WASHINGTON COUNTY — Lt. Gen. Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Gen. George C. Marshall, Maj. Gen. Russell “Scrappy” P. Hartle.

That’s right. Scrappy Hartle.

Hartle, a native of the Chewsville-Leitersburg area in eastern Washington County, was a contemporary of several famous World War II generals and served as Eisenhower’s deputy commander of the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and commander of American troops in Great Britain early in WWII, according to documents at the Washington County Free Library.

In 1969, Hartle’s widow, Lucille, donated several thousand documents, including letters and photos, of Hartle’s to the downtown Hagerstown library’s Western Maryland Room, said John Frye, the room’s curator. The documents include ones stamped “SECRET” and letters from Eisenhower, signed “Ike,” that both praised and criticized Hartle.

Starting last Tuesday, the documents are available for perusal and research upon request. An invitation-only reception was held last Monday to introduce the General Russell P. Hartle World War II Collection.

Carol Appenzellar, project manager for the library’s Historic Newspaper Indexing Project & Special Historical Projects, spent 18 months sorting the documents.

Volunteer Buck Macht, who reviewed some of the documents, said he was struck by how interested in and supportive Hartle was of his troops.

Appenzellar said she learned the general referred to his wife in letters as “my mommy,” saw a photo of Hartle and Queen Elizabeth in a Jeep, and learned that Eisenhower reprimanded Hartle. She also mentioned a mystery surrounding Hartle’s transfer from the ETO to a Texas training camp.

Joe Lallande, Hartle’s great-nephew who lives in Maine, recalled that Hartle and his wife were gracious to him and his sisters when they were children.

“I can remember him taking me fishing somewhere in the area of Hagerstown,” Lallande said. “He had a very deep voice and he just had a presence about him.”

Lallande said he wasn’t positive why Hartle was nicknamed Scrappy.

“I believe it had to do with bulldog tenacity or perhaps maybe even a little bit of a temper,” Lallande said.

Noteworthy facts

While Hartle is not a household name like field generals Eisenhower and MacArthur, he had an impact on history.

In 1942, when the authorization came to establish the first U.S. Army Ranger Battalion, it was Hartle who appointed his aide-de-camp, Capt. William O. Darby, to organize such a unit, according to www.ranger.org.

In an Aug. 25, 1942, letter to “Scrappy,” Eisenhower commended Hartle for developing methods for “establishing harmonious relations” between black and white troops while stationed in Northern Ireland.

“I have passed on the document to other commanders in the belief that your scheme may have a general application, to the benefit of the whole command,” Eisenhower said.

But Ike also took Hartle to task.

In a Sept. 22, 1942, letter, Eisenhower admonished Hartle for statements he made to the media regarding methods to win the war.

In an article in the Evening Standard, Hartle said, “It might be a good idea to lose thousands of thousands, to martyr a percentage of our forces in order to chop a couple of years off the war.”

Eisenhower’s responded in a letter to Hartle, saying “I realize that there is probably a mistake tied up in the matter somewhere, but as this type of thing always gets me in hot water I am sending you this note. Please avoid giving out quotes on such subjects.”

Then, there is the matter of Hartle’s mysterious transfer.

Hartle was preparing to take his command from London to Northern Africa to help with the war effort when he was ordered stateside and stationed at Camp Fannin in Texas, Appenzellar said.

In Hartle’s correspondence at the time, he told friends the transfer was a routine rotation of assignments, Appenzellar said.

But that’s unlikely, she said.

Herald-Mail archives include a story that states Hartle was transferred back to the U.S. due to illness and received a physical disability retirement in 1946.

Lallande said old family lore suggested Hartle “failed to exercise the appropriate protocol with the queen. But I have no basis in fact other than that’s the story that my father had passed along.”

More indicative of the reason for Hartle’s transfer might be in the papers of Gen. George C. Marshall.

Inquiries to the U.S. Army Military History Institute in Carlisle, Pa., and to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kan., point to earlier documents that indicate Marshall’s dissatisfaction with having Hartle, a two-star general, appointed to command invasion forces for the invasion of North Africa.

According to research from the Eisenhower Library, a Sept. 26, 1942, radio message from Marshall to Eisenhower includes the partial quotes:

“I am now even more disturbed over the selection of Hartle for a vital command,” and “to put him (Hartle) in charge of the key operation disturbs me greatly.”

Appenzellar said the documents in the collection provide insight into what Hartle had to deal with at his level of command, how he interacted with soldiers, and how he reminisced and got news of the home front from friends and family.

“I think it’s a treasure trove,” she said.

About the collection

The General Russell P. Hartle World War II Collection consists of personal correspondence and pictures from 1939 through the aftermath of World War II. Documents include letters home to and from Hartle to friends and family, and correspondence from Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

As a preservation measure, the Hartle collection, with the exception of photographs, is being photocopied for use by researchers. Originals can be produced upon request.

Eventually, a selection of the documents will be posted online at Western Maryland’s Historical Library (www.whilbr.org).

The Western Maryland Room is open Monday from 2 to 6 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.

Hartle at a glance

• Born June 26, 1889, in Chewsville, according to Herald-Mail Co. archives.

• Attended the Chewsville grade school and graduated from Hagerstown High School, according to Daily Mail archives.

• Graduated from St. John’s College in Annapolis with a commission of second lieutenant of infantry.

• Served in the Philippines, on the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa uprising, and with the 13th Division during World War I in France, according to a biographical summary and Morning Herald archives.

• Graduated from both the Army War College and Naval War College.

• Took the 34th Division to Northern Ireland in January 1942, becoming commanding general of American forces in Northern Ireland. This was the first U.S. unit to head overseas after Pearl Harbor was attacked.

• In May 1942, recommended his aide-de-camp, Capt. William O. Darby, to organize and train the first American Ranger unit.

• By June 1942, was serving as deputy commander of the European Theater of Operations U.S.A. and commander of American troops in Great Britain, under Eisenhower.

• Served in the military until June 1946, when he retired and, at some point, moved back to Washington County, living in Hagerstown, according to Morning Herald and Daily Mail archives.

• Ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1950, according to Carol Appenzellar.

• Died Nov. 23, 1961, and was buried in the mausoleum at Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown, according to his obituary in The Morning Herald. His funeral at Coffman Funeral Home was one of the largest attended in Hagerstown in “some time,” and included the presence of former Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. His pallbearers included a major general, a brigadier general, a colonel and his friend, J.V. Jamison III.

Source: Unless otherwise noted, the information is from a biography assembled by Carol Appenzellar, project manager for the library’s Historic Newspaper Indexing Project & Special Historical Projects.