Albert Jesse Bowley, Sr.

Albert Jesse Bowley, Sr. was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army. He was the son of Freeman S. Bowley, who served in the Civil War as a First Lieutenant with the 30th United States Colored Troops.

Bowley was born on November 24, 1875 in Westminster, California. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1897 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Artillery. He served in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War.

Between the Spanish-American War and World War I Bowley served in a variety of command and staff assignments, including commander of a coast artillery company at Ft. Greble, Rhode Island, aide-de-camp to Major General Frederick Grant and military attaché in China. He also served on the Mexican border during the Villa Expedition of 1915 to 1917.

During World War I Bowley successively commanded the 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, and VI Corps Artillery, attaining the rank of Brigadier General in 1918, and receiving the Distinguished Service Medal.

In 1921 Bowley became commander of Fort Bragg, North Carolina as a Major General, a post he held until 1928. During this assignment he was responsible for Ft. Bragg's expansion into one of the Army's main installations.

Bowley was assigned as temporary commander of VIII Corps 1928, and he commanded the 2nd Infantry Division from 1928 to 1929. From 1929 to 1931 he was the Army's Assistant Army Chief of Staff for Personnel, G-1. In 1931 he was assigned to command the US Army's Hawaiian Division, where he remained until 1934. Bowley commanded the V Corps from 1934 to 1935, and the III Corps from 1935 to 1938. He was then commander of 4th Army and IX Corps as a Lieutenant General, serving from 1938 until his 1939 retirement.

General Bowley died at his summer home in Northumberland County, Virginia on May 23, 1945 and was interred in Section 3 Grave Site 1997-A of Arlington National Cemetery.

He was brother to Lt. Colonel Freeman W. Bowley, uncle to Freeman's son, USAF Ret. Major General Albert J. Bowley (born Ft. Bragg, 1921), and great uncle to USAF Ret. Colonel Albert John Bowley, Jr., all of whom led distinguished military careers.

Citation for Distinguished Service Medal:

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 Brigadier General Albert J. Bowley, 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. General Bowley commanded the 17th Field Artillery, and later the 2d Field Artillery Brigade, in the active operations from July to November 1918. The artillery support under his direction in the engagements near Chateau-Thierry, near Soissons, those in the St. Mihiel salient, Blanc Mont Ridge, and in the Meuse-Argonne region were important factors in the great successes gained.

Service: Army Rank: Brigadier General War Department, General Orders No. 59 (1919)