Major General George Hamilton Cameron (January 8, 1861 – January 28, 1944) was a United States Army officer who had a military career spanning over forty years, at the end of which he attained the rank of major general. Despite serving in numerous conflicts, perhaps his most notable service came in the final years of World War I, where he served as the first commander of the 4th Division, which he later commanded on the Western Front in mid-1918, before being promoted to the command of V Corps, which he led during the short Battle of Saint-Mihiel and then in the early stages of the Meuse–Argonne offensive, the largest battle in the U.S. Army's history, before he was suddenly relieved of his command.[1]
George Hamilton Cameron | |
|---|---|
 George H. Cameron, pictured here as a major general, in October 1918. | |
| Born | January 8, 1861 Ottawa, Illinois, United States |
| Died | January 28, 1944 (aged 83) Staunton, Virginia, United States |
| Buried | Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, United States |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1883–1924 |
| Rank |  Major General |
| Unit |  Cavalry Branch |
| Commands | Big Bend District, Texas United States Army War College Maneuver Center, Fort Benjamin Harrison 5th Cavalry Regiment 3rd Cavalry Brigade 25th Cavalry Regiment 78th Brigade 80th Brigade 4th Division V Corps Camp Gordon, Georgia United States Army Cavalry School |
| Battles / wars | American Indian Wars Spanish–American War Philippine–American War World War I |
| Awards | British Order of the Bath French Croix de Guerre French Legion of Honor |
| Relations | Nina Dean Tilford (1864–1960) (wife) Douglass Tilford Cameron (1894–1918) (son) Nina (1896–1965) (daughter) Margaret (1898–1984) (daughter) |
Early life
editGeorge Hamilton Cameron was born in Ottawa, Illinois on January 8, 1861. He attended Northwestern University, where he joined the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. In 1879 he began his military career with his attendance at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. His classmates there included future generals such as Clarence Ransom Edwards, Chase Wilmot Kennedy and Omar Bundy, Lawrence Tyson, Charles Gould Morton, Harry Clay Hale, Samson L. Faison, John William Heard, George Windle Read, Ira Allen Haynes, John Wilson Ruckman, Tyree R. Rivers, Robert D. Walsh, Isaac Littell, William Campbell Langfitt. Cameron graduated in 1883 with a commission as a second lieutenant of Cavalry.[1][2][3][4]
Start of military career
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Cameron's early assignments during the American Indian Wars were with the 7th Cavalry Regiment (1883 to 1891), including postings to Fort Meade, South Dakota. His subsequent assignments included the 4th Cavalry Regiment (1891 to 1895). While assigned to the 7th and 4th Cavalry, Cameron was also an instructor at the U.S. Military Academy (1888 to 1895).[5][6]
From 1895 to 1898 he served with the 4th Cavalry at Fort Walla Walla, including assignment as the regimental quartermaster.[7]
Cameron served on Luzon in the Philippines during the Spanish–American War, commanding A Troop, 4th Cavalry.[8]
He was Secretary of the Cavalry and Field Artillery School of Application at Fort Riley from 1901 to 1906, and Assistant Commandant of the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley from 1907 to 1910.[9][10]
He served with the 14th Cavalry Regiment in the Philippines from 1910 to 1912, and commanded the Big Bend District in Texas in 1913, during the events which led to the Pancho Villa Expedition.[11][12]
In 1913 he completed the Field Officers' Course. He was a student at the Army War College from 1913 to 1914, and was the Director of the War College from 1914 to 1916.[13]
World War I
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Cameron was assigned to command the Maneuver Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison at the start of U.S. preparation for entry into World War I. He subsequently organized officer training in the Army's Southern Department, and then commanded the 5th Cavalry Regiment.[14]
In 1917 he was assigned to command of the 3rd Brigade in the Army's 15th Cavalry Division. When the plan to field Cavalry divisions was dropped in favor of creating all Infantry divisions, Cameron was assigned as commander of the 25th Cavalry Regiment.[15]
Cameron was promoted to temporary brigadier general and briefly commanded 78th Infantry Brigade, 39th Infantry Division and 80th Brigade, 40th Infantry Division. From September to December 1917 he commanded the 40th Infantry Division.[16][17][18]
He was promoted to temporary major general in December 1917 and assigned to command of the 4th Infantry Division. He was the division's first commander, and led it from its organization at Camp Greene, North Carolina through most of 1918, including the Saint-Mihiel Campaign and the start of the Meuse-Argonne Campaign. He is also credited with designing the division's shoulder sleeve insignia.[19][20][21]
From August to October 1918 Cameron commanded the V Corps, and led it during the latter portion of the Meuse-Argonne campaign. He was relieved after the Battle of Montfaucon, supposedly because V Corps did not accomplish their objective on the first day of fighting, but possibly because he argued with Hugh Drum.[22][23]
(John J. Pershing was attempting to simultaneously command First Army and the American Expeditionary Forces. As First Army Chief of Staff, Drum, then a colonel, was at times its de facto commander. During the Battle of Montfaucon, he pressed Cameron during a phone call, and Cameron told him "you can't talk to me like that." Cameron was of the view that Drum reported the conversation to Pershing, and that it led to Cameron's relief.)[24][25][26][27]
In October 1918 he was succeeded at V Corps by Charles P. Summerall, a Pershing protégé, and returned to command of the 4th Division. Later in October Cameron was designated to return to the United States to organize and train additional units for fighting in France, but the end of the war eliminated the need for more soldiers.[28][29][30]
Post World War I
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After the war Cameron was assigned to command of Camp Gordon, Georgia. In 1919 he reverted to the permanent rank of colonel and was appointed to command of the Cavalry School at Fort Riley.[31][32][33]
In 1921 Cameron was named Chief of Staff of the 76th Infantry Division, and served until his 1924 retirement.[34][35][36]
Awards
editCameron's awards and decorations included the British Order of the Bath (Companion), French Croix de Guerre, and France's Legion of Honor (Commander).[37]
Retirement, death and burial
editAfter retiring, Cameron resided on Fishers Island, New York until moving to Staunton, Virginia late in his life.[38]
He was promoted to major general on the retired list in 1930.[39]
He died in Staunton on January 28, 1944.[40] He and Nina Dean are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[41][42][43]
Family
editIn 1888, Cameron married Nina Dean Tilford (1864–1960). She was the daughter of Brigadier General Joseph G. Tilford and sister of Colonel James D. Tilford, Sr.
George and Nina Cameron's children included: Douglass Tilford Cameron, who was a First Lieutenant in the Army when he was killed in France during World War I; Nina (1896–1965), the wife of Brigadier General John B. Thompson (1890–1957); and Margaret (1898–1984), the wife of Colonel Buckner M. Creel (1896–1981), who served as commandant of Staunton Military Academy after retiring from the Army.[44][45][46][47]
References
edit- ^ a b Zabecki & Mastriano 2020, p. 231.
- ^ United States Army Adjutant General, U.S. Army Recruiting News, 1940, p. 1
- ^ Michael E. Shay, Revered Commander, Maligned General: The Life of Clarence Ransom Edwards, 2011, p. 9
- ^ College Fraternities Publications, Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, 1912, p. 288
- ^ George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volume 3, 1891, pp. 371–372
- ^ George Washington Cullum, Edward Singleton Holden, [1], Supplement to Volume V, 1910, p. 346
- ^ Army and Navy Journal, Courts Martial, July 17, 1897
- ^ George H. Cameron, U.S. Cavalry Association Journal, The Fourth Cavalry with General Lawton in Luzon, Volume VX, July 1904 to July 1905, p. 611
- ^ United States Congressional Serial Set, Issue 5274 Report of the School of Application for Cavalry and Field Artillery, Volume V, 1907, p. 268
- ^ United States Congress, Credit to the Accounts of George H. Cameron, 1910, pp. 67–70
- ^ Army and Navy Register, Assails U. S. Troops, June 21, 1913, p. 786
- ^ U. S. Army, General Orders and Circulars Issued from Headquarters, Philippine Division, 1911, p. 35
- ^ George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volume 6, Part 1, 1920, p. 359
- ^ George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volume 6, Part 1, 1920, p. 359
- ^ West Point Association of Graduates, Memorial, George H. Cameron 1883 Archived 2014-03-18 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved March 17, 2014
- ^ Army and Navy Register, Late Army Orders, October 27, 1917
- ^ George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volume 6, Part 1, 1920, p. 359
- ^ C. S. Hutson & Co., History of the Fortieth (Sunshine) Division, 1920, pp. 30, 61, 65, 162
- ^ Shipley Thomas, The History of the A. E. F., 1920, p. 455
- ^ Christian Albert Bach, Henry Noble Hall, The Fourth Division: Its Services and Achievements in the World War, 1920, p. 29
- ^ Floyd Phillips Gibbons, And They Thought We Wouldn't Fight, 1918, p. 401
- ^ Byron Farwell, Over There: The United States in the Great War, 1917–1918, 2000, p. 226
- ^ Spencer Tucker, U.S. Leadership in Wartime: Clashes, Controversy, and Compromise, Volume 1, 2009, p. 476
- ^ Edward M. Coffman, The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I, pp. 256, 304, 330, 368, 375
- ^ William M. Wright, author, Robert H. Herrell, editor, Meuse-Argonne Diary: A Division Commander in World War I, p. 69
- ^ William S. Triplet, A Youth in the Meuse-Argonne, 2000, p. 311
- ^ Anne Cipriano Venzon, Paul L. Miles, editors, The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia, 1999, p. 118
- ^ Arthur Wilson Page, Our 110 Days' Fighting, 1920, p. 100
- ^ New York Times, The New York Times Current History: The European War, Volume 19, 1919, p. 527
- ^ John Votaw, The American Expeditionary Forces in World War I[permanent dead link], 2013, Retrospective
- ^ Mole & Thomas, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Photo Description, The Human American Eagle, retrieved March 17, 2014
- ^ George H. Cameron, The Cavalry Journal, Revision of Regulations, January 1921, p. 6
- ^ United States War Department, Annual Report of the Secretary of War: The Cavalry School, 1921, p. 236
- ^ Infantry Journal, Reserve Officers' Department, July 1922, p. 358
- ^ United States Military Academy Association of Graduates, Annual Report, 1925, p. 319
- ^ Charles Pelot Summerall, The Way of Duty, Honor, Country: The Memoir of General Charles Pelot Summerall, 2010, p. 257
- ^ U.S. Army Adjutant General, Life of the Soldier and the Airman, Volumes 22–23, 1940, p. 3
- ^ Fort Griswold & Groton Monument Commission, Sesquicentennial of the Battle of Groton Heights and the burning of New London, Connecticut, 1931, p. 62
- ^ Charles Pelot Summerall, The Way of Duty, Honor, Country: The Memoir of General Charles Pelot Summerall, 2010, p. 257
- ^ Providence Journal Company, Journal-Bulletin Almanac, 1945, p. 290
- ^ Burial Detail: Cameron, George H. (Section 6, Grave 5700) – ANC Explorer
- ^ U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962, entry for George H Cameron, retrieved March 17, 2014
- ^ Davis 1998, p. 67−68.
- ^ Robert Lee, Fort Meade and the Black Hills, 1991, p. 89
- ^ Army and Navy Journal, Inc., Army and Navy Journal, 1942, p. 22
- ^ Army and Navy Journal Incorporated, Army, Navy, Air Force Journal, Volume 97, Issues 27-52, 1960, p. 990
- ^ New York Times, Lieut. D.G. Cameron Slain; Was Only Son of Major General, December 2, 1918
Bibliography
edit- Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. (1998). Generals in Khaki. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press. ISBN 1571970886. OCLC 40298151.
- Zabecki, David T.; Mastriano, Douglas V., eds. (2020). Pershing's Lieutenants: American Military Leadership in World War I. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-3863-6.
External links
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- George Hamilton Cameron at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website