Hugh L. Scott
Encyclopedia
This article is about the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, for the Pennsylvanian senator see Hugh Scott
Hugh Scott
Hugh Doggett Scott, Jr. was a politician from Pennsylvania who served in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and who also served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee.- Early life :He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on November 11, 1900...



Hugh Lenox Scott (September 22, 1853 – April 30, 1934) was a post-Civil War West Point graduate who served as superintendent of West Point from 1906 to 1910, and Chief of Staff of the United States Army
Chief of Staff of the United States Army
The Chief of Staff of the Army is a statutory office held by a four-star general in the United States Army, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, and as such is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Army; and is in...

 from 1914 to 1917, including the first few months of American involvement in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Biography

Born September 22, 1853 in Danville, Kentucky
Danville, Kentucky
Danville is a city in and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 16,218 at the 2010 census.Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Boyle and Lincoln counties....

, he grew up there and in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...

 where he attended The Lawrenceville School
Lawrenceville School
The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational, independent preparatory boarding school for grades 9–12 located on in the historic community of Lawrenceville, in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, U.S., five miles southwest of Princeton....

. He graduated from West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 in 1876 (His Cullum Number was 2628), and was commissioned in the Cavalry. For some twenty years thereafter he served on the Western frontier, chiefly with the 7th United States Cavalry. He was assigned to the quarters only recently vacated by the widow of George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...

. In fact, Scott was sent out to the Little Big Horn battle site
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...

 to mark gravesites for Custer's men killed in the battle. He also had the opportunity to interview many of the Native Americans who fought on both sides on that hot June 25, 1876 day. He saw action in campaigns against the Sioux, Nex Perce, Cheyenne and other Indians of the Plains and became an expert in their languages and ways of life. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in June 1878.

In 1890-91 he was given the responsibility for suppressing the "Ghost Dance
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance was a new religious movement which was incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. The traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, the circle dance, has been used by many Native Americans since prehistoric times...

" religious movement that swept the Indian Reservations and received official commendation for that work. In 1892, he organized Troop L of the 7th Cavalry, composed of Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Indians, and commanded it until it was mustered out, the last Indian Troop in the United States Army, in 1897. In 1894-97, he had charge of Geronimo
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...

's band of Chiricahua Apache Indian prisoners at Fort Sill
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.Today, Fort Sill remains the only active Army installation of all the forts on the South Plains built during the Indian Wars...

, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

. He was advanced to Captain in January 1895.

In November 1897 he was attached to the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

, where he began preparing a work on Indian sign languages. In May 1898, after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he was appointed Major of Volunteers and Assistant Adjutant General of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, I Corps. He saw no action in that war, but in March 1899 went to Cuba as Adjutant General, Department of Havana, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers. In May 1900 he moved up to Adjutant General of the Department of Cuba and remained in that post until May 1902. During that time he served for a time as Acting Governor and took an active part in the transfer of government into Cuban hands. He was promoted to Major of Regulars in February 1903 and served as Military Governor of the Sulu Archipelago
Sulu Archipelago
The Sulu Archipelago is a chain of islands in the southwestern Philippines. This archipelago is considered to be part of the Moroland by the local rebel independence movement. This island group forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea....

, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, in 1903-06 and also commanded troops there, taking part in various skirmishes, reorganized the civil government and institutions.
In August 1906 he was named Superintendent of The United States Military Academy (West Point)
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

, a post he held for four years with the temporary rank of Colonel. He was promoted to regular Lieutenant Colonel in March 1911 and Colonel in August. He then commanded the 3rd U.S. Cavalry in Texas, engaged in settling various Indian troubles. In March 1913 he was promoted to Brigadier General in command of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, still posted to the Southwest. He won special commendation for his skillful handling of Navajo disturbances at Beautiful Mountain, Arizona, in November 1913. He was named Assistant Chief of Staff in April 1914 and Chief of Staff of the United States Army
Chief of Staff of the United States Army
The Chief of Staff of the Army is a statutory office held by a four-star general in the United States Army, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, and as such is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Army; and is in...

 from 1914 to 1917, including the first few months of American involvement in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. He was promoted to Major General in April 1915. He continued to act in a diplomatic role with Indians and Mexican Border officials in the Southwest, settling problems with the Piutes of Utah in March 1915 and recovering property "confiscated" by Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....

 in August.

In February–March 1916, he served as Ad-Interim Secretary of War. But his energy was directed more toward preparation for possible U.S. entry into World War I, and he was very influential in winning early acceptance among civil officials of the notion of conscription. He retired at the statutory age in September 1917 but remained on active duty. He became commander of the 78th Division at Camp Dix, New Jersey, in December and of Camp Dix again in March 1918. He retired finally in May 1919 and served on the Board of Indian Commissioners
Board of Indian Commissioners
The Board of Indian Commissioners was a committee that advised the federal government of the United States on Native American policy and it inspected supplies delivered to Indian agencies to ensure the fufillment of government treaty obligations to tribes....

 from 1919 to 1929 and was Chairman of the New Jersey State Highway Commission from 1923 to 1933. In 1928 he published an autobiography, "Some Memories of A Soldier."

He died at Washington, D.C. on April 30, 1934 and was buried among many other family members in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery.

Dates of Rank

Second Lieutenant, United States Army: 1876
First Lieutenant, United States Army: June 1878
Captain, United States Army: January 1895
Major, US Volunteers: May 1898
Lieutenant Colonel, US Volunteers: March 1899
Major, Regular Army: February 1903
Colonel, Regular Army : August 1906
Lieutenant Colonel, Regular Army : March 1911
Colonel, Regular Army: August 1911
Brigadier General, Regular Army: March 1913
Major General, Regular Army: April 1915

Namesake

The transport ship USS Hugh L. Scott
USS Hugh L. Scott (AP-43)
USS Hugh L. Scott was a Hugh L. Scott-class transport. She was acquired by the United States Navy for use in World War II, and was assigned the task of transporting troops to and from battle areas. Operating in dangerous waters on 12 November 1942, she was sunk after being struck by a German...

 was named in his honor.

Scott Middle School in Fort Knox, Kentucky is also named for Major General Scott.

Works


External Links

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