Eisenhower Read Marshall’s Warning About Montgomery — And Never Forgot It
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December 30, 1944.
At Versailles, Dwight D. Eisenhower has reached his limit.
Fourteen days into the Battle of the Bulge, a draft message sits on his desk.
Its meaning is unmistakable:
Either Bernard Montgomery's independent command is curtailed — or Eisenhower will resign as Supreme Commander.
The immediate cause is Montgomery's December 29 letter.
After receiving temporary operational control of the U.S. First and Ninth Armies during the Ardennes crisis, Montgomery argues that the arrangement should become permanent.
To Eisenhower, it is the latest move in a months-long campaign to place Montgomery above the American ground commanders.
Eisenhower calls Walter Bedell Smith.
An ultimatum to Washington begins to take shape.
But another American general is already acting.
George C. Marshall.
From Washington, Marshall sends Eisenhower a personal cable.
Its message is clear.
American political opinion will not accept permanent British command over major American armies.
Eisenhower is the Supreme Commander.
Washington will support him.
He should make the decision he believes necessary without feeling obligated to surrender authority to Montgomery.
Eisenhower reads Marshall's message twice.
Then he sets aside the resignation ultimatum.
The crisis is not completely over — Montgomery still has to be dealt with — but one question has been settled.
Eisenhower will remain in command.
The episode illustrates the hidden role Marshall repeatedly played during World War II.
He was thousands of miles from the battlefield, rarely sought publicity, and never commanded Allied armies in Europe.
Yet at one of the most dangerous political moments of the Western alliance, a short cable from his Pentagon office helped keep the coalition from breaking apart.
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