Arthur L. Wagner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arthur Lockwood Wagner (March 16, 1853-June 17, 1905) was a United States brigadier general and military instructor
Born in Ottawa, Illinois, Wagner graduated from West Point near the bottom of his class with a commission in the infantry. While serving on the frontier, Wagner saw action of the western plains and mountains during the campaigns against the Souix, Nez Perce continuously onward from 1866 until 1877 and during the Utes in 1881. Entering military education while assigned as a professor of military science and tactics at the Louisiana State University and East Florida Seminary, Wagner would win high praise from the Military Service Institution of the United States and greatly increased his prominence as one of the leading military scholar for his monograph The Military Necessities of the United States, and the Best Method of Meeting Them in 1884.
Following his transfer to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas the next year, Wagner accepted a personal request by the commandant of the United States Infantry and Cavalry School as an assistant instructor of tactics and the military art. During this time, as the Infantry and Cavalry School became an official military training school with the establishment of regulations and training programs in 1888, Wagner would author several important military textbooks including The Campaign of Koniggratz (1889) and Organization and Tactics (1895).
Promoted to captain in 1892, Wagner was named head of the Military Art Department two years later. Again promoted to major in 1896, Wagner was transferred to the adjutant general's office of the War Department and head of the Military Information Division's section of military intelligence.
During the Spanish-American War, Wagner served as a staff officer to Gen. Henry Lawton from June to July 1898 and Gen. Nelson A. Miles until August, serving briefly as adjutant general of the Department of the Dakotas, before his transfer to the Philippines in December 1899. During the Philippine Insurrection, Wagner served in various staff positions reaching the rank of colonel before returning to the United States in 1902 as adjutant general of the Department of the Lakes at Chicago.
Wagner lived in Asheville, North Carolina as a staff officer for the recently established Army War College at the Washington Barracks (Fort Lesley McNair), until his death on June 17, 1905, the same day in which he had won promotion to brigadier general.
[edit] Bibliography
- Wagner, Arthur L. The Military Necessities of the United States, and the Best Method of Meeting Them. 1884. (monograph)
- Wagner, Arthur L. The Campaign of Koniggratz Leavenworth, Kansas, 1889.
- Wagner, Arthur L. Organization and Tactics. Kansas City, Missouri, 1895.
- Wagner, Arthur L. The Security of Service and Information, 4th edition. Kansas City, Missouri, 1896.
[edit] References
- Nenninger, Timothy K. The Leavenworth Schools and the Old Army: Education, Professionalism, and the Officer Corps of the U.S. Army, 1818-1918. Westport, Connecticut, 1978.
