John Biddle
Major General, U.S. Army

John Biddle was born on 2 February 1859 in Detroit, MI. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1881.

From 1891-98 he was in charge of river and harbor work at Nashville, TN. When the Spanish-American War broke out, he was made Chief Engineer of Volunteers, serving in Puerto Rico and Cuba, and later in the Philippines. After that conflict, he was in charge of river and harbor work in San Francisco from 1907-11.

He was an observer with the Austro-Hungarian Army in the early days of World War I. Biddle was appointed Superintendent of West Point and served in that capacity from 1916 to 1917. When the U.S. entered World War I, he commanded a brigade of engineer regiments, then served as acting U.S. Army Chief of Staff in Washington. In 1918 he was again sent overseas to take charge of American troops in Great Britain and Ireland.

Death and Burial

Major General John Biddle died on 18 January 1936 in San Antonio, TX. He is buried at the U.S. Military Academy Post Cemetery in West Point, NY.