Thomas Quinton Donaldson Jr. (1864–1934) was a United States Army

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 ...

, who was a veteran of numerous American Indian Wars, including the Wounded Knee Massacre. His final command was Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Early life

Donaldson was born into a military family at

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

on June 26, 1864. After basic education through local schools, he enrolled at

Patrick Military Institute The Patrick Military Institute was an American military school founded in South Carolina by Colonel John Bellinger Patrick. The school operated from 1878 to 1900. History The institute was initially founded in 1878 as the Greenville Military Insti ...

. In 1887, he graduated from 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 ...

at West Point. He married Mary Elizabeth Willson in 1892, and they had four children.

Wounded Knee and Indian wars

Donaldson was a veteran of the American Indian Wars, having served in the 7th Cavalry Regiment under

James W. Forsyth James William Forsyth (August 8, 1834 – October 24, 1906) was a U.S. Army officer and general. He was primarily a Union staff officer during the American Civil War and cavalry regimental commander during the Indian Wars. Forsyth is best ...

during the 1890

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Wounded Knee Massacre, and the ensuing White Clay Creek massacre. Donaldson subsequently provided a multi-page hand-written account of the battle at Wounded Knee.

Later military service

He was a veteran of the 1898

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 ...

, and saw

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 ...

service at Governors Island in New York, as well as at

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

, France. In 1920, he was made a colonel of the Inspector General's Department, during the pursuit of draft dodger Grover Cleveland Bergdoll who was later arrested for evading Article 58 of the Selective Service Act of 1917.

Final years

Donaldson was put in charge of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas in 1928. Due to his ill health, he was replaced the same year by Major General

William Lassiter William Lassiter (September 29, 1867- March 29, 1959) was a career in the United States Army. He was a veteran of the Spanish–American War, Occupation of Veracruz, World War I, and Occupation of the Rhineland and attained the rank of major gener ...

. He relocated to New York, where he died on October 26, 1934. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

References

External links