Chase Wilmot Kennedy (4 January 1859 – 23 November 1936) was a career officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. A veteran of the American Indian Wars,

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

, and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he attained the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and was most notable for his First World War command of first the 78th Division, and later the 85th Division.

Early Years

Chase Wilmot Kennedy was born to Milton and Josephine Kennedy on 4 January 1859.Evans, Nelson W. ''A History of Scioto County, Ohio, Together With a Pioneer Record of Southern Ohio'' (Portsmouth, OH: Nelson W. Evans, 1903), pp. 1023 After graduating from the public school system in 1875, Kennedy began working at the Portsmouth Tribune until 1879. He was admitted into the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

in May 1879 and graduated eighteenth in his class in 1883. Several of his fellow classmates would go on to become

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

s in their careers, such as Omar Bundy,

George H. Cameron Major General George Hamilton Cameron (January 8, 1861 – January 28, 1944) was a United States Army officer who had a military career spanning over forty years, at the end of which he attained the rank of major general. Despite serving in numero ...

, Harry C. Hale, George W. Read,

John W. Heard John William (or Wilkinson) Heard (March 27, 1860 – February 4, 1922) was a United States Army Brigadier General who was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for valor in action on July 23, 1898, near Bahia Honda, Cuba. Early life and educa ...

, Ira A. Haynes,

Samson L. Faison Samson Lane Faison (November 29, 1860 – October 17, 1940) was a brigadier general in the United States Army who commanded the 30th Infantry Division (United States), 30th Infantry Division at various times during World War I. He received t ...

, William C. Langfitt, Robert D. Walsh, Lawrence Tyson, Charles G. Morton, Tyree R. Rivers, John W. Ruckman,

Isaac Littell Isaac William Littell (5 December 1857 – 1 May 1924) was a United States Army brigadier general. He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for meritorious and distinguished service during World War I. Specifically, Littell was honore ...

and Clarence R. Edwards.

Military career

Following his graduation from the U.S.M.A., Kennedy was commissioned into the Third Infantry with which he performed frontier duty from 1883 to 1895, during which he participated in campaigns against the Kutenai, Crow and

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

Spanish–American War

Still with the 3rd Infantry Regiment at the outbreak of the

, Kennedy saw action in Cuba and took part in the

Battle of El Caney The Battle of El Caney was fought on July 1, 1898, during the Spanish-American War. 600 Spanish soldiers held for twelve hours, until they ran out of ammunition, against Henry W. Lawton's 5th US Division, made up of 6,899 men. This action tempor ...

. After the Spanish defeat in 1898, Kennedy returned to the United States to take part in campaigns against the Leech Lake Indians in the fall of the same year, this time with the 8th Infantry. Kennedy returned to Cuba in December 1898 with the 8th Infantry for the formal transfer of power on 1 January 1899. Kennedy would remain in Cuba with the provisional government until 1900 as part of the Sanitary Corps.

Philippine–American War

Kennedy and the 8th Infantry were deployed to the Philippines from 1900 to 1902.

First World War

On 23 August 1917, Kennedy took command of the 78th Infantry Division at Camp Dix, NJ, before deploying with the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

in December 1917.Cullum, George W.''Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York Since Its establishment in 1802: Supplement, Volume VI-A 1910-1920'' (Saginaw, MI: Seemann & Peters, Printers, 1920), pp. 354 Kennedy remained in France with the 78th until February 1918, when returned to the U.S. to take command of the 85th Infantry Division. The 85th deployed to France in August, 1918. He would remain in command of the 85th until March 1919.

Between the Wars

After the end of the First World War, Kennedy was placed in command of the Panama Canal Department from April 1919 to November 1921. Following this, he commanded the 9th Coastal Artillery District and the 9th Training Center at the

Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part o ...

until his retirement in 1922.

Personal life

Kennedy married Elizabeth Lord Jewett (1867-1946) on 13 November 1889. He died in Washington, D.C., on 23 November 1936. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

References

External links

Chase W. Kennedy
at Arlington National Cemetery {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Chase Wilmot 1936 deaths United States Military Academy alumni 1859 births People from Portsmouth, Ohio United States Army generals of World War I United States Army generals Military personnel from Ohio