Frank W. Coe

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Frank W. Coe
Major General Frank W. Coe, Chief of Coast Artillery from 1918 to 1926
Born(1870-11-27)November 27, 1870
Manhattan, Kansas, US
DiedMay 25, 1947(1947-05-25) (aged 76)
Washington, D.C., US
Buried
Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1892–1926
Rank Major General
Service number0-11
Commands heldCoast Artillery School
Railway Artillery Reserve, First United States Army
Coast Artillery Corps
Battles/warsSpanish–American War
Pancho Villa Expedition
World War I
AwardsArmy Distinguished Service Medal
Order of St. Michael and St. George (Britain)
Legion of Honor (commander) (France)
Spouse(s)Anne Chamberlaine
Martha Pratt

Frank W. Coe (November 27, 1870 – May 25, 1947) was a major general in the United States Army. He is notable for having served as the Chief of Coast Artillery.

Early life[edit]

Frank Winston Coe was born in Manhattan, Kansas on November 27, 1870.[1] He attended Kansas State Agricultural College for three years, and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1892.[2] Coe was appointed a second lieutenant of Field Artillery.[3]

Start of career[edit]

Coe's initial assignments with the 1st Field Artillery included Fort Hamilton, New York and Fort Monroe, Virginia.[4]

Spanish–American War[edit]

During the Spanish–American War Coe served at Key West Barracks, Florida, where his unit was responsible for the defense of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.[5]

Post-Spanish–American War[edit]

Coe's post-war assignments included: instructor in Mathematics at West Point; adjutant of the School of Submarine Defense at Fort Totten, New York; adjutant at West Point; adjutant at Fort Monroe; assistant to the Chief of Coast Artillery; director of the Coast Artillery School at Fort Monroe; and Coast Artillery postings at Governors Island and Fort Totten, New York, and Fort Kamehameha, Hawaii.[6] In the years immediately prior to World War I he served as Del Rio, Texas during the Pancho Villa Expedition, and in San Francisco, California on the staff of the Army's Western Department.[7]

World War I[edit]

During World War I Coe served initially as chief of staff of the 1st Division in Saint-Nazaire, France.[8] He was then promoted to brigadier general, and commanded the 1st Separate Coast Artillery Brigade, which was subsequently reorganized as the 30th Coast Artillery Brigade and then the Railway Artillery Reserve, First United States Army.[9] He was succeeded by his brother in law, Brigadier General William Chamberlaine, as commander of the Railway Artillery Reserve.[10]

For his World War I service Coe received the Army Distinguished Service Medal; the British Order of St. Michael and St. George, and the French Legion of Honor (commander).[11] The citation for his Army DSM reads:

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 Major General Frank Winston Coe, 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, in the reorganization of the Coast Artillery, thereby enabling it to meet the great demand for overseas artillery.[12]

Chief of Coast Artillery[edit]

In June 1918, Coe was promoted to major general and assigned as Chief of Coast Artillery. He served in this post until retiring in 1926, when he was succeeded by Andrew Hero Jr.[13]

In 1920, Coe received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the Kansas State Agricultural College.[14]

Retirement and death[edit]

Coe resided in Washington, D.C. after his retirement from the Army. He died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on May 25, 1947[15] after several years of ill health and complications brought on by a broken hip.[16] He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 3, Site 1868A.[17][18]

Family[edit]

Coe was the son of Manuel A. Coe and Mary Caroline Winston Coe. In 1895, he married Anne Chamberlaine of Norfolk, Virginia, who was the sister of Coe's West Point classmate William Chamberlaine.[19] Frank and Anne Coe had one child, William C. Coe, who served in the Army and was the longtime secretary of the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C.[20]

After the death of his first wife, Coe married Martha Pratt, daughter Brigadier General Sedgwick Pratt.[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Virkus, Frederick Adams; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1933). The Compendium of American Genealogy. Vol. 5. Chicago, IL: A.N. Marquis & Company. p. 130.
  2. ^ "Frank W. Coe". Memorials, West Point Association of Graduates. West Point Association of Graduates. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  3. ^ Cullum, George W.; Holden, Edward S. (1901). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Vol. IV. Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press. p. 532.
  4. ^ Cullum, Holden, Biographical Register, Vol. IV, p. 532
  5. ^ Cullum, Holden, Biographical Register, Vol. IV, p. 532
  6. ^ "Frank W. Coe". Memorials, West Point Association of Graduates. West Point Association of Graduates. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  7. ^ Cullum, George W.; Robinson, Wirt (1920). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Vol. VI. Saginaw, MI: Seemann & Peters. p. 619.
  8. ^ Votaw, John F. (2005). The American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. New York, NY: Osprey Publishing. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-84176-622-5.
  9. ^ "Railway Artillery Reserve, American E. F." Journal of the United States Artillery. 50. Fort Monroe, VA: Coast Artillery School Press: 129–130. 1919.
  10. ^ Railway Artillery Reserve, American E. F., pp. 129–130
  11. ^ "Frank W. Coe". Memorials, West Point Association of Graduates. West Point Association of Graduates. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  12. ^ "Valor awards for Frank Winston Coe". Military Times.
  13. ^ United States Senate (1951). Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States: Volume 64, Part 2. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 467.
  14. ^ "Harbord to Visit Here". The Industrialist. Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, KS. January 25, 1922. p. 1.
  15. ^ Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. (1998). Generals in Khaki. Pentland Press, Inc. p. 66. ISBN 1571970886. OCLC 40298151.
  16. ^ U.S. Army Adjutant General (1948). U.S. Army Register. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 184.
  17. ^ "Frank W. Coe, U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006". Ancestry.com. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com LLC. May 27, 1947. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  18. ^ "Coe, Frank W". ANC Explorer. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  19. ^ "Frank W . Coe and Anne Chamberlaine, Virginia, Select Marriages Index, 1785-1940". Ancestry.com. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com LLC. December 18, 1895. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  20. ^ "Frank W. Coe". Memorials, West Point Association of Graduates. West Point Association of Graduates. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  21. ^ Virkus, Adams, The Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol. 5, p. 130

External links[edit]

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