George Windle Read
Major General, U.S. Army

George Windle Read was born on 19 November 1860 in Indianola, IA. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1883 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry.

Read’s initial assignments were in the American West, and his first posting was with the 16th Infantry Regiment. A few months later he transferred to the 5th Cavalry Regiment, with which he served until 1889. Read was Assistant Professor of Military Science at the University of Iowa from 1889-93, after which he returned to the 5th Cavalry Regiment in Texas.

In 1898 Read authored The Automatic Instructor: A Practical System for Home Study. At the start of the Spanish-American War, Read was assigned to an Ordnance unit, with which he served in Cuba until 1899. Receiving a promotion to Captain, he served in New Mexico in 1901-02, after which he was assigned to the Philippines. After leaving Cuba, Read served in California and Hawaii. From 1905-09 he served on the Army’s General Staff. After his promotion to Major he served in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines before attending the Army War College, from which he graduated in 1914.

Colonel Read was appointed to head recruiting in April 1917, as the Army began to mobilize for World War I. In August, he was selected to command the 152nd Depot Brigade at Camp Upton, NY. Read was promoted to temporary Major General in December and assigned to command the 15th Cavalry Division in El Paso, TX. The 15th Cavalry Division was disbanded in favor of fielding all Infantry divisions, and in April 1918, Read took command of the 30th Infantry Division, which he led to France.

In June 1918, he was selected to command II Corps, consisting of five divisions assigned to the British sector of the Western Front. After three of his divisions were transferred to take part in the Saint-Mihiel Offensive, Read continued to command the other two as a Corps under the British Army in the Ypres area, participating in the September offensive that breached the Hindenberg Line. MG Read continued to command II Corps after the Armistice. After the organization was demobilized in February 1919, Read was assigned to command the American Embarkation Center at Le Havre, France, where he was responsible for arranging the transportation of men and materiel back to the United States. He was also the final commander of the 42nd Infantry Division, as it completed post-war occupation duty in Germany and prepared to depart Europe.

Read was assigned to command the US V Corps at Camp Jackson, SC, in May 1919 with the permanent rank of Brigadier General. In March 1921, he received the permanent rank of Major General. In October 1922, Read was appointed commander of the Philippine Department, where he remained until his retirement in 1925.

Family

Read married Burton Young (1868–1944), in 1886 in El Paso, TX. She was the daughter of General S.B.M Young, who served as the first Army Chief of Staff. Their children included Burton Young Read (1889–1981), a career soldier who served from the early 1900s through World War II before retiring as a Colonel, and George Windle Read, Jr. [Honoree Record ID 307158], a career soldier who served in both World Wars and attained the rank of Lieutenant General as Commander of the US Army Armor Center and the Second United States Army.

Death and Burial

Major General George Windle Read died at Walter Reed Army Hospital on 6 November 1934. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section South, Site 1819.