Leland Swarts Devore (January 8, 1889 – January 15, 1939) was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player and military officer. He played football as a tackle with

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and was a consensus selection on the

1911 College Football All-America Team The 1911 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans for the 1911 college football season. The only selector for the 1911 season who has been recognized as "official" by the Nationa ...

Biography

Leland Swarts Devore (1889–1939) at West Point in 1913

Devore grew up in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

, and was the son of James Harvey Devore, a prominent West Virginia broker. He graduated from Wheeling High School and enrolled at 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 ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

. Devore, who was 6 feet, 4 inches tall, and weighed 225 pounds, played at the tackle position for Army's football team while attending West Point. In 1911, Devore was selected as a first-team All-American, then selected as the captain of the

1912 Army Cadets football team The 1912 Army Cadets football team was an American football team that represented the United States Military Academy as an independent during the 1912 college football season. Under head coach Ernest Graves Sr., the Cadets compiled a 5–3 reco ...

. Devore was also the heavyweight boxing champion at the academy, the silver medalist in heavyweight wrestling, and lettered in both baseball and basketball. Devore was commissioned as a lieutenant in the infantry and accompanied Gen.

John J. Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Wes ...

on the

Pancho Villa Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the p ...

into Mexico in 1916. The expedition marked the first use of motorized transport trucks and cars by the U.S. Army, and Devore was selected as the Army's first motor transport officer. Devore served as an infantry officer in France during

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 ...

where he was wounded. Devore spent his career in the Army and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Devore was married to Genevieve (Welty) Devore, and the couple had a son, Leland S. Devore, Jr. Devore later served as commandant and professor of military science at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. He died on January 15, 1939, at Walter Reed Hospital in

Washington, D. C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

following a long illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devore, Leland 1889 births 1939 deaths American football tackles Army Black Knights baseball players Army Black Knights football players Army Black Knights men's basketball players All-American college football players United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War I West Virginia University faculty Sportspeople from Wheeling, West Virginia Players of American football from West Virginia Baseball players from West Virginia Basketball players from West Virginia Military personnel from Wheeling, West Virginia Burials at Arlington National Cemetery