John Wilson Ruckman (October 10, 1858 – June 6, 1921) was a major general 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 ...

Early life

Ruckman was born at Deers, Illinois, a flag-station just southeast of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. Biographies, however, usually list his place of birth as

Sidney, Illinois Sidney is a village in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,208 at the 2020 census. History The Potawatomi Trail of Death passed through here in 1838. Geography Sidney is located at . According to the 2021 census gaze ...

(Champaign County). His parents, Thomas and Mary O'Brien Ruckman, were farmers. His uncles, John W. and Wilson Ruckman served the Union Army with distinction in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

(Company A, Illinois 35th Infantry). After three semesters at the

, Ruckman was appointed from the 14th Congressional District of Illinois for acceptance to 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 ...

. His nomination was made by Republican Congressman Joseph Cannon.

Career

Ruckman graduated from

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

(1883), the U.S. Artillery School (1892), the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...

(1915), and the

U.S. Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

(1916). Ruckman was assigned to

Fort Hamilton Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which is ...

, New York (1883–1890) and developed a friendship with Tasker Bliss. From 1881 to 1899, he served at

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...

where he and four other officers of the Artillery School founded the ''

Journal of the United States Artillery The ''Journal of the United States Artillery'' was founded at Fort Monroe in 1892 by First Lieutenant (later Major General) John Wilson Ruckman and four other officers of the Artillery School. Ruckman served as the editor of the ''Journal'' for four ...

'' in 1892. He also served as the Editor of the ''Journal'' for four years (July 1892 to January 1896) and had several of his articles published. One publication by

notes Ruckman's "guidance" and "first-rate quality" work were obvious as the ''Journal'' "rose to high rank among the service papers of the world." The ''Journal'' was renamed the ''Coast Artillery Journal'' in 1922 and the ''Antiaircraft Journal'' in 1948. He invented several artillery devices that were critical in

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 ...

. After serving a brief stint at

Fort Slocum Fort Slocum, New York was a US military post which occupied Davids Island in the western end of Long Island Sound in the city of New Rochelle, New York from 1867 to 1965. The fort was named for Major General Henry W. Slocum, a Union corps comm ...

, Ruckman was sent to Havana, Cuba, then made Instructor at the School of Submarine Defense ( Fort Totten, New York). While developing courses on chemistry and explosives, he developed a friendship with Arthur L. Wagner. In 1906, Ruckman was assigned to 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 ...

, and given command of

Fort Baker Fort Baker is one of the components of California's Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Fort, which borders the City of Sausalito in Marin County and is connected to San Francisco by the Golden Gate Bridge, served as an Army post until t ...

. In 1911, his command was transferred to

Fort Mills Fort Mills ( Corregidor, the Philippines) was the location of US Major General George F. Moore's headquarters for the Philippine Department's Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays in early World War II, and was the largest seacoast f ...

, Corregidor, where he distinguished himself by successfully withstanding a siege. In 1916, he was assigned to organize and command the 5th Provisional Coast Artillery Regiment at Del Rio, Texas and given command of El Paso Rio Grande and the district of Laredo. Ruckman served as Commander of the Southeastern Department (Aug 1917) Southern Department (Sept 1917) and the Northeastern Department (May 1918). Ruckman's life was not without controversy. Although he ranked high in his graduating class, he was held back one year at West Point for laughing during artillery drills and "in other inappropriate places." In 1896, he suggested that a regiment of soldiers in Cleveland, Ohio, be abolished because of its relationship to prostitutes. In his 1915

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

thesis, Ruckman called for universal military service and the education of "all boys and young men" in the use of firearms. He also recommended strict guidelines for the content of history texts in schools and colleges. Brig Gen John W Ruckman Commission

Ruckman served as Commander of the Southern Department in the direct aftermath of the

Houston Riot (1917) The Houston riot of 1917 was a mutiny and riot by 156 soldiers from the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army, taking place on August 23, 1917, in Houston, Texas. The incident occurred within a climate of overt hostility f ...

. The riot resulted in 63 African-American soldiers being put on trial. After the trial proceedings ended on November 30, Ruckman kept the verdicts and sentences secret including for 13 sentenced to be hung. Ruckman ordered for the executions to occur on December 11 without a review by President Woodrow Wilson and without an opportunity for the soldiers to file an appeal. Ruckman's hastiness to execute African-American soldiers in secret sparked outrage and led the Department of War to amend General Order No. 7 to state that no death sentence could be carried out by a military court inside the territorial boundaries of the United States until reviewed personally by the president. Although his decision-making was supported by

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

(in a public statement), Ruckman was quietly relieved of command in May 1918, reduced in rank to a brigadier general, and not posted with the American Expeditionary Force in Europe. His actions were also scrutinized in the congressional Military Justice Hearings of 1919. In 1918, he distributed a scathing circular to members of the Texas State legislature and lobbied on behalf of a bill that would ban the teaching of German in public schools. In 1920, Ruckman engaged in a very public dispute with

Charles W. Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfo ...

of Harvard regarding the quality of military education in the United States. In 1921, Ruckman suggested in a public speech that immigrants be required to serve for a period of time in the military in order to enhance the "Americanization" process. He also made national headlines that year by refusing to allow soldiers under his command to march in Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade (a decision supported by the Secretary of War). Ruckman was the only individual to command three of the six designated interior military Departments in the United States (Northeast, Southeast and Southern).

Awards

Ruckman received the Army Distinguished Service Medal posthumously. His citation reads:

''Brigadier General John W. Ruckman, United States Army deceased. For exceptionally meritorious and conspicuous services as Department Commander, Southern Department, between August 30, 1917, and May 9, 1918, and Department Commander, Northeastern Department, between May 23, 1918, and July 20, 1918. He handled many difficult problems arising in these departments with rare judgment, tact and great skill.''

Personal life and family

He married May Hamilton, the daughter of

Colonel John Hamilton. Ruckman's only son, John Hamilton Ruckman, was a graduate of M.I.T. and the University of California, a veteran of World Wars I and II and a chief engineer on the Manhattan Project. John Wilson Ruckman is also the grandfather of Peter Sturges Ruckman an independent Baptist minister and founder of the Pensacola Bible Institute, and the great grandfather of P.S. Ruckman Jr., a professor of political science.

Death

General Ruckman died in 1921 and was buried at West Point. Pallbearers included two major generals, a retired brigadier general and five colonels. The U.S. Military Academy Band and a Detachment of Field Music furnished music and a detachment of field artillery fired eleven-minute guns as the cortege left the chapel. A salute of eleven guns also followed three volleys of musketry over the grave. The military reservation at Nahant, Massachusetts, was renamed "

Fort Ruckman Fort Ruckman was a U.S. Coast Artillery fort located in Nahant, Massachusetts. Originally called the Nahant Military Reservation, the fort was laid out in 1904-1907 and covered an area of about 45 acres just northwest of Bass Point, on the southw ...

." Today, streets are also named in Ruckman's honor at the

, in

, Virginia, and in

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...

, Texas. A granite column also bears his name at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium.

Dates of rank

Selected writings

*"Ballistics: The Wind Problem in Gunnery." 1890. ''School of Mines Quarterly'
Text
*"Artillery Difficulties in the Next War." 1892. ''Journal of the United States Artillery'' *"The Effect of Wind Upon the Motion of a Projectile." 1892. ''Journal of the United States Artillery'' *"Coast Artillery Fire Instruction." 1894. ''Journal of the United States Artillery'' *"Investigation of the Comparative Values of Concentrated and Parallel Methods of Mortar Fire." 1896. ''Journal of the United States Artillery'' *"Are Disappearing Gun Carriages Essential to Our Coast Defense?" 1902. ''Journal of the Military Service Institution'' *"Coast Artillery Practice." 1908. ''Journal of the United States Artillery'' *"The Journal of the U.S. Artillery." 1912. ''Journal of the United States Artillery'' *"Siege of Port Arthur" 1915. ''Journal of the United States Artillery'' *"The Policy of the United States." 1915. Thesis. U.S. Naval War College. *"Military and Naval Cooperation." 1917. ''Journal of the United States Artillery'
Text

References

;Sources * ''Annual Report of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy'' (1922), pages 132–4. * Behrens, Robert H. (1988). ''From Salt Fork to Chickamauga: Champaign County Soldiers in the Civil War.'' The Urbana Free Library: Urbana, IL. * Linn, Brian McAllister. 1997. ''Guardians of Empire''. University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, North Carolina. * Raymond, John. "TEMPEST IN TEXAS: A few months after the United States entered World War 1, another war broke out in Houston." MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, vol. 33, no. 3, spring 2021, pp. 50+. * Reardon, Carol. 1990. ''Soldiers and Scholars''. University of Kansas Press: Lawrence. * Rinaldi, Richard A. 2005. ''Orders of Battle: The United States Army in World War I.'' Tiger Lily Publications. * Ruckman, P.S. 2007. "John Wilson Ruckman: Soldier, Scholar, Public Figure." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on Illinois History
Text
* ''The War of the Nations''. 1977. Arno Press: New York.

External links

Extensive biography with numerous illustrations.
West Point Tribute to General RuckmanGold Star Alumni
University of Illinois' tribute page.
Presidio
Ruckman neighborhood at the Presidio of California. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruckman, John Wilson 1858 births 1921 deaths People from Brookline, Massachusetts Naval War College alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) United States Army generals of World War I United States Army generals United States Military Academy alumni Burials at West Point Cemetery United States Army War College alumni Military personnel from Illinois