Harry Gore Bishop – Major General, United States Army

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GENERAL BISHOP IS FOUND SLAIN; VERDICT SUICIDE
Army Artillery Chief Four Years

WASHINGTON, August 31, 1934 – Major General Harry G. Bishop, Chief of Artillery of the Army from 1930 to 1934, was found shot to death this afternoon at his home in 16th Street.  He was 59 years old.

A verdict of suicide was rendered some hours later after an investigation by the coroner.  He had been in bad health for the last year and was frequently under treatment at the Walter Reed Hospital.

General Bishop was one of the most distinguished Army officers and was the holder of citations in two wars.  He completed his tour of duty at Chief of Artillery last March 9 and only today was notified that he had been retired for disability with the rank of Major General.  Worry over the notification, it was reported among friends, was probably responsible for his act.

Mrs. Bishop, who survives, is the former wife of Major General Benjamin D. Foulois, Chief of the Army Air Corps.

Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, November 22, 1874, General Bishop was appointed to West Point from Indiana in 1893.

After a year in the Infantry he was transferred to the Field Artillery.  After nearly 40 years of an arduous Army career he rose to be Chief of that branch of the service.

General Bishop saw service on the Mexican Border during the disturbances in 1916 and when the United States entered the World War was made a Brigadier General.  He commanded the 159th Field Artillery in France and later was transferred to the Third Artillery Brigade in command.  He received the Distinguished Service Medal for his record during the Meuse-Argonne offensive and was made an officer of the French Legion of Honor.

After the war he served as Chief of the Philippine Department.  He returned to the United States In 1925 to command the 15th Field Artillery at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.  He was in command of the Hawaiian Department until his appointment as Chief of Artillery.

GENERAL HARRY BISHOP KILLS SELF WITH GUN

WASHINGTON, August 31, 1934 – Major General Harry G. Bishop. 59, who was ordered retired from the Army this morning because of disabilities committed suicide late today by firing a revolver shot through his brain.

A housekeeper found his body in the upper room of his home in a fashionable section of Sixteenth Street.  Coroner A. M. MacDonald issued a certificate of suicide.

General Bishop was married some years ago to Mrs. Ella Van Horn Foulois, divorced wife of Major General Benjamin D. Foulois, Chief of the Army Air Corps.  She herself is a patient at Walter Reed Hospital, recovering from a major operation.  She was not immediately informed of her husband’s death.

For his service in the World War the General was decorated with the Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Honor of France.

He had been suffering with heart trouble for nearly two years and during the last year had suffered from chronic colitis which, according to Army friends, caused him continual and intense pain.  He was recently in the hospital for a long period.

NOTE: He was the brother-in-law of Edgar Thomas Collins, Major General, United States Army.

BISHOP, HARRY GORE
Major General, United States Army
DATE OF DEATH: 08/31/1934
BURIED AT: SECTION 2  SITE 4669

 

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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