Beaumont Bonaparte Buck

Major General Beaumont Bonaparte Buck (January 16, 1860 – February 10, 1950) was a United States Army officer who served in the Spanish–American War, the Philippine–American War, and World War I. He is best known for his service with the 1st Division during World War I, where he commanded a regiment, brigade and division.

Early life Beaumont Bonaparte Buck was born on January 16, 1860, in Mayhew, Mississippi, to James and Martha Garner Buck. He entered the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, from where he graduated thirty of thirty-nine with the class of 1885. Among his classmates included several men who would later rise to the rank of brigadier general or higher in their military careers, such as Joseph E. Kuhn, Charles H. Muir, John D. Barrette, Robert A. Brown, John M. Carson, Willard A. Holbrook, Henry P. McCain, Robert Michie, Robert L. Bullard, Daniel B. Devore, and William F. Martin. In August 1889, Buck became professor of military science and tactics at the University of Missouri, a position he held until 1892.

Brigadier General Buck (front row, centre), commanding the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, pictured here with members of his brigade staff in Froissy, France, May 1918.

Upon the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, Buck entered the Second Texas Volunteer Infantry as a major and was honorably mustered out of the unit at the end of the war. On March 1, 1899, Buck was promoted to captain.

During the following years, he completed three separate tours of duty in the Philippines during the Philippine–American War and married his wife Susanne Long on December 30, 1908. In 1909, Buck graduated from the United States Army War College. He then served on the faculty of the Army War College from November 1909 to June 1910. In April 1914, Buck was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He subsequently joined the Massachusetts National Guard as an inspector-instructor from December 1914 to June 1917 preparing guardsmen for deployment to the US-Mexican border. In July 1916, Buck was promoted to the rank of colonel. Buck was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for his role in the capture of Berzy-le-Sec during the battle of Soissons. The citation for his DSC reads:

Buck was rewarded for his performance by receiving a promotion to the rank of major general on August 8, 1918, and went on to succeed Major General Joseph T. Dickman in command of the 3rd Division, while Brigadier General Frank E. Bamford took over command of Buck's old 2nd Brigade. Under Buck's command, the 3rd Division fought in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in mid-September, and then the next month in the Meuse–Argonne offensive, where Buck apparently did not perform well and was relieved of his command by General John J. Pershing, commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the AEF. On October 15, at the height of the battle, Pershing visited Buck's 3rd Division headquarters, then at Montfaucon, where "he found the troops mixed, disorganized, and apparently disheartened" and, concluding that Buck was not up to the job of commanding a division (despite having performed very well in command of a regiment and a brigade), made the decision to replace him. Buck was not the only commander to be relieved during the battle, however, as Pershing also relieved Major General John E. McMahon, commanding the 5th Division, and Clarence R. Edwards, commanding the 26th Division, in the same month, for similar reasons. Buck's replacement went to a much younger man, Brigadier General Preston Brown, who replaced him on October 18. His final assignment was as acting chief of staff of the 90th Division, part of the organized reserves, at Camp Travis, beginning August 15, 1921. His full rank was restored by Congress in June 1930, and he published a memoir, entitled Memories of Peace and War, in 1935.

Death and legacy Buck spent his final years in San Antonio, Texas, where he died on February 10, 1950, at the age of 90, and was buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.