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George H. Cameron

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George Hamilton Cameron
George H. Cameron, pictured here as a major general, in October 1918.
Born(1861-01-08)January 8, 1861
Ottawa, Illinois, United States
DiedJanuary 28, 1944(1944-01-28) (aged 83)
Staunton, Virginia, United States
Buried
Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, United States
Allegiance United States
Service / branch United States Army
Years of service1883–1924
Rank Major General
Unit Cavalry Branch
CommandsBig 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 / warsAmerican Indian Wars
Spanish–American War
Philippine–American War
World War I
AwardsBritish Order of the Bath
French Croix de Guerre
French Legion of Honor
RelationsNina Dean Tilford (1864–1960) (wife)
Douglass Tilford Cameron (1894–1918) (son)
Nina (1896–1965) (daughter)
Margaret (1898–1984) (daughter)

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]

Early life

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George 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 as a first lieutenant.

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 as commander of 4th Infantry Division in WW I.

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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Cameron as Commandant of the Cavalry School.

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

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Cameron'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

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After 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

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In 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

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  1. ^ a b Zabecki & Mastriano 2020, p. 231.
  2. ^ United States Army Adjutant General, U.S. Army Recruiting News, 1940, p. 1
  3. ^ Michael E. Shay, Revered Commander, Maligned General: The Life of Clarence Ransom Edwards, 2011, p. 9
  4. ^ College Fraternities Publications, Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, 1912, p. 288
  5. ^ George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volume 3, 1891, pp. 371–372
  6. ^ George Washington Cullum, Edward Singleton Holden, [1], Supplement to Volume V, 1910, p. 346
  7. ^ Army and Navy Journal, Courts Martial, July 17, 1897
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ United States Congressional Serial Set, Issue 5274 Report of the School of Application for Cavalry and Field Artillery, Volume V, 1907, p. 268
  10. ^ United States Congress, Credit to the Accounts of George H. Cameron, 1910, pp. 67–70
  11. ^ Army and Navy Register, Assails U. S. Troops, June 21, 1913, p. 786
  12. ^ U. S. Army, General Orders and Circulars Issued from Headquarters, Philippine Division, 1911, p. 35
  13. ^ George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volume 6, Part 1, 1920, p. 359
  14. ^ George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volume 6, Part 1, 1920, p. 359
  15. ^ West Point Association of Graduates, Memorial, George H. Cameron 1883 Archived 2014-03-18 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved March 17, 2014
  16. ^ Army and Navy Register, Late Army Orders, October 27, 1917
  17. ^ George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volume 6, Part 1, 1920, p. 359
  18. ^ C. S. Hutson & Co., History of the Fortieth (Sunshine) Division, 1920, pp. 30, 61, 65, 162
  19. ^ Shipley Thomas, The History of the A. E. F., 1920, p. 455
  20. ^ Christian Albert Bach, Henry Noble Hall, The Fourth Division: Its Services and Achievements in the World War, 1920, p. 29
  21. ^ Floyd Phillips Gibbons, And They Thought We Wouldn't Fight, 1918, p. 401
  22. ^ Byron Farwell, Over There: The United States in the Great War, 1917–1918, 2000, p. 226
  23. ^ Spencer Tucker, U.S. Leadership in Wartime: Clashes, Controversy, and Compromise, Volume 1, 2009, p. 476
  24. ^ Edward M. Coffman, The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I, pp. 256, 304, 330, 368, 375
  25. ^ William M. Wright, author, Robert H. Herrell, editor, Meuse-Argonne Diary: A Division Commander in World War I, p. 69
  26. ^ William S. Triplet, A Youth in the Meuse-Argonne, 2000, p. 311
  27. ^ Anne Cipriano Venzon, Paul L. Miles, editors, The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia, 1999, p. 118
  28. ^ Arthur Wilson Page, Our 110 Days' Fighting, 1920, p. 100
  29. ^ New York Times, The New York Times Current History: The European War, Volume 19, 1919, p. 527
  30. ^ John Votaw, The American Expeditionary Forces in World War I[permanent dead link‍], 2013, Retrospective
  31. ^ Mole & Thomas, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Photo Description, The Human American Eagle, retrieved March 17, 2014
  32. ^ George H. Cameron, The Cavalry Journal, Revision of Regulations, January 1921, p. 6
  33. ^ United States War Department, Annual Report of the Secretary of War: The Cavalry School, 1921, p. 236
  34. ^ Infantry Journal, Reserve Officers' Department, July 1922, p. 358
  35. ^ United States Military Academy Association of Graduates, Annual Report, 1925, p. 319
  36. ^ Charles Pelot Summerall, The Way of Duty, Honor, Country: The Memoir of General Charles Pelot Summerall, 2010, p. 257
  37. ^ U.S. Army Adjutant General, Life of the Soldier and the Airman, Volumes 22–23, 1940, p. 3
  38. ^ Fort Griswold & Groton Monument Commission, Sesquicentennial of the Battle of Groton Heights and the burning of New London, Connecticut, 1931, p. 62
  39. ^ Charles Pelot Summerall, The Way of Duty, Honor, Country: The Memoir of General Charles Pelot Summerall, 2010, p. 257
  40. ^ Providence Journal Company, Journal-Bulletin Almanac, 1945, p. 290
  41. ^ Burial Detail: Cameron, George H. (Section 6, Grave 5700) – ANC Explorer
  42. ^ U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962, entry for George H Cameron, retrieved March 17, 2014
  43. ^ Davis 1998, p. 67−68.
  44. ^ Robert Lee, Fort Meade and the Black Hills, 1991, p. 89
  45. ^ Army and Navy Journal, Inc., Army and Navy Journal, 1942, p. 22
  46. ^ Army and Navy Journal Incorporated, Army, Navy, Air Force Journal, Volume 97, Issues 27-52, 1960, p. 990
  47. ^ New York Times, Lieut. D.G. Cameron Slain; Was Only Son of Major General, December 2, 1918

Bibliography

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  • 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.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Hamilton Cameron (United States Army officer).
Military offices
Preceded by
Newly activated organization
 Commanding General 4th Division
1917−1918 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commanding General V Corps
August−October 1918 		Succeeded by
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