Montgomery M. Macomb

Montgomery Meigs Macomb (October 12, 1852 – January 19, 1924) was a United States Army Brigadier General. He was a veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I, and was notable for serving as commander of the Hawaiian Department, the Army War College, and Fort Sill.

Montgomery Meigs Macomb
Montgomery Meigs Macomb
Born(1852-10-12)October 12, 1852
Detroit, Michigan, US
DiedJanuary 19, 1924(1924-01-19) (aged 71)
Washington, D.C., US
Place of burial
Arlington National Cemetery
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1874–1916
1917–1918
RankBrigadier General
Commands heldLight Battery M, 7th Field Artillery Regiment
6th Field Artillery Regiment
District of Hawaii
Department of Hawaii
1st Hawaiian Brigade
United States Army War College
Fort Sill
Battles/warsSpanish–American War
World War I
Spouse(s)Caroline Luce Walter Macomb (1857–1933)
RelationsMontgomery C. Meigs (uncle)
Stephen Bleecker Luce (father in law)
Gen. Alexander Macomb (grand-uncle)
Alexander Macomb (merchant) (great-grandfather)
Philip Livingston (great-grandfather)

Early life

Montgomery M. Macomb was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 12, 1852.[1] The son of Colonel John Navarre Macomb and Ann Minerva Rodgers Macomb, the daughter of John Rodgers, Montgomery Macomb was connected by ancestry and marriage to several prominent families, including those of Philip Livingston, Alexander Macomb, and Montgomery C. Meigs.[2][3]

Macomb attended Hughes Center High School in Cincinnati, and attended Yale University from 1869 to 1870.[4] He then transferred to the United States Military Academy (West Point), from which he graduated in 1874.[5] Ranked fourth in his class, his high standing facilitated his assignment to a coveted post with the Field Artillery.[6] (At the time, top graduates were usually selected for the Engineers or Field Artillery.)[7]

Start of career

His initial assignments were a posting to the Presidio (1874), Fort Wrangel, Alaska (1874–1875), and duty as aide-de-camp to Montgomery C. Meigs in Europe (1875–1876).[8]

Macomb took part in the Wheeler Survey of the western United States from 1876 to 1883, after which he carried out assignments at the Artillery School and with the 4th Field Artillery Regiment. From 1887 to 1891 he was an instructor at West Point, teaching both mathematics and drawing.[9]

From 1891 to 1896 Macomb was assigned to special duty with the Intercontinental Railway Commission, using skills developed during the Wheeler Survey to carry out exploration, surveying and mapmaking of potential railroad routes in Central and South America. He served with the 4th Field Artillery at Fort Riley from 1896 to 1898.[10][11]

Spanish–American War
Macomb as a Major shortly after the Spanish–American War

During the Spanish–American War Macomb commanded Light Battery M, 7th Field Artillery Regiment in Puerto Rico (1898–1900) and the Philippines (1900–1902). Later in 1902 he was a member of the board which surveyed and reported on the defense of harbors in the Philippines.[12][13][14]

Post-Spanish–American War
Macomb in Hawaii as a Brigadier General.

Upon returning to the United States in 1902 Macomb was appointed to the Army Ordnance Board and the Board of Ordnance and Fortification.[15][16]

In 1904 and 1905 he was a US military attaché in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War, and observed the battles of Liaoyang, Shaho, and Mukden. Macomb used his observations in Manchuria to author several professional journal articles on the use of machine guns.[17][18]

He commanded an artillery sub-post at Ft. Riley from 1906 to 1908 and organized the 6th Field Artillery Regiment, of which he was the first commander.[19] From 1908 to 1910 he served on the Army staff at the War Department and as President of the Field Artillery Examining Board. He was promoted to Brigadier General in November, 1910.[20][21]

In 1910 Macomb was one of the founders of the United States Field Artillery Association, and served as its first president.[22]

Macomb commanded the District of Hawaii from 1911 to 1913, and the Department of Hawaii from 1913 to 1914. He commanded the 1st Hawaiian Brigade from 1913 to 1914. During his assignments in Hawaii Macomb also served on the board of officers that surveyed Oahu and planned its defenses (the Macomb Board).[23][24][25]

From 1914 to 1916 Macomb was President of the Army War College.[26] He served on the Army staff from June to October, 1916, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 64.[27]

World War I

Macomb requested to return to active duty for World War I. In October, 1917 he was appointed to command Fort Sill, where he oversaw the mobilization and training of soldiers preparing to serve in combat in France. He retired again in June, 1918.[28]

Retirement, death and burial
Macomb's burial site at Arlington National Cemetery.

In retirement Macomb resided in Washington, D.C. He died there on January 19, 1924[29] and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 1, Grave 157.[30]

Family

Macomb was married to Caroline Luce Walter Macomb (1857–1933), the daughter of Stephen Bleecker Luce, a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and the first President of the Naval War College.[31]

Legacy

Macomb Ridge at Yosemite National Park is named for him. Macomb had mapped the Yosemite area as part of the Wheeler Survey.[32]

References
  1. Annual Report. West Point, New York: United States Military Academy Association of Graduates. 1926. p. 10.
  2. Davenport, Charles Benedict (1919). Naval Officers: Their Heredity and Development. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington. pp. 169. montgomery meigs macomb navarre minerva.
  3. Shepard, Frederick J. (1904). Supplement to the History of the Yale Class of 1873. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University. pp. 340–342.
  4. A Biographical Record: Yale University Class of 1873. New York: Rogers & Sherwood. 1880. p. 87.
  5. Grant, Ulysses Simpson (1995). The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: November 1, 1869-October 31, 1870. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 261. ISBN 9780809319657.
  6. Cullum, George Washington, and Holden, Edward Singleton (1891). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. III (Third ed.). New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. p. 223.
  7. D'Este, Carlo (2003). Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life. New York: Henry Holt and Company. pp. 60. west point top graduates engineer artillery.
  8. "Macomb Vice Myer". Army and Navy Register. Army and Navy Publishing Company. XLVIII (1613): 25. November 29, 1910. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  9. "Macomb Gets Promotion". Indianapolis Star. September 6, 1910. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  10. "To Patagonia by Rail". Altoona Tribune. November 13, 1895. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  11. Cullum, George Washington, and Holden, Edward S. (1901). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. Supplement, IV. Cambridge: Riverside Press. p. 241.
  12. "The Military Pageant: Thousands Cheer the Olympia's Crew and the Soldiery". The Washington Times. October 3, 1899. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  13. Cullum, George Washington, and Holden, Edward S. (1901). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. Supplement, IV. Cambridge: Riverside Press. p. 241.
  14. "A Pacific General". The Mid-Pacific Magazine. Alexander Hume Ford. III (I): 95. January 1, 1912. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  15. Report of the Chief of Ordnance. Washington, D.C.: United States. Army Ordnance Department. 1913. p. 122.
  16. Crouch, Tom D. (2002). A Dream of Wings: Americans and the Airplane, 1875-1905. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. p. 292. ISBN 9780393347456.
  17. Macomb, Montgomery M. (January 1, 1907). "Machine Guns in the Russian Army During the Campaign in Manchuria, 1904-1905". Journal of the United States Cavalry Association. U.S. Cavalry Association. XVII (63): 443. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  18. "Praises Russian Troops: American Military Attaché Says They Fought Bravely". San Francisco Call. December 21, 1905. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  19. "Personal Matters". Army and Navy Register. Army and Navy Publishing Co. LXIX (2133): 550. June 4, 1921. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  20. White, James Terry (1929). The National Cyclopædia of American Biography. 20. p. 212.
  21. Congressional Record: Proceedings of the United States Senate. XLVI. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1911. p. 62.
  22. Churchill, editor, Captain Marlboro (July–September 1915). "The United States Field Artillery Association: Organized June 7, 1910". The Field Artillery Journal. U.S. Field Artillery Association. V (3): 486. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  23. "Army and Navy Journal". Army and Navy Journal. Army and Navy Publishing Co. LIII (1699): 179. February 8, 1913. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  24. Castle, William Richards (1917). Hawaii Past and Present. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. pp. 94. montgomery m. macomb Hawaii division.
  25. Funston, Brigadier General Frederick (1914). Report of the Hawaiian Department. Washington, D.C.: United States War Department. pp. 108–109.
  26. Linn, Brian McAllister (1997). Guardians of Empire: The U.S. Army and the Pacific, 1902-1940. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina. p. 96. ISBN 9780807848159.
  27. The World Almanac & Book of Facts. New York: The Press Publishing Company. 1914. p. 421.
  28. Cullum, George Washington, and Robinson, Wirt (1920). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. Supplement, VI–A. Saginaw, Michigan: Sherman and Peters. pp. 189–190.
  29. United States Military Academy, Association of Graduates (1926). Annual report. West Point, New York: United States Military Academy. p. 10.
  30. "Montgomery Meigs Macomb". Arlington National Cemetery. 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  31. White, James Terry (1967). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. 20. New York: J. T. White. p. 212.
  32. Gudde, Erwin, Gustav (1969). California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 189.
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