New Britain herald., 1917-06-13
STATE PREPARED FOR
 WELCOME TO EDWARDS
Commander of Dept. of Northeast Due in Hart
 ford Today.
Special to the Herald )

Hartford, June 13.-Brigadier-Gen- eral Clarence Ransom Edwards, com mander of'the Northeastern Depart ment of the United States army, with headquarters in Boston. will be in Hartford tonight, the official guest of the State of Connecticut and of the Connecticut State Council of De- fenso.
 The committee in charge of the dinner to be given for General Ed wards reported this morning that the number of acceptances for the dinner had been large and 1t Is expected that the assembly hall of the Hartford club, where the dinner Is to be served, will be filled to overflowing for this reception to the commander of the military department of which Con- necticut Is 8 part
 General Edwards was born in Cleveland, Ohio. on January 1, 1860. the son of William and Lucia (Ran- som) Edwards. He was appointed to West Point from Ohio and was grad uated. in 1883. He received an hon. orary degree of A. M. from St. Johns college, Fordham, N. r., in 1893, and LL.D. from Fordham university, New York, in 1909. He was married at | xNAtA8AIA dA6 IN. OuAO AAs 4ooSs to Bessie Rochester Porter.
 Beginning as second lieutenant of the 23rd Infantry immediately after his graduation from West Point, he rose through various commands, be- coming captain in 1898. He was made assistant adjutant-general of volunteers on May 12. 1898 and the following year he became lieutenant colonel of the 47th United States vol- unteer Infantry. He was mustered out. of the voluntear serstceS July 2. 1901, and . year later became colonel in the regular army.
 His promotion to brigadier-general came on June 30. 1906. He served as adjutant-general on the staff of Gen. eral Lawton from January 6, 1899 until December 19 of the same year. when General Lawton died. General Edwards participated in campaigns and expeditions of General Lawton in the Philippines. He was recommend- ed by General Lawton for brevets of major. lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the United States army and briga- dier-general of volunteers for dis tinguished gallantry. General Ed wards was chief of the Division of In- sular Affairs in the war department from 1900 to 1902 and chief of the Bureau of 1nsular Affairs for 8 num- ber of years previous to his recent assignment to the command of the new northeastern district.
 It is expected that the most delight full feature of the dinner tonight will be the address by General Edwards, in which he probably will outline what he expects from Connecticut along military lines. He will arrive in Hart ford with one aide at 5:12 p. m.. and will be escorted by a guard of honor to the State capitol where he will meet Governor Marcus H. Holcomb and other state dignitaries. Because the time will be short, there will be no street parade as had at first been intended.
 The dinner at the Hartford club will begin at o'clock. The decora- tions will be simple and the menu will not be elaborate. The committee in charge has planned to make this ! typical war banquet. Richard M. Bissell, chairman of the Connecticut Council of Defense, will preside. Be- sides General Edwards, there will be Q number of other speakers.