James Guthrie Harbord | |
---|---|
Born | March 21, 1866 Bloomington, Illinois, United States |
Died | August 20, 1947 (aged 81) Rye, New York, United States |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/branch | United States Army |
Years of service | 1889–1922 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Unit |
Infantry Branch Engineer Branch |
Commands held |
4th Marine Brigade 2nd Infantry Division |
Battles/wars |
Mexican Revolution World War I |
Awards | Army Distinguished Service Medal |
Lieutenant General James Guthrie Harbord (March 21, 1866 – August 20, 1947) was a senior officer of the United States Army and President and Chairman of the Board of RCA.
Harbord was born in Bloomington, Illinois, and raised in Bushong, Kansas and Manhattan, Kansas. He graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College in 1886, and thereafter worked as an instructor at the college for two years. In 1889, he enlisted in the United States Army. On July 31, 1891, he received a commission with the Fifth Cavalry.
Harbord's first overseas experience came as a member of the occupation army in Cuba after the Spanish–American War. On January 21, 1899, during an extended leave, he married Emma Yeatman Overshine, daughter of Brigadier General Samuel Ovenshine. In 1901, he was promoted to captain and transferred from Cuba, where he has served initially as quartermaster and commissary for the 10th Cavalry Regiment, and later as aide-de-camp and adjutant-general of the department of Santiago and Puerto Principe.
After serving briefly in the Secretary of War office, he requested and received transfer to duty in the Philippines with the 11th Cavalry Regiment. He then served as Assistant Chief of the Philippine Constabulary from 1903 to 1909 and again from 1910 through 1913. By late April 1914 he was commanding the unit defending the California border at Calexico. In 1916, he was on the Mexican border with Brigadier General John J. Pershing, pursuing Pancho Villa.