Jonathan
Mayhew Wainwright IV (August
23, 1883 – September 2, 1953) was a career American army officer and the
Commander of Allied forces in
the Philippines at the time Japan surrendered to the United
States, during World War II. Wainwright was a recipient
of the Medal of Honor for
his courageous leadership during the fall of the Philippines. Wainwright,
nicknamed "Skinny" and "Jim", was born at Fort Walla Walla, an Army post now in Walla Walla, Washington,
and was the son of Robert Powell Page Wainwright, a U.S. Army officer who
was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Cavalry in 1875, commanded a
squadron at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during
the Spanish–American War, and
in 1902 was killed in action in the Philippines. His grandfather was
Lieutenant Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright II,
USN, who was killed in action during the Civil War. Congressman J. Mayhew Wainwright was a cousin. He graduated from Highland Park
High School in Illinois in 1901, and from West Point in
1906. He served as First Captain of the Corps of Cadets. Wainwright was
commissioned in the cavalry. He served with the 1st Cavalry
Regiment (United States) in Texas from 1906 to 1908 and in
the Philippines from 1908 to 1910, where he saw combat
on Jolo, during the Moro Rebellion. Wainwright graduated from the Mounted Service School, Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1916 and was promoted to Captain. By 1917, he was on the staff of the first officer
training camp at Plattsburgh, New York. In
February 1918, during World War I, Wainwright was ordered
to France. In June, he became assistant chief of staff of
the U.S. 82nd Infantry Division,
with which he took part in the Saint Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives.
As a temporary lieutenant colonel,
he was assigned to occupation duty in Germany with the 3rd Army at Koblenz, Germany, from October 1918 until 1920.
Having reverted to the rank of captain, he was then promoted to major. After a year as an
instructor at the Cavalry School at Fort Riley, Wainwright was attached to the
general staff from 1921 to 1923 and assigned to the 3rd US Cavalry Regiment, Fort Myer, Virginia, from 1923–25. In 1929, he was promoted to lieutenant
colonel and graduated from the Command and General Staff
School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,
in 1931, and from the Army War College in
1934. Wainwright was promoted to colonel in 1935, and served as commander of
the 3rd US Cavalry
Regiment until 1938, when he was promoted to brigadier general in
command of the 1st Cavalry Brigade at Fort Clark, Texas. In September 1940, Wainwright was promoted
to major general (temporary)
and returned to the Philippines, in December, as commander of the Philippine Department.
As the senior field commander of Filipino and US forces under
General Douglas MacArthur,
Wainwright was responsible for resisting the Japanese invasion of the
Philippines, which began in December 1941. On December 8, 1941, he commanded
the North Luzon
Force, comprising three reserve Filipino divisions and the 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts). Retreating from the Japanese beachhead of Lingayen Gulf, Allied forces had withdrawn onto the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor by January 1942, where they defended the
entrance to Manila Bay.
Following the evacuation of MacArthur to Australia in March to serve as Allied Supreme
Commander, South West Pacific Area,
Wainwright inherited the unenviable position of Allied commander in the
Philippines. Also that March, Wainwright was promoted to lieutenant general (temporary).
On April 9, the 70,000 troops on Bataan surrendered under the command of Major
General Edward P. King. On May 5,
the Japanese attacked Corregidor. Due to lack of supplies
(mainly food and ammunition)[6] and in the interest of minimizing casualties,
Wainwright notified Japanese General Masaharu Homma he was surrendering on May 6.Wainwright at
the same time sent a coded message to Maj. Gen. William F. Sharp, in charge of forces on Mindanao naming him as commander of all forces in the
Philippines, excepting those on Corregidor and three other islands in Manila Bay. Sharp was now to report to Gen. MacArthur, now
stationed in Australia. This was to cause as few troops
as possible to be surrendered. Homma refused to allow the surrender of any less
than all the troops in the Philippines and considered the troops on and around
Corregidor to be hostages to ensure other forces in the Philippines would lay
down their arms. Wainwright then agreed to surrender Sharp's men. General Sharp
was placed in a difficult position. He knew if he ignored Wainwright's wish for
him to surrender that the hostage troops and civilians at Corregidor could be
massacred. Though his troops were badly mauled, they could still put up a fight.
It had been expected they would fight on as a guerrilla force. In the end, on
May 10 Sharp decided to surrender. Sharp's surrender proved problematic for the
Japanese. For although Sharp and many of his men surrendered and suffered as
prisoners of war until liberated in 1945, a large number of Sharp's men — the
vast majority of them Filipino — refused to surrender. Some soldiers considered
Wainwright's surrender to have been made under duress, and ultimately decided
to join the guerrilla movement led by Colonel Wendell Fertig.
By June 9, Allied forces had completely surrendered. Wainwright was then
held in prison camps in northern Luzon, Formosa, and Liaoyuan (then called Xi'an and a county within Manchukuo) until he was rescued by the Red Army in August 1945. Wainwright was the highest-ranking
American POW, and, despite his rank, his treatment at the hands of the Japanese
was no less unpleasant than that of most of his men. When he met General
MacArthur in August 1945 shortly after his liberation, he had become thin and
malnourished from three years of mistreatment during captivity. After
witnessing the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri on
September 2, together with Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, he
returned to the Philippines to receive the surrender of the local Japanese
commander, Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita. Dubbed
by his men a "fighting" general who was willing to get down in the
foxholes, Wainwright won the respect of all who were imprisoned with him. He
agonized over his decision to surrender Corregidor throughout his captivity,
feeling that he had let his country down. Upon release, the first question he
asked was how people back in the U.S. thought of him, and he was amazed when
told he was considered a hero. He later received the Medal of Honor, an honor which had first been proposed early
in his captivity, in 1942, but was rejected due to the vehement opposition of
General MacArthur, who felt that Corregidor should not have been surrendered.
MacArthur did not oppose the renewed proposal in 1945.
Medal
of Honor citation
Rank and Organization: General, Commanding
U.S. Army Forces in the Philippines. Place and date: Philippine Islands, 12
March to 7 May 1942. Entered Service at: Skaneateles, N.Y. Birth: Walla Walla,
Wash. G.O. No.: 80, 19 September 1945.
Citation:
Distinguished himself by
intrepid and determined leadership against greatly superior enemy forces. At
the repeated risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in his position, he
frequented the firing line of his troops where his presence provided the
example and incentive that helped make the gallant efforts of these men
possible. The final stand on beleaguered Corregidor, for which he was in an important measure
personally responsible, commanded the admiration of the Nation's allies. It
reflected the high morale of American arms in the face of overwhelming odds.
His courage and resolution were a vitally needed inspiration to the then sorely
pressed freedom-loving peoples of the world. General Wainwright was presented
the Medal of Honor in an impromptu ceremony when he visited the White House 10
September 1945 – he was not aware that he was there to be decorated by
President Truman.