Hugh Aloysius Drum

Hugh Aloysius Drum (September 19, 1879 – October 3, 1951) was a United States Army Lieutenant General.

Born at Fort Brady, Chippewa County, Michigan on September 19, 1879, Hugh A. Drum was the son of Captain John Drum (1864–1898), a career Army officer who was killed in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. His mother was Margaret Desmond of Boston.

In 1894, Drum graduated from Xavier High School in New York City, which he had attended while his father was an instructor at the school. (Hugh Drum was admitted to the Xavier High School Hall of Fame in 1931.) Initially intent upon a career as a Jesuit priest, he enrolled at Boston College. Under the provisions of a recently passed law allowing recognition for sons of officers who displayed exceptional bravery during the Spanish-American War, Drum was offered a direct commission as a Second Lieutenant on September 9, 1898, which he accepted. (He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College in 1921.)

Drum in 1902.

Joining the United States Army while the Spanish–American War and subsequent insurrections and conflicts were ongoing, he served with the 12th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines. He then served in the Philippines with the 25th Infantry Regiment. He participated in the Battle of Bayan in 1899, for which he received the Silver Citation Star which was converted to the Silver Star when that decoration was created in 1932.

Drum later served as aide-de-camp to Frank Baldwin before returning to a series of assignments in the United States. He completed the School of the Line (precursor to the Officer Basic and Advanced Courses) in 1911 as an Honor Graduate. He graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1912, and later served there as an instructor.

In 1914 he was an Assistant Chief of Staff for the force commanded by Frederick Funston during the Veracruz Expedition.

Drum served at Fort Bliss and Fort Sam Houston in Texas during 1915 and 1916 as part of the Pancho Villa Expedition.

Highly regarded by John J. Pershing, at the start of World War I Drum was named an assistant Chief of Staff of First Army. In 1918, he was promoted to Colonel, and became First Army's Chief of Staff. He was commended for his work to assemble and organize First Army's staff, and for the planning of the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives, for which he received the Army Distinguished Service Medal.

After the war, Drum served as the director of training and assistant commandant for the School of the Line at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and commandant of the Command and General Staff College, where he taught the doctrine of open warfare that the American Expeditionary Forces had practiced in France.

From 1926 to 1927 Drum commanded the 1st Infantry Brigade.

From there he went to the Army staff at the War Department in Washington, D.C., where he publicly clashed with General Billy Mitchell about the disposition of the U.S. Army Air Service. General Drum successfully lobbied Congress not to have the Air Service organized separately from the Army. He served as commander of the 1st Infantry Division from 1927 and as Inspector General of the US Army from 1930 to 1931. Drum was promoted to Major General when he assumed his duties as Inspector General on January 29, 1930.

In 1931 Drum was assigned as commander of the V Corps Area, based at Fort Hayes, Ohio.

Drum returned to Washington in 1933 to serve as Deputy to the Army's Chief of Staff, Douglas MacArthur. He headed a board of senior officers that again sought to suppress advocates of an independent air force by setting the ceiling on Air Corps requirements for numbers of aircraft and tying any funding for expansion of the Air Corps to prior funding of the other branches first. In 1934 all the members of the Drum Board also sat on the presidential-initiated Baker Board, again setting its agenda to preclude any discussion of air force independence.

From 1935 to 1937, Drum commanded the Hawaiian Department. It was during Drum's posting in Hawaii that he renewed acquaintance with another ambitious officer, George S. Patton, who served as his Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G2), and with whom he had a contentious professional relationship.

In 1938, Drum succeeded James K. Parsons as commander of First United States Army and assumed command of Second Corps Area headquartered at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York. When Chief of Staff General Malin Craig retired in 1939, Drum was passed over in favor of George Marshall. Despite this disappointment, he received a promotion to Lieutenant General in August 1939.

Drum's former residence (right) in Washington, D.C.

With the onset of preparations for World War II, Drum assumed command of the Eastern Defense Command, responsible for domestic defense along the Atlantic seaboard. During the 1941 Carolina Maneuvers, Drum commanded First Army. He was embarrassed and became the subject of mockery during the event when he was captured on the first day of the exercises by troops of the 2nd Armored Division under Patton's command. After soldiers from Isaac D. White's battalion detained Drum, the exercise umpires ruled that the circumstances under which he was captured would not have transpired in actual combat, so he was allowed to return to his headquarters, but the incident indicated to senior leaders that Drum might not be prepared to command large bodies of troops under the conditions the Army faced in World War II.

After the Carolina maneuvers, Drum was disappointed with an offer from Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to go on what he perceived to be a low-profile assignment in China. After declining the China mission, Drum continued to command the Eastern Defense Command until reaching the mandatory retirement age in 1943.

Drum was the commander of the New York Guard from 1943 to 1945. From 1944 until his death he was the president of Empire State, Inc., the company that managed the Empire State Building.

Drum's gravestone at Arlington National Cemetery.

Drum died in New York City on October 3, 1951, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 3, Site 1447-R.

In 1903, Drum married to Mary Reaume (1877-1960). They were the parents of a daughter, Anna Carroll Drum (1916-1996), nicknamed "Peaches," who was the wife of Army officer Thomas H. Johnson, Jr.

In 1951 Pine Camp, near Watertown, New York, was re-named Camp Drum in General Drum's honor.

United States military decorations and medals

• Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
• Silver Star
• Spanish War Service Medal
• Philippine Campaign Medal
• Mexican Border Service Medal
• World War I Victory Medal
• Army of Occupation of Germany Medal
• American Defense Service Medal
• American Campaign Medal
• World War II Victory Medal.

In 1948 General Drum received the Conspicuous Service Cross awarded by the State of New York by right of his having received the Silver Star. He was awarded medal number 7492.

Foreign orders and decorations

His foreign decorations included the French Croix de Guerre, French Legion of Honor (Commander), Belgium's Order of the Crown (Commander), and Italy's Order of the Crown.

Other honors

Drum was a member of the Scabbard and Blade Society.

In 1940, he received the Laetare Medal, awarded by the University of Notre Dame annually to recognize individuals who have contributed to the goals of the Roman Catholic church.

Drum received honorary degrees from Boston College, St. Lawrence University, Fordham University, Loyola University of New Orleans, Columbia University, Rutgers University, New York University, Manhattan College, Pennsylvania Military College, and Georgetown University.

Fort Drum, New York is named for him.