Frank Ross McCoy
Frank Ross McCoy (born October 29, 1874 in Lewiston , Pennsylvania , † June 4, 1954 in Washington, DC ) was an American major general in the US Army , who was, among other things, commanding general of the Second US Army ( Second US army ) and 1938 Commanding General of the First US army ( First US army ) was. Because of his numerous mediation missions he was known as "America's soldier-diplomat" and belonged between 1931 and 1932 to the Lytton Commission , which was appointed by the League of Nations to investigate the Mukden incident during the Manchurian crisis .
Life
Officer training, wars in Cuba and the Philippines and First World War
Frank Ross McCoy, whose father Thomas Franklin McCoy was the commander of the 107th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment during the Civil War , completed officer training at the US Military Academy at West Point , which he graduated in 1897. He subsequently resigned as lieutenant in the 8th Cavalry Regiment (8th Cavalry Regiment) and decreased during the Spanish-American War (April 23 to August 12, 1898) to battles on Cuba and the Philippines in part. He was wounded on July 1, 1898 at the Battle of the Hill of San Juan. For his bravery at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba (June 22 to July 17, 1898) he was awarded the Silver Star twice. He then took part in the Philippine-American War (February 4, 1899 to July 4, 1902) and was adjutant to Major General Leonard Wood , who was Governor General of Cuba between 1899 and 1902 and Governor of Moro Province from 1903 to 1906 , for a few years was in the Philippines. In 1906 he became an adjutant to US President Theodore Roosevelt , whom he had met as commander of the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, the so-called " Rough Riders ", during the Spanish-American War. President Roosevelt called him " the best soldier I ever laid eyes on" . In 1908 he was a graduate of the US Army War College (USAWC) in Carlisle .
In 1911 McCoy became an officer in the General Staff of the Army, whose Chief of Staff of the Army was Major General Leonard Wood between 1910 and 1914. After taking part in the fighting on the border between the United States and Mexico between 1915 and 1916 , after the United States entered the First World War , he was transferred to France on April 6, 1917 , where he worked from June 1917 to May 1918 Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff of the American Expeditionary Forces AEF ( American Expeditionary Forces ) was. During this time he was promoted to the temporary rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) on August 5, 1917 and on February 6, 1918 to the temporary rank of Colonel (Temporary Colonel) . He was then from May 1918 to the Armistice of Compiègne on November 11, 1918 commander of the 165th Infantry Brigade ( 165th Infantry Brigade ) and on August 16, 1918 was raised to the temporary rank of Brigadier-General (Temporary Brigadier-General) . In 1919 he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his military service in the fighting for Reims .
Interwar period and return to the Philippines
After the end of the First World War, Frank McCoy stayed in France, where he was initially director in the transport department between November 1918 and January 1919, then deputy general director of the transport department from January 1 to May 15, 1919, and finally between May 15 and May 20, 1919. August 1919 General Director of the Transportation Department of the American Expeditionary Forces AEF. He then acted between August and November 1919 as chief of staff of the US military mission in Armenia , assisting Colonel William N. Haskell , the Allied High Commissioner for Armenia appointed by the Allied Supreme War Council . After his return to the United States, he was from January 31 to March 15, 1920 first in command of the military district of Arizona and after his promotion to lieutenant colonel on March 15, 1920, between March 15 and September 1, 1920 assistant to the adjutant of the Central Department of the Army. During that time he was promoted to Colonel on July 1, 1920 and was Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations in the 6th Corps Area from September 1, 1920 to April 5, 1921 .
On September 30, 1921 McCoy returned to the Philippines and was there until April 17, 1925 as a technical assistant for civil affairs again a close associate of Leonard Wood, from October 21, 1921 to August 7, 1927 US Governor General the Philippines was. During this time he was promoted to Brigadier General on December 4, 1922 and acted after the Great Kanto earthquake of September 1, 1923 , which claimed more than 100,000 deaths in the Kanto plain on the main island of Honshū , between September 8 and the November 2, 1923 as General Director of the American Red Cross in Tokyo . During this time he organized the relief supplies for the victims of the earthquake. On September 4, 1924, he received his promotion to major general and was from September 15 to December 31, 1925 still liaison officer of the administration of the Philippines to the Department of Island Affairs (Bureau of Insular Affairs) of the US Department of War .
Promotion to corps commander and diplomatic missions
After Frank Ross McCoy a refresher course at the Army Infantry School between January 1 and February 26, 1926 ( US Army Infantry School ) in Fort Benning had visited, he was on 26 February 1926 and on 9 March 1927 commander of the 3rd Infantry Brigade (3rd Infantry Brigade) . After he completed between March 9 and May 7, 1927 a training course at the Field Artillery School ( US Army Field Artillery School ) in Fort Sill , and was followed on 7 May 1927 until the January 18, 1929 commander of the 1st Field Artillery Brigade (1st Field Artillery Brigade) . In this capacity he was charged with overseeing elections in Nicaragua during the US military intervention in Nicaragua in 1927 and 1928 . For his services as the personal representative of the President of Nicaragua , Adolfo Díaz , and as chairman of the electoral committee, he was honored with another Army Distinguished Service Medal.
Then McCoy was from January 19 to September 30, 1929 chairman of an investigation and mediation commission to resolve the border conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay . He was then between October 2, 1929 and February 1, 1932 Commanding General of the IV. US Corps ( IV Corps ) . From February 9 to March 2, 1933 , he was a member of the Lytton- named after its chairman, the former Viceroy of India , Victor Bulwer-Lytton , along with the French General Henri Claudel , the Italian Count Luigi Aldrovandi Marescotti and the German Heinrich Schnee . Commission which was appointed by the League of Nations to investigate the Mukden incident during the Manchurian crisis and which presented its final report on October 2, 1932 with the Lytton Report . The Lytton Report led to great disappointment in the Republic of China , as no League of Nations sanctions against Japan were possible on its basis.
Commanding General of the Second and First US Armies
McCoy was then as the successor to Major General Walter C. Short between March 3 and October 1, 1933 initially commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division ( 1st Cavalry Division ) in Texas . He then acted from October 1, 1933 to February 1, 1935 as Commanding General of the VII US Corps ( VII Corps ) in Nebraska . On February 1, 1935, he replaced General Preston Brown as Commanding General of the 2nd US Army ( Second Army ) and stayed in this post until May 1, 1936, when General Johnson Hagood succeeded him. In addition, he acted between February 1, 1935 and May 1, 1936 as commanding general of the VI. US Corps ( VI Corps ) .
McCoy was then from May 1, 1936 to October 31, 1938 Commanding General of the II Corps ( II Corps ) and on January 22, 1938 he also took over the position of Commanding General of the 1st US Army from Major General Fox Conner ( First Army ) . He also held this position until October 31, 1938 and was then temporarily replaced by Major General James K. Parsons , before Lieutenant General Hugh A. Drum took over this position on November 4, 1938 . On October 31, 1938 McCoy resigned from active military service for the first time after 41 years of service.
World War II and return to active service
After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the entry of the United States into World War II on December 8, 1941, Frank Ross McCoy was ordered back into active service on December 20, 1941 and belonged to Admiral William Harrison until 1942 Standley , Admiral Joseph M. Reeves, and General Joseph T. McNarney appointed the Roberts Commission, named after their chairman, United States Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts , to investigate the attack. After completing the investigation, he retired on January 31, 1942, but was called back to active service on July 5, 1942. Until he retired again on August 20, 1942, he was the chairman of a military commission investigating German agents and saboteurs. On July 6, 1943, he finally returned one more time to active service and was until his final retirement on October 21, 1943 Chairman of the Procurement Review Board of the US Department of War.
After the end of the Second World War , McCoy still acted as chairman of the Far Eastern Commission between 1945 and 1949 , which had the task of creating a legal framework that made it possible to atone for war crimes that had been committed against nationals or subjects of the member states. In it it was a subsidiary of the United Nations War Crimes Commission . Princeton University , Yale University , Columbia University , Brown University , Clark University and Washington & Jefferson College each awarded him honorary doctorates in law for his services there and for his numerous mediation missions as "America's soldier-diplomat" . He was married to Frances Field Judson McCoy, daughter of Colonel Cyrus Field Judson, Sr., until his death and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery after his death .
Awards
Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :
-
Army Distinguished Service Medal (2 ×) -
Silver Star (2 ×)
publication
- Principles of Military Training , 1918
Web links
- Entry in Generals of WWII
- Entry into Military Hall of Honor
- Entry in The Hall of Valor Project
- Frank Ross McCoy in the database of Find a Grave (English)
- Entry on the homepage of Arlington National Cemetery
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | McCoy, Frank Ross |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American major general (US Army) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 29, 1874 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lewiston , Pennsylvania |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th June 1954 |
| Place of death | Washington, DC |