Publish Date 
Written by A Military Family at Fort McKavett
Beck’s Heitman’s Registry Records
From the Archive
William H. Beck started his military career as a Quartermaster Sergeant during the Civil War. After the Civil War
Beck was commissioned as a 1st Lt. with the 10th Cavalry stationed at Fort McKavett. While stationed at McKavett Lieutenant Beck’s wife gave birth to a son Paul Ward Beck.
William H. Beck’s military career included the Civil War, exploration of the West during the Indian Wars, the Spanish American War in 1898, then in the Philippine Insurrection in 1902. William H. Beck rose to the rank of Brigadier General before his death in 1911.
BRIGADIER GENERAL WILLIAM H. BECK
WASHINGTON, November 27, 1911 Brigadier General William H. Beck, aged 69 years, retired, is dead at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in this city. He was the father of Captain Paul Beck, one of the Army aviators.
General Beck was born in Pennsylvania and enlisted as a Corporal in Company B, Tenth Illinois Infantry at the outbreak of the Civil War. He was appointed to the permanent establishment in 1905.
William H. Beck
Birth: June 29, 1842
Death: November 26, 1911
Brigadier General U.S.Army Civil War, Spanish American War, Indian Wars and the Philippine Insurrection (bio by: Ron Williams)
Burial: Arlington National Cemetery. Section 3, Grave 1602
William Henry Beck of Pennsylvania
Appointed from Illinois, Corporal, Company B, 10th Illinois Infantry, 16 April to 29 July 1861;
Quartermaster Sergeant, 6th Illinois Cavalry, 21 September 1861
First Lieutenant, 1 Nov 1862
Resigned 28 February 1863;
Appointed Second Lieutenant, 10th U. S. Cavalry, 18 June 1867
First Lieutenant, 11 December 1867
Regimental Quartermaster, 1 September 1867 to 31 Devember 1874
Captain, 23 December 1887
Colonel, 49th United States Volunteer Infantry, 9 September 1899
Honorably mustered out of the volunteers, 30 June 1901
Major, 6th United States Cavalry, 2 February 1901
Transferred to the 8yj United States Cavlary, 25 February 1903
Lieutenant Colonel, 3rd United States Cavalry, 5 April 1903
BECK, WM H
Brigadier General, United States Army
- DATE OF DEATH: 11/27/1911
- BURIED AT: SECTION 3 SITE 1801
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
BECK, RACHAEL T
- DATE OF DEATH: 01/16/1926
- BURIED AT: SECTION 3 SITE 1601
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard