Hugh L. Scott
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| Hugh Lenox Scott | |
|---|---|
| September 22, 1853 – April 30, 1934 (aged 80) | |
 MG Hugh Lenox Scott official portrait |
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| Place of birth | near Danville, Kentucky |
| Place of death | Washington, D.C. |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1876 - 1919 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands held | military governor of Sulu Archipelago, Philippines; commander of the Jolo military post; superintendent of the United States Military Academy; commanded the 3d US Cavalry Regiment; commanded 2d US Cavalry Brigade on the Mexican border; chief of staff of the United States Army; member of the Root commission to Russia; commanded the 78th Division and Camp Dix; member of the Board of Indian Commissioners. |
| Battles/wars | Nez Percé campaign Sioux outbreak of 1890; |
- This article is about the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, for the Pennsylvanian senator see Hugh Scott
Hugh Lenox Scott (September 22, 1853 - April 30, 1934) was a post-Civil War West Point graduate who served as superintendent of West Point from 1906 to 1910, and Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1914 to 1917, including the first few months of American involvement in World War I.
Born 1853-09-22 in Danville, Kentucky, he grew up there and in Princeton, New Jersey where he attended The Lawrenceville School. He graduated from The United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1876 (His Cullum Number was 2628), and was commissioned in the Cavalry. For some twenty years thereafter he served on the Western frontier, chiefly with the 7th United States Cavalry. He was assigned to the quarters only recently vacated by the widow of George Armstrong Custer. In fact, Scott was sent out to the Little Big Horn battle site to mark gravesites for Custer's men killed in the battle. He also had the opportunity to interview many of the Native Americans who fought on both sides on that hot June 25, 1876 day. He saw action in campaigns against the Sioux, Nex Perce, Cheyenne and other Indians of the Plains and became an expert in their languages and ways of life. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in June 1878.
In 1890-91 he was given the responsibility for suppressing the "Ghost Dance" religious mania that swept the Indian Reservations and received official commendation for that work. In 1892, he organized Troop L of the 7th Cavalry, composed of Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Indians, and commanded it until it was mustered out, the last Indian Troop in the United States Army, in 1897. In 1894-97, he had charge of Geronimo's band of Chiricahua Apache Indian prisoners at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was advanced to Captain in January 1895.
In November 1897 he was attached to the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution, where he began preparing a work on Indian sign languages. In May 1898, after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he was appointed Major of Volunteers and Assistant Adjutant General of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, I Corps. He saw no action in that war, but in March 1899 went to Cuba as Adjutant General, Department of Havana, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers. In May 1900 he moved up to Adjutant General of the Department of Cuba and remained in that post until May 1902. During that time he served for a time as Acting Governor and took an active part in the transfer of government into Cuban hands. He was promoted to Major of Regulars in February 1903 and served as Military Governor of the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines, in 1903-06 and also commanded troops there, taking part in various skirmishes, reorganized the civil government and institutions.
In August 1906 he was named Superintendent of The United States Military Academy (West Point), a post he held for four years with the temporary rank of Colonel. He was promoted to regular Lieutenant Colonel in March 1911 and Colonel in August. He then commanded the 3rd U.S. Cavalry in Texas, engaged in settling various Indian troubles. In March 1913 he was promoted to Brigadier General in command of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, still posted to the Southwest. He won special commendation for his skillful handling of Navajo disturbances at Beautiful Mountain, Arizona, in November 1913. He was named Assistant Chief of Staff in April 1914 and Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1914 to 1917, including the first few months of American involvement in World War I. He was promoted to Major General in April 1915. He continued to act in a diplomatic role with Indians and Mexican Border officials in the Southwest, settling problems with the Piutes of Utah in March 1915 and recoverying property "confiscated" by Pancho Villa in August.
In February-March 1916, he served as Ad-Interim Secretary of War. But his energy was directed more toward preparation for possible U.S. entry into World War I, and he was very influential in winning early acceptance among civil officials of the notion of conscription. He retired at the statuary age in September 1917 but remained on active duty. He became commander of the 78th Division at Camp Dix, New Jersey, in December and of Camp Dix again in March 1918. He retired finally in May 1919 and served on the Board of Indian Commissioners from 1919 to 1929 and was Chairman of the New Jersey State Highway Commission from 1923 to 1933. In 1928 he published an autobiography, "Some Memories of A Soldier."
He died at Washington, D.C. on 1934-04-30 and was buried among many other family members in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery.
[edit] Namesake
The transport ship USS Hugh L. Scott was named in his honor.
Scott Middle School in Fort Knox, Kentucky is also named for Major General Scott.
[edit] Works
- Selected Kiowa Stories from the Papers of Hugh Lenox Scott (1920; Digitized page images & text)
[edit] References
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Albert Leopold Mills |
Superintendents of the United States Military Academy 1906–1910 |
Succeeded by Thomas Henry Barry |
| Preceded by William W. Wotherspoon |
Chief of Staff of the United States Army 1914–1917 |
Succeeded by Tasker H. Bliss |
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