George Van Horn Moseley

George Van Horn Moseley (born in Evanston, Illinois, on September 28, 1874; died November 7, 1960) was a United States Army general.

Biography

He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1899, and was commissioned 2d lieutenant in the cavalry in the same year. He served in the Philippines twice, from 1900 to 1903 and 1906 to 1907, during which his assignments included commanding a troop of the 1st Cavalry and serving as Aide-de-Camp to Generals J. M. Bell and J. M. Lee. In 1901 Moseley, accompanied by only one other officer, without escort and under conditions of great danger, penetrated a major insurgent stronghold and was primarily responsible for the surrender of General Arejola and his command.He was the honor graduate of the Army School of the Line in 1908, and graduated from the Army Staff College in 1909 and the Army War College in 1911.

He rose to the rank of major in 1916, and in 1917 in France was promoted colonel in the National Army with command of the 5th Field Artillery. He was transferred to General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces in France and as Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of the 4th Section (renamed G-4), soon promoted brigadier general, National Army. He had general charge of preparations for the strategic supply, transportation, construction and evacuation of the U.S. Army in France and his control of all American regulating stations at the front enabled him to exercise actual day-to-day control over supply and transportation.

This was followed by camp and Washington assignments from 1920-1929. He was the executive for the Assistant Secretary of War, 1929-30, Deputy Chief of Staff of Army, 1930-33, Commanding General of the 5th Corps Area, 1933-34, 4th Corps Area, 1934-38, and the Third United States Army, 1936-38. He was a member of several important commissions, including the Harbord Commission to the Near East, meant to help establish Wilsonian Armenia. After commanding the Second Field Artillery Brigade, in 1921 he was detailed as assistant to General Dawes in organizing the newly-created Bureau of the Budget. In 1921 he was promoted brigadier general, Regular Army. Commanding the 1st Cavalry Division (1927-1929), he successfully interceded, under fire, with principals in a 1929 Mexican insurrection. His actions stopped stray gunfire from Juarez , Mexico endangering life and property in adjacent El Paso , Texas , and precluded further incidents. In 1931 he was promoted major general, Regular Army.

Moseley's awards included the Distinguished Service Medal (one oak leaf cluster); Commander, Order of the Crown (Belgian); Companion, Order of the Bath (British); Commander, Legion of Honor, and Croix de Guerre with Palm (French); Commander, Order of the Crown of Italy.

In retirement he lived at the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia.

Controversies

As General MacArthur’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Moseley played a role as yet never fully clarified at time of the 1932 Bonus March on Washington , D.C. by unemployed World War I veterans. He has been variously portrayed as faithfully relaying instructions from the Secretary of War to MacArthur, the commander at the scene, or making little or no effort to transmit instructions. These, if followed, would have precluded the controversial and widely criticized actions taken by the U.S. Army to disperse from their encampment the veterans who were deemed to be Communist-infiltrated and a threat to law and order by the president, Moseley, MacArthur, some cabinet members, and a number of influential Americans. [James, D.Clayton, 1970, The Years of MacArthur, Vol 1. Houghton-Mifflin. ] [ Smith, Richard Norton, 1981, An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover. Simon & Schuster. ]

Like many officers in the 1930's, General Moseley viewed Jews as a problem and opposed their immigration as well as what was believed to be Jewish interference with American foreign policy. [ Bendersky, Joseph W, 2002, The Jewish Threat, Basic Books, pps249-258,309,410]

Family

Moseley had three sons;

Colonel George Van Horn Moseley, Jr. led the 502d Parachute Infantry Regiment into Normandy in 1944

Francis L. Moseley was an inventor and Vice President at the Hewlett-Packard Company

James W. Moseley is a longstanding figure in the UFO enthusiast community.

Notes

ee also

External links

* [http://www.wymaninstitute.org/letters/2003-11-13-wp.php Review of the book The Jewish Threat by The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, 2005]
* [http://www.arcent.army.mil/history/com_bios/cg_gvhmoseley.asp Official Army biography]