Stuart Heintzelman was an American soldier who served in the United States Army and achieved the rank of Major General. He took part in the Boxer Rebellion and World War I.
Background
Stuart Heintzelman was born on November 19, 1876 in New York City, New York, United States. He was the son of General Charles Stuart and Emily (Bailey) Heintzelman. He was the third successive member of his family to achieve high command in the United States army, his grandfather, Major-General Samuel Peter Heintzelman, having been a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac under General George B. McClellan in the Civil War. Both his father and grandfather were West Point graduates.
Their earliest ancestor in America was Hieronimus (Jerome) Heintzelman, who went from Germany to England and in 1756 proceeded to America as a lieutenant in the "Royal Americans, " later settling in Manheim, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Education
During his boyhood Heintzelman studied abroad and at Groton School, Groton, Massachussets He entered West Point in 1895 at the age of eighteen and was graduated in 1899, his class receiving their diplomas on February 15.
He graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School in 1905 and from the Army Staff College in 1906.
Career
Heintzelman was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 6th United States Cavalry and was assigned to garrison duty at Fort Riley, Kansas. In July 1899, five months after leaving the Military Academy, he was assigned to the command of the post at Fort Sherman, Idaho.
In 1900 he was sent to the Philippines with the 4th Cavalry and served throughout the Philippine insurrection, 1900-1902, as regimental officer and aide-de-camp. He went to China with the American force which assisted the Allies in putting down the Boxer uprising, and commanded the cavalry of the Allies in the engagement near Tientsin, August 19, 1900.
He proved to be a gifted teacher and served as instructor at the Army Service schools, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from 1909 to 1912 and from 1914 to 1916. In 1916 he was ordered to Princeton University as instructor in military science and was teaching at Princeton when the United States declared war on Germany.
In July 1917 Heintzelman, then a colonel, went to France with the general staff of the American Expeditionary Force. He was attached to the French army as military observer during the Chemin des Dames offensive and was with the French Tenth Army while it was operating in northern Italy. He took part in the St. -Mihiel offensive as chief of staff of the IV Corps and became finally chief of staff of the American II Army, with which he served until it was demobilized in April 1919.
Returning to the United States that same year, he was made director of the Army War College. In 1921 he was appointed to the War Department general staff, serving in turn as chief of the military-intelligence, supply, and war-plans divisions.
The last six years of his life, during which he attained the rank of major-general, December 1, 1931, were spent as commandant of the Command and General Staff School, where he was particularly successful. At the time of his death he had recently been made commanding general of the VII Corps Area.
Heintzelman died following a gall bladder operation at the Army-Navy Hospital, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
Achievements
Connections
During the first tour of duty at Fort Leavenworth Heintzelman married, March 14, 1910, Rubey Bowling of Columbia, Missouri.