William G. Doane

He graduated from Sheffield Scientific School, a part of Yale University, in 1887.

He enlisted in the 3rd Nebraska Volunteer Infantry on May 27, 1898 and was given a commission as a 1st Lieutenant
on July 1, 1898. He served as the Regimental Adjutant with the unit in Cuba as part of the Army of Occupation
at the end of the Spanish-American War and was honorably mustered out of the 3rd Nebraska on May 11, 1899.

On August 17, 1899 Doane was offered a position as a 1st Lieutenant in the 38th US Volunteer Infantry
and accepted that position on September 4, 1899. He served with the 38th Volunteer Infantry in the Philippines
and in 1901 was the administrator of the San Lazaro Hospital estate, which appears to have been at that time
a facility for the mentally ill.

The following report by Brigadier General George W. Davis, the Provost-Marshall-General of the
Philippines was submitted to the Secretary of War in 1901 and commends Doane for performing
his duties at San Lazaro in an exemplary fashion. In the report Davis mistakenly gives Doane's unit as
the Thirtieth Infantry, U.S.V. Doane was at the time actually with the Thirty-eighth Infantry, U.S.V.

On February 2, 1901 Doane was offered a commission as a 1st Lieutenant in the 16th Infantry, then also in the Philippines.
He was honorably mustered out of the Volunteers on June 30, 1901 and accepted the commission in the Regular Army
on July 1, 1901. He served with the 16th Infantry in the Philippines until 1902 when the Regiment returned to the US.

On October 15, 1903, Doane filed a claim with the War Department asking for back pay at the rate of Captain, from the dates of
August 6, 1901 to March 6, 1902. During those dates Doane, as a 1st Lieutenant, and as the only commissioned officer present,
had assumed command of Company M of the 16th Infantry, on duty in the Philippines. Orders assigning him to command of
Company M had been issued by Colonel Charles C. Hood, commander of the 16th Infantry. Doane claimed that as Company
Commander he was entitled to pay during that period at the rate of Captain, the standard rank for a Company Commander.
He argued that this pay was provided for in the War Department Act of April 26, 1898 which stated that in time of war
an officer issued orders to perform command duty at a level above his grade should be paid at the higher grade
while performing those duties. His claim was denied on October 29, 1903 by Assistant Comptroller Mitchell, whose decision
in the matter stated that orders assigning Doane Command notwithstanding, it was the normal duty of every officer to assume
command, as the senior officer present, when the situation required and that since this duty was always temporary by nature
no increase in pay was warranted.

In a final irony to his rejected claim, a little over a month later, on December 6, 1903 Doane was detailed as
Acting Judge Advocate of the Department of the Missouri with the temporary rank of Captain.

Special Orders No. 22. 1903-1904 detailing Doane to the position of Acting Judge Advocate
of the Department of the Missouri.

Photo of Officers of the U.S. Army
Department of the Missouri,
Omaha, Nebraska early 1904.

William G. Doane is in the back row at the top,
listed in the caption to the photo as Judge Advocate
of the Department.

At this time he held the temporary rank of Captain.

Photo from Omaha Daily Bee March 06, 1904

From the Nebraska Newspapers website

In May, 1905 Doane returned to the Philippines with the 16th Infantry and on September 11 of that year transferred to
the 22nd Infantry. He served with the 22nd Infantry for the next four years, in the Philippines, in San Francisco and Alaska.

On November 30, 1909 he was officially transferred to the 9th Infantry. On December 18, 1909 he was promoted to
Captain of the 19th Infantry and on February 15, 1910 was transferred to the 25th Infantry, which was comprised of Negro
enlisted men led by white officers.

Doane became the Adjutant of the 25th Infantry on April 1, 1913. At some time during the years 1910-1913
he commanded the post at Fort Lawton, on Magnolia Bluff, Seattle, Washington.

He was promoted to Major on August 3, 1917. On August 5 of that year he was offered a temporary
promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in the National Army, a position which he accepted on August 21, 1917.

During this time the 92nd Division was being formed for service in France, made up of Negro officers and enlisted men
with white officers in staff positions. Doane became the Executive Officer of the 367th Infantry Regiment when it
was organized at Camp Upton, New York on November 3, 1917. The 367th Infantry regiment was a part of the first
contingent of the 92nd Division that sailed for overseas, leaving the Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey
on June 19, 1918 and arriving at Brest, France on June 29, 1918.

On October 18, 1918 Doane was offered a temporary promotion to Colonel of Infantry (U.S.A.) which he accepted
three days later on October 21. On October 24 Doane assumed command of the 367th Infantry and led the Regiment
in heavy combat during the battle for Metz in November 1918. The 367th Infantry was de-mobilized on March 7, 1919.

Doane was honorably discharged from the U.S.A. on June 30, 1920 and reverted back to his rank of Major in the
Regular Army.

From July 16 to November 18, 1920 he was with the 24th Infantry on the Mexican border at Camp Furlong,
Columbus, New Mexico.

He temporarily commanded the 22nd Infantry from May 5, 1921 when Colonel John M.A. Palmer relinquished command
until July 5, 1921 when Colonel Samson L. Faison assumed command of the Regiment.

From August 7 to September 5, 1921 he was the Commander of the 2nd Corps Citizens Military Training Camp
at Plattsburg, New York.

This biography of William G. Doane
was published in the newspaper with
word of the upcoming establishment
of the Training Camp at Plattsburg
in 1921.

The statement that Doane was Colonel
of the 367th Infantry is incorrect. He was
Lieutenant Colonel of that organization.

The 1st Battalion website could not
confirm the statement that he had been
the Commanding Officer of the 24th
Infantry. The Army Register only gives
the date of his assignment to that Regiment
as a Lieutenant Colonel. It is possible that
as Executive Officer of the 24th Infantry at
that time he may have temporarily
commanded it.

The 1st Battalion website also could not
confirm the statement that he had been
Judge Advocate for a period of four years.
In any case his detail as Judge Advocate
was to the Department of the Missouri, not
to the Department of the East.

His name is also mis-spelled at the
end of the article.

Article in Scarsdale Inquirer,
Number 37, 9 July 1921

From:
HRVH Historical Newspapers website

On June 12, 1922 Doane again assumed command of the 22nd Infantry at Fort Jay, New York. He brought the Regiment
to Fort McPherson, Georgia and was Commander of the Post there from June 14 to October 23, 1922.

In 1923 he graduated from the Infantry Officers Advanced Course at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

William G. Doane died at the Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco, California on September 5, 1950.

He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and was a member of the Military Order of the Carabao.

On the left: COL James A. Moss,
Commander of the 367th Infantry.

On the right: LTC William G. Doane,
Executive Officer 367th Infantry.

New York City, 1918, prior to
embarkation for France.

Photo from:

Scott's Official History of the American
Negro in the World War, by
Emmett J. Scott, Harvard University 1919

Top photo of LTC WIlliam G. Doane from: THE DOUGHBOY 1923, Published by the Classes of 1923,
The Infantry School, U.S. Army, Fort Benning, Georgia, 1923