John Millikin

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John Millikin
Birth name	John Millikin
Born	January 7, 1888 Danville, Indiana, United States
Died	November 6, 1970 (aged 82) Washington, D.C., United States
Buried	Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, United States
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1910–1948
Rank	Major general
Service number	O-2856
Unit	Cavalry Branch
Commands held	6th Cavalry Regiment 1st Cavalry Brigade 2nd Cavalry Division 33rd Infantry Division III Corps 13th Armored Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Army Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star Soldier's Medal Bronze Star

Major General John Millikin (January 7, 1888 – November 6, 1970) was a senior United States Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II. During the latter, Millikin commanded III Corps in General George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.

Early life and military career[]

John Millikin was born January 7, 1888 in Danville, Indiana, the son of Horace F. Millikin and Ida Millikin. Millikin entered the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York in 1906, graduating in June 1910, with a Bachelor of Science Degree, as a second lieutenant into the Cavalry Branch of the United States Army. He graduated 38th in a class of 82 alongside men such as Ernest J. Dawley, , Oscar Griswold, Ira T. Wyche, Emil F. Reinhardt, Oscar Solbert, , , , and numerous others who, like Millikin, would be general officers. His first assignment was with the 5th Cavalry Regiment at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He later was assigned to Fort Myer, Virginia.^[1]

In February 1918, ten months after the American entry into World War I, Millikin was the executive officer (XO) of the U.S. Army General Staff College in , France. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on November 16, 1918, five days after the Armistice with Germany, and became chief of the military police of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). He returned to the United States in the summer of 1919 and was honorably discharged from the National Army on March 15, 1920, and reverted to his Regular Army rank of captain.^[1]

Between the wars[]

After the war, Captain Millikin Graduated from the U.S. Army Cavalry School Advanced Course, and he returned to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas as a distinguished graduate^[1] ranking 30th out of 245 in 1926. He served as a faculty member from 1926 to 1930.^[2]

• Director of the Cavalry School July 1933 to August 1936
• XO, 3rd Cavalry Regiment August 1936 to December 1938
• General Staff Corps^[3] December 2, 1938 to August 31, 1939^[1]
• Commanding Officer 6th Cavalry Regiment September 9, 1939 to October 1, 1940
• Commanding Officer 1st Cavalry Brigade October 1, 1940 to June 1941

World War II[]

• Commanding General 2nd Cavalry Division June 1941 to April 1942

Millikin commanded the division as part of the 1st Armored Corps attached to the 2nd Army during the Louisiana Maneuvers in September 1941.^[4]

• Commanding General 33rd Division September 1942 to September 1943.^[4]

The 33rd Division deployed to the Pacific July 7, 1943, in Hawaii the division was divided into different units along the island chain. October 18, 1943 Major General took command of the division.^[5]

Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, commander of the Army Ground Forces, who thought highly of Millikin, gave him command of III Corps in October 1943 at Fort McPherson, Georgia.

On 23 August 1944, the corps headquarters departed California for Camp Myles Standish in Massachusetts. It deployed for the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 5 September 1944. Upon arrival at Cherbourg, France, the corps was assigned to Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson's Ninth Army, part of Lieutenant General Omar Bradley's U.S. 12th Army Group, and given the code name "CENTURY" which it retained throughout the war.^[6] The corps headquarters was established at Carteret, in Normandy, and for six weeks, the corps received and processed all the troops of the 12th Army Group arriving over the Normandy beaches during that period. The corps also participated in the "Red Ball Express" by organizing 45 provisional truck companies to carry fuel and ammunition for the units on the front lines.^[6]

III Corps was assigned to the Third Army, commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton, on 10 October 1944, and moved to Etain, near Verdun, and into combat. The corps' first fighting was for the Metz region, as it was moved to attack Fort Jeanne d'Arc, one of the last forts holding out in the region. That fort fell on 13 December 1944.^[6]

Relief of Bastogne[]

The forces to be employed for the relief of Bastogne had been earmarked as early as the night of 18 December 1944 when Bradley and Patton agreed to move the new III Corps headquarters (as yet inexperienced and untried) from Metz to Arlon. The divisions given to Major General John Millikin (the 26th and 80th Infantry Divisions, and the 4th Armored Division) all had been out of the line or in a quiet sector when the Third Army was ordered north, and thus were selected almost automatically.^[7]

In the south, Patton's Third Army was battling to relieve Bastogne. At 16:50 on 26 December 1944, the lead element, Company D, 37th Tank Battalion of the 4th Armored Division, reached Bastogne, ending the siege. Millikin received a second Distinguished Service Medal for his leadership in driving his forces through the German defenses to relieve the besieged troops in Bastogne. ^[8]

On 10 February 1945 Bradley moved III Corps minus one division to Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges' First Army control.^[9]

Battle of Remagen[]

Major General John W. Leonard, commanding the 9th Armored Division, later recalled that on 6 March 1945, Major General Millikin, referring to the Ludendorff Bridge, told him over the phone, "You see that black line on the map. If you can seize that your name will go down in history."^[10] In the last week of February, Colonel Charles G. Patterson, the anti-aircraft artillery officer for III Corps, led a meeting for brigade and group commanders during which they discussed what they would do if they were lucky enough to capture a bridge intact.^[11]

On 2 March 1945, Major General Millikin assigned the 14th Tank Battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Leonard E. Engeman to the north flank and attached it to the 1st Division. The 9th Armored's Combat Command B attacked towards the Erft river, and Combat Command A advanced towards the Ahr river. They were to then move south to capture Remagen and Sinzeg before linking up with the flanks of Lieutenant General Patton's Third Army.^[12]

Seeing the bridge intact, Brigadier General William M. Hoge, Commander of Combat Group A, waited for a platoon of the 9th Infantry Division to reach the far bank, hoping the bridge would stand, and then called Major General Leonard to inform him the bridge had been captured.

Major General Millikin ordered that the 47th Infantry Regiment be motorized and dispatched to Remagen as soon as possible.^[10] Millikin relayed the news to Bradley's 12th Army Group headquarters at 8:15 pm. Millikin attached the 7th Armored Division to III Corps so they could relieve the 9th Infantry Division, who were already crossing the Rhine. He also ordered the 2nd Infantry Division to relieve the 78th Infantry Division so it too could cross the Rhine and defend the bridgehead.^[10]

Millikin relieved[]

On 17 March 1945, the First Army commander, Lieutenant General Courtney H. Hodges, relieved Millikin of his command, and Major General James A. Van Fleet took over. Hodges and some of his staff had complained about the poor control of forces on both sides of the bridge and the lack of information on troop dispositions. According to General William C. Westmoreland, then the chief of staff of the 9th Infantry Division, Millikin had never visited the eastern bank of the Rhine after the bridge's capture.^[13] Hodges also complained later that Millikin repeatedly disobeyed his orders including a directive to drive his forces north along the east bank and open a crossing for the VII Corps, and that he failed to attach enough infantry support to the 9th Armored Division. Westmoreland later commented that, "So irresolute was the III Corps Commander, so lacking in confidence, that I feared for the safety of the bridgehead."^[14] This quite political observation is offset by the awarding of a Silver Star to Millikin for his brave leadership in exposing himself to enemy fire to personally speed his troops across the river. The Silver Star citation cited his "cool self-assurance and heroic delibration" in leading his forces to establish a secure foothold across the Rhine"^[15] For their part, Millikin and his staff could blame misunderstandings with the First Army headquarters, inadequate communications with the eastern bank of the Rhine, and a lack of roads, bridges, and service troops to accommodate the flood of units into a bridgehead that higher headquarters had never intended to be a gateway across the Rhine.

Within a month, Millikin assumed command of the 13th Armored Division whose commander, Major General John B. Wogan, had been seriously wounded. Millikin, previously highly rated by Patton, the Third Army commander, formally objected to an unsatisfactory rating given him after his relief on 7 May 1945 by Hodges. Millikin affirmed that, "under the existing conditions my actions taken on the ground were justified in the light of successful results." General Bradley noted on the efficiency report that Millikin's successor, General Van Fleet, "was better qualified to command the corps than General Millikin with his limited experience." Bradley added that Millikin's record should not be adversely affected by his relief.^[16]

Postwar[]

Major General Millikin returned to the Regular Army on April 30, 1946 in his permanent rank of colonel, and was promoted to brigadier general on January 24, 1948. He retired on February 29, 1948, and was promoted to major general (retired) on June 29, 1948.

Major General John Millikin died on November 6, 1970, aged 82.

Promotions[]

Source - Register of the Army of the United States for 1946. United States Government Printing Office Washington: U.S. Secretary of War. 1946. p. 481

No insignia	Cadet, United States Military Academy: June 15, 1906
No pin insignia in 1910	Second Lieutenant of Cavalry, Regular Army: June 15, 1910
	First lieutenant, Regular Army: July 1, 1916
	Captain, Regular Army: May 15, 1917
	Major of Cavalry, National Army: June 22, 1918
	Lieutenant colonel of Cavalry, National Army: November 16, 1918
	Reverted to captain, Regular Army: March 15, 1920
	Major, Regular Army: July 1, 1920
	Lieutenant colonel, Regular Army: November 1, 1934
	Colonel, Regular Army: June 1, 1939
	Brigadier general, Army of the United States: October 2, 1940
	Major general, Army of the United States: July 16, 1941
	Reverted to colonel, Regular Army: April 30, 1946
	Brigadier general, Regular Army: January 24, 1948
	Major general, Regular Army (Retired List): June 29, 1948

Note; Millikin retired February 29, 1948

References[]

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Center of Military History website http://www.history.army.mil/topics/afam/2CD.htm.

External links[]

• Generals of World War II
• United States Army Officers 1939–1945

Military offices
Preceded by Terry Allen	Commanding General 2nd Cavalry Division 1941–1942	Succeeded by John B. Coulter
Preceded by Frank Mahin	Commanding General 33rd Infantry Division 1942–1943	Succeeded by
Preceded by Harold R. Bull	Commanding General III Corps 1943–1945	Succeeded by James Van Fleet
Preceded by John B. Wogan	Commanding General 13th Armored Division April–September 1945	Succeeded by Post deactivated