Adelbert Cronkhite

{{Short description|United States Army officer (1861–1937)}} {{Infobox military person |name = Adelbert Cronkhite |image = Adelbert Cronkhite (United States Army General).jpg |caption = Cronkhite as depicted in the October 1918 edition of ''Munsey's Magazine''. |birth_date = {{Birth date|1861|01|06}} |death_date = {{death date and age|1937|06|15|1861|01|06}} |birth_place = Litchfield, New York |death_place = St. Petersburg, Florida |burial_place = West Point Cemetery |allegiance = {{flag|United States|1912}} |branch = {{army|USA}} |service_years = 1882–1923 |service_number = |rank = 25px Major General |commands = 22nd Field Artillery Battery Fort Totten, New York Panama Coast Artillery District 80th Division IX Corps VI Corps Newport News Port of Debarkation Coast Artillery Training Center Third Corps Area |unit = United States Army Coast Artillery Corps |battles = Sioux Wars Spanish–American War World War I |awards = Distinguished Service Medal French Croix de Guerre French Legion of Honor British Order of St Michael and St George Virginia Distinguished Service Medal |relations = Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr. (father in law) |other_work = }} '''Adelbert Cronkhite''' (January 6, 1861{{spaced ndash}}June 15, 1937){{sfn|Davis}} was a career officer in the United States Army. He was notable for his command of the 80th Division during World War I. He also served as interim commander of IX Corps and commander of VI Corps after the war. In addition, his later command assignments included the Newport News Port of Debarkation, the Coast Artillery Training Center, and Third Corps Area.

Cronkhite was the subject of national attention in the early 1920s when he advocated publicly for the investigation into the death of his son to be reopened; Alexander P. Cronkhite was an Army major stationed at Camp Lewis, Washington, in 1918 when he died as the result of a gunshot. An investigation determined that the wound was accidental and self-inflicted; Cronkhite's public campaign led to the indictment of two soldiers who had been with Alexander Cronkhite at the time of his death. The 1924 trial of one ended in an acquittal, and charges against the second were dropped. Cronkhite's public campaign to renew the investigation brought him into disfavor with senior Army leadership, and he was retired against his wishes in 1923.

After his retirement, Cronkhite lived in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and became active in veterans' groups. He was also a frequent speaker at military reunions and other public events.

Cronkhite died in Florida in 1937 and was buried at West Point Cemetery.

==Early life== Adelbert Cronkhite was born in Litchfield, New York, on January 6, 1861.{{sfn|Association of Graduates 1938}} His father was a surgeon in the Army, and Cronkhite was raised at military posts throughout the United States.{{sfn|Association of Graduates 1938}} He was appointed from Arizona to the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, in 1878; he graduated in 1882 ranked 10th in his class, and was assigned to the Field Artillery Branch.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

==Start of career== Cronkhite was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Artillery Regiment and assigned to the garrison at Fort Warren, Massachusetts.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} He then attended the Artillery School at Fort Monroe, Virginia; after graduating, he remained on the faculty until 1888.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

In July 1888, Cronkhite was assigned to the garrison at Fort Trumbull, Connecticut.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} From May to October 1889 he served at Fort McPherson, Georgia, and he was assigned to Fort Barrancas, Florida, until July 1890.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} Cronkhite was promoted to first lieutenant in the 4th Artillery in January 1889.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

From 1890 to 1891 Cronkhite served at Fort Riley, Kansas.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} From January to August 1891, he served in South Dakota during operations against Native Americans at the end of the Sioux Wars.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} He was Professor of Military Science at the Michigan Military Academy from 1891 to 1892.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} Cronkhite then returned to Fort McPherson, where he performed garrison duty until May 1893.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} He served at Fort McHenry, Maryland, from 1893 to 1896, and then returned to Fort Riley, where he served until 1898.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

==Spanish–American War== During the Spanish–American War, Cronkhite organized and trained units intended for combat overseas, serving at Jackson Barracks, Louisiana; Camp Thomas, Georgia; and Tampa, Florida.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} He served in Puerto Rico with the 4th Artillery during the second half of 1898, and took part in the Battle of Coamo.{{sfn|Association of Graduates 1938}} He returned to the United States for demobilization in Savannah, Georgia, before traveling to his regiment's home base at Fort Riley.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} Cronkhite was promoted to captain in March 1899.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

==Post-Spanish–American War== After taking an extended post-war leave, Cronkhite performed garrison duty at Fort Terry, New York.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} From June 1899 to September 1901 he was assigned as adjutant of the School of Submarine Defense at Fort Totten, New York.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} (The School of Submarine Defense taught the use of torpedoes and naval mines for protecting harbors.){{sfn|Secretary of War 1904}} When the Artillery Corps was divided into Field Artillery and Coast Artillery, Cronkhite opted to serve with the Coast Artillery.{{sfn|Davis}}

From September 1901 to May 1904, Cronkhite was assigned to Fort Douglas, Utah, as commander of the 22nd Field Artillery Battery.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} He then performed temporary duty as a quartermaster until July 1906.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} In November 1905, he received promotion to major.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

Cronkhite performed extended duty on the staff of the Army's Department of the East from 1906 to 1911, including inspector general, artillery officer, and coast defense officer.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in January 1909, and colonel in August 1911.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

From September 1911 to October 1914, Cronkhite commanded the garrison at Fort Totten.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} He was then assigned to command the Panama Coast Artillery District—the coastal defenses of Panama and the Panama Canal Zone.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

==World War I== thumb|left|Cronkhite as commander of the 80th Division in World War I. Cronkhite was promoted to brigadier general in May 1917, a month after the American entry into World War I, and temporary major general in August, and he remained in Panama until September.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

[[File:111-SC-17395 - NARA - 55194878 (cropped) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Officers at 80th Division Headquarters at Boque Maison, France, July 20, 1918. From left to right: Brigadier General George H. Jamerson, commander of the 159th Brigade, Major General George W. Read, commander of II Corps, Major General Adelbert Cronkhite, commanding the 80th Division, and Brigadier General Lloyd M. Brett, commanding the 160th Brigade.]]

The army expanded after U.S. entry into the war, increasing from 128,000 regular army troops and 164,000 members of the Army National Guard in April 1917 to nearly 3.9 million soldiers by November 1918.{{sfn|Selecting Men for the Army}} Cronkhite was appointed to command the 80th Division, an organization created with draftees from Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}{{sfn|318th Infantry Regiment}}{{sfn|Yearbook of the State of Indiana 1919}} Like the other U.S. divisions fielded for World War I, the 80th was organized as a square division of two infantry brigades, the 159th and 160th.{{sfn|Basic Fighting Unit of the AEF}}{{sfn|80th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War}} Each Infantry brigade was composed of two infantry regiments and a machine gun battalion.{{sfn|80th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War}} The division task organization also included an Artillery brigade and support units including Signal and Engineer battalions, a separate machine gun battalion, and a logistics trains.{{sfn|80th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War}} At approximately 28,000 soldiers, U.S. divisions were roughly twice the size of the divisions fielded by the other Allies.{{sfn|Basic Fighting Unit of the AEF}}

Cronkhite organized and trained his new command at Camp Lee, Virginia, and led it to the Western Front in late May/early June 1918, where it formed part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), commanded by General John J. Pershing.{{sfn| Hart 1920}} He remained in command during the division's 1918 combat operations, including the Second Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, and finally in the Meuse–Argonne offensive, the largest battle in the history of the United States Army, where the 80th saw a significant amount of action.{{sfn|Venzon}}

The Armistice with Germany on November 11, 1918, brought hostilities to an end. Soon afterwards, Cronkhite took command of IX Corps, holding this command from November 1918 to January 1919, before commanding VI Corps from January to April 1919.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} He returned to command of the 80th Division in May so that he could lead it home to the United States for demobilization.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

==Post-World War I== Cronkhite returned to the United States in May 1919, and commanded the Newport News Port of Debarkation until September.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} His temporary major general's commission ended on 15 September 1919, and his other post-war assignments included chief of officer classification for the Coast Artillery Corps, commander of the Coast Artillery Training Center at Fort Monroe and the coastal defenses of the Chesapeake Bay, and member of the Army's General Selection Board that determined which officers would be retained in the Army after the post-World War I demobilization was complete.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}} In July 1920, he received a recess appointment as a major general. His recess appointment expired on 4 March 1921, but it was confirmed three days later.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

In September 1920, Cronkhite was assigned to command Third Corps Area with headquarters at Fort Howard.{{sfn|Association of Graduates 1938}} From November 1920 to January 1921 Cronkhite served temporarily as military aide to Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby during Colby's extended mission in South America.{{sfn|Association of Graduates 1938}}

==Investigation into son's death== thumb|left|Alexander P. Cronkhite as a West Point senior in 1915. Adelbert Cronkhite's son Alexander Pennington Cronkhite, nicknamed "Buddy", was a 1915 graduate of West Point. In October 1918, he was serving as a major commanding a battalion in a Camp Lewis, Washington engineer regiment.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} Major Cronkhite died of a gunshot wound while at a Camp Lewis training area; subsequent investigation determined that the wound was self-inflicted, and that it was accidental.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}}

Some members of Alexander Cronkhite's regiment talked among themselves and raised the possibility of suicide.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} Others suggested that a sergeant who was with Cronkhite at the time of his death might have been the shooter.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}}

Adelbert Cronkhite and his wife refused to accept the finding that the shooting was accidental.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} After hiring private detectives to re-interview witnesses and having a second autopsy performed, they were convinced that their son had been murdered.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} In Adelbert Cronkhite's view, the sergeant who was with his son on the day of the shooting (Roland Pothier) and the captain in temporary command of Alexander Cronkhite's troops at the time of the shooting (Robert Rosenbluth) were responsible.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} (Alexander Cronkhite was not in command on the day of his death because he was recovering after having been hospitalized with influenza.){{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}}

[[File:Alexander P. Cronkhite (US Army officer) 2.jpg|thumb|1918 photo of Alexander Cronkhite by Underwood & Underwood. Reproduced in ''Chicago Tribune'', February 15, 1923.]] For two years, Adelbert Cronkhite attempted to have the War Department re-open the investigation.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} When this did not happen, he tried to convince the Justice Department to pursue the investigation and prosecute the two soldiers he believed to be guilty.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} The Justice Department eventually took up the investigation, and law enforcement agents were able to obtain multiple confessions from the sergeant who had been with Alexander Cronkhite at the time of the shooting; the sergeant implicated the captain who had been in temporary command.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} With no motive immediately obvious, Adelbert Cronkhite suggested that the killing of his son was part of a plot to ruin his, Adelbert's, reputation.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} Because the captain who was implicated was Jewish, members of the right wing press, led by Henry Ford's newspaper ''The Dearborn Independent'', claimed that the shooting was murder, and that the captain had forced the sergeant to carry it out in the captain's supposed role as a "'German Jew Spy' and also a Bolshevik agent".{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}}

The sergeant eventually repudiated his confessions, claiming they had been coerced.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} The agents who obtained them admitted to harsh interrogation techniques, so the confessions were excluded at the sergeant's trial in October 1924.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} With the prosecution case largely consisting of the argument that it was impossible for Alexander Cronkhite to have shot himself by accident, given the angle of the shot and the distance of the gun from his body when it was fired, their central claim collapsed when the captain's counsel and Alexander Cronkhite's friend, Eugene M. Caffey, and a second officer each demonstrated in court that an accidental shooting that fit the circumstances was not only possible, but that it was simple to recreate a plausible series of events which could have resulted in Alexander Cronkhite pulling the trigger by mistake.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} The sergeant was quickly acquitted; charges against the captain were soon dropped.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}}

Adelbert Cronkhite had refused to accept assignment as commander of the Panama Canal Zone so that he could continue to pursue the investigation into his son's death.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} This refusal, coupled with his public denunciation of the Attorney General for not pursuing the case rapidly enough, brought him into disfavor with the Secretary of War John W. Weeks and John J. Pershing, the Army Chief of Staff.{{sfn|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}} As a result, Cronkhite was retired against his will "for the convenience of the government" in 1923.{{sfn|Thayer 2016}}

==Awards== Cronkhite received the Distinguished Service Medal for his World War I service.{{sfn|Association of Graduates 1938}} In addition, he was a recipient of the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and Legion of Honor (Commander), and the British Order of St Michael and St George (Knight Commander).{{sfn|Association of Graduates 1938}}

In addition to his United States Army and international military awards, Cronkhite was also a recipient of the Virginia Distinguished Service Medal, which the governor and adjutant general presented to several individuals who commanded Virginia soldiers during World War I, including Philippe Pétain and John J. Pershing.{{sfn|State of Virginia|1933}}

===Distinguished Service Medal citation=== The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Major General Adelbert Cronkhite, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. General Cronkhite commanded the 80th Division during the Argonne-Meuse offensive, where he demonstrated great ability as a leader and proved himself a commander of initiative and courage.

'''General Orders:''' War Department, General Orders No. 12 (1919) '''Action Date:''' World War I '''Service:''' Army '''Rank:''' Major General '''Company:''' Commanding General '''Division:''' 80th Division, American Expeditionary Forces{{sfn|Army Times 2016}}

==Later life== After retiring, Cronkhite lived in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, was active in several veterans' organizations, and was a sought after speaker for reunions, Independence Day commemorations, and other ceremonies.{{sfn|Cronkhite Speaks to Veterans' Post}} Until the end of his life he argued that his son had not died accidentally, and that the murderers had gone unpunished.{{sfn|Gen. A. Cronkhite}}

==Death and burial== Cronkhite died in St. Petersburg, Florida on June 15, 1937.{{sfn|Noted War Leader Dies in South}} He was buried at West Point Cemetery, Section K, Site 26.{{sfn|Nationwide Gravesite Locator 2016}}

==Family== Adelbert Cronkhite's father was Henry M. Cronkhite, a physician and Union Army veteran of the American Civil War who remained in the Army until retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1895.{{sfn|Noted War Leader Dies in South}} His mother was Eleanor (Nellis) Cronkhite (1837–1892).{{sfn|Case}}

He was the husband of Annie Estelle Pennington (1865–1932), the daughter of Army Brigadier General Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr.{{sfn|National Cyclopedia of American Biography}} Her other family members included grandfather Alexander C. M. Pennington Sr., a member of Congress from New Jersey, as well as other members of the Pennington family who served in offices including Governor of New Jersey and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.{{sfn|National Cyclopedia of American Biography}}

In addition to their son Alexander, Adelbert and Annie Cronkhite were the parents of a daughter, Dorothy (1890–1954).{{sfn|Her Wedding a Surprise}}{{sfn|Virginia Death Records}}

Following the death of his first wife, in 1933 Cronkhite married Gertrude E. Horne of Pittsburgh.{{sfn|Moving Day Taxes Skill}} Gertrude Horne Cronkhite was active in veterans' organizations, and died in Pittsburgh on February 3, 1954.{{sfn|War Leader's Widow Dies}}

==Published works== In 1893, Cronkhite authored ''Gunnery for Non-commissioned Officers''.{{sfn|Cronkhite 1893}} This work was a compilation of information on cannons, ammunition, fuses, and other details necessary to master the use of artillery in combat.{{sfn|Cronkhite 1893}}

==Legacy== The Army honored Cronkhite by naming a Marin County, California Coast Artillery post as Fort Cronkhite in the late 1930s.{{sfn|Thompson}} The fort was abandoned after World War II.{{sfn|Thompson}} The site, which is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, includes the Marine Mammal Center.{{sfn|Thompson}} The remains of the military post also include a disarmed but intact 16-inch gun battery.{{sfn|Thompson}}

==References== {{reflist|3}}

==Sources== ===Books=== * {{cite book |last=318th Infantry Regiment |date=1920 |title=History of the 318th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Division |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQsIAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |location=Richmond, VA |publisher=William Byrd Press |page=58 |isbn=9785871963302 |ref={{sfnRef|318th Infantry Regiment}}}} * {{cite book |author=American Battle Monuments Commission |date=1944 |title=80th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LfxuULI4SAAC&pg=PA1 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=1, 4 |via=Google Books |ref={{sfnRef|80th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War}}}} * {{cite book |last=Association of Graduates |date=1938 |title=Annual Report of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point |url=http://digital-library.usma.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/aogreunion/id/21341/show/21134/rec/2 |location=Newburgh, NY |publisher=Moore Printing Company |pages=318–319 |ref={{sfnRef|Association of Graduates 1938}}}} *{{cite book |last=Case |first=Nelson |date=1901 |title=History of Labette County, Kansas, and Representative Citizens |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyoflabette00case#page/620/ |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=Biographical Publishing Company |pages=620–621 |ref={{sfnRef|Case}}}} * {{cite book |last=Cronkhite |first=Adelbert |date=1893 |title=Gunnery for Non-commissioned Officers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHJGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR2 |location=New York, NY |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |page= title page |ref={{sfnRef|Cronkhite 1893}}}} *{{cite book |last=Davis |first=Henry Blaine Jr. |date=1998 |title=Generals in Khaki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJvvAAAAMAAJ&q=%22cronkhite%22 |location=Raleigh, NC |publisher=Pentland Press |pages=88–89 |isbn=978-1-57197-088-6 |ref={{sfnRef|Davis}}}} * {{cite book |last=Hart |first=Albert Bushnell |date=1920 |title=Harper's Pictorial Library of the World War |volume=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-o8VAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA364 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Harper & Brothers |page=364 |ref={{sfnRef| Hart 1920}}}} * {{cite book |last=Kettleborough |first=Charles, Director, Legislative Reference Bureau |date=1919 |title=Yearbook of the State of Indiana for the Year 1918 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isk_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA620 |location=Indianapolis, IN |publisher=Wm. P. Burford, state printer |page=620 |ref={{sfnRef|Yearbook of the State of Indiana 1919}}}} * {{cite book |date=1920 |title=National Cyclopedia of American Biography |volume=XVII |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dPEpAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA8-PA176 |location=New York, NY |publisher=James T. White & Company |page= 176 |ref={{sfnRef|National Cyclopedia of American Biography}}}} * {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Erwin N. |date=1979 |title=Historic Resource Study, Forts Baker, Barry, Cronkhite of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDc3AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA115 |location=Denver, CO |publisher=Denver Service Center, U.S. Department of the Interior |page=115 |ref={{sfnRef|Thompson}}}} * {{cite book |last=United States Secretary of War |date=1904 |title=Annual Reports of the War Department |volume=IV |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBUSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA108 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=108 |ref={{sfnRef|Secretary of War 1904}}}} * {{cite book |last=Venzon |first=Anne Cipriano |date=2012 |title=The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nhEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA674 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Routledge |page=674 |isbn=978-0-8153-3353-1 |ref={{sfnRef|Venzon}}}} * {{cite book |last=State of Virginia |date=1933 |title=Annual Reports of Officers, Boards and Institutions of the Commonwealth of Virginia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocQkAQAAIAAJ&q=%22harry+flood+byrd%22 |location=Richmond, VA |publisher=Superintendent of Public Printing |pages=6, 17 |quote=...during the ceremony in honor of ex-Governor Harry Flood Byrd at Hampton, Va., on October 4, 1932, at which time he was presented the Distinguished Service Medal by The Adjutant General ...In addition, the Military Board has directed that the same honor be extended to the following War Commanders under whom Virginia troops served in action: Maréchal Henri Pétain, General John J. Pershing, Major General Chas. G. Morton, Commander 29th Division, Major General Adelbert Cronkhite, Commander 80th Division }}

===Newspapers=== *{{cite news |date=August 19, 1911 |title=Her Wedding a Surprise |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/08/19/104833371.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |page=7 |ref={{sfnRef|Her Wedding a Surprise}}}} *{{cite news |date=November 10, 1932 |title=Cronkhite Speaks to Veterans' Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/89866527/ |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |location=Pittsburgh, PA |page=12 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|Cronkhite Speaks to Veterans' Post}}}} *{{cite news |date=April 3, 1933 |title=Moving Day Taxes Skill of General Who Led Army |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/146717888/ |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |location=Pittsburgh, PA |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|Moving Day Taxes Skill}}}} *{{cite news |date=June 16, 1937 |title=Noted War Leader Dies in South: Gen. Cronkhite was Honored by Three Nations |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/90296711/ |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |location=Pittsburgh, PA |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|Noted War Leader Dies in South}}}} *{{cite news |date=June 16, 2020 |title=Gen. A. Cronkhite, led 80th Division |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/06/16/94391096.html?pageNumber=23 |work=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |page=23 |via=TimesMachine |ref={{sfnRef|Gen. A. Cronkhite}}}} *{{cite news |date=February 4, 1954 |title=War Leader's Widow Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/149966124/ |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |location=Pittsburgh, PA |page=39 |via=Newspapers.com |ref={{sfnRef|War Leader's Widow Dies}}}}

===Internet=== * {{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/2941*.html |title=Adelbert Cronkhite: Transcription of Entries in Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point |last=Thayer |first=Bill |website=penelope.uchicago.edu |publisher=Bill Thayer |access-date=August 27, 2016 |ref={{sfnRef|Thayer 2016}}}} * {{cite web |url=http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/index.html |title=Burial Record, Adelbert Cronkhite |website=Nationwide Gravesite Locator |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration |access-date=August 27, 2016 |ref={{sfnRef|Nationwide Gravesite Locator 2016}} |archive-date=June 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601190609/https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/index.html |url-status=dead }} * {{cite web |last=Denfeld |first=Duane Colt |url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=9764 |title=Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed during training exercise at Fort Lewis on October 25, 1918 |date=March 17, 2011 |website=History Link.org |publisher=History Ink |location=Seattle WA |ref={{sfnRef|Major Alexander P. Cronkhite is shot and killed}}}} *{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com |title=Virginia Death Records, 1912–2014, entry for Dorothy C. Roberson |date=January 21, 1954 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com, LLC |location=Provo, UT |ref={{sfnRef|Virginia Death Records}}}} *{{cite web |url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=17416 |title=Distinguished Service Medal Citation, Adelbert Cronkhite |website=Hall of Valor |publisher=Army Times |location=Springfield, VA |access-date=August 27, 2016 |ref={{sfnRef|Army Times 2016}}}} *{{cite web |url=http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/squarediv.htm |title=Basic Fighting Unit of the AEF: The Square Division |website=Doughboy Center: The Story of the American Expeditionary Forces |publisher=MIchael E. Hanlon |access-date=April 24, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|Basic Fighting Unit of the AEF}}}}

===Magazines=== * {{cite magazine |last=Keene |first=Jennifer |date=January 2002 |title=A Comparative Study of White and Black American Soldiers during the First World War: Selecting Men for the Army |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-annales-de-demographie-historique-2002-1-page-71.htm |magazine=Annales de démographie historique |location=Paris, France |publisher=Editions Belin |page=72 |ref={{sfnRef|Selecting Men for the Army}}}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * [http://www.militarymuseum.org/FtCronkhite.html Fort Cronkhite] at ''[http://www.militarymuseum.org/ California Military Museum]''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronkhite, Adelbert}} Category:1861 births Category:1937 deaths Category:United States Army Coast Artillery Corps personnel Category:United States Army Field Artillery Branch personnel Category:People from Herkimer County, New York Category:Military personnel from Pittsburgh Category:United States Military Academy alumni Category:United States Army generals of World War I Category:United States Army generals Category:United States Army personnel of the Indian Wars Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Category:Commanders of the Legion of Honour Category:Burials at West Point Cemetery