Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

William Dorrance Beach (June 18, 1856 – June 18, 1932) was a

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 ...

officer active 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 ...

.Marquis Who's Who, Inc. ''Who Was Who in American History, the Military''. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1975.P.36

Early life

Beach was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, the son of Joshua Munson Beach. After attending a private school in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, Beach went to public schools in New York before entering 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 ...

(USMA) at

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 ...

. He graduated number twenty-four of sixty-four in the class of 1879.Davis, Henry Blaine. ''Generals in Khaki''. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press, 1998. P. 29 Among his fellow classmates included several

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 of the future, such as

Hunter Liggett Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett (March 21, 1857 − December 30, 1935) was a senior United States Army officer. His 42 years of military service spanned the period from the Indian campaigns to the trench warfare of World War I. Additionally, h ...

, John S. Mallory, James A. Irons, Lloyd M. Brett, Albert L. Mills, John A. Johnston, Henry A. Greene, Frederick S. Foltz and

Samuel W. Miller Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bib ...

Military career

Upon graduation, Beach was commissioned in the Third Cavalry and performed frontier duty until 1883. He participated in the Ute Expedition in 1879 and from 1882 to 1883 he was on the Apache Expedition. From 1884 to 1888, Beach was an assistant professor at the USMA, after which he was on the Mexican border with troops in 1891 and 1892. From 1892 to 1898, Beach was an instructor at the Infantry and Cavalry School at

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perman ...

. During the

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 ...

, he was a major and Chief Engineer of the cavalry division in the Fifth Corps in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. From 1900 to 1902, he was in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and from 1903 to 1906 he was on duty with the

War Department General Staff The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

as chief of the military information division. He traveled back to Cuba and was governor of

Santa Clara Province Santa Clara (also known as Las Villas after 1940) was a historical province of Cuba and its capital was Santa Clara. After 1976, its territory was divided into the modern Cuban provinces of Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spíritus Sancti ...

. From 1910 to 1912, Beach again traveled to the Philippines and became Chief of Staff of the

Philippine Division Philippine Division, or from 1946–1947 the 12th Infantry Division, was the core U.S. infantry division of the United States Army's Philippine Department during World War II. On 31 July 1941, the division consisted of 10,473 troops, mostly enl ...

. In 1916, he commanded the Eighth Cavalry on the Mexican border, and in 1917, after the

American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry ...

, he became a brigadier general and commanded the 176th Brigade. From May to September 1918, Beach commanded the 88th Division, the 176th Brigade's parent formation. Upon his return to the United States, he performed as executive officer of

Camp Jackson, South Carolina Fort Jackson is a United States Army installation, which TRADOC operates on for Basic Combat Training (BCT), and is located within the city of Columbia, South Carolina. This installation is named for Andrew Jackson, a United States Army gene ...

, until his retirement in 1920. Beach retired as a colonel but was promoted on the retired list to brigadier general in 1927.

Awards

Beach received two

Silver Star Citation The Citation Star was a Department of War personal valor decoration issued as a ribbon device which was first established by the United States Congress on July 9, 1918 (Bulletin No. 43, War Dept. 1918). When awarded, a silver star was placed o ...

s and the

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. Th ...

from the United States. He also received the Frenfh

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

with palms and Officier of the Legion of Honor from France. His DSM citation reads:

Death and legacy

William Dorrance Beach died at the age of seventy-six on June 18, 1932.

References

Bibliography

* Davis, Henry Blaine. ''Generals in Khaki''. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press, 1998. * Marquis Who's Who, Inc. ''Who Was Who in American History, the Military''. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1975. * "Valor Awards for William Dorrance Beach." Valor Awards for William Dorrance Beach. Military Times, n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2016. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beach, William Dorrance 1856 births 1932 deaths United States Army generals of World War I United States Military Academy alumni Recipients of the Silver Star United States Army generals Military personnel from Brooklyn Officers of the Legion of Honour American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) United States Military Academy faculty United States Army Cavalry Branch personnel