Henry Tureman Allen Henry Tureman Allen ( April 13 , 1859 – August 29 , 1930 ) was a United States Army officer known for exploring the Copper River in Alaska in 1885 along with the Tanana and Koyukuk rivers by transversing of wilderness . His trek has been compared by General Nelson A . Miles to that of Lewis and Clark . Henry was born in Sharpsburg , Kentucky . He graduated from West Point in 1882 , and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the cavalry . He served on the staff of General Nelson 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 . Allen 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 . In August 1917 , he was promoted Brigadier - General and given command of the 90th Infantry Division , then a National Guard division based in Texas . His instructions were to bring them to full strength and convey them to France in June 1918 , where they would participate in the First World War . He succeeded Pierrepont Noyes as US Commissioner in the Inter - Allied Rhineland High Commission . Allen is buried in Arlington National Cemetery under a statue designed by the sculptor Albert Jaegers . History . Early life . Allen was born on April 13 , 1859 in Sharpsburg , Kentucky . His parents were Susan ( Shumate ) and Sanford Allen and he was the thirteenth of fourteen children . After attending Peeks Mill Military Academy , Allen attended Georgetown College and graduated in 1878 . Then he transferred to United States Military Academy at West Point . Once he graduated from the academy in 1882 , he accepted a commission in the cavalry . From 1888 until 1890 , Allen worked as an instructor at West Point . He then served on duty in the American Old West at Fort Keogh , Montana Territory and guarded the Northern Pacific Railroad while it was under construction and then served as a military attache to Russia ( 1890 – 1895 ) and Germany ( 1897 – 1898 ) . Alaskan exploration . Allen was very satisfied when he was first assigned to serve in Alaska in 1884 . He wrote to his fiancée that , " I am willing to forgo almost any benefit that I might receive by going East for an attempt at exploration in Alaska . " At the time Allen was ranked as a lieutenant and served as General Nelson A . Miles ' s aide - de - camp . He supervised Lieutenant William R . Abercrombie ' s shipments from Sitka to Nuchek . Allen was later sent by Miles to search for Abercrombie , whom Miles had sent to explore the Copper River . Eventually , Allen discovered Abercrombie close to the mouth of the river . Due to the moving glaciers and rough terrain , Abercrombie did not succeed in going more than up the river . Following the expeditions of Frederick Schwatka , which covered a lot of Alaskan land but did not contribute much to a map of the area , and Abercrombie , who had failed to make it through the lower canyons of the Copper , Allen devised a plan to explore both the Tanana and Copper rivers , which were two of the biggest uncharted rivers in Alaska . Miles gave permission for Allen to go ahead with his plan , however Miles had wanted at minimum four to ten men and one medical officer to be included on the trip . Allen insisted on only three men including himself and General Philip Sheridan finally approved of Allen ' s original trio plan . With Sgt . Cady Robertson and Pvt . Fred Fickett and $ 2 , 000 , in the spring of 1885 , Allen arrived at the Copper River Delta . Allen ' s plan of action was to reach the headwaters of the Copper River on ice . Though he had little proper food , faced freezing rain , and difficult terrain , Allen continued to move ahead north along the river . John Bremner joined the expedition when Allen came to Taral , an Indian village . Although Allen ' s supplies were dwindling , he was able to explore the Chitina River , the Copper River ' s major tributary . During the expedition , Allen learned how to build and navigate skin boats like the Indians in the region . With these boats they moved upriver , losing more and more provisions along the way . On one occasion they had to eat " rotten , wormy meat . " After the detachment took up new guides , Allen and his men decided to leave the Copper River and cross into the Alaska Range through a portal that Allen named Miles Pass . They became the first men to chart the rugged river and one of the highest mountain ranges in North America . When one of the enlisted men and Bremner received scurvy from their poor diets , Allen refrained from exploring the Tanana to its headwaters and decided to head to a trading post at its mouth . The post was more than away and they were to pass through land supposedly belonging to hostile Indians . Briefly after arriving at the Tanana , Allen met the reportedly hostile natives and learned relieving that they were only interested in the pills Allen had with him . In total , Allen had explored through roughly in unexplored wilderness in only five months time . General Miles stated that Allen ' s expedition , " exceeded all explorations on the American continent since Lewis and Clark . " Spanish - American War and Philippine Insurrection . After the Spanish - American War began in April 1898 , Allen left from his position in Germany and by June 1898 was placed in command of Troop D of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment . He then became a major of volunteers and was ordered off to Cuba . He and the volunteers served as scouts and on escort duty during the Santiago Land Campaign . They also fought on July 1 , 1898 , in the Battle of El Caney . On July 10 , Allen took control of the town and its camp containing over 20 , 000 refugees . Though there was not adequate food nor medicine , a disaster was averted when Santiago de Cuba surrendered only six days later , allowing the refugees to return to their homes . Allen then developed a case of malaria or yellow fever and had to go back to the United States to recover . His service in the war made him highly regarded by Theodore Roosevelt . Roosevelt would later try to make Allen part of a planned division of volunteers during World War I , but the division was never formed . Allen was promoted to the rank of captain in the regular army in the autumn of 1898 and went back to Berlin , Germany as an attache . Wanting to see battle again in 1899 , he transferred to the 43rd volunteer Regiment as a major . He was placed in command of the 3rd Battalion on the island of Samar . During this period , he managed to successfully recruit members for the Philippine Scouts and fight against insurgents . After peace was achieved on Samar , Allen commanded one of the three sections of Leyte . He gave fair treatment to the local civilians and even worked on several projects to improve Leyte . Allen wanted strict observance of the laws of war and led patrols to enfore them . He became known as " Iron Commandante " to the locals due to his strict , but humane style of governing . Once Allen felt that the war had ended in his district he volunteered to serve in China to suppress the Boxer Rebellion , but was denied because his service in the Philippines was considered more important . For a short while , Allen served as the governor of Leyte between April and June 1901 . After this , he was chosen to found the Philippine Constabulary because of his success in the recruitment of members for the Philippine Scouts , his ability to speak Spanish , and his record on Leyte . The intention of the constabulary was to fill the gap between the American forces and the Filipino police on the Philippine Islands . It was made up of both Filipino constables and American officers and helped to the islands stabilized . The constabulary aided in the suppression of the rebellion , guarded prisons , provided intelligence , and returned law and order to the islands . He stayed in command of the group up until 1907 and rose to the temporary rank of bridgier general with the command of over 10 , 000 men . Return to the United States , Punitive Expedition , and World War I . He went back to the United States in the spring of 1907 and returned to his permanent rank as a major . Next he would join the General Staff in 1910 as a calalry expert . In August 1912 , he was appointed to the rank of lieutentenant colonel and then in July 1916 , became a colonel . He assumed command of the 8th Cavalry Regiment and led them during the Punitive Expedition , in which Brigadier General John J . Pershing attempted to capture Pancho Villa . After the United States had entered World War I , Allen was now promoted to brigadier general in May 1917 . He was made a temporary major general and given command of the 90th Infantry Division at Camp Travis , Texas . The unit consisted mostly of draftees from Oklahoma and Texas . The group had many shortages including rifles , housing , artillery , uniforms , and even soldiers . By spring of 1918 , the division was short by more than 10 , 000 men . Despite these problems , Allen kept his men in a training program . Once Allen learned that the unit would be joining the American Expeditionary Forces ( AEF ) in May of that year , large amounts of troops began pouring into the division . Allen added onto his training schedule and made his men run for fifteen hours a day , seven days a week . Sometime in the third week of June , the division was then shipped off to France Following even more training in northeastern Dijon , on August 24 , the 90th Infantry Division entered a sector of the front on the eastern side of the St . Mihiel salient . At the time Pershing was getting ready for his first major offensive – closing off the salient . Allen ' s unit was to form the right pivot in the offensive . It started early on September 12 when the offensive began . After a rolling barrage , the division kept moving ahead . Over the next nine hours , Allen ' s men captured their objectives and by September 16 , the American had reduced the salient . After the salient was eliminated , Pershing planned for the American forces to attack west at Meuse - Argonne . In the beginning , Allen ' s unit stayed close to St . Mihiel , covered sectors already left vacate by the troops who went west , and grouped together their positions . Once the battle had become more intense , Allen and his men entered the lines close to Bantheville . The unit advanced slowly and Allen relieved officers who he found to be incompetent or weak . The division was able to get through the Meuse River near Stenay only several days before the signing of the Armistice with Germany . Once the war had concluded , Allen was appointed commander of the American Forces in Germany by Pershing in July 1919 , after conflicts with the previous commanders , Joseph T . Dickman and Hunter Liggett . From 1919 to 1923 , Allen acted as a military governor of the American zone of occupation around Coblenz . He was also a member of the Inter - Allied Rhineland and High Commission . While he attempted to represent the interests of the U . S . , he was not provided with any specific guidance or instructions from the War and State departments . Increasingly , he acted in retraining the ambitions of the French in the region . Later life and death . He was promoted once again to the permanent rank of major general in 1923 and retired that same year . Following retirement , he lived in Washington D . C . Over the next seven years of his life , Allen wrote two books about his time in the Rhineland , " My Rhineland Journal " ( 1923 ) and " The Rhineland Occupation " ( 1927 ) . He also spoke on international politics and got involved in the Democratic Party . Allen served as the executive officer and vice - president of the American Olympic Committee during the 1924 Summer Olympics . In 1928 , despite being nearly seventy - years - old , Allen was considered as a vice - presidential running mate for Democrat Al Smith due to his reputation . On August 29 , 1930 , he died in Buena Vista Springs , Pennsylvania . It was reported in " The New York Times " that heart disease was his cause of death during a visit to the town . Allen was buried in Arlington National Cemetery . Pershing was one of the pallbearers at the burial . Personal life and legacy . Henry Tureman Allen married his wife on July 12 , 1887 . He was also a known polo enthusiast . Camp Allen , the original home of the Philippine Military Academy ( which began as the officers school of the Philippine Constabulary ) , is named after him . In 1941 an attack transport formerly known as the " Wenatchee " and the " President Jefferson " ' was taken over by the U . S . navy and renamed " Henry T . Allen " . The Alaskan geologist , Alfred Hulse Brooks , once wrote that , " No man through his own individual explorations has added more to our knowledge of Alaska than Lieutenant Allen . "