Stephen Ogden Fuqua

A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Fuqua attended Tulane University, Louisiana State University, and the United States Military Academy and worked for several years as a levee inspector. In 1898 he successfully applied for a commission in the army and was appointed a captain of Infantry. He served in Cuba with the 2nd United States Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish–American War, then in the Philippines with the 29th Infantry Regiment during the Philippine–American War.

Fuqua advanced through the ranks in the early 1900s, including postings to Madison Barracks, New York, Camps Overton and Parang in the Philippines, and Fort Clark, Texas. He graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School in 1907 and the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1908, then served as an inspector and advisor with the California National Guard. He served with the 12th Infantry Regiment at the Presidio of San Francisco and at Fort Huachuca, Arizona during the Pancho Villa Expedition. In the years immediately prior to World War I, he served as director of the Department of Small Arms at the Fort Sill, Oklahoma School of Musketry, then as the school's assistant commandant. During the war, he served as acting chief of staff of the 28th Division, assistant operations officer on the First United States Army staff, and chief of staff of the 1st Division. After taking part in the Post-war occupation of Germany, Fuqua returned to the United States in September 1919 and served again as chief of staff of the 1st Division.

After World War I, Fuqua's assignments included assistant chief of staff for Intelligence (G-2) for Third Corps Area at Fort Howard, Maryland, then for the Hawaiian Department. In the mid-1920s, he served as assistant chief of staff for operations (G-3) for Eighth Corps Area at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, then for Second Corps Area at Fort Jay, New York. From 1926 to 1929 he was executive officer of the 16th Infantry Regiment at Fort Jay, then regimental commander and commander of the post. In 1929, he was appointed U.S. Army Chief of Infantry with the temporary rank of major general, and he served until 1933. He was then appointed U.S. Military Attaché in Spain, where he remained until retiring in 1938.

After retiring, Fuqua resided in Biarritz, France before relocating to Manhattan. He authored books on military topics and was a columnist for Newsweek magazine. In addition, at the start of World War II, Fuqua provided frequent on air analysis for radio news programs. He died in Manhattan on May 11, 1943, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Early life Stephen Ogden Fuqua was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on December 25, 1874, a son of James Overton Fuqua and Jeannette Maria (Foules) Fuqua. His father was an attorney, veteran of the Mexican–American War, and Confederate States Army veteran of the American Civil War. James Fuqua died when Stephen Fuqua was a year old, and Stephen Fuqua was raised by his mother and older siblings, including Henry L. Fuqua, who served as governor of Louisiana from 1924 to 1926. He then attended Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1889 to 1892. In addition, he was a member of LSU's cadet battalion and attained the rank of second sergeant in Company B, then battalion quartermaster sergeant. In June 1891, Fuqua was appointed to the United States Military Academy (West Point) by U.S. Representative Samuel Matthews Robertson, and he attended from June 1892 until withdrawing in June 1893. From 1893 to 1898, Fuqua worked as a U.S. levee inspector on the lower Mississippi River. He commanded Company B, 2nd U.S. Volunteer Infantry during its Spanish–American War service in Cuba, and served until he was mustered out of the volunteers in June 1899.

Later career

After post-war occupation duty in Koblenz, Fuqua returned to the United States in September 1919 and served as chief of staff of the 1st Division, first at Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky, then at Fort Dix, New Jersey. In 1926, Summerall became Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and in 1929 he selected Fuqua to serve as the army's Chief of Infantry as a temporary major general. but Secretary of War James William Good and President Herbert Hoover concurred, and Fuqua received the appointment.

During his tenure as head of the Infantry branch, Fuqua supported design, experimentation, and fielding of tanks in support of Infantry, while opposing the idea of creating a separate Armor Branch. As part of this effort, the army's tank school was moved from Fort Meade, Maryland to Fort Benning, the home of the Infantry school. Despite Fuqua's position, the army embraced the concept of mechanization, including the creation of a separate Armor force.

When his term as Chief of Infantry expired in May 1933, he reverted to his permanent rank of colonel and was assigned as U.S. military attaché in Spain. After observing light tanks armed only with machine guns fail to overcome determined enemy defenses, Fuqua reported to the War Department that tanks were no match for effective anti-tank gun fie and recommended that they be used only in support of attacking Infantry. He then lived first in Biarritz, France, a city near the border with Spain where his wife had resided during the fighting in Spain, then in Manhattan. Fuqua was also a frequent commentator on military events for radio news programs.

Fuqua died in Manhattan on May 11, 1943. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The younger Stephen Fuqua was a 1933 graduate of West Point who attained the rank of brigadier general and was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. Stephen O. Fuqua Jr. was the father of American actor Joseph Fuqua.