text: clarence ransom edwards clarence ransom edwards ( january 1 , 1859 – february 14 , 1931 ) was an american general , known as the first chief of the bureau of insular affairs , and commander of the 26th division in world war i. early career edwards was born in cleveland , ohio , the son of local merchant william edwards , and lucia ransom . he graduated last in his class from the united states military academy in 1883 . upon his graduation from west point , edwards was appointed a second lieutenant in the 23rd infantry . for the next several years edwards served at various posts , including fort union , fort porter , cleveland , ohio ( commanding the guard at the tomb of president garfield ) , and fort davis . while stationed at fort porter he met bessie rochester porter , a member of the family that included peter buell porter , for whom the fort was named , and they were married in 1889 . he was promoted to first lieutenant on february 25 , 1891 while serving on detached service as professor of military science and tactics at st. john 's college ( now known as fordham university ) , from which he received an honorary degree . following another stint of detached service in the military information bureau of the adjutant general 's office , edwards returned to the 23rd infantry at fort clark , serving as a captain in command of a company , and later as regimental quartermaster . spanish – american war , the philippines , and after at the outbreak of the spanish – american war , edwards moved with his regiment to new orleans , louisiana . in may 1898 , he was given the rank of major , u. s. volunteers , and assigned as adjutant general of the 4th army corps at mobile , alabama ( and , later , tampa , florida and huntsville , alabama ) under the command of major general john j. coppinger . the 4th army corps was to have been part of the invasion of cuba , but was unable to obtain transport . in january 1899 , edwards was appointed adjutant - general on general h. w. lawton 's staff , accompanying him to the philippines . he participated in all of lawton 's campaigns in the philippines , including the battle of santa cruz and the battle of zapote bridge . edwards received three silver citation stars for gallantry in action during these campaigns . lawton was killed in the battle of in december 1899 , and edwards accompanied his remains to washington , d.c. for burial . in 1900 , due in part to his knowledge of the conditions in the philippines , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and named chief of the division of customs and insular affairs in the war department . by 1902 he was promoted to colonel and named the first chief of the new bureau of insular affairs . he retained this office until 1912 , by which time he had risen to the rank of brigadier general . edwards was named commander of the 6th brigade at fort d. a. russell , wyoming in october 1912 . the brigade was moved to texas city , texas , in february 1913 in response to the mexican revolution . in february 1914 , edwards became the commander of the 1st hawaiian brigade , at schofield barracks , hawaii . he then served as commander of all u. s. forces in the panama canal zone from february 1915 to april 1917 . world war i upon the outbreak of world war i , edwards was placed in charge of the department of the northeast , comprising all the new england states . in august 1917 , he was promoted to major general in the national army and given the task of organizing the 26th division . the division arrived in france in september 1917 , the first complete american division to do so . the division also became the first complete american division to go into combat at chemin - des - dames in february 1918 , where they remained for 46 days . going back to his days at west point , edwards had earned a reputation for being sharp - tongued and contentious . john j. pershing , commander of the american expeditionary force , particularly despised him . edwards made another enemy in general robert lee bullard during the 26th division 's relief of the 1st infantry division near toul in april 1918 . edwards found fault with everything he saw , and accused the 1st division of leaving behind classified documents . bullard was enraged , but pershing always favored the 1st division , and reassured him , and nothing came of the incident . in july 1918 , during the second battle of the marne , i corps commander hunter liggett found that , although the 26th division did not lack for heroism and fought valiantly , he could not depend on its commanders , especially edwards , to subjugate his unit to regular army divisions . edwards ' final demise came in october 1918 , when he reported an incident to liggett involving information two of his soldiers had obtained from german soldiers with whom they had been fraternizing . the germans had expressed their belief that the war would be over soon , and that they were reluctant to continue fighting . while edwards thought he was reporting the enemy 's poor morale to liggett , he instead gave liggett an excuse to get rid of edwards for his zeal in supporting the national guard . liggett reported the incident to pershing , who took the opportunity to act on his personal vendetta and relieve edwards of his command . later career on edwards ' return to the united states , he was assigned to the command of the northeastern department once again , with headquarters in boston . in september 1920 , he reverted to his regular army rank of brigadier general , and was placed in command of the 2nd brigade , based at camp taylor , kentucky . he was promoted to major general in the regular army in june 1921 , and given the command of the first corps area , headquartered in boston , where he served until retired at on december 1 , 1922 after nearly 40 years of service . following retirement , edwards served as president of the grocery company his father had founded . edwards was a member of the military order of foreign wars ( ) and served as its commander general from 1923 – 1926 . his daughter bessie died from pneumonia at camp meade , maryland on october 13 , 1918 and his wife died january 25 , 1929 . edwards died february 14 , 1931 in boston , massachusetts and all three are buried together at arlington national cemetery , arlington , virginia . honors and awards military honors distinguished service medal ( posthumous – presented in 1937 ) spanish war service medal philippine campaign medal with three silver citation stars victory medal legion of honor ( france ) croix de guerre with palm ( france ) grand cross order of leopold ( belgium ) haller swords ( poland ) distinguished service medal citation citation the president of the united states of america , authorized by act of congress , july 9 , 1918 , takes pride in presenting the army distinguished service medal ( posthumously ) to major general clarence r. edwards , united states army , for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the government of the united states , in a duty of great responsibility during world war i. after having organized the 26th division , general edwards commanded it with distinction during all but 18 days of its active service at the front . the high qualities of leadership and unfailing devotion to duty displayed by him were responsible for the marked and morale of his command . to his marked tactical ability and energy are largely due the brilliant successes achieved by the 26th national guard division during its operations against the enemy from 4 february 1918 to 11 november 1918 . general edwards died 14 february 1931 . other honors edwards received honorary doctor of laws degrees from syracuse university , trinity college , syracuse university , middlebury college , boston college , norwich college , and fordham college . a collection of his papers is archived at the massachusetts historical society in boston , and is open for research . a middle school in charlestown , massachusetts , is named in his honor . a statue of edwards stands on the grounds of the connecticut state capitol . the general edwards bridge carries massachusetts route 1a into lynn , massachusetts . edwards parade is located on the campus of fordham university . camp edwards , a training camp for the massachusetts national guard located in falmouth , massachusetts , was named for him in 1938 .