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 [decorative delimiter] Class of 1872

Vol. III
p199
2448

(Born N. Y.)​a

William B. Wetmore​1

(Ap'd at Large)

38

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1867, to June 14, 1872, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Second Lieut., 6th Cavalry, June 14, 1872.

Served: at the Military Academy, as Assistant Instructor of Ordnance and Gunnery, July 5‑29, 1872, and of Field Telegraphing, July 29 to Aug. 31, 1872; on graduation leave of absence, Aug. 31 to Dec. 12, 1872; on frontier duty at Ft. Riley, Kan., Dec. 13, 1872, to Feb. 1, 1873, — Ft. Wallace, Kan., to July 10, 1873, — and at River Bend, Col., to Oct. 3, 1873, being engaged, Sep. 10, 1873, in a hand-to‑hand encounter with a band of desperadoes attempting to rob the Paymaster, the chief of whom — the notorious Graham — he shot; as Aide-de‑camp to Bvt. Major-General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.Pope, Oct. 3, 1873, to Sep. 4, 1875, at Headquarters, Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. (Acting Aide-de‑Camp, Aug. 1 to Dec. 1, 1874, to Bvt. Major-General Miles, commanding Expedition to Indian Territory, being engaged, Aug. 30, 1874, in the Action of Red River, for which he was recommended to be brevetted First Lieutenant and Captain); and on leave of absence, to make a tour around the world, Sep. 4, 1875, to Oct. 4, 1876.

Resigned, Dec. 1, 1876.

Civil History. — Major, New York Militia, 1879‑82. Delegate to Democratic Convention at St. Louis, Mo., to nominate a candidate for the Presidency, 1888.

Vol. IV
p225
[Supplement, Vol. IV: 1890‑1900]

(William Boerum Wetmore)

Civil History. — Raised in Philadelphia, Pa., and vicinity, the "Wetmore Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers," for the Spanish-American war, but finally had to disband it, as preference was given to the National Guard, who filled up the entire quota of the State. On the outbreak of the war with Spain, he offered his services to the government for any position to which they might choose to assign him. Friends wanted him to raise his regiment from Rhode Island and Fall River, but finding the State's quota full, he decided to raise one in Pennsylvania. He opened a recruiting office, all his men being physically examined, and had a regiment ready to go to the war, but unfortunately Pennsylvania's quota was at this time also full, and finding it impossible to get to the front, he got as many of his men as possible to join vacancies in other Pennsylvania regiments, even sending two companies to fill up one that was short. He then offered to take command of a battalion of troops in one regiment and put his men in, and it was accepted, but it was found the State's quota was full. — Member of U. S. Military Service Institute; U. S. Naval Institute; U. S. Cavalry Association; American Numismatic Society, New York; National Academy of Design, New York; American Geographical Society, N. Y.; Chamber of Commerce, N. Y.; American Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; New England Society, New York; Order of the Cincinnati; Order of Society of War of 1812; Naval Order of the United States; Order of Veterans of Indian Wars of the United States. — Residence, Baltimore, Md.

Vol. V
p196
[Supplement, Vol. V: 1900‑1910]

Civil History. — Unknown. — Residence, Allenhurst, N. J.

Vol. VI
p175
[Supplement, Vol. VI: 1910‑1920]

(William Boerum Wetmore, Born Dec. 7, 1849.)

Military History. —

Second Lieut., 6th Cavalry, June 14, 1872.

Resigned, Dec. 1, 1876.

After retirement, traveled extensively in Europe and resided in Washington, Baltimore and Atlantic City, N. J.

Died, March 24, 1919, at Atlantic City, N. J.: Aged 69.

Portrait and obituary in Annual Report, Association of Graduates, for 1921.º


The Author's Note:

1 Great-great-grandson of Capt. William Boerum, of Revolutionary Army; Great-grandson of Col. Jackson Browne, of British Colonial Army, who served in the Barbadoes, W. I.; Grandson of Capt. William Boerum, U. S. N. in battles of Hornet and Peacock; Hornet and Penguin.


Thayer's Note:

a Lt. Wetmore's birthplace is recorded as "N. Y." in the initial entry in Vol. III of the Register, in the 1871 and 1872 volumes of the Register of the Officers and Cadets of the U. S. Military Academy, and in Heitman's Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, and his AOG obituary records it more particularly as New York City. His birthplace is recorded as "Eng.", on the other hand, in Vols. IV‑VI of the Supplements and in the 1869 and 1870 volumes of the Register of the Officers and Cadets.


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