Horace H . Fuller Major General Horace H . Fuller ( 10 August 1886 – 18 September 1966 ) was an American soldier and general in the first half of the 20th century . He is best known for his command of the 41st Infantry Division in the South West Pacific Area during World War II . Education and early life . Horace Hayes Fuller was born on 10 August 1886 in Fort Meade , South Dakota , the son of Major Ezra B . Fuller . He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point — where his father had graduated with the class of 1873 — by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 . He graduated 59th in the class of 1909 , a distinguished class that also included future generals George S . Patton ( 46 ) , Jacob L . Devers ( 39 ) , John C . H . Lee ( 12 ) , Edwin F . Harding ( 74 ) , Robert L . Eichelberger ( 68 ) , and William H . Simpson ( 101 ) . He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 11th Cavalry . He was stationed with the 11th Cavalry at Fort Oglethorpe until April 1914 when he transferred to the 7th Cavalry which was then based at Fort William McKinley . He remained in the Philippines until 1916 , transferring to the 8th Cavalry . He was promoted to First Lieutenant on 12 June 1916 . He transferred to the field artillery on 1 July 1916 but returned to United States to serve with the 17th Cavalry at Fort Bliss . He was promoted to captain on 15 May 1917 . Great War . Fuller transferred to the 11th Field Artillery in July 1917 , and attended a course of instruction at Fort Sill . He was promoted to temporary Major on 8 January 1918 . He sailed for France in October 1918 and joined the 108th Field Artillery at Véronnes . He participated in the Meuse - Argonne Offensive and commanded the 108th Field Artillery in the Battle of the Sambre , earning promotion to temporary Lieutenant Colonel on 11 September 1918 . He commanded the 109th Field Artillery until March 1919 and then served with the Motor Transport Corps and Graves Registration Service . Interwar years . Fuller reverted to his permanent rank of Captain on 15 April 1920 but was promoted to major on 1 July 1920 . On returning to the United States he was posted to the 83rd Field Artillery at Fort Benning . He attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth from 1922 to 1923 and , a distinguished graduate , stayed on as an instructor until 1927 when he left to attend the U . S . Army War College . Regimental duty followed with the 76th Field Artillery at the Presidio of Monterey , California but he returned to Washington , D . C . in 1929 for duty on the War Department General Staff . In 1933 he was posted to the 6th Field Artillery at Fort Hoyle , Maryland . He was finally promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 1 May 1934 . After attending a chemical warfare course at Edgewood Arsenal , Maryland , Fuller was posted to Paris as military attaché to France . He remained there until August 1940 , watching the Fall of France first hand . While there he was promoted to Colonel on 1 July 1938 . World War II . On returning to the United States Fuller attended a refresher course at Fort Sill before being posted to command the artillery of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis . As such , he was promoted to the temporary rank of Brigadier General on 1 October 1940 . Fuller returned to the Command and General Staff College as its commandant in June 1941 but in December 1941 following the sudden death of Major General George A . White he became commander of the 41st Infantry Division . He was promoted to the temporary rank of Major General on 15 December 1941 . Fuller led the 41st Infantry Division in the attacks on Salamaua , Hollandia , and Biak . At Biak , tenacious defence by well dug in Japanese defenders frustrated his attempt to rapidly secure the island . Running afoul of General Douglas MacArthur ' s need to have the island secured quickly , Fuller found himself superseded in command at Biak by Lieutenant General Robert L . Eichelberger , a West Point classmate . Fuller then asked to be relieved of his command , becoming the only divisional commander to be relieved in the Western New Guinea campaign . He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal . His citation read : Fuller became President of the U . S . Army Forces Far East in August 1944 . In November he became Deputy Chief of Staff at South East Asia Command . Later life . Fuller retired from the army in August 1946 and died on 18 September 1966 .