Allyn K. Capron, Sr.

Allyn K. Capron, Sr. (1846–1898), was a Captain in the United States Army.

Life before the Spanish-American War
Capron was born in 1846 in Tampa, Florida. Capron was nominated by a U.S. Congressman to be a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy.

Capron, after graduating from the Academy, became a lieutenant and then a captain in the Artillery and Signal Corps. Capron became a well-known artillery officer in the Regular Army. After service in times of peace in this branch of the service, in both Virginia and California, the U.S. went to war with Spain in 1898.

Capron accompanied his artillery battery of General William R. Shafter's American corps that landed in Cuba. His son, Captain Allyn K. Capron, Jr., was a troop commander of the Rough Riders, a cavalry unit commanded by Colonel Leonard Wood and Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. During an early battle, the younger Capron was killed.

Capron Sr.'s battery arrived at the front soon and the captain commanded his artillerymen throughout the Siege of Santiago. However, Capron contracted typhoid fever during the campaign and obtained leave of absence. He died near his home of his ailment.