Major General John Wilson Ruckman

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• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_John_Wilson_Ruckman
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122286107/john_wilson-ruckman

General Ruckman was a major general in the United States Army.

Early Life

Ruckman was born at Deers, Illinois, a flag-station just southeast of the University of Illinois. Biographies, however, usually list his place of birth as Sidney, Illinois (Champaign County). His parents, Thomas and Mary O'Brien Ruckman, were farmers. His uncles, John W. and Wilson Ruckman served the Union Army with distinction in the American Civil War (Company A, Illinois 35th Infantry).

After three semesters at the University of Illinois, Ruckman was appointed from the 14th Congressional District of Illinois for acceptance to the United States Military Academy. His nomination was made by Republican Congressman Joseph Cannon. Ruckman graduated from West Point (1883), the U.S. Artillery School (1892), the U.S. Army War College (1915), and the U.S. Naval War College (1916). He married May Hamilton, the daughter of Civil War hero Colonel John Hamilton, and was nominated Brigadier General by Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and Major General in 1917. At the time, Major General was the highest rank in the Army. Ruckman was the only individual to command three of the six designated interior military Departments in the United States (Northeast, Southeast and Southern).

Career

Ruckman was assigned to Fort Hamilton, New York (1883–1890) and developed a friendship with Tasker Bliss. From 1881 to 1899, he served at Fort Monroe where he and four other officers of the Artillery School founded the Journal of the United States Artillery in 1892. He also served as the Editor of the Journal for four years (July 1892 to January 1896) and published several articles therein afterward. One publication by West Point notes Ruckman's “guidance” and “first-rate quality” work were obvious as the Journal “rose to high rank among the service papers of the world.” The Journal was renamed the Coast Artillery Journal in 1922 and the Antiaircraft Journal in 1948. He invented several artillery devices that were critical in World War I.

After serving a brief stint at Fort Slocum, Ruckman was sent to Havana, Cuba, then made Instructor at the School of Submarine Defense (Fort Totten, New York). While developing courses on chemistry and explosives, he developed a friendship with Arthur L. Wagner. In 1906, Captain Ruckman was assigned to the Presidio of San Francisco, and given command of Fort Baker. In 1911, his command was transferred to Fort Mills, Corregidor, where he distinguished himself by successfully withstanding a siege. In 1916, he was assigned to organize and command the 5th Provisional Coast Artillery Regiment at Del Rio, Texas and given command of El Paso Rio Grande and the district of Laredo.

Ruckman served as Commander of the Southeastern Department (Aug 1917) Southern Department (Sept 1917) and the Northeastern Department (May 1918). Who's Who in Military History notes that Ruckman was the inventor of many devices that were useful in World War I.

Ruckman's life was not without controversy. Although he ranked high in his graduating class, he was held back one year at West Point for laughing during artillery drills and "in other inappropriate places." In 1896, he suggested that a regiment of soldiers in Cleveland, Ohio, be abolished because of its relationship to prostitutes. In his 1915 Naval War College thesis, Ruckman called for universal military service and the education of "all boys and young men" in the use of firearms. He also recommended strict guidelines for the content of history texts in schools and colleges. Ruckman served as Commander of the Southern Department in the direct aftermath of the Houston Riot (1917) and, although his decision-making was supported by Woodrow Wilson (in a public statement), it was scrutinized in the congressional Military Justice Hearings of 1919. In 1918, he distributed a scathing circular to members of the Texas State legislature and lobbied on behalf of a bill that would ban the teaching of German in public schools.

In 1920, Ruckman engaged in a very public dispute with Charles W. Eliot of Harvard regarding the quality of military education in the United States. In 1921, Ruckman suggested in a public speech that immigrants be required to serve for a period of time in the military in order to enhance the "Americanization" process. He also made national headlines that year by refusing to allow soldiers under his command to march in Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade (a decision supported by the Secretary of War).

Death

General Ruckman died in 1921 and was buried at West Point. Pallbearers included two major generals, a retired brigadier general and five colonels. The U.S. Military Academy Band and a Detachment of Field Music furnished music and a detachment of field artillery fired eleven minute guns as the cortege left the chapel. A salute of eleven guns also followed three volleys of musketry over the grave. After his death, Congress awarded Ruckman the Army Distinguished Service Medal with the following citation:

General John W. Ruckman, United States Army deceased. For exceptionally meritorious and conspicuous services as Department Commander, Southern Department, between August 30, 1917, and May 9, 1918, and Department Commander, Northeastern Department, between May 23, 1918, and July 20, 1918. He handled many difficult problems arising in these departments with rare judgment, tact and great skill.

The military reservation at Nahant, Massachusetts, was renamed "Fort Ruckman." Today, streets are also named in Ruckman's honor at the Presidio of San Francisco and in Fort Monroe, Virginia. A granite column also bears his name at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium.

Personal Life and Family

He married May Hamilton, the daughter of American Civil War Colonel John Hamilton.

Ruckman's only son, John Hamilton Ruckman, was a graduate of M.I.T. and the University of California, a veteran of World Wars I and II and a chief engineer on the Manhattan Project. John Wilson Ruckman is also the grandfather of Peter Sturges Ruckman an independent Baptist minister and founder of the Pensacola Bible Institute, and the great-grandfather of P.S. Ruckman Jr., a professor of political science.

Death

General Ruckman died in 1921 and was buried at West Point. Pallbearers included two major generals, a retired brigadier general and five colonels. The U.S. Military Academy Band and a Detachment of Field Music furnished music and a detachment of field artillery fired eleven-minute guns as the cortege left the chapel. A salute of eleven guns also followed three volleys of musketry over the grave.

The military reservation at Nahant, Massachusetts, was renamed "Fort Ruckman." Today, streets are also named in Ruckman's honor at the Presidio of San Francisco, in Fort Monroe, Virginia, and in Fort Bliss, Texas. A granite column also bears his name at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium.

Dates of Rank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_John_Wilson_Ruckman#Dates_of_rank

Selected Writings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_John_Wilson_Ruckman#Selected_W...

He was the son of Thomas Ruckman and Mary O'Brien Ruckman.
He was the nephew of Civil War veterans John Ruckman and Wilson Ruckman.
On June 16, 1887 as John W. Ruckman, he married May Hamilton, daughter of Colonel John Hamilton at St. John's Church in New Utrecht, New York. The ceremony was performed by Rev. R. Bayard Snowden of St. John's.

They were the parents of two children including Marjorie Campbell Ruckman (1892-1974).

Fifty-third Annual Report of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy At West Point, New York, June 12, 1922, Seemann & Peters, Inc., Printers & Binders, Saginaw, Michigan, 1922.

John Wilson Ruckman
No. 2979. Class of 1883.
Died, June 7, 1921, at Brookline, Massachusetts, aged 62 years.
John W. Ruckman, Class of 1883, Brigadier General, United States Army, died at Brookline, Massachusetts, June 7, 1921.

Ruckman was born in Illinois on October 10, 1858 and was graduated from the Military Academy as a Second Lieutenant of the 5th Artillery in the Class of 1883. We shall give here only the salient points of his career and refer the reader to the volumes of Cullum's Register for details.

For some years after his graduation, Ruckman's service was mostly of a routine nature. He entered the Artillery School at Fort Monroe in 1890 and was graduated in 1892. He then continued on duty at the Artillery School until 1899. During his service at Fort Monroe he, in conjunction with four other officers, founded the Journal of the United States Artillery, of which he was sole editor from July 1, 1892 to January 1, 1896. He served in Havana, Cuba, from 1899 to 1902 and was instructor at the Submarine School and a member of the Torpedo Board at Fort Totten, New York from 1902 to 1904. We find him in 1911 as Lieutenant Colonel commanding Fort Mills, Corregidor; next, on duty in the Inspector General's Department for a little over one year and then as Colonel in command of the Coast Defenses in Manila Bay.

On his return home he served for a few months in the office of the Chief of Artillery as his chief assistant, which duty was followed by a year at the War College. From this he was graduated in 1915, as in 1916 from the Naval War Collee at Newport, Rhode Island. He became Brigadier General on July 20, 1916. When the war broke out he was made Major General of the National Army, august 5, 1917 and assigned to the command of the Southern Department, August 30, 1917. From this grade he was honorably discharged May 1, 1918, by reason of physical disqualification for foreign service. Having resumed his regular army rank, he was first in command of the Northeastern Department and when relieved from this was assigned to the command of the North Atlantic Coast Artillery District. This post he was holding at the time of his death.

An inspection of Ruckman's record of service reveals what we think is a remarkable fact. Except for a short detail in the I.G.D., Ruckman's service, until he became a Colonel, was wholly with Coast Artillery troops, culminating in the command of the Coast Defenses of Manila Bay.

Ruckman was a remarkably gifted man. A natural mathematician and physicist, he had no superior in our service as a technical artilleryman. Hs service dated back to the days when, taking things by and large, our artillery service was a joke. But in common with some of his brothers-in-arms, he labored incessantly to relieve his beloved corps of the contempt with which it was regarded. To this task he brought not merely his unusual mental equipment, but also a capacity for hard unremitting labor that was at least as remarkable as his mental gifts. And he was regarded, subjectively at any rate, by seeing his corps rise from its dead past to the distinguished position it has since held in our service. To those who knew him, however, the dominating trait of his character was his uncompromising integrity of mind and of soul backed by indomitable moral courage. He ever strove for the right as he saw it, for the truth as he envisaged it, not merely in his official duties or in his official relations, but in every relation of life. And he needed all his integrity, all his strength of character and of body, in his struggle with the ghouls that strove to batten on the souls and bodies of the men committed to his charge in the Southern Department. From this command he was relieved; whether the reason given was sound or not, it is not for us here to inquire. But it is certain that Ruckman was never afterwards quite the same man that he had been. With his relief came the conviction also that he would never see service in France. Under these two blows, his spirit apparently suffered. We may be sure that he showed the same devotion to duty as always, that his interest in the service was unaffected and that he bore his crushing disappointment with fortitude. But the edge had been taken off, the inspiration had gone; he felt his fires burning out, growing cold. It were superfluous here to speculate on the career that would have been his had the authorities seen their way to use his transcendent qualities as an artilleryman in France. But certainly it is only just to his memory to say that all his life he had been preparing himself for precisely the work that would have fallen to him in France and that in the opinion of those who knew him best he would have brought added honor to our arms.

For his distinguished services during the War, the Distinguished Service Medal was posthumously awarded General Ruckman with the following citation:

Brigadier General John W. Ruckman, United States Army, deceased. For exceptionally meritorious and conspicuous services as Department Commander, Southern Department, between August 30, 1917 and May 9, 1918 and Department Commander, Northeastern Department, between May 23, 1918 and July 20, 1918. He handled many difficult problems arising in these departments with rare judgment, tact and great skill.

During his career Ruckman wrote many papers on technical subjects, chiefly relating to his arm of the service. All of these bear witness to the thoroughness with which he investigated these subjects and some of them reveal the original powers of his mind. As Editor of the Journal of the United States Artillery, he did work of first-rate quality; under his guidance this periodical rose to high rank among the service papers of the world. But he made no pretense to authorship; what he produced he wrote rather as growing out of his own experience of the needs and growth of his arm. His elevation to the grade of general officer came from recognition of his undoubted qualities of mind and soul and of his professional excellence. He had no highly placed friends, no influence and sought favors of no one. For the small pleasures and amusements of life he had no taste: his energies were constantly devoted to its realities as he saw them. But he was a charming, devoted and loyal friend, gifted with a sense of humor seldom revealed save to his intimates. His comrades, those who knew and loved him, will long cherish his memory.