The Centenary of World War One has come and gone.  A few books published, but mostly, no special remembrances occurred that garnered much attention here in the U.S. compared to Europe.  Of course, the First World War affected Europe much harsher and for a much longer period than the United States.  The war dragged on for a little over four long years Over There with America only involved for a little more than the last year and a half. One American who did stand out was Ulysses G. McAlexander, nicknamed “Rock of the Marne” for his leadership in one of the earliest battles American forces did fight.

NOTE: I wrote this article originally for the Oregon State University alumni magazine, so forgive the OSU-centric text. 😉

GREAT WAR IN AMERICAN MEMORY

One could fairly say that the Great War might have been the signal event of the 20^th Century – it certainly was of the early part.  Without WWI, would there have been a WWII?  Fascism?  Communism? A Holocaust? Universal suffrage here and abroad? Or would the old monarchies have held on and the 19^th century continued a bit longer?

The war brought the United States onto the World stage in a big way, as well – first as banker and supplier and second as an enthusiastic participant.  The U.S. involved just long enough to get bloodied a bit and demonstrate the power of its economic might.  And then, America tried to turn her back on the World, being successful for a number of years until WWII caused a refocus.

World War One was a big event for the United States at the time of the war and during the interwar period.  From a prewar Army consisting of only 100,000 men – with another 120,000 in a National Guard that just stepped away from its State militia days as a State militia, some four million men mobilized with almost two million men reaching Europe by the summer of 1918. One million of those served on the frontlines. Those who died – 110,000 of whom 45,000 died of the Spanish flu – and those who served remembered well.

GREAT WAR COMES TO OREGON STATE

That is, until December 4, 1941.  The Second World War dwarfed the first horrible conflagration to the point that memory dimmed.  And so even here at Oregon State, people forgot.  Forgot that many Oregon Staters served, were wounded or died.  Over 1,400 signed up and over 50 died with many more suffering wounds. One Beaver wounded in France, Douglas McKay, went on to become the Governor of Oregon.  Another, honored with the Medal of Honor, Edward Allworth, played a prominent role in erecting the Memorial Union Building. He served as the manager for thirty years.

That brings us to Oregon State’s most famous individual involved with the Great War – Ulysses Grant McAlexander.  We might be familiar with the McAlexander Fieldhouse. set off from Jefferson Way across from the Valley Library.  Students may be more familiar with the sports courts within the old Armory. That was the original name until 1971. The building renamed in the old general’s honor and renovated by the university for intramural sports.

ROTC and AFROTC students have a more personal relationship with the general. Each time they go up the stairs to their classes in the front part of the Fieldhouse, they pass a larger-than-life bronze bust of McAlexander placed in a entrance corner.

GRANT MCALEXANDER’S WEST POINT HERITAGE

Grant McAlexander (he rarely used his first name) christened, of course, after the Union general and 18^th President of the United States, Ulysses S Grant.  McAlexander’s father was away from his wife at the time of his son’s birth. He was fighting as a part of a Minnesota volunteer regiment fighting in the Civil War.  His name was Commodore Perry McAlexander, so naming his son after another American hero must have seemed natural.  Grant grew up in Minnesota and Kansas. He listened to the stories of his father and his friends and decided a military life was for him.

In 1883, he gained an appointment to West Point and graduated 53^rd out of a class of 64 in 1887.  He served several years on the western Plains of the Dakotas and Montana before tabbed to teach military science at Iowa Wesleyan University (sadly closing 2022-2023 after 166 years) in Mt Pleasant, Iowa.  Three years there in the early 1890’s would give him the experience he would put to good use in Corvallis.

CUBA, PHILIPPINES AND OREGON AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE

The Spanish American War in 1898 saw him posted to forces involved in the actions on San Juan Hill. He would later gain a Silver Star for his efforts there. Then he was off to the Philippines involved in actions in northern Luzon.

Back to the US, then another year in the Philippines and some time in Washington, DC with duties on the General Staff before the now captain posted to Oregon Agricultural College in 1907, the Professor of Military Science and Tactics.  He served two periods at OAC – 1907-1911 and 1915-1916 – and while there the Armory erected.

OAC-OSU is a land-grant university.  Land-grant schools could use the proceeds of the sale of federal lands to the betterment of the school.  In return, the schools were to take a focus on education more practical than traditional liberal arts schools.  Courses were to include engineering, agriculture, science and military science.  Military science was added to the Congressional bill in 1861 in response to the dirth of Northerners with military experience.

The Federal government until World War One depended upon volunteers from the various States in times of need. Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, Filipino-American War, border defense during the Mexican Revolution with those volunteers needing officers of experience to lead them.  Army officers brought in after 1866 to help teach. OSU became a land-grant school in 1868. The first Army officer was Captain Benjamin D. Boswell assigned to command the first Corps of Cadets at OAC in 1872. His role to teach and lead the students.

All male students enrolled in the military science courses while at the college.  They were not commissioned when they graduated until after 1916 when the Reserve Officer Training Course program supplanted the former Corps of Cadets.  The first two years of ROTC training was mandatory for male students up until 1961.

THE MAJOR AT OAC

Major Ulysses McAlexander – promoted while at Corvallis – was well liked at OAC.  Army officers normally served for three years at a school unless the faculty asked for another year – he was at OAC for four years.  In return, McAlexander noted about his students, “They are the best fellows that I have ever seen.  There is real good hard military sense in this bunch of boys.  A large number of them are working their way through college.  They are serious-minded fellows, most of ‘em, but ready for a frolic at the proper time.  If the occasion ever arises when their country is in need of soldiers, I am sure the boys at OAC will be on the firing line, making good.”

McAlexander stayed in high regard and soon after his experience at OAC, assigned as an instructor for the 3^rd Oregon Volunteers – soon-to-be Oregon National Guard – before returning one last time to OAC in 1915-1916.

A WORLD WAR INTERCEDES

World War One raged in Europe by now with McAlexander training men at camps like Monterrey and American Lake, gaining promotions to Lieutenant Colonel and finally Colonel.  Tabbed to be one of the early colonels to head for France in 1917 with the initial units of the American Expeditionary Force – AEF.

Given command of the 18^th Infantry Regiment of the 1^st Infantry Division.  A disagreement with training protocol – the 1^st Division commander a Francophile and McAlexander, much like Pershing, not – sidelined the colonel for five months before given another command – the 38^th Infantry Regiment of the 3^rd Infantry Division.

ROCK OF THE MARNE

With the 38^th Regiment, Ulysses McAlexander became famous.  He led that regiment during their defense – 15-18 July 1918 – along the Marne River – only fifty kilometers east of Paris – stopping six German regiments in what turned out to be the last German offensive of the war.  Three days later, he led from the front as his regiment crossed over the Marne and took the battle to the Germans in the early part of the Battle of the Second Marne – the turning point of World War One – well documented in the book by Stephen Harris, The Rock of the Marne.

Ulysses McAlexander became one of the true heroes for America in World War One, probably second known only behind Sergeant York.  Awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Service Cross for his efforts on the Marne. He would have gained the Medal of Honor, but his brigade commander thought that that medal was not as illustrious as the DSC. He also gained two French Croix de Guerre and the Italian Croce al Merito di Guerra. General Pershing personally recognized him for performing actions truly deserved for remembrance in the military annals of the US.  Promoted to brigadier general, McAlexander led the 180^th – Texas – Infantry Brigade to successes in both the St Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. 

MCALEXANDER POSTWAR

He would retire from the Army in 1924 as a Major General to homes he bought in Newport and Portland.  For OAC, his important postwar works included helping to rework the new ROTC program at OAC and help Edward Allworth in the establishment of the Memorial Union in remembrance of OAC alumni who had died either in the Spanish-American (and Fil-Am War) and World War One.  He ran for Governor of Oregon in 1934 but was defeated in the Republican primary – his West Point classmate Charles H. Martin eventually being elected as a Democrat.  Two years later, Ulysses McAlexander died in Portland of a heart attack and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Today, the general is somewhat forgotten even on the campus of OSU.  His bronze bust shifted into a corner of a building that few outside of the ROTC/AFROTC programs ever visit.

Perhaps a better location would be in the MU which he helped build.  A fitting place for the “Rock of the Marne”.