John George Quekemeyer made for the perfect military man.
He had the respect of his higher-ranking officers as well as the friendship of his peers. He had made a name for himself in battle and around the globe in his military tactics.
He also looked the part, with his athletic physique and chiseled features. It is even said that a romance novel set in World War I was losely based on his adventurous life.
Look in any Yazoo history book, and it won’t take long to find a captivating photograph of Quekemeyer along with pages upon pages of military honors.
He has been called “one of the most outstanding military men of his day” and “was an honor to the mother who bore him, a credit to Yazoo City, his home.”
But who was this native son? Who was the man behind the military cloak and mysterious demeanor?
Quekemeyer was born on Aug. 31, 1884 in Yazoo City to Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Quekemeyer.
Quekemeyer attended grammar school, eventually graduating in the Yazoo City High School Class of 1901.
A newspaper article said that Mrs. H.P. Walton was one of his classmates, and she thought him to be a delightful person.
“(She remembers) him as a ‘brilliant student, well-liked by everyone,’” the article reads.
Quekemeyer would later arrive at the University of Mississippi. He would also join the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
But the military fever was growing hot within Quekemeyer.
“When he was just a youth, he expressed a desire to become a military man and sought an appointment at West Point...” a newspaper article reads.
Thanks to a recommendation from Congressman John Sharp Williams, Quekemeyer earned an appointment to the West Point Military Academy in 1902. It was the ticket to his long and impressive career with the United States military.
“...from the very first day that he entered the school as a cadet, he took front rank,” a newspaper article reads. “He possessed a nature that was willing to look beyond the present and vision for the future...”
Soon, Quekemeyer began to travel all over the country from Colorado to the Arizona Territory and even Hawaii. As he perfected his military skills, he also took to another one of his many passions...polo.
“His horsemanship won him a slot on the U.S. Olympic Polo Team,” writes Bob Bailey, in his historical account. “He then reported to Fort Riley, Kan. to train. However, he did not participate in the Olympics due to a broken collar bone from a riding accident.”
However, another great military general did make it to the 1912 Olympics. George Patton was selected with his running, fencing, shooting and riding skills.
World War I also changed a lot of things as well.
Two years later, Capt. Quekemeyer was posted in Europe, where he would remain until July of 1917. From Paris to Rose to the Hague and London, he was instrumental in providing “assistance to stranded U.S. citizens attempting to leave Europe due to the war conditions.”
Quekemeyer would serve as assistant military attache at the American Embassy.
On May 1, 1918 Quekemeyer would join forces with General John J. Pershing, who would become a personal close friend to his entire family.
“General John J. Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, selected him as his personal Aide-de-Camp,” Bailey said. “General of the Armies John J. Pershing held the highest ‘flag rank’ ever awarded to an American military man, other than George Washington, who received the rank posthumously. Quekemeyer had the privilege and duty to serve this distinguished man.”
Pershing would later call Quekemeyer his “most trusted aide” he ever had, as well as the “best polo player he ever saw.”
“And there was built up between General and Aide a feeling of mutual respect and admiration that is uncommon, and a sentiment of affection and friendship and comradeship that is rare,” Bailey adds.
Quekemeyer was also wounded in the Argonne Forest in September of 1918.
Quekemeyer would earn several military honors, including the Distinguished Service Medal of the United States for “exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services. As chief of the American Mission at British General Headquarters, he administered the duties of the office with tact and ability, promoting cordial relations between members of the Allied Armies with whom he came in contact. As aide-decamp to the commander in chief, he has performed his important duties with marked distinction and sound judgment.”
Several historical documents and photographs show Quekemeyer accompanying Pershing on horseback in the Victory Parade in London.
“Upon arriving at the reviewing stand, Quekemeyer and Marshall dismounted and were welcomed to the reviewing stand, where General Pershing sat with the King and Queen of England for the remainder of the parade,” Bailey said. “Quekemeyer gained favor with many members of the royalty during his service in London before and during his service with General Pershing.”
After the war, Quekemeyer resumed regular duties, with rank of major. But Pershing soon selected him again to join him to South America for the Centennial of the Battle of Ayacucho.
On July 17, 1925, Quekemeyer departed for South America to a commission that held the responsibility of settling border disputes between Chile and Peru.
“Quekemeyer's personal diary reveals many behind-the-scenes circumstances surrounding the difficult job General Pershing faced and his own assistance in delicately handling potentially explosive situations,” Bailey said. “As the commission attempted to work out mutual problems, Quekemeyer was responsible for orchestrating the social protocol to be carefully exercised by the commission and staff people.”
But Quekemeyer would face another battle upon his return from South America. And it would be the battle that he could not win.
“On February 28, 1926, in spite of very attentive medical care, he was suddenly overcome by pneumonia,” Bailey explains.
Before Quekemeyer body could even reach his hometown of Yazoo City, his heartbroken mother died of what the doctor called “a broken heart.”
Pershing, too ill to attend the funeral, wrote a heartfelt letter to Quekemeyer mother. She died before reading it.
“Even though the family considered burying the major in the Arlington National Cemetery, they decided he should be beside his mother in Glenwood Cemetery in Yazoo City, and double rites would be conducted,” a newspaper article reads.
The Mississippi National Guard attended the services. Planes flew over and dropped roses during the double burial ceremony.
Recently, an unpublished family photograph album was discovered at Ricks Memorial Library with a glimpse into another side of Quekemeyer.
The faded photographs show Quekemeyer with a few friends at a picturesque, elite resort in Godfrey’s Cove in York Harbor, Maine.
The casual shots of Quekemeyer show a cool, calm man with the looks of a classic movie star. From playing in the saltwater to a playful boxing match with a friend, he is at ease and happy.
The man behind Quekemeyer legend has many sides. Polo expert, fine gentleman, brave war hero, trusted confidante, aristocrat, yet humble.
But he was also a Yazooan, a title he carried well.
