Class of 1884

Vol. IV
p392 [Supplement, Vol. IV: 1890‑1900]

Military History. — Served: (Regimental Adjutant, 8th Infantry, to Aug. 1, 1891) Aide-de‑camp to commanding general, Department of the Columbia (Brigadier-General A. V. Kautz), Aug., 1891 to Jan. 5, 1892. — On duty at U. S. M. A., West Point, N. Y., Feb. 1892 to June, 1897 (Department of Tactics). — With regiment at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyo., July, 1897. — On duty in Alaska (Yukon River), Aug., 1897 to –––––

(Captain of Infantry, 8th Infantry, April 26, 1898)

Vol. V
p360 [Supplement, Vol. V: 1900‑1910]

Military History. — Served: In Alaska (Yukon River), Aug., 1897 to Sept., 1899; Assistant to Captain P. H. Ray, 8th Infantry, winter of 1897‑1898, investigating condition on the Yukon, defending without troops, food supplies on the river, establishing hospital and supply camps for destitute persons; commanding troops on the Yukon (Battery A, 3d Artillery and detachments 8th Infantry), from July, 1898 to Aug., 1899 (preservation of law and general police control in absence of established civil law); with regiment, skeleton battalion, Fort Snelling, Dec., 1899 to Jan., 1900; Adjutant-General, Department of Alaska, Jan., 1900 to Oct., 1901; station, St. Michael, Alaska, after opening of navigation, June, 1900; special duty, Headquarters, Department of the Columbia, and Acting A. D. C. to Commanding General (Brigadier-General George M. Randall), Jan. to Sep., 1902; Acting Quartermaster, constructing post of Fort Wm. H. Seward, Alaska, Sept., 1902 to Dec., 1904; member (President), of Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska, March, 1905 to –––––.

(Major, 9th Infantry, April 7, 1904)

(Transferred to 13th Infantry on April 7, 1908)

Vol. VI
p383 [Supplement, Vol. VI: 1910‑1920]

(Wilds Preston Richardson, Born March 20, 1861.)

Military History. —

Major, 9th Infantry, April 7, 1904.

President of Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska, March, 1905,

(Transferred to 13th Infantry, April 7, 1908)

(Lieut.‑Colonel of Infantry, March 11, 1911)

(Colonel of Infantry, April 28, 1914)

to December, 1917; (this Board, constituted by Act of Congress approved Jan. 27, 1905, is composed of three officers of the Army, one of whom must be an officer of the Corps of Engineers. Its work consists in the location and construction of pioneer wagon roads, bridges and trails in the Territory of Alaska from tax funds collected in the Territory, which fund is supplemented by special appropriation of Congress under the caption "Military and Post Roads, Bridges and Trails." The routes of travel and communication established are intended to facilitate the repair and maintenance of the military telegraph lines and the transmission of the mails, and to aid in the opening up of the Territory. The principal wagon road constructed runs from Valdez on the southern coast to Fairbanks, head of navigation on the Tanana River, a distance of 380 miles).

(Brigadier-General, National Army, Aug. 5, 1917)

Relieved from Board of Road Commissioners and from duty in Alaska, December, 1917, and assigned to command of Depot Brigade at Camp Lee, Va.; relieved from this command and assigned to command of 78th Infantry Brigade, 39th Division, at Camp Beauregard, La., March, 1918; with Division during training period and transfer to France, arriving at Brest, Sept. 3, 1918, and from there to Divisional Area with Hdqrs. at St. Florent; ordered for instruction and observation with Advance Brigade, 4th Division, at the front, Oct. 14, 1918; transferred to Advance Brigade, 3rd Division, at Madeleine Farm, Bois de Rappes, Oct. 20; attached to 90th Division, Oct. 28, for operations in advance of Romaine; rejoined 39th Division, Nov. 7; attached to Center of Information at Langres, Nov. 17 to 27; transferred to 28th Division, Nov. 28; commanding 55th Infantry Brigade from Nov. 28, 1918, to March 17, 1919; assigned to command of American troops in North Russia; at Murmansk, April 8 to Aug. 24; arrived in U. S. Oct. 15; at Camp Gordon, Ga., commanding 5th Division, Oct. 28, 1919, to March 15, 1920;

(Returned to Grade of Colonel, March 15, 1920)

assigned to 61st Infantry; at Washington, D. C., on temporary duty in Historical Branch, War Plans Division, General Staff, preparing history of North Russian Expedition, April 5 to October, 1920.​b

Colonel, U. S. A., Retired, Oct. 31, 1920,
At His Own Request, After Over 40 Years' Service.

Vol. VII
p214 [Supplement, Vol. VII: 1920‑1930]

Military History: —

Colonel, U. S. A., Retired, Oct. 31, 1920,
At His Own Request, After Over 40 Years' Service.

Awarded

Distinguished Service Medal.

"For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services as commanding general of the American Expeditionary Forces in North Russia. By his skillful handling of the many difficult situations which arose, he rendered a signal service to the United States Government."

Died, May 20, 1929, at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D. C.: Aged 68.

Portrait and obituary in Annual Report, Association of Graduates, for 1929.

Brigadier-General, U. S. A., (Posthumously) May 20, 1929,
Act of June 21, 1930.