Henry Howard Whitney, Brigadier General, United States Army

Henry Howard Whitney
Brigadier General, United States Army

Henry Howard Whitney of Pennsylvania
Appointed from Pennsylvania, Cadet U. S. Military Academy, 16 June 1888 (11)
Additional Second Lieutenant, 4th U. S. Artillery, 11 June 1892
Second Lieutenant, 28 November 1892
Captain, Assist Adjutant General of U. S. Volunteers, 12 May 1898
Honorably discharged from Volunteer Service, 12 May 1899
First Lieutenant, 4th U. S. Artillery, 2 March 1899
Artillery Corps, 2 February 1901
Captain, 8 May 1901
Lieutenant Colonel, Assistant Adjutant General to Lieutenant General Miles, 6 June to 8 August 1903.

Whitney’s grave, placed near the Spanish-American war memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, reflects his important role in the successful occupation of Puerto Rico by the U.S. Army in 1898. The epitaph, while noting lifelong service,
stresses this early and important contribution:

Henry Howard Whitney, No. 3640 Class of 1892, died on April 2, 1949 in Madison, New Jersey, at the age of 82. The 32 years of service Brigadier General Henry Howard Whitney gave to the United States Army and his country were repleat with many valorous exploits, one of which led to the successful conquest of a country and saved thousands of lives without endangering that of anyone except his own.

In May 1898, Lieutenant Henry H. Whitney of the Fourth Artillery was sent to the island on a reconnaisance mission, sponsored by the Army's Bureau of Military Intelligence.

HH Whitney PHOTO
Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress

The mission was almost a disaster when newspapers leaked his identity, but he posed as a crew member in the furnace-room of the merchant ship and evaded detection by a boarding party of Spanish officers. He provided maps and information on the Spanish military presence by posing as a British merchant marine officer, and reported that the Spanish forces were few in number and poorly equipped.

Whitney, Henry H.
Captain , U.S. Army
Home: Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania
Assistant Adjutant General , U.S. Volunteers
Date of Action: May 1898
General Orders No. No. 19, W.D., 1922

Citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Henry H. Whitney, Captain , U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in connection with operations on the island of Puerto Rico in May, 1898, under disguise and in the midst of an enemy.

WHITNEY, HENRY
BG USA WWI
DATE OF BIRTH: 12/25/1866
DATE OF DEATH: 04/02/1949
BURIED AT: SECTION 8 SITE 384 WH
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

WHITNEY, HENRY H
B/GEN USA
DATE OF DEATH: 04/02/1949
BURIED AT: SECTION 3 SITE 1920 EH

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

WHITNEY, ELLEN CLOSSON WID OF WHITNEY, HENRY HOWARD
DATE OF BIRTH: 08/23/1871
DATE OF DEATH: 12/29/1963
BURIED AT: SECTION 3 SITE 1920 EH
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
WIFE OF HH WHITNEY B/GEN USA

Posted: 19 March 2005 Updated: 11 November 2006

Distinguished Service Cross