Whitside, Samuel M. SMW., BGEN

This Military Service Page was created/owned by COL Samuel Russell to remember Whitside, Samuel M., BGEN USA(Ret).

If you knew or served with this Soldier and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.

---

DEATH OF GEN. WHITSIDE

     Gen. S. M. Whitside, U.S.A., died suddenly at the Ebbitt House of acute indigestion yesterday morning. He had returned from Panama, where he had made a tour of the canal zone with the members of the commission. He reached the hotel Wednesday night at 9 o'clock, and at 4:30 yesterday morning Dr. Burch was called in to relieve his intense suffering in the abdomen. A half hour later he was dead.
     Word was sent to the War Department, and Capt. Hutchinson, U.S.A., took charge of the remains. Coroner Nevitt was notified and gave a certificate of natural death. The funeral arrangements will be made later by the family, who reside at Bethesda, Md.
     Born in Canada, Gen. Whitside began his career in the United States army in 1858, when he enlisted as a private in the general mounted service, shortly after being promoted to sergeant major. At the outbreak of the civil war he was appointed second lieutenant of the Sixth Cavalry, three years later being promoted to first lieutenant. He was brevetted captain and major in March, 1865. During the war Gen. Whitside was aid-de-camp to Gen. McClellan, and while in that capacity took part in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac. Afterward as aid to Gen. Banks he took part in the operations before Port Hudson. He was aid under Gen. Martindale, commanding the District of Washington, and was also aid to Gen. Pleasanton, commanding the Army of the Potomac. At Culpeper Court House he was severely wounded.
     He had been mustering and disbursing officer in Rhode Island during a part of 1864, and when the war ended he mustered out some 30,000 troops of the Army of the Shenandoah. He afterward saw considerable service in the far West, serving with his regiment in Texas and Arizona. In 1871 he was on recruiting service in Philadelphia, and in 1882 was detailed to Washington.
     Gen. Whitside was brigadier general of volunteers during the operations in Cuba in the Spanish-American war. He commanded the department of Santiago, in October, 1898, he was made colonel of the Tenth Cavalry, and served in that capacity until May, 1902, when at his own request, he was placed on the retired list under the forty years' service clause.
     Since that time he has lived at his home in Maryland. He is survived by his widow and a son, First Lieut. Warren W. Whitside, of the Fifteenth Cavalry, recently stationed at Fort Myer, and now with his regiment at Fort Ethan Allen, Vt. (The Washington Post, 1904) 

     At the meeting yesterday of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce resolutions were adopted expressive of the grief of the members of the committee for the sudden death of Brig. Gen. S. M. Whitside, which occurred on Thursday morning, and of their appreciation for his qualities as a soldier and a man. A subcommittee composed of Representative Thomas B. Kyle, of Ohio, and Irving Wanger, of Pennsylvania, was appointed to attend the funeral to-morrow morning, and to place a floral tribute from the committee upon the casket.
     Representative Hepburn, chairman of the committee, presided, and voiced the sentiments of the members in a eulogy, in which he expressed his admiration for the dead soldier. Gen. Whitside accompanied the committee on their recent visit to Panama, and endeared himself to them for his lovable qualities.
     The remains of Gen. Whitside will be buried at Arlington Cemetery. Funeral services will be held in St. John's Episcopal Church, Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. Rev. Dr. Roland Cotton Smith, rector, will officiate, assisted by Rev. Dr. Duncan, of Bethesda, Md., and Capt. Pierce, of Fort Myer.
     The body will be escorted to the grave by a squadron of the Seventh Cavalry, commanded by Maj. Nicholson, who served with the deceased during the Indian wars of 1889 and 1890.
     The honorary pallbearers will be Lieut. Gen. A. R. Chaffee, Maj. Gen. John R. Brooke, Commissary General G. F. Weston, Q. M. Gen. Charles F. Humphries, Brig. Gen. R. F. Frank, Brig. Gen. R. H. Hall, and Maj. J. B. Aleshire.
     The residence of the late Gen. Whitside was at Bethesda, Md., but since his demise, Mrs. Whitside and family have taken up temporary quarters at the Gordon Hotel. (The Washington Post, 1904) 

     The remains of Brig. Gen. S. M. Whitside were interred at Arlington with military honors yesterday. Escorted by a squadron of Seventh Cavalry, in command of Maj. Nichollson, who fought with Gen. Whitside in the frontier skirmishes of the early '90's, and by a band, the remains were taken to St. John's Church, where the services were held. From there the procession moved up Connecticut avenue and out through Georgetown to Arlington. The coffin, heaped with flowers, was mounted on a caisson, following the cavalry and preceding the long line of carriages.
     At the church the services were simple, and were attended only by the immediate friends and relatives. Rev. Roland Cotton-Smith, rector of St. John's Church, officiated, assisted by Chaplain Pierce of Fort Myer, and by Dr. Duncan, of Bethesda. The honorary pallbearers were Lieut. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee, Maj. Gen. John R. Brooke, Commissary Gen. G. F. Weston, Quartermaster Gen. Charles F. Humphries, Brig. Gen. R. F. Frank, Brig. Gen. R. H. Hall, and Maj. J. B. Aleshire.
     Representatives Thomas B. Kyle, of Ohio, and Irving P. Wanger, of Pennsylvania, were in attendance on the part of the Committee on Military Affairs of the House.
     The troops of the squadron of cavalry, under Maj. Nichollson, were in command of Capts. Averill and Roberts, and Lieuts. West and Montgomery. At the grave a brief service was held by Chaplain Pierce, after which the usual salute was fired. (The Washington Post, 1904) 

---

Works Cited:

The Washington Post. (1904, December 19). Buried at Arlington. The Washington Post , p. 4.

The Washington Post. (1904, December 16). Death of Gen. Whitside. The Washington Post, p. 13.

The Washington Post. (1904, December 17). Tribute to Gen. Whitside. The Washington Post , p. 4.

6TH U.S. CAVALRY IN CAMP AT SNICKERS GAP, VA.--1862


The group of 6th Cavalry officers on page 53 [of the Mar-Apr 1934 issue of The Quartermaster Review] was taken in camp at Snickers Gap, Va., in 1862, and has been identified by Colonel Warren Whitside, Q.M.C., whose father is in the group, as follows: standing, left to right, 2nd Lt. Thos. W. Simson, 1st Lt. Albert Coats. Sitting, left to right, 2nd Lt. Samuel Whitside, Captain (Brevet Colonel) August Kautz.


WITH BRIG. GEN. LEONARD WOOD AT SANTIAGO, CUBA, 1899

Seated are Brig. Gen. Leonard Wood, U.S.V., and Col. S. M. Whitside, 10th Cav. Col. Whitside's son, 2nd Lt. Warren W. Whitside, 10th Cav., is standing behind his father. 

COMMANDING GENERAL, DISTRICT OF EASTERN CUBA--1901