William McEntyre Dye

William McEntyre Dye (January 26, 1831 – November 13, 1899) was a soldier from the United States who served in military capacities around the world. He became a brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, a colonel in the Egyptian army and military adviser to the King of Korea.

Civil War Dye was born in Washington, Pennsylvania in 1831 and was appointed to West Point in 1849. He graduated in 1853 as a 2nd lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Infantry. By 1859 he was the regimental quartermaster. In 1862 Colonel Dye commanded the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division of the Army of the Frontier. Dye led the brigade at the battle of Prairie Grove where his division was under the overall command of Brig. Gen. Francis J. Herron. The following year, Dye returned to command of his regiment and was part of Herron's division of reinforcements sent to aid the Union army besieging Vicksburg.

After the fall of Vicksburg, Dye commanded various brigades in the Department of the Gulf. He was in command of a brigade during the Battle of Brownsville. In May 1864 he was brevetted colonel in the U.S. Army for his service in the Red River Campaign. He led his regiment in the attack on Fort Morgan during the battle of Mobile Bay. For the next year he served in the Reserve Corps in the Department of the Gulf. Once again he led his regiment into battle around Mobile, this time at the battle of Fort Blakeley. He was brevetted brigadier general of volunteers dated March 13, 1865 and brevetted colonel U.S.A. on April 9, 1865 for services at Mobile, Alabama. and encouraged him to use other Civil War veterans to help modernize the Egyptian army. In 1873 Dye travelled to Egypt to become one of several Union and Confederate veterans who offered their service to the Khedive. At the battle of Gura Dye was wounded in the foot and later was court martialed for hitting another Egyptian officer. The matter remained unresolved and he returned to the United States in 1878.

Dye would write a book about his experience in the Egyptian Army, titled Moslem Egypt and Christian Abyssinia; Or, Military Service Under the Khedive, in his Provinces and Beyond their Borders, as Experienced by the American Staff. It was published in 1880. He returned to the United States in 1899 but died the same year in Muskegon, Michigan.

He was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.