# Hunter Liggett

Hunter Liggett (March 21, 1857 − December 30, 1935) was a senior United States Army officer. His 42 years of military service spanned the period from the Indian campaigns to the trench warfare of World War I. Additionally, he also identified possible invasion sites in Luzon, particularly Lingayen Gulf, which were used during World War II in 1941 by the Japanese and in 1945 by the United States.

## Early life

Liggett was born on March 21, 1857, in Reading, Pennsylvania. He attended, and later graduated, from the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, as a second lieutenant in 1879. Among his classmates included several general officers of the future, such as William D. Beach, John S. Mallory, James A. Irons, Lloyd M. Brett, Albert L. Mills, John A. Johnston, Henry A. Greene, Frederick S. Foltz and Samuel W. Miller.
After his graduation, he was assigned to the 5th Infantry, where he served in both the Montana and Dakota territories, as well as Texas and Florida, during which time he reached the rank of captain.
Liggett's field service in the American west, the Spanish–American War, and the Philippine–American War honed his skills as a military leader. In 1907, he assumed command of a battalion of the 13th Infantry Regiment at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. From 1909 to 1914, he served as student, faculty member, and president at the Army War College, receiving a promotion to brigadier general in February 1913.
Liggett's services in the Philippines included setting up a staff ride in 1914 to study possible invasion sites on Luzon. He was assisted in this by his aide-de-camp, Captain George C. Marshall. The staff ride established that the most likely invasion route would be through Lingayen Gulf and that this would be all but unstoppable unless the US dramatically increased its army and navy forces in the Philippines. In 1941, the Japanese invaded through Lingayen Gulf, as the United States did in turn in 1945.

## World War I

Success in brigade commands in Texas and in the Philippines led to his promotion to major general, and selection as commander of the 41st Division in April 1917. The division served in France as part of the American Expeditionary Force. When his division was disestablished, he took command of I Corps.
Under Liggett's leadership, the I Corps participated in the Second Battle of the Marne and in the reduction of the Saint-Mihiel salient. In October 1918, as commander of the First United States Army with the rank of lieutenant general in the national army, he directed the final phases of the Meuse-Argonne offensive and the pursuit of German forces until the armistice. After commanding the post-war Army of Occupation, Liggett returned to his permanent rank of major general, and retired in 1921.
Throughout most of this period, Liggett's aide-de-camp was James Garesche Ord, a major general in World War II.

## Retirement and death

Liggett wrote about his war time experiences in A.E.F.: Ten Years Ago in France (1928). In 1930, Congress passed a law permitting World War I general officers to retire at the highest rank they had held, and Liggett was promoted to lieutenant general on the retired list. He died December 30, 1935, in San Francisco, California, and is interred at the San Francisco National Cemetery.

## Honors and awards
### Military honors
#### American awards

* Army Distinguished Service Medal
* Indian Campaign Medal
* Spanish War Service Medal
* Philippine Campaign Medal
* World War I Victory Medal
* Army of Occupation of Germany Medal

#### Foreign awards

* Légion d'honneur (France), class of Commandeur
* Order of Leopold (Belgium), class of Commandeur
* Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Italy), class of Commendatore
* Croix de Guerre with palm (France)

#### Army Distinguished Service medal citation
##### Citation

   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 Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett, 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. As Commander of the 1st Army of the American Expeditionary Forces, General Liggett commanded the 1st Army Corps and perfected its organization under difficult conditions of early service in France, engaged in active operations in reduction of the Marne salient and of the St. Mihiel salient, and participated in the actions in the Forest of Argonne; in command of the 1st Army when German resistance was shattered west of the Meuse.

### Other honors

In his honor, the United States Army named a base on California's central coast, Fort Hunter Liggett.
Liggett Hall is a regimental-sized barracks building constructed at Fort Jay on Governors Island in New York Harbor. Completed in 1930, it was thought to be the largest building constructed by the U.S. Army and was the largest structure built under the supervision of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. It was superseded by the Pentagon, constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1943.
The USS Hunter Liggett was a passenger ship that was transferred to the Army and renamed Hunter Liggett in February 1939. The ship transported personnel and supplies until May 27, 1941, when she was turned over to the Navy. Converted to Navy use at Brooklyn Navy Yard, she re-commissioned as AP-27 June 9, 1941, and then again reclassified APA-14 February 1, 1943, for the United States Coast Guard.

## Dates of rank

| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date |
| None | Cadet | United States Military Academy | 1 July 1875 |
| None in 1879 | Second Lieutenant | Regular Army | 13 June 1879 |
| | First Lieutenant | Regular Army | 27 June 1884 |
| | Captain | Regular Army | 1 June 1897 |
| | Major | Volunteers | 13 June 1898 (Honorably discharged from Volunteers on 12 April 1899.) |
| | Major | Volunteers | 13 July 1899 (Honorably discharged from Volunteers on 18 June 1901.) |
| | Major | Regular Army | 5 May 1902 |
| | Lieutenant Colonel | Regular Army | 5 June 1909 |
| | Colonel | Regular Army | 12 March 1912 |
| | Brigadier General | Regular Army | 5 March 1913 |
| | Major General | Regular Army | 6 March 1917 (Date of rank 22 March 1917.) |
| | Lieutenant General | Emergency | 1 November 1918 (Date of rank 16 October 1918. Discharged and reverted to permanent rank 30 June 1920.) |
| | Major General | Retired List | 21 March 1921 (Remained on active duty until 26 August 1921.) |
| | Lieutenant General | Retired List | 21 June 1930 |
Source: Army Register, 1931