Allegiance United States Name Richard Blatchford | Rank Major General Years of service 1883 - 1922 | |
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Battles/wars Spanish American WarWorld War IWestern Front Battles and wars | ||
Richard Milford Blatchford (August 17, 1859 – August 31, 1934) was a U.S. Army General who served in the Spanish–American War and World War I.
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Early life and education
Richard Milford Blatchford was born on August 17, 1859, at Fort Hamilton, New York. He was the son of Samuel T. Blatchford (1822–1886) and Agnes Leadbeater Blatchford (1824–1911), and his ancestors had come from Devonshire, England in the eighteenth century.
He was educated at Williston Seminary in Massachusetts and Claverack College in New York, and graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with the class of 1882. He was also a graduate of the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth, and of the U.S. Army War College, then in Washington, D.C.
Military career
Blatchford was commissioned as a second lieutenant in October 1883. With the 11th Infantry Regiment, Blatchford served on the American frontier in Dakota Territory, Kansas, and Arizona.
He became a captain on April 26, 1898, during the first days of the Spanish–American War. Following two tours of duty in Puerto Rico, he served in the Philippines from 1901 to 1904, both in the field and in garrison, with the 28th, 11th, and 6th Regiments.
After a brief tour as a recruiter in New York, Blatchford was an instructor and inspector for the Missouri National Guard. However, he had served with the 11th Infantry Regiment almost continuously while rising through the ranks, and in April 1913, he became a colonel and was given command of the regiment in Texas City, Texas.
In 1914, Blatchford was assigned to command the 12th Infantry Regiment, then at San Francisco, where he organized a regimental school of musketry. By 1915, Colonel Blatchford had been detailed as commandant of the Army's School of Musketry (today's Infantry School) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was the school's commandant when the United States entered World War I.
Blatchford was promoted to brigadier general on May 15, 1917. He sailed for France in July 1917, to observe trench warfare and Allied training methods. He later returned to France as commanding general of the Line of Communications, American Expeditionary Forces. Following his return to the United States, he served in Panama, Ohio, California, and Washington.
Blatchford retired from active service on December 1, 1922. He died on August 31, 1934 in San Francisco.
Legacy
USS General R. M. Blatchford (AP-153), launched in 1944 and named in his honor, was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II.