Valery Havard
Encyclopedia
Valery Havard was a career army officer, physician , author, and botanist. Although he held many notable posts during his military career, he is most well known for his service on the western frontier of the United States and in Cuba. Many Texas
plants are named for Havard, including the Chisos bluebonnet (Lupinus havardii
), Havard oak (Quercus havardii
), and Havard's evening primrose (Oenothera
havardii).
and the medical department of the University of New York
, in New York
, graduating from both in 1869. For a time thereafter he was house physician in Children’s Hospital and professor of French, chemistry, and botany at Manhattan College.
in pursuit of hostile Sioux
and Nez Perce Indians. In 1880, he joined the 1st Infantry then engaged in opening roads in the Pecos River
Valley in west Texas. In the summer of 1881, he accompanied an exploring expedition into northwest Texas, headed by Captain William R. Livermore, Corps of Engineers
. From stations at Fort Duncan
and San Antonio, he again went with exploring parties under Captain Livermore to the upper Rio Grande valley during the summers of 1883 and 1884. While on frontier duty he became interested in economic botany and studied the food and drink plants of the Indians, Mexicans, and early settlers.
Havard served in various posts from 1884 to 1898, including service in New York (Fort Schuyler, Fort Wadsworth
, and the recruiting depot at Davids' Island), North Dakota
(Fort Lincoln
and Fort Buford
), and Wyoming
(Fort D. A. Russell).
in 1898, Havard was assigned as chief surgeon of the Cavalry Division, and accompanied the Division to Siboney, Cuba
. He served in the field during the Battle of San Juan Hill
on July 1. After the war, he joined the staff of General Leonard Wood
in Havana as chief surgeon of the Division of Cuba and continued with Wood when he became military governor. While in Havana in October 1900, he was the subject of a severe attack of yellow fever.
(Fort Monroe
) and New York (West Point
and Department of the East at Governors Island
). In 1904, he was detailed as medical attaché with the Russia
n army in Manchuria
during the Russo-Japanese War
. While on this duty he was captured at Mukden by the Japan
ese in 1905. Taken to Japan, he was eventually released for return to the United States.
He was elected to a term as president of the Association of Military Surgeons. In 1906 he was appointed president of the faculty of the Army Medical School
, which he held until he retired from military duty in 1910. Upon retirement Havard established his home in Fairfield, Connecticut
. There he continued a career of writing begun when he entered the army.
Havard's article "The French Half-breeds of the Northwest" was published in the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution (1879). He published a number of articles on the flora of Montana, North Dakota, Texas, and Colorado, including "Botanical Outlines" in Report of the Chief of Engineers, Part III (1878), and "Report on the Flora of Western and Southern Texas" in Proceedings of the United States National Museum (1885). Havard's "Notes on Trees of Cuba" was published in The Plant World, IV (1901).
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
plants are named for Havard, including the Chisos bluebonnet (Lupinus havardii
Lupinus havardii
Lupinus havardii is a species of lupine known by the common names Big Bend bluebonnet and Chisos bluebonnet. It is native to Texas and Chihuahua, where it blooms between January and June...
), Havard oak (Quercus havardii
Quercus havardii
Quercus havardii is a deciduous, low-growing, thicket-forming shrub that occupies some 2 to 3 million ha in the southern Great Plains of North America. Clones may reach hundreds to thousands of years old, although aboveground stems typically live only 11 to 15 years...
), and Havard's evening primrose (Oenothera
Oenothera
Oenothera is a Genus of about 125 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous flowering plants, native to North and South America. It is the type genus of the family Onagraceae, the Evening Primrose Family. Common names include evening-primrose, suncups, and sundrops.The species vary in...
havardii).
Early life
Havard was born in Compiegne, France. After graduating from the Institute of Beauvais, he studied medicine in Paris before immigrating to the United States. He entered Manhattan CollegeManhattan College
Manhattan College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in the Lasallian tradition in New York City, United States. Despite the college's name, it is no longer located in Manhattan but in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, roughly 10 miles north of Midtown. Manhattan College offers...
and the medical department of the University of New York
University of New York
University of New York may refer to:*University of New York in Prague, Czech Republic*University of New York Tirana, Albania* University of New York, fictional university on the American television series Felicity , modelled on New York University-See also:*There is no institution of higher...
, in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, graduating from both in 1869. For a time thereafter he was house physician in Children’s Hospital and professor of French, chemistry, and botany at Manhattan College.
Frontier posts
In 1871, he was appointed an acting assistant surgeon in the army and was commissioned an assistant surgeon in the medical corps three years later. For six months in 1877, he served with the 7th Cavalry in MontanaMontana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
in pursuit of hostile Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
and Nez Perce Indians. In 1880, he joined the 1st Infantry then engaged in opening roads in the Pecos River
Pecos River
The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
Valley in west Texas. In the summer of 1881, he accompanied an exploring expedition into northwest Texas, headed by Captain William R. Livermore, Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
. From stations at Fort Duncan
Fort Duncan
Fort Duncan was a U.S. Army post, set up to protect the first U.S. settlement on the Rio Grande near the current town of Eagle Pass, Texas.Fort Duncan was established on March 27, 1849, when Captain Sidney Burbank occupied the site with companies A, B, and F of the First United States Infantry...
and San Antonio, he again went with exploring parties under Captain Livermore to the upper Rio Grande valley during the summers of 1883 and 1884. While on frontier duty he became interested in economic botany and studied the food and drink plants of the Indians, Mexicans, and early settlers.
Havard served in various posts from 1884 to 1898, including service in New York (Fort Schuyler, Fort Wadsworth
Fort Wadsworth
Fort Wadsworth is a former United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper and Lower halves, a natural point for defense of the Upper Bay and Manhattan beyond. Prior to closing in 1994 it claimed to be the longest...
, and the recruiting depot at Davids' Island), North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
(Fort Lincoln
Fort Abraham Lincoln
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is located seven miles south of Mandan, North Dakota. The park is home to On-A-Slant Indian Village, the blockhouses and the Custer house...
and Fort Buford
Fort Buford
Fort Buford was a United States Army base at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers in North Dakota, and the site of Sitting Bull's surrender in 1881....
), and Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
(Fort D. A. Russell).
Spanish-American War
With the outbreak of the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
in 1898, Havard was assigned as chief surgeon of the Cavalry Division, and accompanied the Division to Siboney, Cuba
Siboney, Cuba
Siboney is a town in Cuba east of the city of Santiago de Cuba. In 1898 Siboney and the nearby village of Daiquirí were locations where American forces came ashore in the Spanish-American War...
. He served in the field during the Battle of San Juan Hill
Battle of San Juan Hill
The Battle of San Juan Hill , also known as the battle for the San Juan Heights, was a decisive battle of the Spanish-American War. The San Juan heights was a north-south running elevation about two kilometers east of Santiago de Cuba. The names San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill were names given by the...
on July 1. After the war, he joined the staff of General Leonard Wood
Leonard Wood
Leonard Wood was a physician who served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba and Governor General of the Philippines. Early in his military career, he received the Medal of Honor. Wood also holds officer service #2 in the Regular Army...
in Havana as chief surgeon of the Division of Cuba and continued with Wood when he became military governor. While in Havana in October 1900, he was the subject of a severe attack of yellow fever.
Russo-Japanese War
With the establishment of civil government in Cuba, Colonel Havard returned to the United States for duty in VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
(Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...
) and New York (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...
and Department of the East at Governors Island
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
). In 1904, he was detailed as medical attaché with the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n army in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
during the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
. While on this duty he was captured at Mukden by the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese in 1905. Taken to Japan, he was eventually released for return to the United States.
He was elected to a term as president of the Association of Military Surgeons. In 1906 he was appointed president of the faculty of the Army Medical School
Army Medical School
Founded by U.S. Army Brigadier General George Miller Sternberg, MD in 1893, the Army Medical School was by some reckonings the world's first school of public health and preventive medicine...
, which he held until he retired from military duty in 1910. Upon retirement Havard established his home in Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
. There he continued a career of writing begun when he entered the army.
World War I
With the onset of World War I, Colonel Havard was called from retirement for duty with the Cuban government in the reorganization of the medical departments of its army and navy (1917–1923), for which he received the Cuban Order of Military Merit. In his eighty-first year, he died on board the steamship Columbo while returning from a visit to France.Writings
Havard's early articles were on botany and military hygiene, continued with reports on observations on the Spanish-American and Russo-Japanese Wars. While at Fort Lincoln in 1889, Havard published a "Manual of Drill for the Hospital Corps". He won the Enno Sander prize given by the Association of Military Surgeons in 1901 with an essay on "The Most Practicable Organization for the Medical Department of the United States Army in Active Service". Pamphlets on "Transmission of Yellow Fever" (1902) and "The Venereal Peril" (1903) were issued as government publications. During his last service in Washington, he published his "Manual of Military Hygiene" (1909), with second and third editions (1914 and 1917) prepared at Fairfield. At time of publication this was the best work on military hygiene yet produced in this country.Havard's article "The French Half-breeds of the Northwest" was published in the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution (1879). He published a number of articles on the flora of Montana, North Dakota, Texas, and Colorado, including "Botanical Outlines" in Report of the Chief of Engineers, Part III (1878), and "Report on the Flora of Western and Southern Texas" in Proceedings of the United States National Museum (1885). Havard's "Notes on Trees of Cuba" was published in The Plant World, IV (1901).