Major General John Porter Lucas -- The Lucasville Connection

Major General John Porter Lucas (January 14, 1890 – December 24, 1949), affectionately remembered as "Old Luke," was a senior officer of the United States Army who saw service in World War I and World War II. He is most notable for being the commander of the U.S. VI Corps during the Battle of Anzio (Operation Shingle) in the Italian Campaign of World War II.

Major General Porter's parents were Charles Lucas (1861-1923) and Mary Porter (1830-?). Charles was the son of John W. Lucas (1824-1881) and Mary Lucas (1793-1826). And John W. was the son of John Lucas (1787-1825) and Mary (Lucas) Lucas (1793-1826). So, Major General John Porter was the great-grandson of the founder of Lucasville and yet another Lucas in the family to become a notable military figure in U.S. history.

Major General Lucas was born on January 14, 1890, in Kearneysville, West Virginia. He was a graduate of West Point in the class of 1911. Commissioned as a cavalry officer, he transferred to the Field Artillery in 1920 and spent the first few years of his service in the Philippines before returning to the US in August 1914.

In January 1915, Lucas became commander of the 13th Cavalry Regiment Machine Gun Troop. On March 9, 1916, he distinguished himself in action against Pancho Villa's raiders during the Battle of Columbus, “fighting his way alone and bare-footed through attacking Villistas from his quarters to the camp's guard tent.” There he organized resistance with a single machine gun until the remainder of his unit and a supporting troop arrived, then maneuvered his men to repel the attackers.

Lucas joined the 33rd Infantry Division in August 1917 at Camp Logan, Texas, where he continued to serve MG George Bell, Jr., commander of the 33rd, as Aide de Camp. CPT Lucas then led the division's Infantry School of Arms while the division trained for World War I.

Promoted to Major on January 15, 1918, Lucas was given command of the 108th Field Signal Battalion (the Signal Battalion for the 33rd Infantry Division) and sailed to France with this unit. He simultaneously served as the Division Signal Officer. While serving as commander of the 108th, he was seriously wounded in action near Amiens, France on June 23, 1918.

Major Lucas was the battalion's first casualty, being struck by a fragment from a German high-explosive shell. Evacuated to a hospital in England, he was later sent back to the United States on convalescent leave, where he recovered from his wounds. His wounds were severe enough to prevent him from rejoining the 33rd Infantry Division. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on October 31, 1918. Following the war, he would revert to his permanent rank of Captain.

After World War I, Captain Lucas was assigned as a military science instructor for the University of Michigan R.O.T.C. program in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1920, he rejoined the Field Artillery. He was promoted to Major in 1920, and in that year also entered the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Recognized for his leadership and abilities, he served on the War Department General Staff from 1932-36. Lucas served various other positions until July 1941 when he was notified that he would be given command of the 3rd Infantry Division.

In the spring of 1943 Lucas was sent overseas to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. He entered the North African campaign as an observer for the War Department and later became a deputy to General Dwight David Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in the theater. There, in the aftermath of the disastrous airborne drops in Operation Husky, he recommended to General Eisenhower that "the organization of Airborne Troops into [units as large as] divisions is unsound". He briefly took command of II Corps in September, taking over from Lieutenant General Omar Nelson Bradley.

On September 20, 1943, Major General Lucas was given command of the Sixth Corps, taking over from Major General Ernest J. Dawley. He led the corps in the early stages of the Italian Campaign, coming under command of the U.S. Fifth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Mark Clark. VI Corps crossed the Volturno Line in October and was involved in severe mountain warfare fighting until December when the corps HQ was pulled out of the line in preparation for an amphibious assault, codenamed Operation Shingle.

During the Sicily Campaign, Lucas succeeded General Omar S. Bradley as Commander of the U.S. Second Corps, and since he later served as Commander of the Sixth Corps, he became one of the few Army officers ever to be awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

On February 22, 1944, Lucas was relieved of VI Corps command after Shingle, the amphibious landing at Anzio. Lucas was highly critical of the plans for the Anzio battle, believing his force was not strong enough to accomplish its mission. His confidence was not reinforced when the mission was scaled back by last-minute orders and advice from his commander, Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, who told him not to "stick his neck out.” Lucas's forces held the beachhead until May 23, when the staged withdrawal of the German 14th Army permitted the Allies' long-awaited breakout.

“A commander can make a decision simply by ruling out what appears to him to be impractical or unfeasible. This was how Maj. Gen. John P. Lucas, commander of the VI Corps in Italy, viewed and resolved his command problem immediately after the Anzio landing in January 1944. He rejected a course of action that to him appeared unwise or imprudent.

“Yet two alternatives were in fact valid and open to him, though neither satisfied him completely. One seemed to him to verge on recklessness, the other could perhaps be criticized as overcautious. With orders from the next higher echelon of command deliberately left vague, General Lucas was free to choose. Thus he alone would shape the pattern of events that was to develop at Anzio.”

Martin Blumenson. Chapter 13, “General Lucas at Anzio.”

Command Decisions. 1960.

Major General John P. Lucas, has been frequently maligned for failing to use greater initiative in quickly seizing the Alban Hills as soon as the Allies landed at Anzio. The assault on his military skills is not justified. Had General Lucas seized the Alban Hills, as the plan intended, he would likely have lost his entire Corps to German counterattack.

Thus, any criticism of Lucas's actions in Anzio must be analyzed. Some historians feel the Allied strategic leaders dealt the operational commander, Major General John Lucas, a poor hand and he eventually made the best of it …

“The failure of Operation Shingle was not Lucas' alone. It was a failure of strategic decision-making by Churchill and the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) that absorbed Allied resources far out of proportion with its military or political benefit.”

Commander Roger W. Sassman. “Operation SHINGLE and Major General John P. Lucas.” USAWC STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT. 1999.

After nine days of preparation to reinforce his position and four weeks of extremely tough fighting, Lucas was relieved by Clark and replaced with Major General Lucian K. Truscott as the commander of VI Corps at Anzio. Lucas spent three weeks as Clark's deputy at Fifth Army headquarters before returning to the United States.

In March 1944, Lucas was assigned as deputy commander and later as commander of the U.S. Fourth Army, headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. After the war, he was made Chief of the US Military Advisory Group to the Nationalist Chinese government, led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

In 1948, Lucas was assigned as Deputy Commander of the reactivated Fifth Army in Chicago, Illinois. While still on active duty in that post, he died suddenly at Naval Station Great Lakes Naval Hospital, near Chicago on December 24, 1949. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery with his wife Sydney Virginia Lucas (1892–1959). An obituary written by long-time associate and friend Major General Laurence B. Keiser appeared in the October, 1950 issue of The Assembly, the magazine of the Association of West Point graduates.

A camp in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, was named after Major General Lucas in honor of his service. And, the polo field at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, was renamed Lucas Field in his honor. Lucas was widely known as a polo player in his youth. Lucas Street at Fort Sill is also named in his honor. On June 28, 1962, Lucas Place at Fort Eustis was named in his honor.