Henry Tureman Allen
Major General Henry Tureman Allen (April 13, 1859 – August 29, 1930) was a senior United States Army officer known for exploring the Copper River in Alaska in 1885 along with the Tanana and Koyukuk rivers by transversing 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of wilderness, an accomplishment which Nelson A. Miles compared to that of Lewis and Clark.
Henry Tureman Allen | |
|---|---|
Allen in uniform, 1919 | |
| Nickname(s) | "Iron Commandante" |
| Born | April 13, 1859 Sharpsburg, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | August 29, 1930 (aged 71) Buena Vista, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Buried | |
| Service/ | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1882–1923 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Service number | O-27 |
| Commands held | |
| Battles/wars |
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| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal |
| Children | 3 (including Henry Jr.) |
| Relations | Frank M. Andrews (son in law) |
Born in Sharpsburg, Kentucky, Allen graduated from West Point in 1882, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of cavalry. He served on the staff of General Nelson A. Miles. He later served as a military attaché to Russia (1890–1895) and Germany (1897–1898). Allen also served in the Spanish–American War in the Battle of El Caney. He was then stationed to the Philippines to serve as military governor of Leyte in 1901. Eventually he organized and commanded the Philippine Constabulary, before going on in 1904 as an observer with the Japanese Army in Korea.
During World War I, Allen was promoted to brigadier general and given command of the 90th Division, a National Army (present-day United States Army Reserve) division based in Texas. His instructions were to bring them to full strength and convey them to the Western Front in June 1918. He succeeded Pierrepont Noyes as U.S. Commissioner in the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission.