story of the General's father, Arthur MacArthur, Sr., the reader gets a peak into the 19th century politics of Wisconsin in particular and the U.S. in general.

As a young man MacArthur joined the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry as an adjutant, a position for which his youth initially proved a distinct disadvantage. MacArthur's first glory came with the assault on Missionary Ridge south of Chattanooga on November 25, 1863. After taking the first level of Confederate rifle pits, which was the objective of the charge, MacArthur led his men on an unordered charge up to the top of the hill, gaining the admiration of all who observed him, from Generals Grant and Sherman on down.

In the post war army, MacArthur made two significant contributions. While commanding at Fort Selden, New Mexico, MacArthur compensated for the absence of a suttler by establishing an enlisted men's canteen, which became the forerunner of the PX system. As a staff officer, he later obtained a change in Army policy which permitted the award of medals to officers. This change in policy resulted in MacArthur being awarded the Medal of Honor.

MacArthur's moment in the sun came with the advent of the Spanish American War. Surprised by his assignment to the Philippines, MacArthur made the most of the transfer to Asia. Over a three year period, MacArthur played a major role in the conquest of the Philippines which had begun with the destruction of the Spanish fleet by Adm. Dewey. The battle began with an defeat of the Spanish troops followed by a long war, first conventional and then guerrilla, against the Philippine Republican troops.

After his appointment as Military Governor of the Philippines, MacArthur began to experience difficulties with the civilian officials sent to rule the Islands, primarily William Howard Taft. The dispute with Taft eventually led to MacArthur's dismissal as Military Governor and his retirement from the army.

In telling this story the reader is introduced into the many stages on which the war was played out. The effect on the political situation in the United States is well developed. The foreign policy debates incited by the conquest of the Islands are explained. The war on the ground bears an uncanny resemblance to the situation which later Americans found in Vietnam.

The introduction of the MacArthur family to Asia is well covered. The initiation starting with the war in the Philippines continues with the Grand Tour of Asia and is capped during MacArthur's role as military observer to the Russo-Japanese War.

This book sheds much light on the development of Arthur's son, Douglas. In it we read of the desolate western outposts in which Douglas spent his youth, the society into which he was introduced and the role his mother played in his development. It was on the Grand Tour of Asia that Douglas claimed to have learned to understand the Asian mind. Douglas' familiarity with Asia would come to play a role in his influential involvement in American policy toward Asia in the middle of the 20th Century. The similarities in the careers of both Arthur and Douglas are laid before the reader. At the time of the writing of the book, the only Father-Son Medal of Honor winners, both would have their careers marred by major conflicts with civilian superiors and would end their days in virtual exile from the services to which they had devoted most of their lives.

The General's General is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the story of this remarkable man and in the Army's role in U.S. history the Civil War through the period before World War I.

Mr. Young has given us an excellent account of the life of Arthur MacArthur and his turbulent world from the Civil War (where he won the Medal of Honor) to the rugged West to the Phillipines. Well researched and well documented. Never a dull moment and his information of the brutal and deadly war in the Phillipines aroused my curiousity to seek more knowledge of that conflict. The text captured the desolate and often bloody campaigns as well as the rough life of a soldier and his family. A top notch read.

Arthur MacArthur is one of this countrys most forgotten heros if you enjoyed reading Old soldiers never die: The life and times of Douglas MacArthur, you will be astonished by the career simularitys he had with his father. Arthur MacArthur was the son of a judge, he was a hero of the civil war, Millitary Governor of the Philippines, and like his son rose to be the top millitary officer of his generation. History has all but forgotten this soldier, statesman, and father of one of the most unforgetable persons in American history.