Arthur MacArthur, Jr. – Lieutenant General, United States Army

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The father of Douglas MacArthur and Arthur MacArthur III, he was born in Massachusetts on June 2, 1845. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was living in Wisconsin and immediately joined the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, seeing action at Chickamauga, Stones River, Chattanooga, the Atlanta Campaign and Franklin. He was awarded the Medal of Honor (in 1890) for service at Missionary Ridge, and he and his son, Douglas, are one of only two father-son recipients of the Medal of Honor in U.S. history (the others being Theodore Roosevelt, who was recently awarded the Medal of Honor for his exploits in the Spanish-American War, and his son, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in World War II).

He left the Army in June 1865 and began the study of law, but it was not for him and he returned to his first love, the Army, in February 1866, receiving a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Regular Army.

For thirty years he traveled the nation, being assigned to Pennsylvania, New York, Utah Territory, Louisiana and New Mexico, and where he took part in the campaign against Geronimo in 1885. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1899. He was stationed in the Dakota Territory when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898 and he was commissioned a Brigadier General of U.S. Volunteers and took part in the capture of Manila. After the war, President William McKinley named him Military Governor of the Philippines, but the following year, William Howard Taft was appointed as Civilian Governor and he and MacArthur clashed frequently (he seemed to resent civilian authority, much as his son, Douglas, did both in World War II and later in Korea). As a result, he was transferred back to the U.S.

In the years that followed he was assigned to various stateside posts and in 1905 was sent to Manchuria to observe the final stages of the Russo-Japanese War and served as Military Attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. He returned to the U.S. in 1906 and resumed his post as Commander of the Pacific Division. That year the position of Army Chief of Staff became available and he was then the highest ranking officer in the Army. However, he was overlooked by Secretary of War William Howard Taft (old arguments bit him in the butt). He never did realize his dream of commanding the entire Army.

He retired from the Army on June 2, 1909, the day that he turned 64. On September 5, 1912, he went to Milwaukee to address a reunion of his Civil War unit. While on the dais, he suffered a massive heart attack and died there. He was originally buried in Milwaukee on Monday, September 7, 1912, but was moved to Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery in 1926. He is buried among other members of the family there, while Douglas lies buried in Norfolk, Virginia.

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MACARTHUR, ARTHUR

  • LT GEN USA
  • VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown
  • DATE OF DEATH: 09/05/1912
  • DATE OF INTERMENT: Unknown
  • BURIED AT:   SITE 856-A
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

MACARTHUR, MARY PINCKNEY HARDY W/O ARTHUR

  • DATE OF DEATH: 12/03/1935
  • DATE OF INTERMENT: 04/22/1937
  • BURIED AT: SECTION EAST  SITE 856-A
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
  • WIFE OF ARTHUR MACARTHUR – LT GEN US ARMY

MacARTHUR, ARTHUR, JR.

Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, and Adjutant, 24th Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: At Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, 25 November 1863. Entered service at: Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Birth: Springfield, Massachusetts. Date of issue: 30 June 1890.

Citation:

Seized the colors of his regiment at a critical moment and planted them on the captured works on the crest of Missionary Ridge.

MRS. A. M’ARTHUR SR.
Widow of Philippines Governor and Mother of Ex-Chief of Staff

MANILA, Philippines – December 3, 1935 – Mrs. Arthur MacArthur Sr., mother of Major General Douglas MacArthur, died today after a long illness.  She was 82 years old.

She had been ill in her hotel suite since she arrived in Manila two months ago. Medicine was brought from the United States by the China Clipper, but it arrived too late.

General MacArthur, former Chief of Staff of theUnited States Army, is military adviser of the Commonwealth Government of the Philippine Islands.

Mrs. MacArthurwas born in Norfolk, Virginia, and was the widow of Major General Arthur MacArthur, former Military Governor of the Philippines.

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Arthur MacArthur (second from left) on duty in the Philippines Courtesy of the National Archives

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