William Wallace Wotherspoon

William Wallace Wotherspoon
General William Wallace Wotherspoon, official portrait by Thomas W. Orlando.
Born	November 16, 1850 Washington, D.C.
Died	October 21, 1921(1921-10-21) (aged 70) Washington, D.C.
Buried at	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy United States Army
Years of service	1870–1873 (USN) 1873–1914 (USA)
Rank	Major General
Commands held	2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment (1901-1902) U.S. Army War College (1905–1906, 1907–1909, 1909–1912) Department of the Gulf (1912) Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1914)
Battles/wars	Indian Wars Spanish–American War Philippine–American War
Other work	Superintendent of Public Works, State of New York (1915–1920)

William Wallace Wotherspoon (November 16, 1850 – October 21, 1921) was a United States Army general who served as Army Chief of Staff in 1914.

He was born in Washington, D.C., on November 16, 1850, the son of Army surgeon Alexander Summerville Wotherspoon (1817-1884) and Louisa Kuhn Wotherspoon. Alexander Wotherspoon was a veteran of the Mexican War; in addition to serving on Winfield Scott's staff, he was present when President Zachary Taylor became ill in 1850, and treated Taylor during his final illness.

William Wotherspoon was educated in private schools and served aboard ship as a mate in the United States Navy from 1870 to 1873.

Wotherspoon was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 12th Infantry in October 1873. From 1874 to 1881, he served in the West during the Indian wars as a troop officer and quartermaster.

After a year of absence from the Army for being sick, he became the superintendent and did much needed work to expand the Soldiers' Home in Washington, D.C. He then served at Fort Sully and at Mount Vernon Barracks, where he trained a company of Apache prisoners from 1890 to 1894. In 1893 he became an hereditary member of the Aztec Club of 1847.

In 1894, he became aide to General Oliver O. Howard, commander of the Department of the East, and was the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (today named the University of Rhode Island) first Professor Military Science and Tactics from 1894 to 1898.

In 1898, while on recruiting duty at Fort McPherson, he organized the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry. He served in the Philippines against insurgents and as collector of customs at Iloilo from 1899 to 1901.