Adolphus Greely
Adolphus Greely | |
---|---|
Birth name | Adolphus Washington Greely |
Born | Newburyport, Massachusetts, U.S. | March 27, 1844
Died | October 20, 1935 Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 91)
Buried | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch | United States Army |
Service years | 1861–1908 |
Rank | Major General |
Commands held | Lady Franklin Bay Expedition Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army Pacific Division Northern Division Department of the Columbia Department of Dakota |
Battles/wars | American Civil War American Indian Wars Spanish–American War Philippine–American War |
Awards | Medal of Honor |
Spouse(s) | Henrietta Nesmith (m. 1878-1918, her death) |
Children | 7 (including Rose Greely) |
Signature |
Adolphus Washington Greely
A native of
After the war, Greely accepted a second lieutenant's commission in the regular army. In 1881, he was appointed to command the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, a 25-man expedition organized to carry out Arctic explorations. The expedition ran short of food and several resupply and rescue missions were unsuccessful, and by the time Greely and his men were rescued in 1884, there were only six survivors.
In March 1887, Greely was serving as a captain when President
In retirement, Greely authored numerous magazine articles and books on his Arctic experiences. In March 1935, he was awarded the Medal of Honor in recognition of "his life of splendid public service." Greely died in Washington, D.C., on October 20, 1935. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Early life
Greely was born in
Early career
On 18 March 1863, he was commissioned as a
During his Civil War service, Greely took part in several battles, including Ball's Bluff, Antietam, and Fredericksburg.[2] From 1865 to 1867, Greely took part in the post-war occupation of New Orleans.[2]
Continued career
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the
With the Signal Corps, which also included the Weather Bureau, Greely was recognized as an expert weather forecaster.[1] His efforts helped establish the floodplains of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers, which facilitated Corps of Engineers flood control projects.[1] In addition, he oversaw planning, construction, and maintenance of several telegraph lines, including lines in remote areas of Indian Territory, Texas, Dakota Territory, and Montana Territory.[1]
Lady Franklin Bay Expedition
In 1881, First Lieutenant Greely was named to command the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition.[1] Promoted by Henry W. Howgate, its purpose was to establish one of a chain of meteorological-observation stations as part of the First International Polar Year.[4] The expedition also was commissioned by the US government to collect astronomical and polar magnetic data, which was carried out by the astronomer Edward Israel, who was part of Greely's crew.[5] Another goal of the expedition was to search for any clues of USS Jeannette, lost in the Arctic two years earlier.[6]
The expedition sailed on the steamship SS Proteus.
Greely's party ran into difficulty when two supply parties failed to reach Greely's encampment at Fort Conger on Ellesmere Island in 1882 and 1883.[1] In accordance with his instructions, Greely decided in August 1883 to abandon Fort Conger and travel south.[10] His team reached Cape Sabine expecting to find food and equipment left by the supply ships, but these had not been provided.[1] With winter setting in Greely and his men were forced to remain at Cape Sabine with inadequate rations and little fuel.[11]
A rescue expedition, led by Capt.
Greely and the other survivors were near death; one died on the homeward journey.
Later career
In June 1886, Greely was promoted to
Greely's innovations as Chief Signal Officer led to the Army's fielding of wireless telegraphy, airplanes, motorized automobiles and trucks, and other modern equipment.[2] He represented the United States at the 1903 International Telegraph Congress in London and the 1903 International Wireless Telegraph Congress in Berlin.[2] As an expert on the telegraph, Greely worked on some of the first international telecommunication treaties.[2]
On February 10, 1906, he was promoted to
Civic and fraternal memberships
In 1890, Greely was a founding member of the District of Columbia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and was elected vice president.[20] Upon the death of Admiral David D. Porter in February 1891, Greely became president, and he served until the end of 1892.[20] Greely was a companion of the District of Columbia Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.[21] He was also a member of the General Society of the War of 1812[22] and Grand Army of the Republic.[23]
Greely was member of Washington's
Death and legacy
Greely died in Washington, D.C., on October 20, 1935.[27] He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[27] Honorary pallbearers included David L. Brainard, Charles McKinley Saltzman, George Sabin Gibbs, Irving J. Carr, Leon Kromer, Billy Mitchell, and Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor.[28]
Family
In 1878, Greely married Henrietta Nesmith, and they remained married until her death in 1918.[2][32] Henrietta Greely was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and one of the founding vice presidents general of the Children of the American Revolution.[33][34] The Greelys were the parents of seven children, of whom six lived to adulthood:[27][35]
- Antoinette (1879–1968), a social worker who never married and lived in New Hampshire and Texas
- Adola (1881–1961), the wife of Reverend Charles Lawrence Adams
- Baby boy (1881–1881), Adola's twin
- John (1885–1965), a veteran of World War I and World War II who attained the rank of brigadier general in the Army
- Rose (1887–1969), a noted landscape architect.[36]
- Adolphus (1889–1956), an engineer and Army veteran of World War I who attained the rank of major
- Gertrude (1891–1969), the wife of Dr. G. Harold Shedd
Awards
Military awards
- Medal of Honor
- Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster
- Civil War Campaign Medal
- Indian Campaign Medal
- Spanish War Service Medal
Greely received the Medal of Honor in 1935: "For his life of splendid public service, begun on March 27, 1844, having enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army on July 26, 1861, and by successive promotions was commissioned as major general February 10, 1906, and retired by operation of law on his 64th birthday."[37]
Greely was the second person (after Frederick W. Gerber) to receive the award for lifetime achievement rather than for acts of physical courage at the risk of one's own life.[38]
During the Civil War, Greely was wounded twice, once at the Battle of Glendale, and once at the Battle of Antietam.[19] When the Purple Heart was created in 1932, Greely received the medal with an oak leaf cluster in recognition of his wounds.[19]
Civilian awards
Greely was awarded the
Dates of rank
Greely's effective dates of rank were:[3][41]
- Private, 19th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry – 26 July 1861
- Corporal– 15 May 1862
- First Sergeant– 1 January 1863
- Second Lieutenant, 81st U.S. Colored Infantry – 18 March 1863
- First Lieutenant– 26 April 1864
- Captain – 4 April 1865
- Brevet), United States Volunteers– 13 March 1865
- Second Lieutenant, 36th Infantry – 7 March 1867
- Second Lieutenant, 5th Cavalry – 14 July 1869
- First Lieutenant, 5th Cavalry – 27 May 1873
- Captain, 5th Cavalry – 11 June 1886
- Chief Signal Officer– 3 March 1887
- Major General – 10 February 1906
- Retired – 27 March 1908
See also
- Greely Island
- List of Medal of Honor recipients during Peacetime
Works
- Three Years of Arctic Service (1886)
- Handbook of Alaska (rev. ed. 1925)
- Reminiscences of Adventure and Service (1927)
- The Polar Regions in the Twentieth Century (1928).
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Men of Mark in America. Vol. I. Washington, DC: Men of Mark Publishing Company. 1905. pp. 396–400 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Fire & Ice: Adolphus W. Greely". Army Heritage.org. Carlisle, PA: Army Heritage Center Foundation. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ a b Heitman, Francis B. Heitman (1903). Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, 1789 to 1903. Vol. I. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 473 – via Google Books.
- ^ Guttridge, Leonard F. (September 1, 2000). "Ghosts of Cape Sabine: the harrowing true story of the Greely expedition". Arctic Institute of North America of the University of Calgary. Retrieved April 14, 2008.
- ^ "Members of the Greely Expedition". American Experience. Boston, MA: WGBH Educational Foundation. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
- ^ Berton, Pierre (1988). The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole. Toronto: Random House of Canada Ltd., p. 437
- ^ Geographical Items on North Greenland Encyclopedia Arctica 14: Greenland
- ISBN 978-1-5523-8050-5 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-0-9211-0270-0 – via Google Books.
- ^ Smucker, Samuel Mosheim (1886). Arctic Explorations and Discoveries During the Nineteenth Century. New York: John W. Lovell Company. p. 618 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 1-895415-94-2
- ^ Schley, Winfield S Commander, US Navy [1887] 1884 Greely Relief Expedition Washington Printing Office (via American Libraries)
- ^ 'England's Present to America; The Steam-Ship Alert for the Greely Search Expedition' 4/23/1884 New York Times. (via NYT Archives)
- ^ "Surrounded by Ice: The Lady Franklin Bay Expedition". Army Heritage.org. Carlile, PA: Army Heritage Center Foundation. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
- ^ "American Experience: The Greely Expedition". pbs.org. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ Shattuck, George B., ed. (August 21, 1884). "Anthropophagy". The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. pp. 185–187 – via Google Books.
- ^ Scott (March 22, 2021). ""Farthest North": An Arctic Tableau at the 1893 World's Fair". Worlds Fair Chicago1893.com. The World's Fair: Chicago 1893.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-8510-9952-8 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d e McSwain, John J. (March 18, 1935). "Address to the House: Adolphus W. Greely". Congressional Record. Vol. 79, Part 4. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 3861 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Rhees, William J., ed. (1896). Register of the District of Columbia Society, Sons of the American Revolution. Washington, DC: W. F. Roberts. p. viii – via Google Books.
- ^ Companions of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (Second ed.). New York, NY: L. R. Hamersly. 1901. p. 69 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Celebrations and Proceedings: Society of the War of 1812". American Historical Register. Boston, MA: The Register Company. May 1896. p. 326 – via Google Books.
- ^ Official Programme: Grand Army of the Republic 36th Annual Encampment. Washington, DC: Costigan and Costello. 1902. p. 32 – via Google Books.
- ^ Committee on Printing (1904). The Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Founding of the Cosmos Club. Washington, DC: Cosmos Club of Washington, DC. p. 309 – via Google Books.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
- ^ "Personal Matters: Brigadier General A. W. Greely". Army and Navy Register. New York, NY. October 28, 1905. p. 18 – via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 978-1627870399 – via Google Books.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "USNS General A.W. Greely (T-AP-141)". NavSource Online. NavSource Naval History. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ "Fort Greely". Alaska-Highway.org. Delta Junction, AK: Delta Junction: Official End of the Alaska Highway. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ a b "Fort Abercrombie". Crusty Old Joe's Kodiak Alaska Military History. Kodiak, AK: Kodiak Military History Museum. May 16, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- GenealogyBank.com.
- ^ Denniston, Eliza Olver (October 1915). "Ready Reference D.A.R. Chronology". Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine. Washington, DC: Daughters of the American Revolution. p. 235 – via Google Books.
- ^ U.S. Senate (1903). "Report of the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution". U.S. Senate Documents: 57th Congress, 2nd Session. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 315 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-0930410827 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Adolphus W. Greely (1844–1935) Papers, 1844–1871; 1908–1909" (PDF). Peabody Essex Museum. January 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients: Adolphus W. Greely". MOH Convention.com. Mt. Pleasant, SC: Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ Davis, Paul (May 11, 2021). "How to earn a Medal of Honor for lifetime achievement". We Are the Mighty. Palo Alto, CA: Mighty Networks. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ "List of Past Gold Medal Winners". Royal Geographical Society. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- The American Geographical Society. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ U.S. Senate (1935). "Medal of Honor for Maj. Gen. Adolphus Washington Greely". Congressional Record. Vol. 79, Part 4. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 3933 – via Google Books.
Further reading
- Ellsberg, Edward: "Hell on Ice", New York, 1936.[full citation needed]
- Greeley, G. H. (1905). Genealogy of the Greely-Greeley family. Boston: Mass: F. Wood, printer. OCLC 4579981.
- Powell, Theodore: "The Long Rescue", W.H. Allen, London, 1961.[full citation needed]
- Todd, A. L. (2001). Abandoned: the story of the Greely Arctic Expedition, 1881–1884. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press. ISBN 1-889963-29-1.
- Robinson, M. F. (2006). The coldest crucible: Arctic exploration and American culture. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-72184-1.
- Waterman, Laura (2006). Starvation Shore. Madison, Wisconsin: Univ. of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-32340-0.
External links
- Works by Adolphus Greely at Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Works by Adolphus Greely at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by Adolphus Greely at Open Library
- Works by Adolphus Greely at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Adolphus Greely at Internet Archive
- The Papers of Adolphus Greely at Dartmouth College Library