Roscoe B. Woodruff

Infobox Military Person
name=Roscoe Barnett Woodruff
born= birth date|1891|02|09
died= Death date and age|1975|04|24|1891|02|09


caption=General Roscoe Barnett Woodruff at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, 1942. U.S. Army Signal Corps photo.
nickname=
placeofbirth= Oskaloosa, Iowa
placeofdeath= San Antonio, Texas
placeofburial=
allegiance= United States of America
branch= United States Army
serviceyears=1913-1952
rank= Lieutenant General
unit=
commands= 77th Infantry Division (United States) VII Corps (United States) 24th Infantry Division (United States) First United States Army
battles=Mexican Border Service World War I World War II *Battle of Mindanao
awards= Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star Bronze Star Purple Heart Commendation Ribbon
relations=
laterwork=

Roscoe Barnett Woodruff was a career U.S. Army officer who served in World War I and as a combat division and corps commander in both European and Pacific theaters of World War II.

Education and Early Career

Woodruff was the first captain of the corps of cadets and a 1915 graduate of the United States Military Academy. His classmates included future World War II generals and his commanding officers, Dwight Eisenhower and Omar N. Bradley.

After graduation, he served on the Mexican border and with the 2nd Infantry Division (United States) in World War I. Major Woodruff attended various Service Schools and served as an instructor in the Department of Tactics at the U.S. Military Academy. In 1938, Lieutenant Colonel Woodruff served in the War Department General Staff operations and tactics section.

World War II

As a colonel, he commanded the 2nd Infantry Division's 23rd Infantry Regiment (United States) then posted at Fort Sam Houston, Texas from July 1941 to January 1942. His West Point classmate, Dwight Eisenhower also arrived there as newly appointed Third United States Army Chief of Staff in June 1941 and promoted to brigadier general in September 1941. Both men were at Fort Sam Houston during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.

With the nation now at war, he was promoted to Brigadier General and assistant division commander of the 77th Infantry Division (United States). From June 1942 to May 1943, Woodruff took full command of the division during its pre-deployment training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina prior to its assignment to the Pacific Theater in the spring of 1944.

In 1943, he took command of VII Corps (United States) in England. Eisenhower, now Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, initially selected Woodruff as one of three corps commanders along with Leonard T. Gerow and Willis D. Crittenberger commander of XIX Corps (United States) for the 1944 Allied or D-Day invasion of France. All three were well known and trusted by Eisenhower. When Woodruff's West Point classmate, General Omar Bradley was selected as commander for the invasion in October 1943, Bradley's concern was that Gerow and Woodruff both lacked experience in amphibious landings or combat command of divisions and corps. Gerow was retained, but Crittenberger moved to command a reserve corps in the Italian campaign and Woodruff, shuffled off to command XIX Corps (United States), Crittenberger's former command for a several weeks, then returned to the United States to command the 84th Infantry Division (United States), then in training at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, from March to June 1944.

In November 1944, Woodruff's chance at large-scale combat command finally came as commander in the Southwest Pacific of the X Corps (United States), 24th Infantry Division (United States). His welcoming reception in theater was celebrated at the division's paratroop headquarters, fueled with five gallons of torpedo alcohol, furnished by Navy patrol boat sailors, as the key ingredient for liquid refreshments. He led his command in the five month Battle of Mindanao to liberate that island of Philippine archipelago from Japanese occupation in the closing phases of the Leyte campaign.

Post-War and Cold War Era

In November 1945, Woodruff became commander of Eighth United States Army's I Corps, part of the allied occupation force in southern Japan.

From February 1948 to March 1951, Woodruff was deputy commanding general of U.S. First Army at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York. Woodruff assumed the role of commanding general in January to March 1949 upon the retirement of General Courtney Hodges and again from October to November 1950 after the General Walter Bedell Smith was appointed the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

In 1951, he took command of XV Corps at Camp Polk (now Fort Polk), Louisiana where he retired in January 1953 after 41 years of active duty.

He and his wife, Alice Gray Woodruff retired to San Antonio, Texas where he died in 1975.

ee also

References

*cite book
last =Ray
first =Max
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The History of the First United States Army From 1918 to 1980
publisher =First United States Army
date=1980
location =Fort Meade MD
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn =

*cite book
last =D'Este
first =Carlo
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life
publisher = Henry Holt
date=2002
location =
pages = 486-487
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=RCeteK7LEiYC&pg=PA486&lpg=PA486&dq=roscoe+b+woodruff&source=web&ots=al06xguQ_Z&sig=cNP-RbT0r9SawfmIKDytFXD_K3M#PPA486,M1
doi =
id =
isbn =9780805056860

*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 13: The Liberation of the Philippines
publisher = University of Illinois Press
date= 2002
location =
pages = 49
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=nICvzYNBKiUC&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=roscoe+b+woodruff&source=web&ots=dc6TXiOB_I&sig=NvOFOiporr15P5Z43y2f9VBxUcM#PPA49,M1
doi =
id =
isbn =025207064X

*Citation
last =
first =
author-link =
title = New Deputy Commander Joins the First Army
newspaper =New York Times
pages =5
year =1948
date= March 9, 1948
url = http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA0F17FE3954177A93CBA91788D85F4C8485F9

*Citation
last =
first =
author-link =
title =First Army Deputy Named to Command XV Corps
newspaper =New York Times
pages =14
year =1951
date=February 20, 1951
url = http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20D11FA3A5C10728DDDA90A94DA405B8189F1D3

*Citation
last =
first =
author-link =
title =15th Corps Chief Retires After 41 Years' Service
newspaper =New York Times
pages =32
year =1953
date=February 1, 1953
url =http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FB0910FD345E107A93C3A91789D85F478585F9

External links

* [http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/brief/icorps.htm I Corps - A Brief History 1862-1953]
* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003143-00/sec4.htm "Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. Securing the Surrender: Marines in the Occupation of Japan " by Charles R. Smith]
* [http://www.history.army.mil/lineage/cc/084id.htm The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 Combat Chronicle- 84th Infantry Division]
* [http://home.thirdage.com/military/friends2idww2/Regimental_History_23rd_IR_1945.html History of the 23rd Regiment in World War II]
* [http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/listofholdingshtml/finding_aids_w.html Roscoe B. Woodruff Manuscript of "The World War II of Major General Roscoe B. Woodruff", Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library]

Persondata
NAME =Roscoe Barnett Woodruff
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = 1915 West Point graduate and career U.S. Army officer 1915-1953.
DATE OF BIRTH = February 9, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH = Oskaloosa, Iowa
DATE OF DEATH = April 24, 1975
PLACE OF DEATH = San Antonio, Texas