Hugh A. Drum

Hugh A. Drum

Hugh Aloysius Drum (born September 19, 1879 in Fort Brady , Michigan , † October 3, 1951 in New York ) was an American officer in the United States Army , most recently Lieutenant General .

Life

Drum was born the son of a career officer, John Drum, who fell in Cuba as a captain during the Spanish-American War , and trained at a high school in New York and Boston College . Originally he wanted to be a Jesuit priest, but joined the US Army at the invitation of President William McKinley after the death of his father during the storming of San Juan Hill and was deployed with the 12th Infantry Regiment and the 15th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines , where he was the Silver Star and was promoted to Brevet -Captain deserved. He later served, among other things, as aide-de-camp of Brigadier General Frank D. Baldwin .

In 1912, Drum graduated from Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth . In 1914 he took part in the occupation of Veracruz under Frederick N. Funston , and in 1916 in the Mexican Expedition under General John J. Pershing . After the USA entered the First World War in 1917, he accompanied Pershing as one of six staff officers to France. He was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel in August 1917 and was responsible for training and operations under Fox Conner in the G-3 section of the headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in Chaumont . He was involved in the preparation of the 26th and 42nd Infantry Division on their first jobs and later worked with the 1st Infantry Division plans to raid-like attacks in grave War ( trench raids off). After the establishment of the First Army under Pershing in the summer of 1918, Pershing elected him to be his chief of staff. He served in this role under Pershing and Hunter Liggett until the end of the war and planned the use of the army in the battles of St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne . For this he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal and promoted to temporary Brigadier General.

In April 1919, Drum was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff, Services of Supply, AEF and organized the repatriation of the AEF's millionaire army back home. In the USA he then carried his old rank as majors for a short time . In 1920 he was again lieutenant colonel, in 1921 again colonel and in 1922 again Brigadier General ( Brigadier General ). He was Assistant Commandant of the School of the Line at Fort Leavenworth from 1920 to 1921 as Commandant of the Command and General Staff College . Later commanded the 1st Infantry Brigade and from 1927 to 1930 the 1st Infantry Division. He was then appointed Inspector General of the Army and promoted to Major General in 1930 . He took command of the V Corps Area , headquartered in Fort Hayes , Ohio , in 1931 . From 1933 to 1935 he served under Douglas MacArthur as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army , then until 1937 as Commander of the Hawaiian Department and until 1938 as Commander of the Second Army . He was passed over for the post of Chief of Staff of the Army twice during that time , first in favor of Malin Craig and then of George C. Marshall . In 1939 he was promoted to lieutenant general. When the Second World War broke out, he led the First Army with headquarters in Fort Jay , Governors Island , New York, and in March 1941 also became commander of the Eastern Defense Command . During the extensive military maneuvers in Carolina in 1941, he was "captured" by enemy units under General George S. Patton , which may have induced the politico-military leadership not to designate him for high commanding posts overseas.

After the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Drum was offered the post of military advisor in the Republic of China early the following year , but he declined - the post went instead to General Joseph Stilwell . In 1943 he retired from active service after reaching the statutory maximum age. He took over the post of military chief of the State Defense Force New York Guard , which he held until the 1948th From 1944 he was also chairman of the board of the Empire State Corporation , which operated the Empire State Building . He died of a heart attack in his New York office in 1951 at the age of 72. His grave is in Arlington National Cemetery .

The Fort Drum in upstate New York, formerly Pine Camp was named in 1974 after him.

literature

• James J. Cooke: Pershing and His Generals: Command and Staff in the AEF. Praeger, 1997.
• Henry Blaine Davis, Jr .: Generals in Khaki. Pentland Press, 1998.

Web links

• Hugh A. Drum in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Hugh A. Drum on arlingtoncemetery.net
• Hugh A. Drum on usarpac.army.mil