SAMUEL BALDWIN MARKS YOUNG was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 9 January 1840; attended Jefferson College at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; enlisted as a private in Company K, 12th Pennsylvania Infantry, April 1861; was commissioned a captain in the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry September 1861; married Margaret McFadden, 1861; served in the Civil War with the Army of the Potomac, receiving promotions in the volunteers to major (1862), lieutenant colonel and colonel (1864), and brevet brigadier general (1865); entered the regular establishment as a second lieutenant, 12th Infantry, May 1866; was promoted to captain and transferred to the 8th Cavalry, July 1866; served on the frontier in operations against southwestern Indian tribes, 1866-1879, receiving in 1867 three retroactive brevet ranks for gallantry and meritorious service in earlier actions at Sulphur Springs (major), Amelia Springs (lieutenant colonel), and Sayler's Creek (colonel); served on the organizing faculty of the School of Application for Infantry and Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, 1882; was promoted to major, 3rd Cavalry, April 1883, to lieutenant colonel, 4th Cavalry, August 1892, and to colonel, 3d Cavalry, June 1897; was appointed brigadier general (May 1898) and major general (July 1898) of volunteers; commanded a brigade in the Santiago campaign in the War with Spain, 1898; was a brigade commander in the Philippine Insurrection, 1899-1901, led the advance forces in the final operations in northern Luzon, and was military governor of that district; was promoted to brigadier general in the regular establishment, January 1900, and advanced to major general, February 1901; commanded the Department of California, 1901-1902; was appointed president of the War College Board, November 1901, and became the first president of the Army War College, July 1902; was appointed a member of the General Staff Selection Board; March 1903, and of an Army and Navy board for cooperation between the services, 1903; was promoted to lieutenant general, August 1903, and commanded the Army for one week; was the first chief of staff of the United States Army, 15 August 1903-8 January 1904; supervised the initial implementation of the General Staff concept and recommended establishment of a general service corps to relieve combat personnel of technical service functions; retired from active service, January 1904; was president of a board that reviewed the circumstances and findings in the Brownsville Affair; died in Helena, Montana, on 1 December 1924.


The Artist

Marion Potter Sharpe (1924- ) was born in Albany, New York. She attended Russell Sage College in Troy, New York; studied at the Art Students League in New York City; and established a studio in Kennebunkport, Maine, Charleston, South Carolina, and Middleburgh, Virginia, before moving her operations to Slingerlands, New York, during the winter and to Nantucket, Massachusetts, during the summer. In addition to painting, she taught at the Portland School of Fine Arts and the Albany Institute of History and Art, as well as was artist-in-residence at her alma mater. She has won a number of awards for her work, which has appeared in national shows at several locations. Her portrait of Lt. Gen. Samuel B. M. Young holds the anchor position in the Chiefs of Staff Portrait Gallery at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., and is reproduced from the Army Art Collection.

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Painting:  Samuel Baldwin Marks Young.  By Marion Potter Sharpe.
Samuel Baldwin Marks Young
By Marion Potter Sharpe
Oil on canvas, 40" x 34", 1974

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