Joseph Warren Stilwell

Joseph Warren Stilwell (1883 - 1946), was a senior American general in World War II as commander of American forces in the China-Burma-India theater, commander of the main Chinese armies in Burma, (1942-44) with four-star rank, and, as commander in the late stages of the battle of Okinawa in 1945. He was scheduled to lead the invasion of Japan when the war suddenly ended. "Vinegar Joe" was notoriously difficult to work with, especially in a role in China that was primarily diplomatic. A fighting general who spoke Chinese and knew the villages well, he possessed a fierce integrity, and a hatred of incompetence and pretentiousness, but was sometimes devious and secretive.

Career

He was born in Palatka, Florida, where his wealthy parents were vacationing, and brought up in New York City. Both bookish and athletic, he was headed for Yale until his pranksterism caused his father to send him to West Point to be straightened out. Stilwell was graduated from West Point in 1904, and eagerly made a career in the Army. After service in the Philippines he was an intelligence officer (G-2) in the American Expeditionary Forces in France during World War I.

World War II

Japan's plans to control key areas of China, 1941; Japan already held Manchuria as the puppet state of Manchukuo

Bibliography

• Liang, Chin-Tun. Gen. Stilwell in China, 1942-1944 (1972), a pro-Chiang view
• Romanus, Charles F. and Riley Sunderland. Stilwell's Mission to China (1953), official U.S, Army history online edition
• Romanus, Charles F. and Riley Sunderland. Stilwell's Command Problems (1956) online edition
• Schaller Michael. The U.S. Crusade in China, 1938-1945. (1979).
• Tuchman, Barbara. Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45, (1972), 624pp; Pulitzer prize excerpt and text search

Primary Sources

• Stilwell, Joseph Warren. The Stilwell papers edited by Theodore H. White, (1958).