James Marshall McHugh (27 December 1899 – 7 November 1966) was an American intelligence officer in China. McHugh was born in

Nevada, Missouri Nevada ( ''nə--də'') is a city in and the county seat of Vernon County, on the western border of Missouri, United States. The population was 8,386 at the 2010 census, and 8,254 in the 2018 estimate. The local government has a council-manager ...

''Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1965'' and graduated from the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...

in 1922. Following training at Quantico he went to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1923 to study the country and its language. He was married to

Dorothy Schurman Hawes Dorothy Schurman Hawes (December 19, 1905 – July 24, 1977) was an American writer. Her father, Jacob Gould Schurman, was the United States minister to China in the 1920s, and her first husband, James M. McHugh, was an American intelligence of ...

from 1926 to 1940; her father,

Jacob Gould Schurman Jacob Gould Schurman (May 2, 1854 – August 12, 1942) was a Canadian-born American educator and diplomat, who served as President of Cornell University and United States Ambassador to Germany. Early life Schurman was born at Freetown, Prince Ed ...

, was president of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

from 1892–1920, and was American minister to China in the 1920s. McHugh spent over twenty years in China, where he served as intelligence officer for the 4th Marines and U.S. Asiatic Fleet, Shanghai, from 1933–1935, became special Assistant Naval Attaché, American Embassy at Nanking, Hankow, and Chungking. He was Naval Attaché and Naval Attaché for Air from 1940–1943, serving as a special representative of Secretary of the Navy

Frank Knox William Franklin Knox (January 1, 1874 – April 28, 1944) was an American politician, newspaper editor and publisher. He was also the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1936, and Secretary of the Navy under Franklin D. Roosevelt during ...

to Generalissimo

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

, with whom he was a close friend. For his work in this capacity he was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

. He was officer in charge of the Far East Secret Intelligence and served on the staff of the Fifth Amphibious Corps (G-5), was sent to

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

in 1944 to help plan the attack on

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. An attack of malaria led to his recall in 1943; after which he was assigned to Navy Department, to one of the forerunners of the present CIA. In October 1942, McHugh encouraged

to seek the replacement of

Joseph Stilwell Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. An early American popular hero of the war for leading a column walking ...

with

Claire Lee Chennault Claire Lee Chennault (September 6, 1893 – July 27, 1958) was an American military aviator best known for his leadership of the "Flying Tigers" and the Chinese Air Force in World War II. Chennault was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fighter ...

. While returning to the United States, McHugh visited

Archibald Wavell Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World War, during which he was wounded ...

, criticized Stilwell severely, and spoke favorably of Chennault's claim that

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

could be defeated by a small American air force based in China. This infuriated

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...

, the Army Chief of Staff, who believed that McHugh's indiscretion irreparably damaged the American war strategy in southeast Asia and China. After retirement in 1946, he was an economic consultant for corporations having interest in the Far East, including Jardine, Matheson & Co. (Hong Kong), and Balfour, Guthrie & Co. (New York).

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* 1899 births 1966 deaths United States Marine Corps officers United States Naval Academy alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit American expatriates in China {{US-mil-bio-stub

See also

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External links