Richard B. Paddock
Encyclopedia
Richard Bolles Paddock was a United States Army
officer, close friend and brother-in-law to John J. Pershing
, and one of the few American officers who died while on duty in China during the Boxer Rebellion
. Paddock served in the American Southwest during the Apache Wars
, as well as the Pine Ridge Campaign (1890–91), the Battle of San Juan Hill
(1898) in Cuba during the Spanish-American War
, and finally the China Relief Expedition
(1900–01). Paddock served as a lieutenant and captain in the 13th Infantry Regiment
, the 4th Cavalry Regiment, and the 6th Cavalry Regiment.
December 2, 1859, to Margaret Paddock and Stephen G. Paddock, Jr. (S.G. Paddock), longtime Bureau County Clerk.
After graduating from Princeton High School in 1876, Richard Paddock briefly studied law with his uncle George Laban Paddock in Chicago, before returning to Princeton to work with his father in the county clerk’s office.
In September 1879, Richard Paddock’s brother, Lt. James V.S. Paddock, 5th Regiment U.S. Cavalry, was severely wounded by Utes
at the Battle of Milk Creek in Colorado during the White River War
. After hearing of his brother’s injuries, Richard went to be with him in Nebraska while he recovered. Inspired by his brother’s exploits, Richard soon began efforts to receive a commission in the Army.
in a visit to Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln
to discuss his wishes to serve as an officer. Told the only option to become an officer was to first enlist, Paddock continued his efforts to enter as an officer. Through the work of retired Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Henderson
, Paddock’s congressman from Illinois, he was finally offered the opportunity to sit for examination for a commission in the Army.
In September 1883, Paddock passed the examination at Fort Monroe
, Virginia
and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant, 13th Infantry Regiment.
, New Mexico
. Paddock received a much sought-after transfer to the 6th Cavalry in February 1885 and was soon moved to Fort Stanton
, New Mexico.
During this time, Paddock served on Courts Martial and also escorted two squads of Mescalero
Apache U.S. Scouts from near Fort Stanton through the San Andreas Mountains to an 8th Cavalry camp near Grafton, NM, traversing the desolate area now home to the White Sands Missile Range
.
Paddock met Pershing’s sister Grace while she was visiting Fort Stanton. They were married while Paddock was on leave in Chicago
June 5, 1890.
The families of Richard Paddock and John Pershing later lived close-by in the Hyde Park
neighborhood of Chicago.
.
Paddock and the 6th Cavalry had arrived at Wounded Knee Creek from New Mexico in early December 1890. Along the north bank of the White River, near the mouth of Little Grass Creek, the 6th engaged Brulé
Sioux
attempting to flee to the Badlands
on January 1, 1891. Five members of the 6th were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for this action.
and the Spanish-American War
. There he was recognized for gallantry during the Battle of San Juan Hill
in the Santiago Campaign. While in Cuba, Paddock contracted malaria, and was on sick leave by September 1898. Despite a favorable diagnosis, Paddock was on frequent medical leave or under medical care throughout 1899 while stationed at Fort Leavenworth
.
to participate in the Philippine American War, the 6th Cavalry and Capt. Paddock were re-routed to China to join a multinational force protecting international interests during the Boxer Rebellion
. On August 28, 1900, during an excursion to gain control of rice granaries just south of the center of Peking
, the Paddock-led Troop K engaged over 200 Boxers of the Righteous Harmony Society guarding the rice. Thirty-two Boxers were killed with no American casualties, resulting in high praise for Paddock from 6th Cavalry commander Capt. William Forsyth. Paddock was also involved in combat near Tientsen
and Hsuch Chuang Tze.
Still not fully recovered from attacks of malaria contracted in Cuba, Paddock developed severe pneumonia during strenuous march from Peking to Tientsen.
He was hospitalized in serious condition March 2 and died March 9, 1901 in Tientsen. Troops from several nations attended a memorial service for Paddock on March 11. His remains were returned to Princeton, Illinois for a funeral and interment at Oakland Cemetery.
From Manila, John Pershing wrote to Paddock’s hometown newspaper, “Dick died the soldier that he lived, so brave, so honorable. He was the truest friend I ever had, and his two children and you may always be proud of his unspotted record. Always at his post, always with his regiment fighting. Gallant to the point of recklessness, he escaped bullets to fall a victim to the rigors of campaigning in the dead of winter in the frozen north. A hero at once and always your hero, my hero, a hero to all who knew him.”
Paddock was mourned by retired Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Henderson, “I have watched all his successes and promotions and it has been a source of great gratification and pride to me that, although not a graduate of West Point, he was by his intelligence and his soldierly qualities and bearing made those who were, respect and honor him and has won an honorable name for himself.”
. An act of Congress in 1904 increased her widow pension from $20 per month $30 per month. She died April 25, 1904 in Chicago. The couple’s two children May and Richard Jr. were first under the guardianship of Capt. John J. Pershing in Washington, DC. However, with Capt. Pershing’s pending assignment to observe the Russo-Japanese War
, Pershing’s father John F. Pershing assumed guardianship of the children in Chicago, August 18, 1905. Richard Paddock, Jr. and May Paddock spent considerable time under John J. and Helen “Frankie” Pershing’s care during Pershing’s command of American forces in the Philippines.
Richard Paddock had several relatives that served in the US Army:
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
officer, close friend and brother-in-law to John J. Pershing
John J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
, and one of the few American officers who died while on duty in China during the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
. Paddock served in the American Southwest during the Apache Wars
Apache Wars
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States and Apaches fought in the Southwest from 1849 to 1886, though other minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. The Confederate Army participated in the wars during the early 1860s, for instance in Texas, before being...
, as well as the Pine Ridge Campaign (1890–91), the Battle of San Juan Hill
Battle of San Juan Hill
The Battle of San Juan Hill , also known as the battle for the San Juan Heights, was a decisive battle of the Spanish-American War. The San Juan heights was a north-south running elevation about two kilometers east of Santiago de Cuba. The names San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill were names given by the...
(1898) in Cuba during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, and finally the China Relief Expedition
China Relief Expedition
The China Relief Expedition was the name of an expedition in China undertaken by the United States Armed Forces to the rescue of United States citizens, European nationals, and other foreign nationals during the latter years of the Boxer Rebellion, which lasted from between 1898 and 1901...
(1900–01). Paddock served as a lieutenant and captain in the 13th Infantry Regiment
13th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 13th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment whose battalions are currently tasked as basic training battalions.- History :...
, the 4th Cavalry Regiment, and the 6th Cavalry Regiment.
Early life
Richard Paddock was born in Princeton, IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
December 2, 1859, to Margaret Paddock and Stephen G. Paddock, Jr. (S.G. Paddock), longtime Bureau County Clerk.
After graduating from Princeton High School in 1876, Richard Paddock briefly studied law with his uncle George Laban Paddock in Chicago, before returning to Princeton to work with his father in the county clerk’s office.
In September 1879, Richard Paddock’s brother, Lt. James V.S. Paddock, 5th Regiment U.S. Cavalry, was severely wounded by Utes
Ute Tribe
The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...
at the Battle of Milk Creek in Colorado during the White River War
White River War
The White River War, also known as the Ute War, or the Ute Campaign, was fought between the White River Utes and the United States Army in 1879, resulting in the forced removal of the White River Utes and the Uncompahgre Utes from Colorado, and the reduction in the Southern Utes' land holdings...
. After hearing of his brother’s injuries, Richard went to be with him in Nebraska while he recovered. Inspired by his brother’s exploits, Richard soon began efforts to receive a commission in the Army.
Receiving Army Commission
In March 1880, Paddock unsuccessfully requested President Hayes appoint him an officer in the Army. Undeterred, Paddock was accompanied by Senator John A. LoganJohn A. Logan
John Alexander Logan was an American soldier and political leader. He served in the Mexican-American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a state senator, congressman and senator and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President...
in a visit to Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln
Robert Todd Lincoln
Robert Todd Lincoln was an American lawyer and Secretary of War, and the first son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln...
to discuss his wishes to serve as an officer. Told the only option to become an officer was to first enlist, Paddock continued his efforts to enter as an officer. Through the work of retired Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Henderson
Thomas J. Henderson (politician)
Thomas Jefferson Henderson was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.Born in Brownsville, Tennessee, Henderson moved with his parents to Illinois at the age of eleven. He served as clerk of the Board of Commissioners of Stark County, Illinois from 1847 to 1849. and as clerk of the court of Stark...
, Paddock’s congressman from Illinois, he was finally offered the opportunity to sit for examination for a commission in the Army.
In September 1883, Paddock passed the examination at Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant, 13th Infantry Regiment.
Stationed in the American Southwest
In November 1883, Paddock arrived at his first post, Fort Cummings in present day New Mexico. In June 1884, his unit was transferred to Fort BayardFort Bayard Historic District
Fort Bayard Historic District, also known as Fort Bayard Site, near Santa Clara , New Mexico, was the site of an 1866 post of the US Army "Buffalo Soldiers".-History:...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. Paddock received a much sought-after transfer to the 6th Cavalry in February 1885 and was soon moved to Fort Stanton
Fort Stanton
Fort Stanton was a U.S. military fort built in New Mexico in the United States. It was established to protect settlements along the Rio Bonito in the Apache Wars...
, New Mexico.
During this time, Paddock served on Courts Martial and also escorted two squads of Mescalero
Mescalero
Mescalero is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation in southcentral New Mexico...
Apache U.S. Scouts from near Fort Stanton through the San Andreas Mountains to an 8th Cavalry camp near Grafton, NM, traversing the desolate area now home to the White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range...
.
At the US Infantry and Cavalry School, Fort Leavenworth
In September 1885, Lt. Paddock earned a spot at the prestigious Cavalry and Infantry School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, later renamed the Army Command and General Staff College. For almost two years, Paddock studied subjects such as trigonometry, surveying, military law and topography. Paddock graduated near the middle of his class.Meeting John Pershing and marriage to Grace Pershing
Back at Fort Stanton in 1887, Paddock met Lt. John J. Pershing, a recent West Point graduate. Paddock, Pershing, and another young lieutenant, Julius Penn, became close friends and lived an idyllic frontier lifestyle of hunting, carousing and visits to Mexican dances, earning the trio the nickname “The Three Green P’s.”Paddock met Pershing’s sister Grace while she was visiting Fort Stanton. They were married while Paddock was on leave in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
June 5, 1890.
The families of Richard Paddock and John Pershing later lived close-by in the Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...
neighborhood of Chicago.
The Sioux Campaign (1890-1891) and Wounded Knee
In 1890, the US Army was ordered to confine restive Sioux to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. On December 29, 1890, a confrontation between these groups and the force posted at Pine Ridge, the 7th Cavalry, resulted in the Wounded Knee MassacreWounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...
.
Paddock and the 6th Cavalry had arrived at Wounded Knee Creek from New Mexico in early December 1890. Along the north bank of the White River, near the mouth of Little Grass Creek, the 6th engaged Brulé
Brulé
The Brulé are one of the seven branches or bands of the Teton Lakota Sioux American Indian nation. They are known as Sičháŋǧu Oyáte , or "Burnt Thighs Nation," and so, were called Brulé by the French...
Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
attempting to flee to the Badlands
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park, in southwest South Dakota, United States preserves of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States....
on January 1, 1891. Five members of the 6th were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for this action.
Spanish American War and the Battle of San Juan Hill (1898)
On June 14, 1898, Paddock and the 6th Cavalry departed Florida for CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. There he was recognized for gallantry during the Battle of San Juan Hill
Battle of San Juan Hill
The Battle of San Juan Hill , also known as the battle for the San Juan Heights, was a decisive battle of the Spanish-American War. The San Juan heights was a north-south running elevation about two kilometers east of Santiago de Cuba. The names San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill were names given by the...
in the Santiago Campaign. While in Cuba, Paddock contracted malaria, and was on sick leave by September 1898. Despite a favorable diagnosis, Paddock was on frequent medical leave or under medical care throughout 1899 while stationed at Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
.
China Relief Expedition (1900-01) and the death of Capt. Paddock
Originally ordered to ManilaManila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
to participate in the Philippine American War, the 6th Cavalry and Capt. Paddock were re-routed to China to join a multinational force protecting international interests during the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
. On August 28, 1900, during an excursion to gain control of rice granaries just south of the center of Peking
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, the Paddock-led Troop K engaged over 200 Boxers of the Righteous Harmony Society guarding the rice. Thirty-two Boxers were killed with no American casualties, resulting in high praise for Paddock from 6th Cavalry commander Capt. William Forsyth. Paddock was also involved in combat near Tientsen
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
and Hsuch Chuang Tze.
Still not fully recovered from attacks of malaria contracted in Cuba, Paddock developed severe pneumonia during strenuous march from Peking to Tientsen.
He was hospitalized in serious condition March 2 and died March 9, 1901 in Tientsen. Troops from several nations attended a memorial service for Paddock on March 11. His remains were returned to Princeton, Illinois for a funeral and interment at Oakland Cemetery.
From Manila, John Pershing wrote to Paddock’s hometown newspaper, “Dick died the soldier that he lived, so brave, so honorable. He was the truest friend I ever had, and his two children and you may always be proud of his unspotted record. Always at his post, always with his regiment fighting. Gallant to the point of recklessness, he escaped bullets to fall a victim to the rigors of campaigning in the dead of winter in the frozen north. A hero at once and always your hero, my hero, a hero to all who knew him.”
Paddock was mourned by retired Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Henderson, “I have watched all his successes and promotions and it has been a source of great gratification and pride to me that, although not a graduate of West Point, he was by his intelligence and his soldierly qualities and bearing made those who were, respect and honor him and has won an honorable name for himself.”
Family
Grace Pershing Paddock became very ill in 1903, bedridden with rheumatismRheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
. An act of Congress in 1904 increased her widow pension from $20 per month $30 per month. She died April 25, 1904 in Chicago. The couple’s two children May and Richard Jr. were first under the guardianship of Capt. John J. Pershing in Washington, DC. However, with Capt. Pershing’s pending assignment to observe the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
, Pershing’s father John F. Pershing assumed guardianship of the children in Chicago, August 18, 1905. Richard Paddock, Jr. and May Paddock spent considerable time under John J. and Helen “Frankie” Pershing’s care during Pershing’s command of American forces in the Philippines.
- Stephen G. Paddock, (1828–1921), father: County Clerk, Bureau County, Illinois
- Margaret (Seaman) Paddock (1826–1912), mother.
- Grace Pershing Paddock (d.1904), wife: sister to John Pershing
- Richard Bolles Paddock, Jr. (1891–1952), son: West Point Graduate (1914), U.S. Artillery and U.S. Signal Corps. Participated in Mexican Punitive Expedition (1917), injured in France while on General Pershing’s staff (1918). Army career ended at the rank of major after inappropriate relationships with another officer’s wife.
- May Paddock Tipton (1892–1918), daughter.
Richard Paddock had several relatives that served in the US Army:
- Solomon A. Paddock (1823–1862), uncle: Lt. Col. in the 9th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, died en route to St. Louis
- Charles B. Paddock (c. 1842-1863), uncle: Sergeant, 9th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, died while captive at Camp Florence in South Carolina
- George Laban Paddock (1832–1910), uncle: Lt. 12th Illinois Volunteer Infantry and Major 11th United States Colored Infantry.
- James Valentine Seaman Paddock (1856–1907), brother: West Point Graduate (1877), 5th US Cavalry. Severely injured and well-renowned for his service at the Battle of Milk Creek (1879). Honorably discharged after a court martial conviction was overturned in 1891.
- George Hussey Paddock (1852–1935), cousin: West Point Graduate (1873), 4th US Artillery, Alaska (1874), 5th US Cavalry, 10th US Cavalry. Participated in Nez Peree Campaign, battle of Clearwater, Idaho (1877), Spanish American War—Puerto Rico Campaign (1898), Philippine American War (1902). Commander Forts Huachuca, Apache and Wingate prior to honorable discharge, 1906, as a lieutenant colonel due to disability contracted in the line of duty. Recalled 1917 as recruiting officer; retired as colonel 1919.
- John J. Pershing (1860–1948), brother-in-law: General of the Armies (1919).
- Ward Pershing (1874–1909), brother-in-law: Lt., 6th US Artillery and 4th US Cavalry. Participated in Philippine American War (1901). Discharged as captain, died from illness contracted in line of duty.
Dates of rank
| No Insignia in 1883 | Second Lieutenant, United States Army United States Army The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services... : October 1883 |
 |
First Lieutenant, United States Army: July 1891 |
 |
Captain, U.S. Army: July 1899 |
Regimental History
 |
13th Infantry Regiment (United States) 13th Infantry Regiment (United States) The 13th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment whose battalions are currently tasked as basic training battalions.- History :... , United States Army United States Army The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services... |
October 1883 | |
| 6th Cavalry Regiment, United States Army United States Army The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services... |
February 1885 |