William Crozier (artillerist)

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William Crozier
1855-1942
General William Crozier became Chief of Ordance of the Army in 1901
Place of birth	Carrollton, Ohio
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	U.S. Army
Years of service	1876-1918
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands	Chief of Ordnance
Relations	Robert Crozier, U.S. Senator, father

William Crozier, American artillerist and inventor, born at Carrollton, Ohio on February 19, 1855, was the son of Robert Crozier (1827-1895), chief justice of Kansas in 1863-1866, and a United States senator from that state from December 1873 to February 1874.

He graduated at West Point in 1876, was appointed a 2nd lieutenant in the 4th Artillery, and served on the Western frontier for three years against the Sioux and Bannock Indians.

From 1879 to 1884 he was instructor in mathematics at West Point, and was superintendent of the Watertown, Massachusetts Arsenal from 1884 to 1887. In 1888 he was sent by the war department to study recent developments in artillery in Europe, and upon his return he was placed in full charge of the construction of gun carriages for the army, and with General Adelbert R. Buffington, the chief of ordnance, he invented the Buffington-Crozier disappearing gun carriage (1896). He also invented a wire-wound gun, and perfected many appliances connected with heavy and field ordnance.

In 1890 he attained the rank of captain. During the Spanish-American War he was inspector-general for the Atlantic and Gulf coast defences. In 1899 he was one of the American delegates to the Peace Conference at the Hague. He later served in the Philippine Islands on the staffs of Generals John C. Bates and Theodore Schwan, and in 1900 was chief of ordnance on the staff of General Adna Chaffee during the China Relief Expedition.

In November 1901 he was appointed brigadier-general and succeeded General Buffington as Chief of Ordnance of the United States army. He served until 1918, not counting the time he was away at the Army War College in 1912 to 1913. He presided over adoption of such firearms as the famous M1911 to the obscure M1909 Benet-Mercie light machine gun, as well as the end/removal of the last of the 30-06 Gatling Guns from the Army arsenal. His Notes on the Construction of Ordnance, published by the war department, were used as text-books in the schools for officers, and he also authored several other important publications on military subjects.

Other very famous firearm systems he presided over the adoption of include the M1903 rifle, the M1918 BAR (adopted in 1917), and the M1917 machine gun, all of which would serve well into the latter half of the 20th century. He also played a role in the rejection of the Lewis Gun by the Army, though it was used by the U.S. Marine Corps, and eventually, by the Army to a limited degree.

He died at age 87 in 1942.