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General McKinstry was for several years the sole survivor of ’88—in fact, only General Hodges was senior to him of all West Point—and younger men do, most fervently for knowing our General, bless “old ’88.”</div>
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Having no classmate to write about him, McKinstry, with characteristic thoughtfulness, dictated the main structure of this report for the Assembly to his wife, who made it available to the writer. The latter quotes the General’s side remarks in parentheses, although they give small hint of his skill as a raconteur.</div>
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McKinstry was born 9 December 1866 in, San Francisco. His father, Judge Elisha Williams McKinstry, had arrived in that city from Detroit in 1849 and subsequently became Justice of the Supreme Court of California. His mother, Annie Livingston Hedges, came as a young girl to Marysville, California. Through them he inherited both membership and interest in various patriotic societies deriving from the earliest settlers both in the east and in California. Moreover, his completely California background made Santa Barbara a natural as well as a delightful spot for retirement.</div>
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He graduated in 1884 from St. Ignatius College, San Francisco, and then went on to West Point. Here he stood second in his class to General Henry Jervey, a lifelong friend, and was cadet adjutant (“a showy job, but not important”).</div>
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From graduation in 1888 until 1891, McKinstry, who had been assigned to the Engineers, was stationed at the Torpedo School at Willetts Point—now Fort Totten, Long Island; thence back to West Point for two years in the Department of Military Engineering. Then followed four years occupied with river and harbor work in Milwaukee, Duluth, and Newport (“routine, but extremely interesting”).</div>
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During the Spanish War he was sent to Key West to build gun and mortar emplacements, to mount their armaments, and to mine the harbor entrance (“the mine placing was perfectly accomplished by a detail of Engineer troops sent from the Torpedo School at Willetts Point”).</div>
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The war over, he was assigned for a year to St. Augustine, Florida, in connection with river and harbor work. Different duties followed: instructor, Engineering Post Graduate School, Washington, D.C.; member, Board of Engineers for Bivers and Harbors; in charge of river, harbor, breakwater, and lighthouse work in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In San Francisco during the great earthquake of 1906 he was appointed to the Mayor’s “Committee of 40.”</div>
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From 1909 to 1912 he was Chief Engineer, Philippine Division. (“On Corregidor Island I supervised hauling from the scows to the top of the island both heavy guns and material for the barracks being constructed for the entire garrison; while on Luzon I was called upon to make a survey of the whole island.”)</div>
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Posts in Portland, Oregon, and New York City ensued. In New York in 1917 he was directed to recruit, officer, train, and take to France, sailing 14 July 1917, the 11th Railroad Engineers, National Army, some 12,000<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>strong. (“The recruits came in droves, so numerous they could have been selected on the basis of good looks.”) McKinstry, now a colonel, with his usual thoroughness, insisted upon adding to the regular Engineer’s training, Infantry tactics and target practice. (“As a matter of fact, this training came in very handy, later.”)</div>
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The 11th landed at Plymouth, encamped at Aldershot, and was reviewed by King George V. (“I was invited to dine in the Royal Pavilion, with the Boyal Family. It embarrassed me, the only American officer, to have no dress uniform. To my relief, everyone was in field costume, including the King, who was very cordial.’’)</div>
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From Aldershot, to France—Boulogne and other French cities. At this point McKinstry was promoted to brigadier general and handed over his command to Colonel Hoffman ’96, under whom, near Cambrai on 30 November, a large part of the regiment engaged as Infantry. (“That training came in very handy.”)</div>
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As a brigadier general, McKinstry was at first Chief Engineer of the Lines of Communication and then in command of the Artillery successively of the 1st Division and the Bainbow Division, until replacements came from the US of regular Artillery officers. At the end of the war he was at General Headquarters in charge of light railways and roads in the combat area. He was awarded the Purple Heart and made a member of the Legion d’Honneur.</div>
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Following the Armistice he was attached to the Peace Commission in Paris, reporting directly to President Wilson’s personal representative, Colonel House; and he was also on the committee of the Peace Conference concerned with exchanging prisioners of war.</div>
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Retuming to the US in August 1919, McKinstry, at his own request, was, one month later, retired as a colonel of Engineers. On 21 June 1930 he was, by Act of Congress, appointed Brigadier General, US Army, Retired.</div>
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His first wife, Lydia Ann Lawrence of Lawrence, Long Island, died childless in 1920. Four years later his family life really began when he married Evelyn Salisbury Wells, the 24-year-old daughter of a Yale professor. After two years of travel in Europe and Egypt, the pair settled in Santa Barbara. His expressed regret was that he would never see grown up his three lovely little girls. Yet he lived to see their children, 11 of them: Thomes, Halls, and Micous. No man ever had a more glorious, more closely knit family. No man ever enjoyed his family more. No man ever won more admiring, affectionate friends: from West Point, especially Generals Hart ’89 and Lassiter ’89 (the former living to 94; the latter, 91); from the County of Santa Barbara, legions.</div>
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When in the course of life’s inexorable cycle, General McKinstry, in his nineties, lost his locomotion partially, his hearing largely, and his sight almost entirely, his concern was not for himself but for his wife, whose duties he thus made exacting. He remained uncomplaining, gallant, and also, by some miracle of personality, charming. A fine officer, a fine gentleman, a fine man, he enjoyed a marked interest in literature and music, and likewise relished the flavor of sports, actively and passively. (“I like listening to the Navy Game—and winning.”) He stoically wended the last miles into the Valley of the Shadow of Death in the best and proudest traditions of the Point he loved so well.</div>
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God bless old ’88!</div>
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<em>—Francis Minturn Sedgwick</em></div>