Sherwood Cheney

Sherwood Alfred Cheney (August 24, 1873 – March 13, 1949) was an American military engineer who served as a brigadier general in the US Army Corps of Engineers during World War I and as an aide to President Calvin Coolidge. Early life and education Born to industrialist John Sherwood Cheney and Ellen (Coates) Cheney on August 24, 1873, Sherwood Cheney was a member of the Cheney silk manufacturing dynasty of Manchester, Connecticut, where he was born and raised. He graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1892 and studied for one year at the Sheffield Scientific School before transferring to the US Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated fifth in the Class of 1897. Military career Cheney entered the US Army Corps of Engineers as a second lieutenant and saw combat in Cuba and the Philippines during the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War. His cousin, Lieutenant Ward Cheney, was killed in action during the latter conflict. He rose through the ranks, achieving captain in 1904, major in 1911, lieutenant colonel and temporary colonel in 1917, and temporary brigadier general in 1918. He graduated from courses at the United States Army War College in 1907 and in 1921. Reverting to lieutenant colonel after World War I, Cheney was promoted to colonel in July 1920 and brigadier general in April 1933. Having reached the mandatory retirement age of sixty-four, he retired after over forty years of service on August 31, 1937.