{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Short description|American colonel (1854–1927)}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = |name = Edwin Batdorf |honorific_suffix = |image = Edwin Batdorf.jpg |image_upright = |alt = |caption = |native_name = |native_name_lang = |birth_name = |other_name = |nickname = |birth_date = {{birth date|1853|10|04}} |birth_place = [[Dayton, Ohio]], U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1927|01|14|1853|10|04}} |death_place = [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], U.S. |burial_place = [[Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum]], [[Dayton, Ohio]], U.S. |burial_label = |burial_coordinates = <!--{{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}}--> |allegiance = {{flagu|United States|1896}} |branch = {{flagdeco|Missouri}} [[Missouri National Guard]] |branch_label = Branch |service_years = 1885–1903 |service_years_label = |rank = [[File:Union army col rank insignia.jpg|32px]] [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] (National Guard)<br>[[File:Union_Army_brigadier_general_rank_insignia.svg|32px]] [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]] (Volunteers) |rank_label = |service_number = |unit = |commands = [[1st Missouri Infantry Regiment (1898)|1st Missouri Infantry Regiment]] |known_for = |battles = [[Spanish–American War]] |battles_label = |awards = |memorials = |alma_mater = |spouse = |children = |relations = |other_work = |signature = |signature_size = |signature_alt = |website = <!--{{URL|example.com}}--> |module = }}
'''Edwin Batdorf''' (1853–1927) was an American colonel who commanded the [[1st Missouri Infantry Regiment (1898)|1st Missouri Infantry Regiment]] during the [[Spanish–American War]]. Despite the regiment never taking part in active combat, he was well known for his involvement in a political scandal involving the regiment.
==Early career== Batdorf was born on October 4, 1853, near [[Dayton, Ohio]], but moved to Kansas in 1871 since his father operated at a hotel there. He later worked full-time there and began to serve the [[Missouri National Guard]], appointed as a Captain and Adjutant on April 11, 1885.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Report of the Adjutant-General of Missouri for 1886|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QUkXVrIW9kgC&dq=Edwin+Batdorf&pg=PA34|date=1887|location=Jefferson City, MO|publisher=Tribune Printing Company, State Printers and Binders|pages=84|access-date=December 20, 2022}}</ref> The regiment with which Batdorf served was dissolved on May 23, 1887, after the [[Missouri State Legislature]] failed to provide support, although through the efforts of then-Lieutenant Batdorf, it was succeeded by a battalion that became a new regiment within the National Guard.<ref name="Missouri at War">{{Cite web|last=Ämick|first=Jeremy P.|title=The battles of Batdorf – Career of late National Guard colonel characterized by political strife|url=https://www.missouriatwar.com/featured-article/the-battles-of-batdorf-career-of-late-national-guard-colonel-characterized-by-political-strife|website=Missouri at War|date=August 25, 2020|access-date=December 20, 2022|archive-date=December 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220173751/https://www.missouriatwar.com/featured-article/the-battles-of-batdorf-career-of-late-national-guard-colonel-characterized-by-political-strife|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Missouri Military Reports: Mexican Border Service National Guard Missouri 1916 and the History of the First Missouri Infantry (1819–1916)|url=https://stlouis.genealogyvillage.com/mex1916.htm|website=Genealogy in St. Louis|access-date=December 21, 2022}}</ref>
==Organizational disputes== He was promoted to Colonel on June 21, 1893, but his career would be in controversy after he vocally criticized the state leadership over the formation of the Missouri National Guard Association and got himself into frequent altercations with them. During a meeting in January 1897 headed by Brigadier General [[Joseph Wickham (general)|Joseph Wickham]], a proposal was made that the colonels of the state's four regiments and the two artillery captains be promoted to vice presidents. Batdorf objected to the proposal, protesting on how the significantly smaller First Artillery Battalion would gain as much representation as the larger First Missouri Regiment, which led the First Regiment to boycott the association.<ref name="Missouri at War" />
==Spanish–American War== Before the state authorities could take further action against Batdorf, the [[Spanish–American War]] broke out and Batdorf was chosen to command the [[1st Missouri Infantry Regiment (1898)|1st Missouri Infantry Regiment]] on July 31, 1898.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Roster of the 1st Missouri Volunteer Infantry, Company E|url=https://www.spanamwar.com/1stMoCoERoster|website=The Spanish-American War Centennial Website|access-date=December 21, 2022|archive-date=December 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221185555/https://www.spanamwar.com/1stMoCoERoster|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Correspondence Relating to the War with Spain and Conditions Growing Out of the Same; Including the Insurrection in the Philippine Islands and China Relief Expeditions, Between the Adjutant-General of the Army and Military Commanders in the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, China, and the Philippine Islands from April 15, 1898 to July 30, 1902|volume=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VRItAAAAIAAJ&dq=Edwin+Batdorf&pg=PA532|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=1902|pages=532|access-date=December 21, 2022}}</ref> He assisted in the mustering of the regiment at the Jefferson Barracks on May 13, 1898, and left their assembly site on May 19, 1898, heading for Camp George H. Thomas at [[Chickamauga Park, Georgia]]. Despite the regiment being prepared for active service against the Spanish, Batdorf and Governor [[Lon Stephens]] began altercations again. Batdorf was then promoted to acting Brigadier General of Volunteers but the regiment remained opposed to Stephens as the officers within the regiment tended to decline any officer commissions by him with matters making it worse when [[Russell Alger]] confirmed that the volunteering regiments were to be separate from the state's national guards.<ref name="Missouri at War" />
The regiment then returned to St. Louis, being one of many volunteer regiments to never leave the U.S. and with the return to Missouri came the reorganization of the regiment with Stephens personally excluding Batdorf from the new structure. This led to Batdorf filing a lawsuit against Stephens for $50,000{{efn|$1.7 million when adjusted for inflation}} in damages. The lawsuit was later dismissed and Batdorf would retire by 1903.<ref name="Missouri at War" />
==Later life== Batdorf went on to live a less controversial life as his son would become the Treasurer of the Forest City Building Company. In 1920, General [[Harvey Clark (general)|Harvey Clark]] awarded him a medal for Missouri veterans of the Spanish-American War. He died on January 14, 1927, while at the Westgate Hotel in St. Louis. He was then buried at the [[Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum]].<ref name="Missouri at War"/>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batdorf, Edwin}} [[Category:1853 births]] [[Category:1927 deaths]] [[Category:Military personnel from Dayton, Ohio]] [[Category:Military personnel from St. Louis]] [[Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War]] [[Category:United States Army colonels]] [[Category:Missouri National Guard personnel]] [[Category:Burials at Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum]]