William Graves American General Date of Birth: 27.03.1865 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Military Career
2. Philippine-American War and Other Service
3. World War I and Siberian Expedition
4. Neutral Policies and Conflict with Semenov
5. Conflict over Arms and American Withdrawal

Early Life and Military Career

William Sidney Graves was born in Mount Calm, Texas, on April 3, 1865. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1889 and served in the 7th and 6th Infantry Regiments. He rose through the ranks, becoming a first lieutenant in November 1896 and a captain in September 1899.

Philippine-American War and Other Service

Graves participated in the Philippine-American War from 1899 to 1902. Following a period of garrison duty, he served in the Philippines again from 1904 to 1906. In 1909, he was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, D.C. He received promotions to major in March 1911, lieutenant colonel in July 1916, colonel in June 1917, and brigadier general in February 1918.

World War I and Siberian Expedition

In May-July 1917, Graves made a secret trip to Great Britain and France, preparing for the United States' entry into World War I. President Woodrow Wilson appointed him commander of the American Expeditionary Forces Siberia (AEF Siberia). The AEF Siberia comprised the 27th and 31st U.S. Army Infantry Regiments and a large number of volunteers from the 13th and 62nd Infantry Regiments, totaling 7950 men. Graves arrived in Vladivostok on September 4, 1918.

Neutral Policies and Conflict with Semenov

Unlike the intervention in northern Russia, where all Allied forces were under overall British command, in Siberia each country's forces were subordinate only to their own command. Joint actions were discussed through negotiations. Graves' official mission was to safeguard the Trans-Siberian Railway and evacuate the Czechoslovak Legions from Russia.

Graves declared a policy of "non-interference in the internal affairs of Russia" and "complete neutrality" towards both the anti-Bolshevik Kolchak forces and the Red partisans. The inter-Allied railway agreement assigned Americans to guard the Trans-Siberian Railway from Vladivostok to Ussuriysk and in the region of Verkhneudinsk. Within their zone of responsibility, the Americans did not oppose the Red partisans. As a result, significant Red forces, numbering in the thousands, were formed in the Primorsky region under American protection. This led to tensions between Graves and the Japanese-aligned Cossack chieftain, Grigory Semenov.

Conflict over Arms and American Withdrawal

In autumn 1919, when rifles purchased by the Kolchak government in the United States began arriving in Vladivostok on American ships, Graves refused to ship them further by rail. He justified his actions by claiming that the weapons could fall into the hands of Cossack chieftain Kalmykov, who he alleged was preparing to attack American forces with Japanese support. Under pressure from other Allies, he eventually sent the weapons to Irkutsk.

By early 1920, all American troops had been withdrawn from Russia. Graves subsequently commanded the Panama Canal Zone. He retired in 1928 and wrote a book in 1931, "America's Siberian Adventure," to defend his actions. Graves died on February 13, 1940, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.