Cortlandt Van Rensselaer Schuyler (December 22, 1900 – December 4, 1993) was a United States Army four-star general who served as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (COFS SHAPE) from 1953 to 1959.[1]
Cortlandt V. R. Schuyler | |
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| Birth name | Cortlandt Van Rensselaer Schuyler |
| Nickname(s) | Cort |
| Born | December 22, 1900 Mount Arlington, New Jersey |
| Died | December 4, 1993 (aged 92) San Antonio, Texas |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1922–1959 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | 28th Infantry Division |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit French Legion of Honor (Grand Cross) |
| Alma mater | United States Military Academy |
| Spouse(s) | Wynona Coykendall
(m. 1923; died 1981)Helen V. R. Stillman Honnen
(m. 1981) |
| Other work | Commissioner, New York State Office of General Services |
Early life
editSchuyler was born in Mount Arlington, New Jersey, on December 22, 1900. He was the son of Frank Herbert Schuyler (1865–1942)[2] and Harriette Jarvis Ferris (née Fosdick) Schuyler (1865–1919). His father was the president of the Federal Bridge Company for a decade before his death in 1942.[2]
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Schuyler was a descendant of the prominent Schuyler, Van Cortlandt, and Van Rensselaer families of upstate New York. His fifth great-grandparents were Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and Maria Van Cortlandt, the daughter of Stephanus van Cortlandt and Gertrude Schuyler, a daughter of Schuyler family progenitor Philip Pieterse Schuyler.[3]
He attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1922, where he finished 11th in a class of 102, and was commissioned in the Coast Artillery Corps.[4]
Career
editHis first assignment was at Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he was assigned to the 61st Antiaircraft Battalion, at the time the only anti-aircraft unit in the army. Later he served with the 60th Coast Artillery (antiaircraft) in the Philippines and the 4th Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft) at Fort Amador in the Panama Canal Zone. He graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1937.
In 1939, while a member of the Antiaircraft section of the Coast Artillery Board, he participated actively in the development of the first multiple, power-operated antiaircraft machine gun mount.(Quadmount), He was awarded the Legion of Merit for his work in this field.
In 1942, Schuyler was assigned to the Antiaircraft Command in Richmond, Virginia, in 1942. He was promoted to brigadier general and assigned as chief of staff of the Antiaircraft Command. The Antiaircraft Command had the task of organizing and training all antiaircraft units of a rapidly expanding Army and controlled eight large training centers from Massachusetts to California.
In the fall of 1944, General Schuyler was assigned to Bucharest, Romania, as the U.S. Military Representative to the Allied Control Commission. The agency was created by the three interested allied governments (British, U.S. and Russian) to administer the terms of the Romanian armistice.
Return to Washington
editIn 1947, General Schuyler returned to Washington and was assigned as the Chief of the Plans and Policy Group, Army General Staff. It was in this position that he became heavily involved in the fast developing concept of the North Atlantic alliance. He assisted in the preparation of policy papers and participated in the discussions which, in 1949, culminated in the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). When General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed as the Supreme Commander of all NATO forces in Europe, General Schuyler was part of Eisenhower's staff as the special assistant to the chief of staff.
In 1952, Schuyler was promoted to major general and given command of the 28th Infantry Division in 1953.[5]
In July 1953, he was promoted to lieutenant general and assigned to SHAPE headquarters in Paris as the Chief of Staff to Supreme Allied Commander General Alfred M. Gruenther. Schuyler was promoted to general in 1956 and remained as the chief of staff for the new Supreme Commander, General Lauris Norstad, until his retirement from the Army in November 1959.[4]
Post military career
editAfter retiring from the army in 1959, Schuyler served as Commissioner of the New York State Office of General Services from 1960 to 1971,[6] and was an executive aide to New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller.[7]
In 1962, Rockefeller appointed Schuyler chairman of his Emergency Staff committee and ordered it to meet as needed in support of President John F. Kennedy's administration during the Cuban Missile Crisis.[8] In 1963, he was appointed chairman of the State Civil Defense Commission.[4]
Personal life
editSchuyler was married twice, first to Wynona Coykendall (1902–1981), the daughter of Electra (née Heaton) Coykendall and Louis T. Coykendall, a vice-president of Presbrey-Leland, Inc.[9][10] Together, they had a daughter and a son:[1]
- Shirley Schuyler (1929–2006), who married Edward Stanley Saxby, son of Harold A. Saxby, in 1949.[11]
- Philip Van Rensselaer Schuyler (b. 1932)[1]
After his first wife's death, he married Helen Van Rensselaer (née Stillman) Honnen (1905–1994), who was previously married to Major General George Honnen.[1]
Schuyler died on December 4, 1993, in San Antonio, Texas.[1] He was buried at West Point Cemetery, Section 8, Row C, Site 172. At his death, he was survived by his wife, two children, and two stepchildren.[1]
Awards
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Dates of rank
edit| No insignia | Cadet, United States Military Academy: November 4, 1918 |
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Second Lieutenant, Regular Army: June 13, 1922 |
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First Lieutenant, Regular Army: March 11, 1927 |
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Captain, Regular Army: August 1, 1935 |
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Major, Regular Army: July 1, 1940 |
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Lieutenant Colonel, Army of the United States: December 24, 1941 |
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Colonel, Army of the United States: August 28, 1942 |
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Brigadier General, Army of the United States: June 28, 1943 |
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Major General, Army of the United States: January 18, 1944 |
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Lieutenant Colonel, Regular Army: June 13, 1945 |
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Brigadier General, Regular Army: July 26, 1949 |
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Major General, Regular Army: June 1, 1952 |
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Lieutenant General, Army of the United States: July 3, 1953 |
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General, Army of the United States: May 18, 1956 |
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General, Regular Army, Retired List: November 1, 1959 |
See also
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References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Tabor, Mary B. W. (December 6, 1993). "Cortlandt Schuyler; Former General, 92, Was NATO Officer". The New York Times. p. D9. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
- ^ a b "Frank H. Schuyler". The New York Times. March 21, 1942. p. 17 – Obituaries. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ Reynolds, Cuyler (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1062. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ a b c "General Schuyler to Read Letter From Washington". The Kingston Daily Freeman. February 18, 1964. p. 20. Retrieved December 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Shifts at SHAPE
- ^ "Rockefeller Decision: Mansion to Be Restored For Estimated $450,000". Poughkeepsie Journal. March 22, 1961. p. 1. Retrieved December 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Delhi Tech's 6th Annual Open House Draws Record Crowd: 5,000 Attend Three Day Festivity". The Oneonta Star. May 9, 1960. p. 3. Retrieved December 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "New York's Governor Rockefeller". Poughkeepsie Journal. October 24, 1962. p. 27. Retrieved December 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Louis T. Coykendall". The New York Times. May 18, 1945. p. 19. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ "Mrs. Louis Coykendall". The New York Times. April 12, 1957. p. 23. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ "Shirley Schuyler is Wed in Virginia; Daughter of General Becomes Bride.of Leuit. E. S. Saxby in Post Chapel, Fort Myer". The New York Times. December 21, 1949. p. 38. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ Réception à l'occasion de la remise des insignes de grand croix de la Légion d'Honneur au général Cortland Van SCHUYLER(in French)
- ^ U.S. Army Register, 1948. Volume II. pg. 1618.
External links
edit- Cortlandt V. R. Schuyler at Find a Grave
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army- Generals of World War II
