1. Fox Conner was a major general of the United States Army.
35 Facts About Fox Conner
1. 2.
Fox Conner served as operations officer for the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, and is best remembered as a mentor to the generation of officers who led the army in World War II, particularly as "the man who made Eisenhower".
3.
Fox Conner's father, Robert Herbert Conner, was a soldier in the Confederate States Army who was wounded several times during the American Civil War.
4.
Fox Conner learned to gauge the grades of cotton by touch, and became a successful cotton trader.
5.
Fox Conner was educated in Slate Springs, and was an avid reader of The Youth's Companion magazine.
6.
At graduation, Fox Conner received his commission as a second lieutenant of Field Artillery.
7.
Fox Conner was assigned to the 1st Artillery Regiment, and the army denied his numerous requests for transfer to the Cavalry.
8.
Fox Conner's first posting was to Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island.
9.
Fox Conner held this assignment until August 1905 when he began attendance at the Army Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
10.
Fox Conner then served as adjutant of the Artillery sub-post at Fort Riley, Kansas from July 1906 to May 1907.
11.
In September 1907, Fox Conner was assigned to the Army's General Staff and as a student at the Army War College from which he graduated in July 1911.
12.
Fox Conner was then attached to the French 22nd Field Artillery Regiment in Versailles, France from October 1911 to October 1912.
13.
In July 1916, Fox Conner was promoted to major and assigned to the Inspector General's office in Washington.
14.
Fox Conner was in this position when the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917.
15.
Fox Conner was promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 15,1917, and to temporary colonel on August 5.
16.
Fox Conner developed an immense respect for both men, and later referred to Marshall as the ideal soldier and a military genius.
17.
Fox Conner was promoted to temporary brigadier general on August 8,1918.
18.
Fox Conner gained Pershing's respect and admiration during the war, causing Pershing to write to Fox Conner that:.
19.
Fox Conner invited Eisenhower to join his staff and for three years Conner conducted a systematic course of study for Eisenhower that ranged from extensive readings in military history to daily practical experience writing field orders for every aspect of the command.
20.
Fox Conner had three principles or rules of war for a democracy that he imparted to both Eisenhower and Marshall.
21.
One of the subjects on which [Fox Conner] talked to me most was allied command, its difficulties and its problems.
22.
Again and again General Fox Conner said to me, 'We cannot escape another great war.
23.
Fox Conner pulled strings to get his protege admitted to the US Army Command and Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where Eisenhower graduated first in his class thanks in no small part to his comprehensive Panamanian tutelage, in addition to the class notes Eisenhower received from Patton, who had attended the school earlier.
24.
Fox Conner left Panama in late 1924 to assume his duties in Washington as the Army's Assistant Chief of Staff for Logistics, which started on December 1,1924.
25.
Fox Conner was promoted to major general on October 20,1925, and assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army on March 9,1926.
26.
Fox Conner commanded the 1st Division at Fort Hamilton from May 1 to September 1,1927, and the Hawaiian Department in Honolulu from January 25,1928, to August 5,1930.
27.
Fox Conner was assigned as commander of the First Corps Area in Boston on October 7,1930.
28.
Fox Conner was Pershing's preference for Army Chief of Staff in 1930, but was passed over in favor of Major General Douglas MacArthur.
29.
Fox Conner hated Washington, and he did not want to go back there.
30.
On March 12,1936, The [Calhoun County] Monitor-Herald published a "Biographical Sketch of General Fox Conner" written by Louise Ligon, which includes this assignment:.
31.
Fox Conner was assigned to command the First Army in 1936 and retired on November 4,1938, after forty years of service.
32.
Fox Conner's lasting legacy was as a role model and inspiration to World War II high commanders including Marshall, Eisenhower, and Patton.
33.
Fox Conner died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on October 13,1951.
34.
Fox Conner's ashes were scattered at Brandreth Park in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
35.
In 1902, Fox Conner married Virginia Brandreth, the daughter of Franklin Brandreth, a successful patent medicine maker from New York, and granddaughter of Benjamin Brandreth.