Angers

Angers marked Harry S. Truman’s return to his regiment in France and a surprising change in his military standing: there he learned he had been made a captain months earlier, then took up duties teaching fellow officers. The city’s place in his story lies in the contrast between his uncertain passage through training and the authority he was suddenly expected to exercise.

Arrival in France

After five weeks of officer training, Truman felt fortunate to have made it through and was ordered to rejoin his old regiment, which had reached France and was stationed at Angers. He traveled west by train, watching the scenery and taking in the country’s beauty and age. His companion, the young officer Arthur Wilson, remembered Truman’s knowledge of French history and his use of maps to follow their route. The journey brought him back to his regiment and into a role he did not yet know he held.

An Unexpected Promotion

At Angers, Truman discovered to his surprise that he had been made a captain months before. No one had informed him; he learned of the promotion only when he saw it reported in The New York Times. The news transformed his position without any prior ceremony or explanation, and the captain’s rank became the basis for his next assignment.

Teaching What He Had Just Learned

As adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, Truman was tasked with teaching the other officers subjects from his recent training: trigonometry, logarithms, surveying, and engineering. In a letter to Bess Wallace, he found the reversal amusing: the Missouri farm boy who had barely passed the school was now instructing officers from Harvard and Yale University. He also reflected that he had not understood the value of a university education until then. Angers thus became the setting for a compact change in his circumstances—from a student relieved to have passed to a captain responsible for transmitting technical knowledge to his peers.