Charles B. MacDonald

''This article refers to Charles B. MacDonald, military historian. For the U.S. golfer, refer to Charles B. Macdonald.''

Charles B. MacDonald (November 23, 1923–December 4, 1990) was a former Deputy Chief Historian for the United States Army. He wrote several of the Army's official histories of World War II.

War service
After graduating from Presbyterian College, MacDonald was commissioned as a US Army officer through ROTC and deployed to Europe. By September 1944, as a 21 year old captain, he commanded a rifle company in the 23rd Infantry Regiment. His company was intended to be part of the effort to capture the Huertgen Forest. They had been transferred north from the area which was, soon after, overrun by the Germans in the first moves of the Battle of the Bulge. In the event, they were redeployed to defend a crossroads against the German advance. They were forced to retreat but the enemy had been delayed for long enough to allow the rest of MacDonald's division to deploy. He received the Silver Star for the action.

MacDonald was wounded a month later, on January 17, 1945, while leading his company in a counterattack. After two months' convalescence, he was given command of another company in his old regiment, which he led until the end of the war. He also received the Purple Heart.

His first book, Company Commander, was published in 1947, while his wartime experiences were fresh in his mind.

Historian
MacDonald wrote the final volume of the Green Series on the European Theatre, The Last Offensive. He retired as Deputy Chief Historian, United States Army Center of Military History in 1979.

After his retirement, MacDonald wrote A Time for Trumpets, his last book, a personal history of the Ardennes Offensive which concentrates on the first two weeks of the battle, which he spent five years researching. MacDonald also wrote or co-wrote two other books of the Green Series, The Siegfried Line Campaign and Three Battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo, and Schmidt. He also contributed to Command Decisions.

MacDonald suffered from cancer and lung disease and he died on December 4, 1990 at his home in Arlington, Virginia.