Fox Conner always remembered the first time he saw George S. Patton Jr.; it was October 1913, on a train from Kansas City to Fort Riley. Both Fox and his wife Virginia (aka Bug) were transfixed by the immaculately dressed officer who sat ramrod straight no matter how much the car shook. Intrigued by the fierce face that never changed expression, Captain Conner introduced himself to the Second Lieutenant and so started a friendship that would last a lifetime. 

The friendship also extended to Beatrice and Bug, both daughters of successful businessmen involved in patent medicine who weren’t too happy at first that their daughters wanted to marry officers—hence Bug’s eventual memoir, What Father Forbad. 

The couples took an extended vacation together in the summer of 1921 when George rented a 75-foot houseboat called the Ladyfish to go deep-sea fishing in Florida. Annoyed that Bug ended up catching one more tarpon than he did, George replied to her question whether he would save her if she fell overboard, “Not by a damn sight; but you bet I’d go after the reel. Those reel cost $94.35 apiece.” It was all in good fun, though, and Bug enjoyed getting to know George’s “lovable and sensitive side” as they sailed to Key West and Havana, where she first met her husband in 1900.

The Conners and the Pattons’ paths crossed often–including in France during World War I and in Hawaii–but their most crucial get-together took place in the fall of 1920. Just before the Pattons departed Camp Meade, a meeting occurred at one of Beatrice’s famous Sunday brunches that would change Dwight Eisenhower’s life. According to John Eisenhower, Patton’s greatest contribution to his father’s development was “indirect, his role in bringing his friend under the tutelage of his true mentor, Brigadier General (later Major General) Fox Conner.”

A few weeks before this fateful lunch, Fox Conner had visited Camp Meade to inspect the Infantry Tank School. He would soon move to Panama, where he was to be the new commanding officer of Camp Gaillard, and he wondered whether George could recommend an excellent executive officer to join him there. Without hesitation, George suggested Major Eisenhower and invited Conner and his wife to Sunday brunch so the two could meet.

The Pattons’ Sunday brunches were a Camp Meade highlight during an otherwise dull time of demobilization, as excellent food and drinks were served in a congenial atmosphere. A gracious hostess who learned how to be an effective Army wife, Beatrice’s talent for conversation combined with George’s talent as a raconteur made for a wonderful time.

• Eisenhower, John S. D. General Ike: a personal reminiscence. United Kingdom: Free Press, 2003.
• Conner, Virginia. What Father Forbad. United States: Dorrance, 1951.
• Van Steelandt, Stefanie. Lady of the Army: The Life of Mrs. George S. Patton. United States: Minnegate Press, 2023.
• Rabalais, Steven. General Fox Conner: Pershing’s Chief of Operations and Eisenhower’s Mentor. United Kingdom: Casemate Publishers, 2016.
• Pictures: The Patton Papers at the Library of Congress