William McEntyre Dye (January 26, 1831 – November 13, 1899) was a soldier from the United States who served in military capacities around the world. He became a brevet brigadier general in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

during 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 ...

, a colonel in the Egyptian army and military adviser to the King of Korea.

Civil War

Dye was born in

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...

in 1831 and was appointed to West Point in 1849. He graduated in 1853 as a 2nd lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Infantry. By 1859 he was the regimental quartermaster. When the Civil War began in 1861, Dye was a captain in the U.S. Army. However he accepted a commission as colonel of the 20th Iowa Infantry Regiment on August 25, 1862.Eicher p.220 In 1862 Colonel Dye commanded the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division of the

Army of the Frontier The Army of the Frontier was a Union army that served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the Civil War. It fought in several minor engagements in Arkansas, Indian Territory, and Kansas. In June 1863 the Army was discontinued but many of i ...

. Dye led the brigade at the

battle of Prairie Grove The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on December 7, 1862. While tactically indecisive, the battle secured the Union control of northwestern Arkansas. A division of Union troops in the Army of the Front ...

where his division was under the overall command of Brig. Gen. Francis J. Herron. The following year, Dye returned to command of his regiment and was part of Herron's division of reinforcements sent to aid the Union army besieging Vicksburg. After the fall of Vicksburg, Dye commanded various brigades in the Department of the Gulf. He was in command of a brigade during the

Battle of Brownsville The Battle of Brownsville took place on November 2–6, 1863 during the American Civil War. It was a successful effort on behalf of the Union Army to disrupt Confederate blockade runners along the Gulf Coast in Texas. The Union assault precipit ...

. In May 1864 he was brevetted colonel in the U.S. Army for his service in the Red River Campaign. He led his regiment in the attack on Fort Morgan during the

battle of Mobile Bay The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fle ...

. For the next year he served in the Reserve Corps in the Department of the Gulf. Once again he led his regiment into battle around Mobile, this time at the

battle of Fort Blakely The Battle of Fort Blakeley took place from April 2 to April 9, 1865, in Baldwin County, Alabama, about north of Spanish Fort, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the American Civil War. At the time, Blakeley, Alabama, had been the co ...

. He was brevetted brigadier general of volunteers dated March 13, 1865 and brevetted colonel U.S.A. on April 9, 1865 for services at Mobile, Alabama.Eicher p.220 His last service in the volunteer army was as the Exchange Agent for POWs in the Military Division of West Mississippi.

Egyptian Army

General Dye was mustered out of the volunteer service on July 8, 1865. On Jan 14, 1866 he was promoted to major of the 4th U.S. Infantry but in 1870 he was unassigned and discharged from the U.S. Army. In 1868 Civil War veteran, Thaddeus P. Mott, won the confidence of Ismail Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt, and encouraged him to use other Civil War veterans to help modernize the Egyptian army. In 1873 Dye travelled to Egypt to become one of several Union and Confederate veterans who offered their service to the Khedive. There Dye received the rank of colonel. General Charles P. Stone was another American veteran in Egypt who now held the rank of major general in the Egyptian army. Stone first suggested Dye to be the American chief-of-staff in the upcoming campaign against

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

. However, Dye refused the appointment as he had no confidence in the Egyptian commander. The position of chief of staff eventually went to General

William W. Loring William Wing Loring (December 4, 1818 – December 30, 1886) was an American soldier who served in the armies of the United States, the Confederacy, and Egypt. Biography Early life William was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Reuben a ...

and Dye was appointed assistant chief-of-staff under Loring.Americans in the Egyptian Army: Dye
/ref> At the

battle of Gura The Battle of Gura was fought on 7–10 March 1876 between the Ethiopian Empire and the Khedivate of Egypt near the town of Gura in Eritrea. It was the second and decisive major battle of the Ethiopian–Egyptian War. Background The Egyptian arm ...

Dye was wounded in the foot and later was court martialed for hitting another Egyptian officer. The matter remained unresolved and he returned to the United States in 1878. Dye would write a book about his experience in the Egyptian Army, titled ''Moslem Egypt and Christian Abyssinia; Or, Military Service Under the Khedive, in his Provinces and Beyond their Borders, as Experienced by the American Staff.'' It was published in 1880.

Korean government

Upon his return to the U.S. Dye served as the Chief of Police in Washington, D.C. In 1888, General

Philip H. Sheridan Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

recommended Dye for the position as Chief Military Adviser to the Korean Government under King Gojong. He served the king for the next 11 years, even writing a military treatise in Korean. When he was in Korea, the assassination of

Empress Myeongseong Empress Myeongseong or Empress Myungsung (명성황후 민씨; 17 November 1851 – 8 October 1895In lunar calendar, the Empress was born on 25 September 1851 and died on 20 August 1895), informally known as Empress Min, was the official wife ...

occurred. He received a report from Lee Hak-gyun; however, it was too late. He returned to the United States in 1899 but died the same year in

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expans ...

. He was buried at

Graceland Cemetery Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Ir ...

in Chicago.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dye, William Mcentyre 1831 births 1899 deaths Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago) Chiefs of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia People of Iowa in the American Civil War Union Army generals American people in the khedivial Egyptian Army 19th-century American politicians