Early Life
Robert Lawrence Eichelberger was born at Urbana, Ohio on 9 March 1886, the youngest of five children of George Maley Eichelberger, a farmer and lawyer, and Emma Ring Eichelberger. He grew up on the 235-acre (95 ha) family farm that had been established by his grandfather. He graduated from Urbana High School in 1903, and entered Ohio State University, where he joined Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
In 1904, Eichelberger persuaded his father's former law partner, William R. Warnock, now the congressman for Ohio's 8th congressional district, to appoint him to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He entered West Point in June 1905. His class of 1909 was a distinguished one. Some 28 of them ultimately wore the stars of general officers, including Jacob L. Devers, John C. H. Lee, Edwin F. Harding, George S. Patton and William H. Simpson. Eichelberger was a poor student, as he had been at high school and Ohio State, but did become a cadet lieutenant, and graduated 68th in his class of 103.
Eichelberger was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 25th Infantry on 11 June 1909, but was transferred to the 10th Infantry at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, on 22 July. In March 1911, the 10th Infantry was despatched to San Antonio, Texas, where it became part of the Maneuver Division, which was formed to undertake offensive operations during the Border War with Mexico. Then, in September, it was sent to the Panama Canal Zone. It was in Panama that Eichelberger met Emmaline (Em) Gudger, the daughter of Hezekiah A. Gudger, the Chief Justice of the Panama Canal Zone Supreme Court. After a brief courtship, they were married on 3 April 1913.
On returning to the United States in March 1915, Eichelberger was posted to the 22nd Infantry at Fort Porter, New York. It too was sent to the Mexican border, and was based at Douglas, Arizona, where Eichelberger was promoted to first lieutenant on 1 July 1916. In September, he became Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri.
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