Joseph Stilwell
Joseph Warren Stilwell (March 19, 1883 - 1946) was a United States Army four-star general known for his service in China. Had a unique military career: Throughout his career he rarely commanded troops, worked on his own mostly, and still managed to reach the rank of four-star General. He spent most of his career outside the United States in China and, a very capable linguist, spoke Chinese and Japanese fluently.
Vinegar Joe, as he was called, famously lacked tact and a capacity for conventional diplomacy. In spite of this, he tried to convince Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek to cede command of his armies to the American military. He intensely hated the Generalissimo, a feeling which was reciprocated, and only managed to keep working together through the tireless diplomacy of Chiang's wife, Soong May-ling.
Like many other Americans involved in Chinese affairs, Stilwell's diplomatic efforts were obliterated with the rise to power of the Communist Party of China and retreat of the Kuomintang government to Taiwan in the Chinese Civil War. Biographer Barbara W. Tuchman very fittingly chose the metaphor "sand against the wind", to characterise the futile nature of Stilwell's efforts.
Late in the war, he was reassigned from China to command the Tenth Army during the final stages of the Battle of Okinawa after Tenth Army's commander was killed by enemy fire.
He was the subject of a noted biography by Barbara W. Tuchman.
See also: