Arthur Barrett Donnelly (May 31, 1875 – July 29, 1919) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Biography

Donnelly was born in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

on May 31, 1875. On December 7, 1892, he enlisted in the 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment. By the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, Donnelly commanded his company, and by the time he participated in the

Pancho Villa Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, US Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the para ...

in 1916, he commanded his regiment. On January 8, 1917, he was promoted to Adjutant General of the

Missouri National Guard The Missouri National Guard (MONG), commonly known as the Missouri Guard, is a component of the Army National Guard and Missouri State Department of the National Guard. It is composed of Army National Guard, Army and Missouri Air National Guard, A ...

, holding the rank of brigadier general. On March 25, 1917, Missouri's governor gave Donnelly an indefinite leave of absence to assume command of the 1st Missouri Infantry. After his appointment as a brigadier general on August 5, 1917, he commanded the

69th Infantry Brigade The 69th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army in the Second World War. It was a second-line Territorial Army formation, and fought in the Battle of France with the 23rd (Northumbrian) Division. The brigade was later part ...

at what is now

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...

. In addition to his service in the military, Donnelly worked at the Hamilton-Brown Shoe Company from 1901 to 1906 as a factory department manager, and from 1906 to 1908 as an assistant factory superintendent and buyer. He later served as president of the leather goods producer Arthur B. Donnelly and Company, as well as the Interstate Mercantile Company and Missouri Paint Varnish Company. In April 1918, Donnelly was accused of

Conduct unbecoming an officer Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman (or conduct unbecoming for short) is an offense that is subject to court martial in the armed forces of some nations. Use in the United Kingdom The phrase was used as a charge in courts martial of t ...

for drinking, gambling, and allowing officers under his command to do so. Rather than face court-martial, he resigned his brigadier general's appointment and applied for a commission at a lower rank. Donnelly was commissioned as a major and assigned to duty with the 11th Infantry Division's

71st Infantry Regiment The 71st New York Infantry Regiment is an organization of the New York State Guard. Formerly, the 71st Infantry was a regiment of the New York State Militia and then the Army National Guard from 1850 to 1993. The regiment was not renumbered du ...

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Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

.Ward Schrantz: "A Machine-Gunner in France: The Memoirs of Ward Schrantz, 35th Division", University of North Texas Press, , pages 49 and 50 While conducting a post-war East Coast sightseeing tour, Donnelly was killed in an automobile accident near

Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania Blue Ridge Summit is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States, southwest of Gettysburg in the central part of the state, adjoining Pennsylvania's southern border with Maryland. It ...

on July 29, 1919. The crash injured his wife, daughter, two sons and other passengers. Donnelly was interred at Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum in St. Louis.

Personal life

Donnelly married Anna Pike Renick on May 10, 1898. He was a member of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as well as a Republican.

References

External links

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Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Arthur Barrett 1875 births 1919 deaths Military personnel from St. Louis Adjutants general of the National Guard of the United States United States Army generals of World War I United States Army generals Road incident deaths in Pennsylvania Missouri National Guard personnel United States Army personnel of World War I 19th-century United States Army personnel