• born near Laclede, Missouri, on 13 September 1860
• attended the State Normal School, then graduated from the United States Military Academy, 1886
• was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 6th Cavalry, July 1886
• performed garrison and field duties in the Southwest and Northern Plains, 1886-1890, and participated in the Wounded Knee campaign
• was professor of military: science and tactics at University of Nebraska, 1891-1895, studying law concurrently and receiving his degree, 1893
• was promoted to first lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry, October 1892
• served in Montana, 1895-1896
• after a brief tour at Army headquarters, was assistant instructor in tactics at West Point, 1897-1898
• served with the 10th in Cuba, including operations at San Juan Hill
• was promoted to major of volunteers, detailed in ordnance, and assigned to Army headquarters and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War, 1898-1899, where he organized a Bureau of Insular Affairs
• was reverted to a regular captaincy, June 1901, and assigned successively to the 1st and 10th Cavalry
• served in the Philippines as a departmental adjutant general and engineer officer, collector of customs, and cavalry squadron commander, participating in actions against Moros, 1899-1903
• served on the War Department General Staff, 1903-1904, and as assistant chief of staff of the Southwestern Division, 1904
• attended the Army War College, 1904-1905
• married Frances Warren, 1905
• was military attache to Japan and an observer of the Russo-Japanese War, 1905-1906
• at President Roosevelt's nomination, was promoted to brigadier general over 862 senior-ranking officers, September 1906
• commanded the Department of California, 1006, and Fort McKinley, 1907-1908 was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Staff, 1908-1909
• was governor of Moro Province and commander, Department of Mindanao, 1909-1913
• commanded the 8th Infantry Brigade at the Presidio of San Francisco, 1914-1916, where in 1915 he lost his wife and three daughters in a fire
• led the Mexican Punitive Expedition, 1916-1917, receiving promotion to major general during the campaign
• was promoted to general, October 1917
• commanded the American Expeditionary Forces in France in World War I, 1917-1919
• was advanced to the rank of General of the Armies, September 1919
• moved his headquarters to Washington, prepared a report on the war, and made an extended tour of military inspection, 1919-1921
• was Chief of Staff of the United States Army 1 July 1921-13 September 1924
• established the War Plans Board
• pressed for national preparedness a strong Army, increased efficiency and economy, officer schooling, and a well-regulated militia
• retired from active service, September 1924
• was chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission, 1923-1948, and headed the Tacna-Arica Boundary Commission 1925,1926
• died in Washington, D.C., on 15 July 1948

Taken from: COMMANDING GENERALS AND CHIEFS OF STAFF, 1775-1982, William Gardner Bell, Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1983