Adolphus W. Greely (1844-1935),Polar Explorer,Note Signed-War Department- c.1890

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Adolphus W. Greely (1844-1935),Polar Explorer,Note Signed-War Department- c.1890:
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Adolphus Washington Greely (1844-1935), polar explorer and Medal of Honor recipient. Autograph note signed, on War Department, Office of the Chief Signal Officer stationery, Washington.No year given, Greely was appointed Chief Signal Officer in 1887. Addressed to a Mr. Church, \"My dear Church,\" a brisk personal note. Two pages, about 4 7/8\" x 8\" (folded.)
Adolphus GreelyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThis articleneeds additional citations forverification.Please helpimprove this articlebyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(October 2012)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)Chief Signal Officer, U.S. Army
Adolphus Washington GreelyAdolphus Greely in 1887BornMarch 27, 20, 1935(aged91)
Washington, D.C.Place of burialArlington National CemeteryAllegianceUnited StatesService/branchUnited States ArmyYearsof service1861 – 1908RankMajor GeneralCommands heldChief Signal OfficerAwardsMedal of Honor
Charles P. Daly Medal(1922)Signature

Adolphus Washington Greely(March 27, 1844 – October 20, 1935), was anAmericanPolarexplorer, aUnited States Armyofficer and a recipient of theMedal of Honor.

Contents[show]

Early military career[edit]

Greely was born on 27 March 1844, inNewburyport,Massachusetts.

He began his long and distinguished military career shortly after the outbreak of theAmerican Civil War. On 26 July 1861 he enlisted in the19th Massachusetts Infantry Regimentat the age of 17, after having been rejected twice before. Over the next two years he worked his way up the enlisted ranks to 1st sergeant.

On 18 March 1863 he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the 81st United States Colored Infantry. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on 26 April 1864 and to captain on 4 April 1865. After the war he received a brevet (honorary promotion) to major to rank from 13 March 1865 for \"faithful and meritorious service during the war\". He was mustered out of the Volunteer Army on 22 March 1867.

He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the36th Infantry Regimentof theRegular Armyon 7 March 1867 and was reassigned to the5th Cavalry Regimenton 14 July 1869 after the 36th Infantry was disbanded. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on 27 May 1873.[1]

Lady Franklin Bay Expedition[edit]SteamerProteusin Arctic 1881The six survivors of the U.S. Army\'s Greely Arctic expedition with their U.S. Navy rescuers, at Upernavik, Greenland, 2–3 July 1884. Probably photographed on board theUSS Thetis.Main article:Lady Franklin Bay Expedition

In 1881, First Lieutenant Greely was given command of theLady Franklin Bay Expeditionon the shipProteus. Promoted byHenry W. Howgate, its purpose was to establish one of a chain of meteorological-observation stations as part of the FirstInternational Polar Year.[2]The expedition also was commissioned by the US government to collect astronomical and polar magnetic data, which was carried out by the astronomerEdward Israel, who was part of Greely\'s crew. Another goal of the expedition was to search for any clues of theUSSJeannette, lost in the Arctic two years earlier.[3]

Greely was without previous Arctic experience, but he and his party were able to discover many hitherto unknown miles along the coast of northwestGreenland. The expedition also crossedEllesmere Islandfrom east to west and Lt.James B. Lockwoodand David L. Brainard achieved a new \"farthest north\" record of 83°23\'8\".[citation needed]

In 1882, Greely sighted amountain rangeduring a dog sledding exploration to the interior of northern Ellesmere Island and named them theConger Range. He also sighted theInnuitian MountainsfromLake Hazen.[citation needed]

Two consecutive supply parties failed to reach Greely\'s party encamped atFort CongeronEllesmere Islandin 1882 and 1883. In accordance with his instructions for this case, Greely decided in August 1883 to abandon Fort Conger and retreat south with his team. They reached Cape Sabine expecting to find food and equipment depots from the supply ships, but these had not been provided. With winter setting in Greely and his men were forced to winter at Cape Sabine with inadequate rations and little fuel.[citation needed]

A rescue expedition, led by Capt.Winfield Scott Schleyon the USRCBear(a formerwhalerbuilt inGreenock, Scotland), was sent to rescue the Greely party. By the timeBearand shipsThetisandAlertarrived on June 22, 1884, to rescue the expedition, nineteen of Greely\'s 25-man crew had perished fromstarvation,drowning,hypothermia, and, in the case of Private Henry, gunshot wounds from an execution ordered by Greely.[4][5]

Greely and the other survivors were themselves near death; one of the survivors died on the homeward journey. The returning survivors were venerated as heroes, though the heroism was tainted by sensational accusations of cannibalism during the remaining days of low food.[6]

Stereoscopicimage of the Greely expedition exhibition at theColumbian Exposition, 1893

An exhibition on the \"Greely expedition\" was part of theColumbian Expositionin 1893 and was captured onstereoscopicimages.

Later career[edit]

In June 1886, Greely was promoted to captain after serving twenty years as a lieutenant and, in March 1887, PresidentGrover Clevelandappointed him as Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army with the rank of brigadier general. (The only other Regular Army officer to be promoted directly from captain to brigadier general since the Civil War wasJohn J. Pershing.)[citation needed]

During his tenure asChief Signal Officerof the Army, the following military telegraph lines were constructed, operated and maintained during theSpanish American War:Puerto Rico, 800 miles (1,300 kilometers);Cuba, 3,000mi (4,800km); thePhilippines, 10,200mi (16,400km). In connection withAlaska, then General Greely had constructed under very adverse conditions atelegraphsystem of nearly 4,000mi (6,400km), consisting of submarine cables, landcables andwireless telegraphy, the latter covering a distance of 107mi (172km), which at the time of installation was the longest commercial system regularly working in the world.[citation needed]

In 1906, he served as military commander over the emergency situation created by theSan Francisco earthquake. On February 10, 1906, he was promoted to major general and on March 27, 1908, he retired, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 64.[citation needed]In 1911 he represented the United States Army at thecoronation of King George V.[citation needed]

On March 21, 1935, a special act of Congress awarded Greely theMedal of Honorin recognition of his long and distinguished career. He is the only person to be awarded the Medal of Honor for \"lifetime achievement\" rather than for acts of physical courage at the risk of one\'s own life. His was the second and last award of the Medal of Honor by the Army for non-combat service.[citation needed](The other was toCharles A. Lindberghfor his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.[citation needed])

General Greely died on October 20, 1935, inWashington, D.C.and is buried inArlington National Cemetery,Arlington, Virginia. His grave is located in section 1, lot 129 grid N/O-32.5.[7]

Personal life[edit]

Greely attended theFirst Presbyterian Church, Newburyport, and married Henrietta Nesmith in 1878 and with her had six children: Antoinette in 1879, Adola in 1881, John in 1885,Rosein 1887, Adolphus in 1889, and Gertrude in 1891.[8]Henrietta was a member of theDaughters of the American Revolutionand one of the founding vice presidents general of theChildren of the American Revolution.

After the Civil War, Greely became a companion of the District of Columbia Commandery of theMilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States- a military society composed of Union officers and their descendants. He was also a member of theSons of the Revolution, theGeneral Society of the War of 1812and theGrand Army of the Republic.[citation needed]

In 1890, he became a founding member of the District of Columbia Society of theSons of the American Revolution(SAR) and was elected as the society\'s vice president. Upon the death of AdmiralDavid D. Porterin February 1891, Greely became president of the District of Columbia Society of the SAR.[citation needed]

In 1905, he accepted the honor of serving as the first president ofThe Explorers Cluband in 1915, he invited theItalianpolar geographerArnaldo Faustinito the United States for a lecture tour.[citation needed]

Honors and awards[edit]

Military decorations and medals:

Medal of Honor(1935)
Civil War Campaign Medal(1907)
Indian Campaign Medal(1907)
Spanish War Service Medal(1918)

Medal of Honor citation[edit]

General Greely received theMedal of Honorin 1935. Rank and organization: Major General, U.S. Army, retired. Place and date: ----. Entered service at: Louisiana. Born: March 27, 1844, Newburyport, Mass. G.O. No.: 3, W.D., 1935. Act of Congress, March 21, 1935.

Citation:

For his life of splendid public service, begun on March 27, 1844, having enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army on July 26, 1861, and by successive promotions was commissioned as major general February 10, 1906, and retired by operation of law on his 64th birthday.

Greely\'s medal was awarded in contradiction to the revised 1916 Army warrant requiring combat action and risk of life \"above and beyond the call of duty.\"[9]However, his medal was the second, and last, Army presentation contrary to the combat requirement, asCharles Lindbergh(an Army reservist not on active duty) received the award for his solo transatlantic flight eight years before, in 1927. Until after WWII the Navy Medal of Honor could be awarded for noncombat actions, reflecting different criteria within the United States armed forces.

Other honors[edit]

He was awarded the 1886Founder\'s Medalof theRoyal Geographical Societyfor his Polar expeditions.[10]

He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship and theDaly Medalby theAmerican Geographical Societyin 1922.[11]

On May 28, 1986, theUnited States Postal Serviceissued a 22 centpostage stampin his honor.[12]

USSGeneral A. W. Greely(AP-141)[edit]

TheUSSGeneral A. W. Greely(AP-141), launched November 1944, was named in his honor.

Fort Greely[edit]

Big Delta Air Force Base, Alaska, was designatedFort Greelyon August 6, 1955, in honor of Major General Adolphus Washington Greely.[13][14]

Dates of Rank[edit]

Enlisted, 19th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry - 26 July 1861
2nd Lieutenant, 81st US Colored Infantry - 18 March 1863
1st Lieutenant, 81st US Colored Infantry - 26 April 1864
Captain, 81st US Colored Infantry - 4 April 1865
Brevet Major, Volunteers - 13 March 1865
Mustered out of Volunteers - 22 March 1867
2nd Lieutenant, 36th Infantry - 7 March 1867
2nd Lieutenant, 5th Cavalry - 14 July 1869
1st Lieutenant, 5th Cavalry - 27 May 1873
Captain, 5th Cavalry - 11 June 1886
Brigadier General, Chief Signal Officer - 3 March 1887
Major General, US Army - 10 February 1906
Retired - 27 March 1908[15]