Harry Hill Bandholtz

Harry Hill Bandholtz
Harry Hill Bandholtz (painting) by Gyula Stetka (1920)
Born	December 18, 1864 Constantine, Michigan
Died	May 7, 1925 (aged c61)
Buried at	Constantine Township Cemetery, Constantine, Michigan
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1890–1923
Rank	Major General
Unit	29th Division
Commands held	58th Brigade, 29th Division
Wars	Philippine–American War Spanish–American War World War I
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star
Relations	Cleveland Bandholtz (son)

Harry Hill Bandholtz (December 18, 1864 – May 11, 1925) was a United States Army career officer who served for more than a decade in the Philippines. He was a Major General during World War I, and the US representative of the Inter-Allied Military Mission in Hungary in 1919.

Bandholtz was born in Constantine, Michigan on December 18, 1864. He was the youngest of two children. His father, Christian Johan Bandholtz, was an emigrant from Schleswig-Holstein and earned his living as a harness maker. Elizabeth Hill, his mother, was a milliner.

Bandholtz graduated from high school in 1881. He held a job as a billing clerk, and later found work in Chicago as a bookkeeper for a mercantile exchange company. In Illinois, Bandholtz enlisted in the National Guard of the United States. Also while in Chicago, he met May Cleveland, who he would later marry in 1890.

Bandholtz graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1890. From 1890 to 1898, he was active in the US Army and taught at the Michigan Agricultural College. Afterwards, he was involved in the Spanish–American War and was sent to Cuba.

In July 1900, Bandholtz was transferred to the Philippines, and would eventually serve 13 years there. Most Filipinos viewed Americans as yet another "tyrannical overseer," having been under Spanish rule. But with his sincerity, Bandholtz was able to earn the Filipinos' trust. In 1902, he served as Provincial Governor in Tayabas Province in the Philippines. He was the only American Army Officer elected by the Filipino people. As an Army captain assigned in the Philippines, he became an early backer for Manuel Quezon. In 1903, Bandholtz was appointed Colonel in the Philippines Constabulary. In June 1907, he was promoted to Brigadier General. Also in 1907, Bandholtz was elected Commander of the Veteran Army of the Philippines, and served as Chief of the Philippines Constabulary until 1913. The next year, he organized a joining of the United States Spanish War Veterans with the Veteran Army of the Philippines. This would eventually lead to the creation of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.