Major General John Biddle (February 2, 1859 – January 18, 1936) was a career

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 who became

superintendent of the United States Military Academy The superintendent of the United States Military Academy is the academy's commanding officer. This position is roughly equivalent to the chancellor (education), chancellor or University president, president of an American civilian university. T ...

Early life

Biddle was born in

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, Michigan. His father was William Shepard Biddle (1830–1902) and mother was Susan Dayton Ogden (1831–1878). His

Biddle family The Biddle family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an Old Philadelphians, Old Philadelphian family descended from English immigrants William Biddle (1630–1712) and Sarah Kempe (1634–1709), who arrived in the Province of New Jersey in 1681. ...

included many political and military leaders, including grandfather John Biddle (1792–1859) and great-grandfather Charles Biddle (1745–1821). His maternal great-grandfather,

Aaron Ogden Aaron Ogden (December 3, 1756April 19, 1839) was an American soldier, lawyer, United States Senator and the fifth governor of New Jersey. Ogden is perhaps best known today as the complainant in '' Gibbons v. Ogden'' which destroyed the monopoly ...

, served as

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. His maternal grandfather, Elias B. D. Ogden, served as

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of the

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. His siblings were Dr. Andrew P. Biddle, First Lieutenant William S. Biddle Jr. and Eliza (Lily) Biddle, wife of Episcopal Bishop G. Mott Williams. Biddle was raised outside the United States until he was a teenager, and he attended schools in

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and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. He then attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

for a year, where he became a member of

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...

fraternity, but left to attend the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. He graduated in 1881, ranked second of 53. His high class ranking earned him a second lieutenant's commission in the first choice of most top graduates, the Corps of Engineers.

Military career

Biddle was commissioned an engineer. Biddle was in charge of river and harbor work at

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from 1891 to 1898. When 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 ...

broke out, he became Chief Engineer of Volunteers, serving in

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, and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

. From 1901 to 1907 he was Engineer-Commissioner in charge of public works in

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Subsequently, he was in charge of river and harbor work in

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from 1907 to 1911 and then served as an observer with the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

on the Eastern Front from November 1914 to June 1915. He then was in charge of river and harbor improvements in

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. Biddle served as the superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point from July 1916 to June 1917. When the United States entered World War I, he commanded a brigade of engineer regiments, then served as acting United States Army Chief of Staff in Washington while Chief of Staff Tasker Bliss was in

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. In 1918 he was again sent overseas to take charge of American troops in Great Britain and Ireland.

Death

Biddle died in

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after a long illness. He was interred at the

West Point Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, West Point, New York (state), New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Continental Army s ...

. His nephew William Shepard Biddle III (1900–1981), rose to be major general after commanding the 113th Cavalry Regiment in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and the 11th Constabulary Regiment in the German occupation.

Awards and decorations

;United Kingdom *

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(commander) (1919) *

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(knight commander) (1918) ;United States *

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

The citation for his Army DSM reads:

References

Bibliography

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biddle, John 1859 births 1936 deaths

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

University of Michigan alumni United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Detroit United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel 19th-century United States Army personnel American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Recipients of the Silver Star American military personnel of the Philippine–American War Members of the Board of Commissioners for the District of Columbia Superintendents of the United States Military Academy United States Army generals of World War I Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath United States Army generals Burials at West Point Cemetery