Frank L. Winn

Major General Frank Long Winn (4 October 1864 – 24 February 1941) was a United States Army officer who commanded the 177th Infantry Brigade and the 89th Division in France during the final months of World War I.

Early life and education Winn was born and raised in Winchester, Kentucky. He studied at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky for a year before entering the United States Military Academy in July 1882. While at Centre College he was initiated into the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Winn graduated 62nd in a class of 77 in July 1886 and was commissioned as an infantry officer.

Lieutenant Colonel Brehon B. Somervell being decorated with the DSC by Major General Frank L. Winn at Nattenheim, Germany, December 1918.

On 27 August 1917, Winn accepted a temporary promotion to the rank of brigadier general and assumed command of the 177th Infantry Brigade, part of the 89th Division, commanded by Major General Leonard Wood, at Camp Funston in Kansas. He also spent a significant amount of his time from November 1917 to September 1918 serving as acting commander of the 89th Division in Wood's absence.

After his troops completed their training, they arrived in France in June 1918, becoming part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). In September of that year, Major General William M. Wright assumed command of the 89th Division, with Winn, in temporary command, reverting to commanding the 177th Brigade, leading it in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in mid-September and in the Meuse–Argonne offensive which followed soon after. Winn's troops were engaged in combat until the Armistice with Germany. On 14 October 1918, Winn accepted a temporary promotion to major general and assumed command of the 89th Division on the day after the Armistice, November 12, after Wright was promoted to command I Corps.

He returned to the United States with the division in May 1919 where it was demobilized in June. Winn was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his World War I service.

Family and later life Winn married Dora Boardman (29 October 1867 – 23 December 1891) on 5 November 1890, in San Francisco. She died six days after the birth of their only child, a daughter. Winn later remarried with Katharine McCord (8 June 1872 – 2 March 1969) on 15 October 1910, in Milwaukee.

After retirement, Winn and his second wife settled in San Francisco. After a few years, they moved first to Saratoga, California and then to Palo Alto, California. After his death in Palo Alto, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on 9 April 1941.

Winn was the first cousin of John S. Winn (1863–1940), a career soldier who also attained the rank of brigadier general; Frank's father William (1819–1898) and John's father Joshua Nicholas (1821–1901) were brothers, and Frank and John were both grandsons of Phillip Bird Winn (1786–1870) and Martha Fry (Nicholas) Winn (1794–1868).