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Contact Info
Home Town Dundas
Last Address Newport, OR
Date of Passing Sep 18, 1936
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Born August 30, 1864 at Dundas, Minnesota, he grew up there and in Kansas. He graduated from West Point in 1887 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry.
He embarked upon a career entirely unremarkable until it was nearly at an end. He served several periods as an instructor in Military Science & Tactics, Iowa Wesleyan College, 1891-95 and at Oregon State College in both 1907-11 and 1915-16.
During the Spanish-American War, with the rank of Captain of Volunteers, he took part in the Santiago Campaign and in 1900-02, 1905-06 and 1912-15, was on duty in the Philippines, commanding the 13th Minnesota Infantry in the Spanish American War. OSU's McAlexander Fieldhouse is named after him. His 13th Minnesota campaigned with the 2nd Oregon in the Phillipines.
In 1906-07, he was assigned to duty with the General Staff in Washington. He was promoted to Captain in march 1899, Major in January 1911, Lieutenant Colonel, July 1916, and Colonel in May 1917. In June 1917, after a year as an instructor and inspector with the Oregon National Guard, he was ordered to France. From July to December he commanded the 18th Infantry and was then on the Inspector General's staff until May 1918.
Given command of the 38th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, he was assigned to a portion of the Marne River front near Moulins, France, where the great German offensive of July 1918, the second Battle of the Marne, occurred. German forces crossed the river early on July 15. All along a 50-mile front they advanced up to four miles beyond the Marne, except at Moulins, where the 38th, bearing the brunt of the initial attack and subsequently coming under fire from both flanks as other regiments fell back, held a wooded rise for 21 hours. That brilliant and courageous action blunted the offensive, which bogged down on July 16 and entirely ended on July 18. He and the 38th were both dubbed "The Rock of the Marne."
"A three-hour artillery pounding of the 3rd Division's position announced the beginning of the offensive. In the dark of night, boats ferried the first waves of troops from the German Seventh Army. In short order, French and American defenses closest to the southern flanks of the river crumbled and were overrun. The swarming enemy was so well established on the Division's right flank that its position should have been untenable. And exactly here stood McAlexander's 38th, beset from both sides. Apparently, McAlexander had expected just these developments." At this point in his story, writer Kelly quotes the historian S.L.A. Marshall from Marshalls book World War I. Said Marshall: "Without yielding his hold on the Marne embankment, McAlexander refused both flanks so that his regimental front stood like a horseshoe, one battalion forward, one on either side." Here, Kelly picks up the story again: "Try as they would, the Germans could not move this rock in their midst. His (McAlexanders) 38th held out...and held out. Robert McHenry in Webster's American Military Biographies reports it this way: "German forces crossed the river early on July 15; all along the 50-mile front they advanced up to four miles beyond the Marne except at the Moulins, where the 38th, bearing the brunt of the initial attack and subsequently coming under fire from both flanks as other regiments fell back, held a wooded rise for 21 hours. That brilliant and courageous action blunted the offensive, which bogged down on the 16th and ended entirely on the 18th." Kelly concludes: "Because of their steadfastness, McAlexander and his 38th Infantry Regiment became known from then on as the Rock of the Marne."
In August 1918, he was promoted to temporary Brigadier General and given command of a Brigade in the 90th Infantry Division, which he led in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne operations and which he also commanded in occupation duty in Germany until June 1919. He was made permanent Brigadier General in March 1921 and retired in July 1924 as a Major General.
He died at Portland, Oregon, September 18, 1936 and was buried in Section 7 of Arlington National Cemetery.
His wife, May Skinner McAlexander (1865-1920), is buried with him.
Distinguished Service Cross
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Brigadier General Ulysses Grant McAlexander, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while Commanding the 38th Infantry Regiment, 3d Division, A.E.F., near Jaulgonne, France, 22 July 1918. General McAlexander, then a colonel, commanding the 38th infantry, displayed exceptional gallantry when his regiment, attacking without support on either flank, was stopped by severe machine-gun and artillery fire, by going ahead of the most advanced elements of his command, and in full view of the enemy, leading his men by force of his own example to the successful assault of Jaulgonne and the adjoining heights. Later in the day, when progress was again checked, he personally reconnoitered to within 50 yards of hostile machine-gun nests, and through information thus obtained, was enabled to hold an advanced position, with both flanks exposed, for more than 36 hours.
General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 37 (1919) Action Date: 22-Jul-18
Army Distinguished Service Medal
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Brigadier General Ulysses Grant McAlexander, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. General McAlexander commanded the 38th Infantry Regiment, 3d Division, with marked distinction in repelling the German attack at Mezy, south of the Marne, in July 1918. He exhibited particular skill and energy as a Brigade Commander in the operations at the St. Mihiel salient and in the Argonne-Meuse offensive. The successful accomplishment of the missions of his Brigade in all cases were in a large measure due to this sound judgment and leadership.
General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 59 (1919)
Other Comments:
Military hero known as the Rock of the Marne, McAlexander served as Commandant of Cadets at Oregon Agricultural College from 1907 to 1911 and again from 1915 to 1916.
Major-General Ulysses Grant McAlexander was born 30 August 1864 at Dundas, Minnesota and graduated from West Point in 1887. He served at Fort Meade in the Dakota Territory and Fort Custer and Fort Missoula, Montana. McAlexander fought in Cuba during the Spanish American War and served in the Phillipines from 1900 to 1907.
In 1907, he was appointed Commandant of Cadets and Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Oregon Agricultural College. He was greatly admired by the students and the 1912 Orange was dedicated to him. The armory, built in 1911, was also dedicated to him and in 1971 was renamed the McAlexander Fieldhouse.
In July 1918, Colonel McAlexander commanded the greatly outnumbered 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment against German forces at the second Battle of the Marne, for which he was promoted to Brigadier General, awarded many military honors, and became known as the "Rock of the Marne".
McAlexander retired from the Army in 1924 and chose Newport, Oregon as his home. Oregon State Agricultural College conferred an honorary doctorate upon him in 1930. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1934 Republican gubernatorial primary election. McAlexander died at his home in Portland, Oregon, on 18 September 1936 and was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.
World War I/Meuse-Argonne Campaign
From Month/Year
September / 1918
To Month/Year
November / 1918
Description Meuse-Argonne, 26 September - 11 November 1918. At the end of August Marshal Foch had submitted plane to the national commanders for a final offensive along the entire Western Front, with the objective of driving the enemy out of France before winter and ending the war in the spring of 1919. The basis for his optimism was the success of Allied attacks all along the front in August. Furthermore, he pointed out, the Allies already had active operations in progress between the Moselle and Meuse, the Oise and Aisne, and on the Somme and Lys Rivers. Foch acknowledged that the Germans could stave off immediate defeat by an orderly evacuation combined with destruction of materiel and communications. Therefore the overall aim of the fall offensive would be to prevent a step-by-step enemy retirement. As Foch anticipated, the Germans eventually contributed to the success of his strategy. Their High Command could not bring itself to sacrifice the huge stores collected behind the front lines, and so delayed the withdrawal of its armies.
Foch's great offensive, planned to begin in the last week of September, called for a gigantic pincers movement with the objective of capturing Aulnoye and Mézières, the two key junctions in the lateral rail system behind the German front. Lose of either of these junctions would hamper seriously the German withdrawal. Despite grumbling from the English that they lacked the necessary manpower, a chiefly British army was assigned the teak of driving toward Aulnoye. The A.E.F. was designated for the southern arm of the pincers, the thrust on Mézières. Simultaneously the Belgian-French-British army group in Flanders would drive toward Ghent, and the French armies in the Oise-Aisne region would exert pressure all along their front to lend support to the pincers attack.
Pershing decided to strike his heaviest blow in a zone about 20 miles wide between the Heights of the Meuse on the east and the western edge of the high, rough, and densely wooded Argonne Forest. This is difficult terrain, broken by a central north-south ridge that dominates the valleys of the Meuse and Aire Rivers. Three heavily fortified places-Montfaucon, Cunel, and Barricourt-as well as numerous strong points barred the way to penetration of the elaborate German defenses in depth that extended behind the entire front. This fortified system consisted of three main defense lines backed up by a fourth line less well-constructed. Pershing hoped to launch an attack with enough momentum to drive through these lines into the open area beyond, where his troops could then strike at the exposed German flanks and, in a coordinated drive with the French Fourth Army coming up on the left, could cut the Sedan- Mézières railroad.
The task of assembling troops in the concentration area between Verdun and the Argonne was complicated by the fact that many American unite were currently engaged in the St. Mihiel battle. Some 600,000 Americans had to be moved into the Argonne sector while 220,000 French moved out. Responsibility for solving this tricky logistical problem fell to Col. George C. Marshall, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3 (Operations), First Army. In the ten-day period after St. Mihiel the necessary troop movements were accomplished, but many untried divisions had to be placed in the vanguard of the attacking forces.
On the 20-mile Meuse-Argonne front where the main American attack w to be made, Pershing disposed three corps side by side, each with three divisions in line and one in corps reserve. In the center was the V Corps (from right to left the 79th, 37th, and 91st Divisions with the 32d in reserve), which would strike the decisive blow. On the right was the III Corps (from right to left the 33d, 80th, and 4th Divisions with the 3d in reserve), which would move up the west aide of the Meuse. On the left was the I Corps (from right to left the 35th, 28th, and 77th Divisions with the 92d in reserve), which would advance parallel to the French Fourth Army on its left. Eastward across the Meuse the American front extended in direct line some 60 miles; this sector was held by two French Corps (IV and II Colonial) and the American IV Corps in the St. Mihiel sector. Pershing had available to support his offensive nearly 4000 guns, two-thirds manned by American artillerymen; 190 light French tanks, mostly with American personnel; and some 820 aircraft, 600 of them flown by Americans.
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive falls into three phases. During the initial phase (26 September-3-October) the First Army advanced through most of the southern Meuse-Argonne region, captured enemy strong points, seized the first two German defense lines, and then stalled before the third line. Failure of tank support, a difficult supply situation, and the inexperience of American troops all contributed to checking its advance.
In the second phase (4-31 October) the First Army, after the inexperienced divisions had been replaced by veteran units, slowly ground its way through the third German line. The enemy was forced to throw in reserves, drawn from other parts of the front, thus aiding the Allied advances elsewhere. In the face of a stubborn defense, American gains were limited and casualties were severe, especially as a result of the newly devised enemy tactic of attacking frontline troops with airplanes. First Army air unite retaliated with bombing raids which broke up German preparations for counterattacks. By the end of October the enemy had been cleared from the Argonne and First Army troops were through the German main positions. Two notable incidents of this phase of the campaign were the fight of the "Lost Battalion" of the 77th Division (2-7 October), and the feat of Corp. (later Sgt.) Alvin C. York, who single-handedly killed 15 Germans and captured 132 on 8 October.
In mid-October the organization of the Second Army was completed, at Toul in the St. Mihiel sector, to provide means for better control of the lengthening American front and solutions of the diverse tactical problems that it presented. Pershing assumed command of the new army group thus formed.
Before the third and final phase (1-11 November) of the offensive got under way, many of the exhausted divisions of the First Army were replaced, roads were built or repaired, supply was improved, and most Allied units serving with the A.E.F. were withdrawn. On 1 November First Army units began the assault of the now strengthened German fourth line of defense. Penetration was rapid and spectacular. The V Corps in the center advanced about six miles the first day, compelling the German units west of the Meuse to withdraw hurriedly. On 4 November the III Corps forced a crossing of the Meuse and advanced northeast toward Montmédy. Elements of the V Corps occupied the heights opposite Sedan on 7 November, thus finally accomplishing the First Army's chief mission-denial of the Sedan- Mézières railroad to the Germans. Marshal Foch, at this juncture, shifted the First Army left boundary eastward so that the French Fourth Army might capture Sedan, which had fallen to the Prussians in 1870. American units were closing up along the Mouse and, east of the river, were advancing toward Montmédy, Briny, and Metz, when hostilities ended on 11 November.
General Pershing authorized the results of the Meuse-Argonne Campaign, the greatest battle in American history up to that time, in his Final Report: "Between September 26 and November 11, 22 American and 4 French divisions, on the front extending from southeast of Verdun to the Argonne Forest, had engaged and decisively beaten 47 different German divisions, representing 25 percent of the enemy's entire divisional strength on the western front.
The First Army suffered a loss of about 117,000 in killed and wounded. It captured 26,000 prisoners, 847 cannon, 3,000 machineguns, and large quantities of material." More than 1,200,000 Americans had taken part in the 47-day campaign.
