caption serviceyears laterwork branch death_date death_place birth_place allegiance placeofburial_label battles birth_date alt placeofburial image article_title name
richard henry savage 1868 -- 79 , 1898 -- 99 -- 70 , 1871 -- 72 , 1877 author , diplomat , engineer , attorney united states army egyptian army california national guard 11 november 1903 new york city utica , new york united states place of burial spanish -- american war 12 june 1846 a skin and dark hair , including a bushy muttonchop whiskers monochrome and moustache , the man seated , holding a thin photograph sword at rest on his leg , wearing a military portrait uniform decorated with epaulets , braid and buttons of a man with light west point cemetery richard henry savage.jpg richard henry savage
 richard henry savage
richard henry savage

richard henry savage -lrb- june 12 , 1846 -- october 11 , 1903 -rrb- was an american military officer and author who wrote more than 40 books of adventure and mystery , based loosely on his own experiences .
savage 's eloquent , witty , dashing and daring life may have been the inspiration for the pulp novel character doc savage .
in his youth in san francisco , savage studied engineering and law , and graduated from the united states military academy .
after a few years of surveying work with the army corps of engineers , savage went to rome as an envoy following which he sailed to egypt to serve a stint with the egyptian army .
returning home , savage was assigned to assess border disputes between the u.s. and mexico , and he performed railroad survey work in texas .
in washington d.c. , he courted and married a widowed noblewoman from germany .
savage returned to san francisco with his wife to stay for ten years , raising a daughter and taking part in a family business .
he served at the rank of colonel in the california national guard , and took part in the social activity of the city .
during a period of anti-chinese race riots , savage stood up for law and order , and thereby gained the respect of san francisco 's leaders , property holders and middle class residents .
savage traveled to many exotic lands but in 1890 he was struck with jungle fever in honduras .
while recuperating in new york state he wrote his first book : `` my official wife '' .
this very successful action-and-adventure story was followed by more , at the rate of about three per year , written for the general public rather than for literary critics ; the latter were charmed by the first book but scathing of many later ones .
savage lived primarily in new york city , and was involved in lawsuits , especially against his new york publisher regarding unpaid royalties .
when the spanish -- american war broke out , savage volunteered to lead men in battle .
instead , he was given command of an engineering unit which then built a complete base in havana .
returning to new york , he wrote more books and corresponded with his wife who traveled often to the russian empire to visit their daughter and her russian husband .
four years after mustering out of the army , savage was knocked down and mortally wounded at the age of 57 by a horse and carriage on the streets of new york .
