- William C. Chase
Infobox Military Person
name=William Curtis Chase
born= birth date|1895|3|9
died= Death date and age|1986|8|21|1895|3|9
placeofbirth=Providence, Rhode Island
placeofdeath=
placeofburial=
caption=Major General William C. Chase (right) inducts Lieutenant General H. C. H. Robertson (left), Commander in ChiefBritish Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), as an an honorary member of the 1st Cavalry Division.
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|United StatesUnited States
branch=United States Army
serviceyears=1916–1955
rank=Major General
commands=1st Cavalry Division
38th Infantry Division
unit=
battles=World War I :
*Pancho Villa Expedition
*Battle of Saint-Mihiel
*Meuse-Argonne Offensive World War II :
*Admiralty Islands campaign
*Battle of Leyte
*Battle of Luzon
*Battle of Bataan (1945)
awards=Distinguished Service CrossArmy Distinguished Service Medal (2)Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal (4)Commendation Ribbon Purple Heart
relations=
laterwork=
Major General William Curtis Chase (9 March 1895–21 August 1986) was an Americansoldier and General in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his service in theSouth West Pacific Area duringWorld War II and in theOccupation of Japan .Education and early life
William Curtis Chase was born in
Providence, Rhode Island on 9 March 1896,harvnb|Ancell & Miller|1996|p=52] the son of William Beecher Chase and his wife, Doris Evelyn née Curtis. He attendedBrown University graduating with aBachelor of Arts with aPhi Beta Kappa Society key in 1916. While at Brown, Chase enlisted in Battery A, 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Artillery of theRhode Island National Guard (later Battery A, 103rd Field Artillery) in 1913. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=1-2]Great War
On the afternoon of his graduation from Brown in 1916, Chase, now a
sergeant , joined A Battery atQuonset Point, Rhode Island where it was mobilised for duty on the Mexican Border. The unit remained in theEl Paso, Texas area for a time, but saw no action. While there Chase passed an examination for commissions in Regular Army.Chase was posted toFort Leavenworth in January 1917 for a three month course for newly commissioned officers before being commissioned as asecond lieutenant in the cavalry. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=2-4]Chase was assigned to the 3rd Cavalry, then based at
Fort Sam Houston . Shortly after the United States declared war on Germany, he was promoted tofirst lieutenant and posted to the 6th Cavalry on the Mexican frontier. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=5-6]Chase attended a machine gun course at
Fort Sill , after which he was posted to the 11th Machine Gun Battalion, part of the 4th Division, in April 1918. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=7-8] He served in France with the 4th Division, participating in theBattle of Saint-Mihiel but came down withjaundice and missed all but the last days of theMeuse-Argonne Offensive . [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=15] He participated in theOccupation of the Rhineland before the 4th Division returned to the United States in July 1919. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=19-20]Inter-War years
On return, Chase was posted to the 16th Cavalry, then in the
Rio Grande Valley , although it soon returned to Fort Sam Houston. In 1921 he was posted to Michigan State College for duty with theReserve Officers' Training Corps . There he met Dorothea Marie Wetherbee. They were married in 1921. They never had children. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=21-22]Chase attended the
United States Army Cavalry School andUnited States Army Infantry School , followed by duty with the 14th Cavalry atFort Sheridan, Illinois from 1927 to 1929. He then attended theCommand and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. From 1931 to 1934 he served overseas with the 26th Cavalry (Philippine Scouts ) atFort Stotsenburg in thePhilippines . Returning to the United States, he was posted as an Instructor in Tactics, first at the Cavalry School atFort Riley and then, from 1938 to 1940, at the Command and General Staff College. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=22-25]World War II
In 1941 Chase, now a
lieutenant colonel , was posted to VIII Corps, then commanded by Major GeneralWalter Krueger . As such, he participated in theLouisiana Maneuvers . In December 1941, he was posted to theAmphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet , then under the command of Major GeneralHolland Smith . Based atMarine Corps Base Quantico , the Amphibious Force practisedAmphibious warfare tactics onChesapeake Bay . [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=26-31]In 1942, Chase assumed command of the 113th Cavalry, an
Iowa National Guard unit. Initially a horse-mechanized unit, the 113th Cavalry soon became fully mechanized. It moved from its original station at Fort Clark, Texas toCamp Bowie and then toFort Hood , where it provided school troops for the Tank Destroyer Center. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=32-34]Chase was promoted to Brigadier General in March 1943 on assuming command of the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. The division was then stationed at
Fort Bliss but was already preparing to move to the South West Pacific. The 1st Cavalry Division had therefore been dismounted, but the division and brigade commanders and their staffs were still on horseback. The 1st Cavalry Division staged atCamp Stoneman . Chase departed fromSan Francisco on 3 July on the transport SS "George Washington". [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=38-39]The 1st Cavalry Division arrived in
Australia and continued its training atStrathpine, Queensland . Training there was more vigorous than at Fort Bliss, and Chase broke hiscalcaneus in a training accident. [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=40] In December 1943, the 1st Cavalry Division sailed forOro Bay , where it staged for its next operation, theAdmiralty Islands campaign . [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=43]Chase was chosen to lead the assault on the Admiralty Islands. Here, his tactical expertise came to the fore. He resisted the temptation to attempt to overrun the island, and thereby over-extend his forces, and formed a defensive perimeter that made good use of the terrain. From this position, he was able to defeat a series of counterattacks by the numerically superior Japanese garrison. [harvnb|Frierson|1946|pp=36-41] The crisis passed, Chase's force was reinforced by the rest of the division, and the 1st Cavalry Division was then able to overrun the islands. Chase was awarded the
Bronze Star Medal for his role in the campaign. [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=59]The 1st Cavalry Division remained in the Admiralty Islands until October, when it boarded ships there for the invasion of Leyte, which it assaulted on 20 October 1944. Chase's 1st Brigade's initial mission was to reconnoiter the hills on the west side of the
Tacloban Valley and establish observation posts from which it could command the entrances to the valley. [harvnb|Cannon|1954|p=63] In November, he was ordered to cover the flank of X Corps' advance up the Leyte Valley, and later into the Ormoc Valley. Chase had to move his brigade across mountainous, roadless, uncharted jungle in frequently appalling wet weather. The advance made slow progress against Japanese troops that fought tenaciously all the way. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=70-71]The 1st Cavalry Division was down to half strength when it was withdrawn from the front line on Leyte for a brief rest in January 1945, but few reinforcements arrived before it was ordered to move to
Luzon , [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=75-76] where it disembarked over the beaches atSan Fabian on 27 January 1945. [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=79] General of the ArmyDouglas MacArthur ordered the 1st Cavalry Division's commander, Major General Vern D. Mudge, to conduct a rapid advance onManila . For this, Mudge formed threeflying column s. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=80-81] Initially, Chase's 1st Brigade's mission was to follow one of the columns but on 1 February he was relieved of responsibility for the main body of the 1st Brigade and placed in command of all three flying columns. [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=83]On 3 February, Chase's columns pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila and seized a vital bridge over the Tuliahan River, which separated them from the city proper. Chase, controlling his columns by radio, suffered slight burns to his hands when a Japanese truck exploded. A squadron of the 8th Cavalry, guided by two Filipino
guerrillas reached the sprawling campus of theUniversity of Santo Tomas which had been turned into aninternment camp , liberating some 3,700 internees. [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=87]A Japanese raiding party destroyed the bridge over Tuliahan River; Chase's security was not good enough. This prevented the main body of the 1st Cavalry Division from linking up with Chase's force in Manila. Supplies were dispatched through the 37th Infantry Division's zone until engineers could build a new bridge. [harvnb|Smith|1963|p=233] For his advance on Manila, Chase was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He was also awarded the
Purple Heart for the burns to his hands. [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=99]On 7 February 1945, Chase took over command of the 38th Infantry Division, which was then confronted by enemy fortifications at Zig-Zag Pass on the
Bataan Peninsula . It took Chase a week of hard fighting to reduce this position. [harvnb|Smith|1963|pp=327-333] A battalion of the 151st Infantry under Chase's personal command landed at Mariveles on the southern tip of Bataan on 14 February. [harvnb|Smith|1963|pp=332-334] The 38th Infantry Division participated in the final actions onCorregidor . [harvnb|Smith|1963|pp=348-349] Units of the 38th Infantry Division assaulted and capturedCaballo Island on 27 March, Fort Drum on El Fraile Island on 13 April, andCarabao Island on 16 April. [harvnb|Smith|1963|pp=350-357] Meanwhile, other elements of the 38th Infantry Division engaged enemy forces in the mountainousFort Stotsenburg area. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=114-115] Chase was promoted to Major General in March.In late April 1945, the 38th Infantry Division moved to the area east of Manila where it relived the 6th Infantry Division. On 1 May, it began a series of probing attacks prior to an attack on 4 may aimed at capturing the Wawa Dam, an important part of Manila's water supply. Chase had to reduce a series of strongly held Japanese positions. By the end of the month, the dam was secure and the Japanese "Kobayashi Force" was broken. [harvnb|Smith|1963|pp=398-402]
Chase assumed command of the 1st Cavalry Division on 1 August 1945. At this time, the division was in the
Lucena City area but slated forOperation Downfall , in which it would assaultAriake, Kagoshima . [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=123] The end of the war precluded this. Instead, the 1st Cavalry Division participated in theOccupation of Japan . It embarked fromBatangas on 25 August and disembarked inTokyo Bay on 2 September, becoming the first US division inTokyo . [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=125]Later life
Chase remained with the 1st Cavalry Division on occupation duties until December 1948, when he temporarily assumed command of IX Corps. He finally returned to the United States in January 1949. [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=158] In April, he became chief of staff of the Third Army at
Fort McPherson . [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=159] From 1951 to 1955 he headed theMilitary Assistance Advisory Group in Taiwan. [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=164-200]Retiring from the Army, Chase earned a
Master of Arts (postgraduate) degree in history from Trinity University. From 1957 to 1965, he taughtpolitical science at theUniversity of Houston . His wife Dorothea died in 1957. In 1961 he married Mrs Hallie Barlow Olcott. Chase retired in 1965, having reached the state ofTexas ' mandatory retirement age. [harvnb|Chase|1975|p=201]In 1974, Chase joined a party of retired generals associated with General MacArthur that included
Leif J. Sverdrup ,Hugh John Casey , andLeGrande A. Diller and their wives visitedAustralia as guests of Lieutenant General SirEdmund Herring and DameMary Herring . [harvnb|Chase|1975|pp=215-217]Chase published his memoirs in 1975.
References
Bibliography
*Citation
last = Ancell
first = R. Manning
last2 = Miller
first2 = Christine
title = The Biographical Dictionary of World War II Generals and Flag Officers: The US Armed Forces
place=Westport, Connecticut
publisher =Greenwood Press
year = 1996
page = 86
isbn = 0-313-29546-8*cite book
last = Chase
first = William C.
authorlink =
year = 1975
title = Frontline General: The Commands of Maj. Gen. Wm. C. Chase
publisher = Pacesetter Press
location =Houston, Texas
isbn = 0-88415-295-0*cite web
last = Cannon
first = M. Hamlin
year = 1954
url = http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Return/index.html
title = Leyte: The Return to the Philippines
work = United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific
publisher =United States Army Center of Military History
location =Washington, DC *cite web
last = Frierson
first = Major William C.
url = http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/wwii/admiralties/admiralties-fm.htm
title = The Admiralties: Operations of the 1st Cavalry Division, 29 February – 18 May 1944
work = American Forces in Action
publisher =U.S. Government Printing Office
location =Washington, DC
year = 1946*cite web
last = Smith
first = Robert Ross
year = 1963
url = http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Triumph/index.html
title = Triumph in the Philippines
work = United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific
publisher =United States Army Center of Military History
location =Washington, DC Persondata
NAME = Chase, William Curtis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION =United States Army general inWorld War II
DATE OF BIRTH = 9 March 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH =Providence, Rhode Island
DATE OF DEATH = 21 August 1986
PLACE OF DEATH =
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