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Kilbourne, Charles, Jr., MG.
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Contact Info
Last Address Ft. Myer
Date of Passing Nov 12, 1963
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
First Lieutenant, U.S. Volunteer Signal Corps. Place and Date: At Paco Bridge, Philippine Islands, 5 February 1899. Entered Service At: Portland. Oreg. Birth: Fort Myer, Va. Date of Issue: 6 May 1905.
KILBOURNE, CHARLES E.
Rank and Organization:
Philippine Insurrection Medal of Honor Recipient. He was a First Lieutenant, in the U.S. Volunteer Signal Corps on February 5, 1899, at Paco Bridge, Philippine Islands, when he earned his Medal. His citation reads: Within a range of 250 yards of the enemy and in the face of a rapid fire climbed a telegraph pole at the east end of the bridge and in full view of the enemy coolly and carefully repaired a broken telegraph wire, thereby reestablishing telegraphic communication to the front. He was awarded his Medal on May 6, 1905. He later received the Distinguished Service Cross for "extraordinary heroism in action" near Thiacourt, France, September 12, 1918; the Distinguished Service Medal "for services in 89th Division and 36th Artillery Brigade"; Croix de Guerre (France) for "reconnaissances preparatory to assault on the St. Mihiel Salient," and the Legion of Honor; Philippine and Victory Medals. He later rose to Major General, US Army.
Other Comments:
A Signal Corps officer’s son (Charles Kilbourne Sr., as a captain in 1892, invented the outpost cable cart, which had an automatic spooling device that enabled a soldier to lay two miles of insulated double-conductor telephone cable), Charles Evans Kilbourne Jr. is the only Signal officer to win the Medal of Honor while performing a combat communications mission. The Signal Officer Basic Course at Fort Gordon, Ga., named its leadership award for him, and the Signal Regiment inducted him as a Distinguished Member of the Regiment in 1997.
After LT Kilbourne returned to the United States, he was accepted as an infantry officer in 14th Infantry Regiment. In late 1899, he participated in the Boxer Rebellion in China, where he led his platoon in the assault that captured the Imperial City Gates. After helping suppress the rebellion, his regiment returned to duty in the Philippines, where he performed duties with the provost marshal’s office. It was during this tour that LT Kilbourne made an important career decision; in 1902 he requested and was granted a branch transfer to the Artillery Corps.
Boxer Rebellion (China Relief Service)
From Month/Year
August / 1899
To Month/Year
September / 1901
Description The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising or Yihequan Movement was an anti-imperialist uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty. It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness (Yihetuan), known in English as the "Boxers", and was motivated by proto-nationalist sentiments and opposition to imperialist expansion and associated Christian missionary activity.
The uprising took place against a background of severe disruption caused by the encroachment of America and European nations. After several months of growing frustration against both the unrelenting wave of European and Christian presence in Shandong and the North China plain in June 1900, Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support Qing government and exterminate the foreigners." Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in the Legation Quarter. In response to reports of an armed invasion to lift the siege, the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Boxers and on June 21 issued an Imperial Decree declaring war on the foreign powers. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were placed under siege by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers for 55 days.
Chinese officialdom was split between those supporting the Boxers and those favoring conciliation, led by Prince Qing. The supreme commander of the Chinese forces, the Manchu General Ronglu (Junglu), later claimed that he acted to protect the besieged foreigners. The Eight-Nation Alliance, after being initially turned back, brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeated the Imperial Army, and captured Beijing on August 14, lifting the siege of the Legations. Uncontrolled plunder of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with the summary execution of those suspected of being Boxers.
The Boxer Protocol of 7 September 1901 provided for the execution of government officials who had supported the Boxers, provisions for foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing, and 450 million taels of silver—approximately $10 billion at 2017 silver prices and more than the government's annual tax revenue—to be paid as indemnity over the course of the next thirty-nine years to the eight nations involved. The Empress Dowager then sponsored a set of institutional and fiscal changes in an attempt to save the dynasty by reforming it.
