Warren Webster Whitside was a career U.S. Army

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

who served as a Cavalry and

Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...

officer. He was posthumously inducted into the Quartermaster Hall of Fame in 2010.

Early life

Colonel Whitside was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 2, 1875, the son of a career cavalry officer, Brig. Gen Samuel M. Whitside.Russell, Major Samuel L., "Selfless Service: The Cavalry Career of Brigadier General Samuel M. Whitside from 1858 to 1902." MMAS Thesis, Fort Leavenworth: U.S. Command and General Staff College, 2002. He spent the first fifteen years of his life among soldiers and Indians on the Western plains. He was educated at

Kemper Military School Kemper Military School & College was a private military school located in Boonville, Missouri. Founded in 1844, Kemper filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2002. The school's motto was "Nunquam Non Paratus" (Never Not Prepared). The 46-acre camp ...

, Boonville, Missouri, and the

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexington ...

, Lexington, Virginia.''New York Times'', "Left College for War in '98 And Now Gets His Degree," May 31, 1936, Section: General News, p. N10.
/ref>

Military career

In May 1898 Colonel Whitside left college just before graduating in answer to President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

’s call to service 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 = (cloc ...

. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Cavalry in 1899,United States Congress, ''Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States'', Volume 32, The University of Michigan, 1909. pp. 16, 85, 271–272.
/ref> and served for the next seven years as a lieutenant in the 10th CavalryUnited States War Department, General Orders, U.S. Adjutant General's Office, 1900. p. 73. and 15th Cavalry Regiments. In 1906 he was promoted to Captain of

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of Quartermaster Corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army Quartermaster Corps (''Σώμα Φροντιστών ...

, and for the next 33 years he served in a variety of command and key leadership positions within the Quartermaster field. Colonel Whitside served on numerous campaigns including the Spanish–American War in 1898; the Cuban Occupation from 1899 to 1902 with service as the aide-de-camp to his father, the Commanding General of the District of Santiago Cuba;Whitside, Samuel M., United States Army Dept of Santiago and Puerto Principe, Annual Report of Colonel Samuel M. Whitside, 10th U.S. Cavalry Commanding Department of Santiago and Puerto Principe, Adjutant General’s Office, 1900. p. 188.
/ref> the Army of Cuban Pacification from 1906 to 1909 serving as a troop commander in the 15th Cavalry Regiment; the

Punitive Expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

along the Mexico–U.S. borderTompkins, Frank, Chasing Villa: The Story Behind the Story of Pershing’s Expedition into Mexico, The Military Service Publishing Company, 1934. p. 259.
/ref> in 1916 serving as the Commander of Motor Truck Company No. 11;''Washington Post'', "Army and Navy News: Army Orders," May 18, 1916, p. 15. and World War I during the

Battle of Saint-Mihiel The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a major World War I battle fought from 12–15 September 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing of the United States against ...

and Meuse-Argonne Offensive serving as the Commander of the 89th Division Trains and Military Police,English, George H. and the War Society of the 89th Division, ''History of the 89th Division, U.S.A.: From Its Organization in 1917, through Its Operations in the World War, the Occupation of Germany and until Demobilization in 1919'', War Society of the 89th Division, 1920
pp. 21, 25, 26, 269, 299–301, 392, 483, 495, 511. a regimental level command for which he was awarded what was then the U.S.'s highest decoration for service, the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

.United States Congress House Committee on Military Affairs, Hearings, The University of Michigan, 1931. p. 16. From 1912 to 1915 he was instrumental in the establishment and construction of the Aleshire Quartermaster Remount Depot,

Front Royal Front Royal is the only incorporated town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,011 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. History The entire Shenandoah Valley including the area to become ...

, Virginia, serving as one of its first commanders. Following his return from the Punitive Expedition, he was the commander of Fort Apache from 1916 to 1917. From 1920 to 1925 he served as the

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

Post Quartermaster where he was singularly responsible for modernizing much of the post including training sites for the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

, one of which was named in his honor and to this day is recognized as Camp Whitside.Mechem, Kirke, James C. Malin, "Kansas State Historical Society," ''The Kansas Historical Quarterly'', Volumes 24–25, Kansas State Historical Society, 1958. p. 66.
/ref> From 1925 to 1930 he served as the Department Quartermaster for the

Panama Canal Division The Panama Canal Division was a unit of the United States Army, established in order to ensure the United States could adequately defend the Canal Zone in Panama. When it was authorized in 1920, similar divisions were organized to defend Hawaii an ...

. In 1930 he served as the Post Quartermaster of

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 ...

, New York,Patterson, Homer L., Patterson’s American educational directory, Volume 27, Educational Directories, 1930, p. 671. followed by an assignment 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, ...

, as the Chief of Storage and Distribution in the Office of the Quartermaster General (OQMG). While assigned to OQMG, Colonel Whitside was featured on the cover of the July–August 1934 edition of the Quartermaster Review. From 1934 until his retirement in 1939 he returned to Front Royal as the Commander of the Remount Depot, which had evolved into the largest remount depot in the Army and served as a vital economic enterprise throughout the lower

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge- ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Colonel Whitside retired from the military and started an apple cider business that ultimately failed. He was married for over 63 years to the former Miss Lillian Rigney of

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

. He died in 1964 and was laid to rest at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. He was buried at

, in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

Decorations and honors

* Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army): For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services. As Division Quartermaster and later Commander of the 89th Division Trains, he rendered services of great value to the American Expeditionary Forces. By his sound judgment and his ability as an organizer the system of supply and evacuation of his Division functioned efficiently, which contributed greatly to the success of the 89th Division during the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives. *

Spanish Campaign Medal The Spanish Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which recognized those men of the U.S. military who had served in the Spanish–American War. Although a single decoration, there were two versions of the Spanish C ...

Army of Cuban Occupation Medal The Army of Cuban Occupation Medal was a military award created by the United States War Department in June 1915. The medal recognizes those service members who performed garrison occupation duty in the United States Protectorate over Cuba, follo ...

Army of Cuban Pacification Medal The Cuban Pacification Medal (Army) is a military award of the United States Army which was created by orders of the United States War Department on May 11, 1909. The medal was created to recognize service during the United States occupation of ...

Mexican Service Medal The Mexican Service Medal is an award of the United States military for service in Mexico from 1911 to 1919. History The Mexican Service Medal awarded by the Army was established by General Orders of the United States War Department on December ...

World War I Victory Medal (United States) The World War I Victory Medal (known prior to establishment of the World War II Victory Medal in 1945 simply as the Victory Medal) was a United States service medal designed by James Earle Fraser of New York City under the direction of the Co ...

with three battle clasps (St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and Defensive Sector) *

Army of Occupation of Germany Medal The Army of Occupation of Germany Medal is a U.S. Army service medal established by an Act of Congress on November 21, 1941, (55 Stat 781). The military award recognized service in Germany or Austria-Hungary between November 12, 1918 and July 1 ...

* French Croix De Guerre with two stars: During the preparation for the St. Mihiel attack in August 1918 he displayed the most brilliant qualities of organization and in some particularly dangerous reconnaissances he gave proof of the highest courage.

Dates of rank

Colonel Whitside was posthumously inducted into the Quartermaster Hall of Fame on June 18, 2010, at a ceremony at Fort Lee, Virginia.BG Jesse R. Cross, Letter to LTC Sameul L. Russell, May 15, 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitside, Warren Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) 1875 births 1964 deaths Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Old Toronto Washington and Lee University alumni Kemper Military School alumni American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Buffalo Soldiers United States Army personnel of World War I Quartermasters People from Front Royal, Virginia Canadian emigrants to the United States