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Major General <em>William Crozier</em>, of the Class of ‘76 of the U.S.M.A., passed away at his home in Washington, on November 10, 1942. A brilliant career ends in time-honored distinction. It was exceptional in its variety for he was not only a distinguished and gallant soldier, but also a publicist and an authority on national and international affairs, a scholar of note, and a gentleman of rare charm.</p>
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General Crozier was the son of Judge Robert and Margaret Atkinson Crozier and was born and brought up in the old McCook house in Carrolton, Ohio. This old home has been preserved as a public memorial. It might be noticed that he was appointed to the Military Academy from Kansas. Thereby hangs the tale of his father as an early settler and the first printer and editor in the Territory of Kansas, who was also one of the first Senators from Kansas. In knowing Crozier one naturally barks back to the Huguenot ancestry which so often in our history has betokened in American families a certain characteristic flavor, whereas his staunch habits of mind and character I like to trace back through his mother to one of the well known Scotch-Irish families of the Juniata Valley in Pennsylvania.</p>
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It is a pity that no man of his own time was available to write of him for the Graduates Magazine to cover those early cadet days when he was outstanding in his class and graduated, in a scholarly sense, at the head; or those early campaigns when, as an Artillery officer, he was in the field against the Sioux Indians in ‘76 and ‘77 and, later on, in the Bannocks campaign in the far Northwest. Two years ago he received the review of the cadet corps as the oldest graduate present, and at that time he was the only survivor of his class. Even so, his service is so well known throughout the Army that it is easy for a graduate of twenty years after to tell the story and to hold forth in happy memory.</p>
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After his service in the Indian Wars, General Crozier entered into that elite group of Ordnance officers which so well served the Army at large in preparing for war and in furnishing the best arms and equipment for the battlefield. Even amongst these fine officers he was of marked originality and conspicuous for his engineering ability and creative talents. For some twenty years as a junior he made many, contributions to the science of ordnance engineering. He published a long and most important series of technical and constructive papers and pamphlets having to do with ballistics and gun construction.</p>
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During this period, in collaboration with General Buffington, he designed the most successful of all disappearing gun carriages which remained the standard carriage for our large caliber seacoast guns until after the World War.</p>
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Upon the death of Professor Michie at West Point in 1901, the young Captain was tendered the appointment as his successor as Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, which he declined, with a look ahead into the broader field of public affairs.</p>
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It was Mr. Elihu Root, Secretary of War, who was so impressed by the young Captain that, despite the opposition of the Senate Military Committee to the selection of such a junior officer, he overcame the opposition by positive opinion and proof of service. Thus began the longest and most notable tenure of office in the history of the Ordnance Department, seventeen years of constructive service which was ended by his appointment as Major General of the line in 1918 upon his return from service in England, France and Italy. He was then assigned the command of the Northeastern Department, from which he retired January 1, 1919, at his own request.</p>
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From time to time during his service, the professional attainments and the unusual character and personality of General Crozier were recognized in many exceptional and distinguished assignments, such as Military Delegate to the International Peace Conference at The Hague in ‘99, Admiral Mahan being the naval delegate. He made many visits abroad and was present officially at maneuvers in France and Germany. He served in the Philippines during the Insurrection and was Chief Ordnance Officer for the relief expedition to Peking in 1900. Due to his stimulating interest in the broad policies of the Army, he was constantly consulted by the Chief of Staff. He was known better than anybody else in the Army by different committees of the House and Senate, before whom he was frequently called on questions of national defense as well as details of ordnance appropriations. General Wood, as Chief of Staff, detached him for service as president of the Army War College. During this period he was prominent in discussions with the General Staff on the organization of the Land Forces of the United States. He prepared for the Chief of Staff reports on promotion by selection and programs of training and many other peculiarly General Staff problems. He had a habit of initiating in his own department progressive policies which were later adopted throughout the Army. In the years of conflict on the Mexican Border, he was the only one I know who attacked the troubles at the root and wrote soundly on how to keep the peace on that frontier.</p>
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General Crozier’s reports advocating promotion by selection were deep and studious. He felt that selection was being followed only until a cadet graduated from West Point and that the more able and proficient officer should be picked for early advancement and thus placed in a position of greater service to the country, and not be discouraged in his ambition and energy by having to wait for promotion under a system that recognized length of service but not merit.</p>
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During most of his years in the War Department he was a bachelor and the most sought-after dinner guest in town at a time when dining out was so very much a part of official life in Washington. Due to his charm and intelligence he was the friend of all of our Presidents of his time, and of Secretaries of War, Ambassadors and Justices of the Supreme Court. During a part of his bachelor days he lived with a Justice of the Supreme Court, and a prominent Congressman, afterwards Speaker and Senator. He was the soul of hospitality and during his Washington days had a yacht on the Potomac on which he entertained widely and well. He was married in London in 1913 to Mary Hoyt Williams by special license of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and for the remaining thirty years of his life it was the Croziers who were hospitable together and known the world around.</p>
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To get a picture of the Croziers abroad, I have asked the former Chinese Ambassador, Dr. Hu Shih, to tell about them in Peking, where the General was looked upon as a sage and philanthropist. He writes:</p>
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“General Crozier was with the American forces in China during the Boxer war of 1900-01. After his retirement from active service, he and Mrs. Crozier made almost annual visits to Peking until the Japanese invasion and occupation of that historic city made it impossible for Americans to go there.</p>
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‘‘Both the General and Mrs. Crozier were very fond of Peking, where they always stayed in a suite on the southwestern corner of the Grand Hotel de Pekin, overlooking the Imperial Ancestral Hall and a large part of the Forbidden City, with the Western Hills in the distant background. They made many tours to the historic and scenic sites in the city and in the surrounding areas. They were beloved by the ricksha coolies, street peddlers and art dealers as well as by their many American and European friends.</p>
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“The City of Peking, however, was not entirely kind to him. In 1924 he met with an accident while riding horseback and one of his legs was badly broken. In 1932 Peking gave him an almost fatal case of Asiatic cholera from which he was rescued and restored to health only through the most patient and resourceful care of Mrs. Crozier.</p>
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“In spite of these dangerous troubles, the Croziers always regarded Peking as one of the best places in the world to live in. One year they gave a large sum of money for the repair of one of the Towers of the Forbidden City.</p>
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“Both the General and Mrs. Crozier were lovers of Chinese art, and their fine collection of Chinese porcelains best attests to their artistic appreciation and understanding, acquired through wide observation and fond handling of the objects.</p>
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“General Crozier was deeply interested in the international situation of the Far East. As a great soldier and engineer, he was naturally impressed by the material progress and military efficiency of Japan, where he had many admirers and friends among the military and political circles. He often talked very frankly to his Chinese friends about the grave dangers which a weak and disorganized China must encounter in the event of a breakdown of the framework of international peace. It often depressed him to witness the civil strifes in China, the many failures in China’s effort to put her own house in order, and the apparent incompetency of the Chinese youth in the political sphere.</p>
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“Yet the Croziers never concealed the fact that they always felt far more at home in China than in Japan. They loved the Chinese people just as much as they loved the city of Peking. And his Chinese friends loved to hear the General tell his fears and hopes for China. He thought with them and shared their worries with them.</p>
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“For many years there was known ‘the Quartet’ of the Hotel de Pekin, frequently seen dining on the roof garden or in the dining room of the Hotel and carrying on their earnest discussions until midnight. The Quartet consisted of the Croziers, V. K. Ting, the geologist, and Hu Shih, the philosopher, with Ambassador Nelson T. Johnson alternating for one of the absent Chinese members.</p>
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“The General was never tired of leading the discussions with penetrating and sometimes embarrassing questions. He was always a patient and stimulating listener. He retained full mental vigor to the very end of his long life. He had a wonderful memory for details as well as a masterful grasp of fundamentals. Some of his favorite thesis were that good and competent men must take an active part in the government of the country and that the only justification of political power is the betterment of the lot of the people. ‘Even Tammany Hall’, he would say, ‘has built up its political power by catering to the needs of the poor people of New York City.’</p>
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“When his scientist friend V. K. Ting decided to take an active part in Chinese political affairs, the General was much pleased and gave him most enthusiastic encouragement. He was deeply interested in watching the rapid scientific progress in China during the last quarter of a century. And he was most sympathetic toward the movement of language reform and literacy renaissance in China. The success of such evolutionary movements seemed to have justified and strengthened his great faith in the future of China.</p>
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“When, in 1932, General Crozier learned that a few of his Chinese friends were publishing a weekly magazine of liberal opinion by taxing their salaries and contributing their time to its editing and writing, he came to them one day with a check of three hundred dollars, requesting them to use the money to send free subscriptions to all missionary schools, Catholic and Protestant, throughout China. The magazine was published in Chinese which he could not read. But he had confidence in his friends and wanted to help spread their ideas among the people.”</p>
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I end by this Resolution of the Ordnance Association which so well summarizes General Crozier’s distinguished career:</p>
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<em>“WHEREAS, God in His infinite wisdom has gathered unto Himself</em></p>
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<strong>Major General William Crozier Chief of Ordnance, United States Army, 1901-1918</strong></p>
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<em>a gallant soldier, a distinguished scientist, an eminent engineer, a loyal comrade-at-arms, and a lovable and beloved friend, and WHEREAS, The Board of Directors of the Army Ordnance in annual meeting assembled now sense the full impact of the absence of a wise counsellor of broad vision and sound judgment, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Officers and Directors now pause in their deliberations and here record, in behalf of the Ordnance Department of the United States Army, The Army Ordnance Association, and the engineering professions dedicated to National Defense, the irreplacable loss and deep sorrow felt by all patriotic Americans at the passing of an officer and gentleman who devoted all of his long life to selfless service to his country.</em></p>
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<em>Yet, in a sense, he has not passed. His principles still live—and truly guide the thinking of his successors in solving the grave problems of a world-wide War of Survival. His illustrious example will always shine—and inspire continuing emulation by Ordnance Officers, ceaselessly exploring the unknown and determinedly pushing back the frontiers of the impossible.</em></p>
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<em>“An expert artilleryman, courageous in combat, his coolness under fire was a tradition of the old Regular Army of the Indian Campaigns, the Philippine Insurrection, and the China Relief Expedition. A brilliant engineer, he labored unceasingly to arm the millions of the First World War.</em></p>
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<em>A soldier at heart, as Chief of Ordnance he visited the front-line trenches on the British, Belgian, French and, Italian Fronts—to assure himself that the weapons he designed in peace were fully equal to the demands of war.</em></p>
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<em>“Hating war, General Crozier felt deeply that industrial preparedness was the best available guaranty of peace, and he devoted his great talents to building the Army Ordnance Association as an effective agency in furtherance of this worthy purpose. His success was marked by the award of the Association’s Gold Medal for Merit, and the establishment of the Crozier Gold Medal for meritorious accomplishment in the field of industrial preparedness.</em></p>
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<em>“And further BE IT RESOLVED, that the Army Ordnance Association here and now dedicates its activities anew to the attainment of those high ideals and practical objectives to which General Crozier gave in full measure his unflagging energy and his undying loyalty.”</em></p>
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