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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1963. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [237]-245).

William Selby Harney, born in Tennessee in 1800, entered the United States Army as a lieutenant at age seventeen. Like many officers, he learned on the job, and in some ways he resembled the stereotypical, hell-raising, blood-and-guts, Indian-fighter of modern-day novelists and movie makers. He was quarrelsome, quick-tempered, and sometimes vicious, and his frequent bickering typified the entire officer corps. After years of routine duty, in 1829 Harney participated in the Atkinson Expedition against Arikara Indians on the upper Missouri River. Promoted to captain, he performed garrision duty in the Old Northwest and in 1832 fought in the Black Hawk War. In 1833 Harney married Mary Mullanphy of St. Louis and secured a paymaster's appointment and major's rank. He failed at this job, though, and in 1834 murdered a slave. He avoided punishment and in 1836 was appointed lieutenant colonel in the Second Dragoons. Subsequently Harney earned widespread recognition for effective Indian campaigns. During the Second Seminole War he developed new amphibious riverine tactics. During the Mexican War his attack on Cerro Gordo prepared the way for American capture of Mexico City. Afterward in Texas, he advocated using more mounted troops against plains Indians. In 1855-56 he decisively defeated the Sioux in Nebraska and set precedents for future army operations. In the 1850s Harney helped maintain civil order in "Bleeding" Kansas and in Utah, where Mormons resisted federal authority. He was subsequently promoted to brigadier general, but the remainder of his career proved frustrating. While commanding the Department of Oregon in 1859, he almost thrust America into war with Great Britain by occupying jointly claimed San Juan Island. In 1861, while commanding the Department of the West, he failed to take firm action to assure Union control of Missouri, and that called into question his loyalty to the Union. President Lincoln removed him from command. Harney's career illustrates both the army's successes and its failures in facilitating westward expansion and suggests that the military performed as well as it could with its limited resources. Harney died in 1889.

In the eyes of the American public excellence is often overshadowed by brilliance of personality. This is particularly true in the portrayal of many of the country's military leaders in World War II. A prime example of this phenomenon is Douglas MacArthur, whose larger than life persona made him a newspaper fixture during the war despite a series of strategic and tactical blunders that would have led to the sacking of a less visible (and publicly popular) leader. At the level of divisional commanders, this triumph of brilliance over excellence is best exemplified by the two primary leaders of the country's 1st Infantry Division, Terry de la Mesa Allen and Clarence R. Huebner. One was a hard-drinking, swashbuckling leader who led by almost the sheer force of his personality; the other, a plain spoken, demanding officer who believed that organization, planning and attention to detail were the keys to superior battlefield performance. The leadership differences between Allen and Huebner have been documented in multiple publications. What has not been documented is the life of the truly overshadowed general - Huebner. Huebner's transition to the leadership of the 1st Infantry Division (1st ID) constitute only a small period in a military career that spans almost fifty years and two world wars. Huebner's story is cyclic in that throughout his life, his actions regularly complete a full circle with a return to key organizations, areas or relationships from where they started. In many respects, Huebner's story parallels the 20th century biography of the army itself. His is an American military story. This thesis is focused on Huebner's life in the years prior to the 1st ID's landing at Omaha Beach.