1924 *SIGNED* W H Hart Quartermaster General Letter

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1924 *SIGNED*  W H Hart Quartermaster General Letter
William Horce Hart
was born at Winona, Minnesota., on March 20, 1864. Hart attended the United States Military Academy, becoming the first cadet appointed from the Dakota Territory, graduating in 1888.
Assigned to the 20th Infantry on June 11, 1888, he served on frontier duty at Fort Assinniboine, Montana, for less than a year before transferring to the 4th Cavalry. For almost a decade he followed the guidons of the cavalry at frontier posts in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, and Washington. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on May 23, 1896, and transferred to the 7th Cavalry, serving as its Regimental Quartermaster until June 1898.
At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, General Hart served for several months as aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. B. V. Sumner, commander of the 7th Cavalry, and then was temporarily assigned to the Department of Colorado as chief commissary. He saw no service in Cuba during the war, but his regiment was with the Army of Cuban Occupation from January 1899 to November 1900.
During World War I his assignments took him to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, as depot Quartermaster and department Quartermaster of the Southern Department from July 10, 1917, to January 1, 1918; then to Jeffersonville, Indiana, as depot Quartermaster for about the first six weeks in 1918; and
finally overseas for duty with the American Expeditionary Forces.
From March 1918, to April 1919, he served at St. Nazaire, France, as Base Quartermaster, Base Section No 1.  There he was in charge of the great depots at St Nazaire, Nantes, and Montoir, the largest and most important supply bases in France. For his successful and efficient administration of
those depots, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and was also decorated with the Legion of Honor by the French government in recognition of his services the Allied cause.
When General Hart returned to the United Sates after WW1, he established a reputation for conscientious performance in downsizing Army depots. He was instructed to effect drastic reductions without interfering with the efficient supply of the Army. So effective were his measures that over ,000,000 was saved, and the Secretary of War commended him for his zeal and administrative ability.
While serving at the New York Depot, He was appointed Quartermaster General with the rank of Major General on August 28, 1922.   As Quartermaster General he continued to oversee the downsizing and restructuring of the Quartermaster Corps as the Army transitioned to a smaller peacetime organization.   General Hart was responsible for a educational program for Reserve Officers that he called "Winter Plattsburgs." Organized in the more important business and industrial centers where efficient instruction and supervision were attainable, that project provided a course of logistics training during the winter months designed to familiarize  reserve Quartermaster officers and interested civilians, with their duties in time of war and with the problems of industrial mobilization. He also fostered close ties between the Corps and civilian industry.
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