Sure could use some help on the straight story re Gen. Pershing's nickname of Black Jack.
I know at least two versions of the tale--both have same origins but then diverge.
One story--Black Jack was the original nickname given to Pershing by cadets when he had a tour of duty (I suspect sometime in the l890s) as a tactical officer at West Point. Name came from his regimental posting with l0th Cav.

Another story--"Black Jack" was an AEF (l9l7-l8) press-sanitized version of the original name--also given by the Kaydets--that had used the "N" word.

Both names, of course, go to the issue of race the preception (and the reception) of blacks within the Old Army

Would appreciate citations/references with any answer.

Thanks;

Tom Phillips

PS: Sharon--I know for sure that Pershing was not hiding behind the cotton bales with Andy Jackson at New Orleans--so the nickname does not go back that far.