William K. Naylor (24 November 1874 – 3 August 1942) was a career officer in theUnited States Army. A veteran of theSpanish–American War,Philippine–American War,Boxer Rebellion, andWorld War I, he attained the rank ofbrigadier general. Naylor served from 1898 to 1938, and his command assignments included the15th Infantry Regiment and13th Infantry Regiment. He was a recipient of theArmy Distinguished Service Medal and theSilver Star, in addition to numerous foreign awards and decorations.
A native ofBloomington, Illinois, Naylor graduated fromMichigan Military Academy in 1894 and theUniversity of Minnesota Law School in 1898. Naylor served in theMinnesota National Guard while attending law school, and he volunteered for federal service during theSpanish–American War. Commissioned in the army as asecond lieutenant later that year, he went on to serve in thePhilippine–American War andChina Relief Expedition. Naylor was a highly regarded military historian and strategist, and he taught at several army schools, in addition to authoring numerous books and journal articles. DuringWorld War I, Naylor attained the rank ofbrigadier general as chief of staff of the33rd Division,III Corps andIX Corps.
After the First World War, Naylor's assignments included command of the: US Army General Staff School; US Army War Plans Division;15th Infantry Regiment;13th Infantry Regiment andFort Warren, Massachusetts;Civilian Conservation Corps,Second Corps Area;Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps,University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign;Fort Benjamin Harrison; andFifth Corps Area. Naylor retired in 1938. He died inFarmington, Pennsylvania on 3 August 1942 and was buried atArlington National Cemetery.
William Keith Naylor was born inBloomington, Illinois on 24 November 1874, the son of William Alexander Naylor and Genevieve Charlotte (Hay) Naylor.[2] Naylor's father was a manager and executive for theAmerican Express Company, and as he moved due to reassignment and promotions, Naylor was raised in Bloomington,Burlington, Iowa, andSaint Paul, Minnesota.[5][6] From 1890 to 1894, he was a student at theMichigan Military Academy.[7][8] After graduating, he applied for admission to theUnited States Military Academy; he was accepted as an alternate, but a vacancy did not occur.[9]
Naylor attended theUniversity of Minnesota Law School while serving as afirst lieutenant andcaptain in theMinnesota National Guard's Company E, 3rd Infantry Regiment.[10][11][12] In February 1898, Naylor was a delegate to Saint Paul's cityRepublican convention.[13] Naylor graduated in 1898 with anLL.B. degree and wasadmitted to the bar.[2][14]
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At the start of theSpanish–American War in April 1898, Naylor organized a volunteer company made up of University of Minnesota students and members of his National Guard unit; the members elected him as captain.[15] This unit was not accepted for federal service, and in May, Naylor accepted appointment as the 3rd Regiment's commissary officer with the rank of first lieutenant.[16] The 3rd Minnesota was subsequently federalized as the 14th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and Naylor served with the 14th during its pre-deployment organization and training atCamp George H. Thomas, Georgia.[17][18] Naylor was serving as asecond lieutenant in the 14th Minnesota's Company L in July when he resigned so he could accept a commission as a second lieutenant in theregular army's9th Infantry Regiment.[19][20]
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Naylor served as commander of Company F, 9th Infantry in the Philippines during thePhilippine–American War and took part in the 1903China Relief Expedition, the US response to theBoxer Rebellion.[2][21] He was a distinguished graduate of the Infantry and Cavalry School in 1904, and graduated from theUnited States Army Command and General Staff College in 1904, and theUnited States Army War College in 1910.[2] He became a highly regarded instructor of topics including history and military strategy, and he taught at several Army schools.[2] Naylor authored several works which were used as texts in his courses, and were later published, includingThe Principles of Strategy as Illustrated by the Civil War (1917) andPrinciples of Strategy (1921).[22][23] In 1923, he published an account of theFirst Battle of the Marne,The Marne Miracle.[24] Additional published lectures and articles included:Operations on the Western Front, 1914 (Command Course No. 17, 1922);[25] and "The Principles of War" (Infantry Journal, 1922).[26]
DuringWorld War I, Naylor served as chief of staff of the33rd Division, and later chief of staff ofIII Corps andIX Corps; he took part in theSecond Battle of the Somme andMeuse–Argonne offensive, and received promotion to temporarybrigadier general.[2][27] After the war, he served as director of the General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth and chief of the army staff's War Plans Division.[2] From 1922 to 1924, Naylor served as the army's assistant chief of staff for Intelligence (G-2).[2]
From 1924 to 1926, Naylor commanded the 15th Infantry Regiment in China.[2] Naylor's executive officer and second-in-command wasGeorge C. Marshall, who had acted as regimental commander prior to Naylor's arrival. Naylor was evidently unhappy with the initiative Marshall had become used to displaying while acting commander; in the final performance appraisal of Marshall that Naylor completed before ending his command tour, he rated Marshall as "above average", the second highest category.[28] The commander of US forces in China, Brigadier GeneralWilliam Durward Connor, changed the ratings to the highest category, "superior".[28] Naylor was relieved of command in January 1926, accused of alcoholism and neglect of duty; he was exonerated after performing temporary duty in the Philippines.[21][28][29] He was then assigned to command of the 13th Infantry Regiment, first atFort Warren, Massachusetts, and later atFort Adams, Rhode Island, where he served until 1929.[2][30]
In May 1929, Naylor was appointed chief of staff forSecond Corps Area and stationed atGovernors Island, New York.[31] From May to July 1933, he was commander of the corps area'sCivilian Conservation Corps organization.[32] From July to December 1933, he was assigned as commandant of theArmy Reserve Officers' Training Corps and professor of military science and tactics at theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.[33] In October 1933, he was promoted to permanent brigadier general and in December he was assigned as commandant of the post atFort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana.[34][35] From October 1935 to January 1936, he commanded theFifth Corps Area.[36] He left the army upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 64 in November 1938.[37]
In retirement, Naylor was a resident ofFarmington, Pennsylvania.[38] Beginning in 1939, he served as president of the Phoenix Glass Company ofRochester, Pennsylvania.[39] He belonged to theDelta Chi fraternity, and attained the 32nd degree ofYork Rite freemasonry.[2] In addition, he belonged to Washington, DC's Army and Navy Club.[2] Naylor died at his home in Farmington on 3 August 1942.[40][41] He was buried atArlington National Cemetery.[42]
Naylor received theCitation Star for heroism during the China Relief Expedition; when the army created theSilver Star medal in the early 1930s, Naylor's decoration was upgraded to the new award.[2] In addition, he was a member of theMilitary Order of the Dragon, a fraternal order created by veterans of the China mission.[2] For his First World War service, Naylor received theArmy Distinguished Service Medal,Order of St Michael and St George (Commander) (Great Britain),Order of the Crown of Italy (Commander), andLegion of Honor (Officer) andCroix de Guerre (France).[2]
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Brigadier General William K. Naylor, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services. While chief of staff of the 33d Division he exhibited conspicuous ability during operations north of Verdun, France, in September and October, 1918. he frequently visited the front-line positions under heavy enemy artillery fire, and by his personal efforts and skillful disposition was in a large measure responsible for the successes gained.
Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 59 (1919)[43]
By direction of the President, under the provisions of the act of Congress approved July 9, 1918 (Bul. No. 43, W. D., 1918), the following-named officer was cited for gallantry in action and a silver star may be placed upon the ribbon of the China campaign medal awarded to this officer. The citation is as follows:
William K. Naylor, colonel, Infantry, then first lieutenant, 9th Infantry, United States Army. For gallantry in action, 13–14, 1900, against the city of Tientisn, China. By his coolness and heroism he inspired his men throughout the day.
Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 19 (3 May 1922)[44]
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