Edmund Wittenmyer (April 25, 1862 − July 5, 1937) was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I, in addition to several other conflicts, he attained the rank of major general and was most notable for his service as commander of 153rd Infantry Brigade, 77th Division and the 7th Division during World War I.
Early life
Edmund Wittenmyer was born in Buford, Ohio on April 25, 1862, a son of Daniel G. Wittenmyer and Rebecca Ann (Murphy) Wittenmyer. He was educated in the schools of Highland County, Ohio and at age 15 he began teaching school in West Union, Ohio. In 1883 he was accepted to the United States Military Academy. He graduated in 1887, ranked 55th in a class of 64. Among his classmates included several general officers of the future, such as Charles Gerhardt, Charles S. Farnsworth, Nathaniel Fish McClure, Michael Joseph Lenihan, Herman Hall, William Weigel, Ernest Hinds, Mark L. Hersey, James Theodore Dean, Frank Herman Albright, Marcus Daniel Cronin, George Owen Squier, Thomas Grafton Hanson, George Washington Gatchell, Alexander Lucian Dade and Ulysses G. McAlexander.
Start of career
Witenmyer was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry and assigned to the 9th Infantry Regiment. He was posted to San Diego Barracks, California, where he remained until 1891. In 1892, he was posted to Fort Wingate, New Mexico. In 1893, he was on duty at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Wittenmyer was a student at the Infantry and Cavalry School from 1893 to 1895, and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1894. He then served with the 15th Infantry at Fort Sheridan, Illinois and Fort Bayard, New Mexico. While at Fort Bayard he served first as regimental quartermaster, and then as regimental adjutant.
During the Spanish–American War, he was first posted to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where his regiment conducted security patrols on the Mexico–United States border. In November 1898, he was in Huntsville, Alabama with his regiment awaiting transport to Cuba. In January 1899, he was assigned to duty in Puerto Principe. In March, 1899 he was promoted to captain.
In July 1899, Wittenmyer returned to the United States with the 15th Infantry. Again assigned as regimental adjutant, Wittenmyer was with the 15th Infantry in the autumn of 1899, when it participated in the China Relief Expedition. When the Army organized forces in China into brigades, Wittenmyer was appointed adjutant of the Second Brigade. He was then appointed to command of Company D, 15th Infantry, which was assigned to Legaspi, Cagdianao during the Philippine–American War. He participated in several expeditions against Filipino insurgents until February 1902, when he was assigned to temporary paymaster duty in Manila. He returned to the United States in April 1903 and performed paymaster duties in the Washington, D.C. office of the Paymaster General.
Continued career
In March 1906, Wittenmyer was assigned to the 5th Infantry at Plattsburgh Barracks, New York. In October 1906, his regiment deployed as part of the Army of Cuban Pacification during the Second Occupation of Cuba, and he served there until 1908. Upon returning to the United States, Wittenmyer was assigned as the 5th Infantry's adjutant, a post he held until January 1910.
Wittenmyer served on the Army General Staff from January 1910 to March 1911. In February 1911, he was promoted to major. In April 1911, he was a member of an Army board that considered locations for Army and National Guard training sites. After serving on the War College staff, Wittenmyer was assigned to the 27th Infantry at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. In February 1913, he was with the 27th Infantry when it was posted to Texas City, Texas for border security during the Mexican Revolution.
In July 1913, Wittenmyer was assigned as U.S. military attaché in Havana, Cuba and military advisor to the president of Cuba. He remained in this post until the summer of 1917, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in July 1916 and colonel in May 1917, a month after the American entry into World War I.
World War I
In August 1917, Wittenmyer was promoted to temporary brigadier general for World War I and assigned to command of the 153rd Infantry Brigade, a unit of the 77th Division. The brigade served in France beginning in April 1918, including completing its training in the Calais Sector before relieving the 42nd Division on the front lines of the Baccarat Sector in June 1918.