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In the fall of 1886 twenty-eight “Seps” sweetened the membership of the then plebe Class of 1890. Among them was a rosy-complexioned, light-haired, dreamy-eyed youth, just turned 18, clad in the conventional cutaway “cits” of that day, who hailed from Evansville, Indiana, and who took with unfailing good nature the double dose of plebe drills and plebe “divilment” combined with academic handouts from “Papa” Bass and “Pappy” Andrews, thereby earning the lifetime sobriquet of “Sunny Jim” to go along with the other appellation of “Sep” Hornbrook—the subject of this sketch. Whatever cadet life might mean to others, “Sep” took it all in stride, and liked it.</p>
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He came from a good home and a fine family. His father, Richard Saunders Hornbrook, a prominent lawyer, pillar of the Methodist Church, profound student of literature, proud of his family and its traditions, had served for three years in the Union Army as Captain in the 65th Indiana Volunteers. He was glad to see “Sep” enter the Military Academy, but would use no influence to secure his appointment—”Sep” must earn it—and did—through a competitive examination. His mother, nee Lucy Wheeler, a gentlewoman devoted to her children, of whom there were eight (five boys and three girls), exercised a strong influence in molding his character. Both father and mother were second generation Americans, of British ancestry, lured to America by the greater opportunities that this new country afforded. Among “Sep’s” early ancestors was one from Holland, who came to England with William of Orange, and whose strain was evidenced in “Sep’s” character; for whenever “Sep’s” “old Dutch” was aroused, things indeed had to move!</p>
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“Sep’s” next younger brother (William Hallam Hornbrook, recently deceased) also passed the mental examination to succeed “Sep” at West Point. Rejected, however, on account of color blindness, he studied law, became a noted corporation lawyer, leader of the Indianapolis bar and onetime President of the Indiana Bar Association. Two other brothers, living, are John Hornbrook, of the Carnegie Steel Co., in Detroit, and Dr. Frank Hornbrook, physician, of Washington, D. C. Two sisters also survive “sep”—Mrs. Herbert St. John and Mrs. Claude Brunning.</p>
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As evidenced by his winning the competitive examination, he was well grounded in the fundamentals before entering the Military Academy. His preliminary education was obtained in the Evansville public schools supplemented by a course in a private German-language school, to which his father sent him and in which all conversation was held in German. So at West Point he had little trouble in maintaining a good class standing without infringing on the hours—brief enough at best—that the authorities allowed for relaxation. As far as known he was never guilty of pinning a blanket over his window to permit “running a light” after taps. He was not a cadet officer and his four years at West Point were marked by no special incidents now remembered by his surviving classmates. As a boy he had learned to ride horseback on his grandfather’s farm, and at the Academy he was one of the best horsemen in his Class. It was very natural, therefore, that he should choose the cavalry—as he did—upon graduation.</p>
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Here it may be convenient to mention the other Army schools which he attended. They were, first. The Infantry and Cavalry School, at Fort Leavenworth, 1893-1895; and, second, The Army War College. Washington, D. C., 1921-1922; from both of which he graduated creditably.</p>
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Space is not available to report in detail the long list of assignments, stations and duties covered by his career of forty-three years of active Army service, during which he passed through all grades from cadet to brigadier general inclusive. Here, in passing, we shall mention some of the more important only.</p>
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What a change for Hornbrook, accustomed to the green hills of Indiana and the wooded slopes of the Hudson River, when, as additional second lieutenant of the Second Cavalry, he reported for duty at Fort Bowie, Arizona, on October 10th, 1890, under a scorching sun, amidst the sand, the cacti and the dust of the Arizona desert! But he was warmly greeted and hospitably entertained—the Commanding Officer (Major McGregor) and his family being particularly nice to him. These were indeed halcyon days, to which Hornbrook often referred in conversation in later years. This duty in the great Southwest, with stations at Bowie, Huachuca, Wingate, McIntosh and many smaller outposts, lasted until 1898, interrupted only by two years at the Leavenworth Schools. It included service in the Second Cavalry until his promotion to first lieutenant in 1897, when he joined the Fifth Cavalry. It was a period of great unrest among the Indians, and Hornbrook, with small detachments, was in his element in the field, continually scouting and mapping the terrain; with the likelihood of a brush at any moment with hostile Indians or renegade cattle rustlers adding tang to the situation.</p>
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Next came the Spanish-American War, in which (as Hornbrook tersely expressed it) he and his troop “fought the great battle of typhoid and ‘yellow jack’ “ at Tampa, Florida, and Huntsville, Alabama, until December, 1898, when they were assigned to garrison duty in Puerto Rico—greatly to their relief.</p>
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The nineteen years between the Spanish War and America’s entry into the World War saw him promoted captain (1901), major (1912), lieutenant-colonel (1916), and colonel (1917), with duty in the Philippines (two tours), at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, at Omaha, Nebraska, Fort DesMoines, Iowa, on the Mexican border (participating in Pershing’s Punitive Expedition), and at various posts in Texas— all in the cavalry, except for a four years’ “fancy detail” in the Pay Department, spent at Omaha.</p>
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In the World War he organized and commanded the train of the Fourth (regular) Division at Camp Greene, North Carolina, and accompanied it to France. Then, having been promoted a brigadier general in the National Army, he returned to the United States and was assigned to the command of the important El Paso District, where he handled a difficult international situation with great discretion and tact. Subsequently, returned to the grade of colonel, he commanded his regiment (the Fifth Cavalry) and the Big Bend District of the Rio Grande until ordered to the Army War College, in 1921. Thereafter, after graduating and until his retirement, most of his service was with the Organized Reserves.</p>
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Having retired September 2nd, 1929, on his own application after forty-three active duty years, he made his home for one year in Palo Alto, California, thereafter in Hollywood.</p>
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Hornbrook was a zealous and efficient officer—loyal to his superiors, friendly and co-operative with his equals, and kindly, just and firm in command. While the official records are not available to the writer, there is no doubt that his promotion to general officer was well earned. To fine professional attainments he added good judgment and much practical “horse sense”. He wanted, most of all, to secure results and generally attained them. The following incident, illustrating this, was told the writer.</p>
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During the first World War continuous copper production was as much a necessity as now. The great Phelps-Dodge and other huge copper mines near Douglas, Arizona, in the El Paso Military District, were experiencing slow-downs and threatened with strikes because of the presence of I.W.W. agitators. The mine owners, greatly disturbed, asked the War Department for military protection. Hornbrook, the District Commander, was ordered to investigate. Shortly afterwards mine production again went forward at full stride. Just what “strong inducements’’ were offered the agitators speedily to quit the vicinage was never proclaimed from the housetops, but whenever the subject was mentioned to Hornbrook it was noted that the habitual smile on “Sunny Jim’s” face became more and more expansive, until it nearly reached from ear to ear.</p>
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Hornbrook, in retirement, loved his home and domestic life. He avoided notoriety. Although eligible for membership in many military, patriotic and social orders and societies, he refrained from joining them—about his only affiliation being with the Association of Graduates. U. S. M. A.</p>
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During his last years he suffered greatly from an asthmatic complaint which became complicated with other chronic disorders necessitating his frequent hospitalization. Through this trying ordeal, however, he remained steadfastly cheerful, spending much of his time in reading and in letter-writing to his classmates in his pithy, vigorous style. He was specially well-posted in current national and international events, upon which he held strong convictions. His character is well summed up in a circular letter by General Jas. A. Ryan, his Class President, announcing his death:</p>
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“Sep Hornbrook, as he was familiarly known to us, endeared himself to all who knew him. He was a man of a keen sense of justice, of high ideals, widely read, and of accurate judgment of national and world affairs. He had a fine mind and a deep sense of loyalty to his friends and to his country. Every moment of his manly life he lived up to the motto of his Alma Mater—Duty, Honor, Country.”</p>
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General Hornbrook passed away at his home in Hollywood, October 1, 1942. He is survived by his widow, nee Mary Worth Sanno (daughter of General James J. Sanno, Class of 1863. U.S.M.A., a Civil War veteran and noted Indian campaigner of the Seventh Infantry), by a daughter, Genevieve (Mrs. Steele Wotkyns, widow of Major Wotkyns, U.S.A.), and by two grandsons, Steele, Jr. (17) and Roger Sherman (15), of whom—clad in R.O.T.C. uniform, one naval, one army—Granddad was justifiably proud. The survivors now reside in Santa Monica.</p>
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<em>—William Church Davis</em></p>
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