William Dorrance Beach


William Dorrance Beach was an American army officer and Brigadier general active during World War I.

Early life

Beach was born in Brooklyn, New York. After attending a private school in New Jersey, Beach went to public schools in New York before entering the United States Military Academy. He graduated number twenty-four of sixty-four in the class of 1879.

Career

Upon graduation, Beach was commissioned in the Third Cavalry and performed frontier duty until 1883. He participated in the Ute Expedition in 1879 and from 1882 to 1883 he was on the Apache Expedition. From 1884 to 1888, Beach was an assistant professor at the United States Military Academy, after which he was on the Mexican border with troops in 1891 and 1892. From 1892 to 1898, Beach was an instructor at the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
During the Spanish–American War, he was a major and Chief Engineer of the cavalry division in the Fifth Corps in Cuba. From 1900 to 1902, he was in the Philippines, and from 1903 to 1906 he was on duty with the War Department General Staff as chief of the military information division. He traveled back to Cuba and was governor of Santa Clara Province. From 1910 to 1912, Beach again traveled to the Philippines and became Chief of Staff of the Philippine Division.
In 1916, he commanded the Eighth Cavalry on the Mexican border, and in 1917 he became a brigadier general and commanded the 176th Infantry Brigade. From May to September 1918, Beach commanded the 88th Infantry Division. Upon his return to the United States, he performed as executive officer of Camp Jackson, South Carolina, until his retirement in 1920.
Beach retired as a colonel but was promoted on the retired list to brigadier general in 1927.

Awards

Beach received two Silver Star Citations and the Distinguished Service Medal from the United States. He also received the Croix de Guerre with palms and officer of the Legion of Honor from France.

Death and legacy

William Dorrance Beach died at the age of seventy-six on June 18, 1932.