Walter Augustus Bethel (November 25, 1866 – January 11, 1954) was a career officer in the

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 ...

. A veteran of 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 ...

and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he attained the rank of major general and was most notable for his service as

Judge Advocate General of the United States Army The Judge Advocate General of the United States Army (TJAG) is the senior officer of the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army. Under Title 10 of the United States Code, the TJ ...

from 1923 to 1924.

Early life

Bethel was born in

Freeport, Ohio :''Freeport is also the former name of the Warren County town of Oregonia.'' Freeport is a village in southwestern Harrison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 321 at the 2020 census. History Freeport was laid out in 1810. A post ...

, the son of David Ridgley Bethel and Rebecca Jane (Brown) Bethel. He entered 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 ...

and graduated number fourteen in the class of 1889. Among his fellow graduates included several men who would become

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

s, such as

Charles Dudley Rhodes Charles Dudley Rhodes (February 10, 1865 – January 24, 1948) was a United States Army major general. He was a prominent commander of cavalry units from the Indian Wars through World War I, and was a lecturer and author. Early life The son of M ...

Clement Flagler Clement Alexander Finley Flagler (August 17, 1867 – May 7, 1922) was a United States Army Major General who was noteworthy as regimental, brigade and division commander in World War I. The son of Daniel Webster Flagler and grandson of Cleme ...

Eben Eveleth Winslow Eben Eveleth Winslow (May 13, 1866 – June 28, 1928) was a career officer in the United States Army. He graduated from the United States Military Academy ranked first in the Class of 1889, and served in the Army's Corps of Engineers. A veteran ...

Frank Daniel Webster Frank, FRANK, or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a Germanic people in late Roman times * Franks, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusa ...

, William G. Haan, Winthrop S. Wood, Chester Harding, William L. Kenly, Joseph D. Leitch, William S. Graves,

George LeRoy Irwin George LeRoy Irwin (April 26, 1868 – February 19, 1931) was a Major general (United States), major general of the United States Army. Fort Irwin National Training Center is named in his honor. Early life Irwin was born on April 26, 1868, at ...

, William Wright Harts, Edward McGlachlin Jr., Charles Crawford and

William Lassiter William Lassiter (September 29, 1867 – March 29, 1959) was a career officer in the United States Army. He was a veteran of the Spanish–American War, occupation of Veracruz, World War I, and the occupation of the Rhineland and attained the rank ...

Charles Young Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

was another distinguished graduate, becoming the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to attain the rank of colonel.

Career

Bethel was commissioned in the artillery. He received his

B.L. BL (or similar) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Boys' love, a Japanese term for fiction featuring romantic relationships between male characters * BL Publishing, a division of the wargames manufacturing company, Games Workshop * ''Boston ...

degree from Atlanta Law School in 1892 and switched to the Judge Advocate General's Department. In 1894, he received his

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree from Columbian Law School (now

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest law school in Washington, D. ...

) in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

During 1894 and 1895, he was an instructor of chemistry at the United States Military Academy. From 1895 to 1899 he instructed law at West Point. He served on the Puerto Rican Expedition from January to November 1898.Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. ''Generals in Khaki''. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press, 1998. P. 33-34 On August 5, 1917, he was promoted to brigadier general and was the Judge Advocate General from 1917 to 1920. After the war, he served in the JAG headquarters in Washington. In 1923, Bethel became the Judge Advocate General of the army, with the rank of major general. In 1924, he retired due to poor eyesight, and from 1926 to 1947 he engaged in the practice of international law. In 1940, Atlanta Law School awarded Bethel the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

Awards

He received the

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. ...

for his actions during

, the citation for which reads:

Death and legacy

Walter Augustus Bethel died at the age of eighty-seven on January 11, 1954.Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. ''Generals in Khaki''. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press, 1998. P. 34

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bethel, Walter Augustus 1866 births 1954 deaths United States Army generals of World War I United States Army generals United States Military Academy alumni Atlanta Law School alumni George Washington University Law School alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) American lawyers United States Military Academy faculty Military personnel from Ohio Burials at West Point Cemetery 19th-century United States Army personnel