Briant H. Wells
Briant Harris Wells (1871–1949) was the commanding general of the United States Army, Pacific from 1931 to 1934.
Wells was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. He was a son of Daniel H. Wells and Martha Givens Harris Wells. Daniel H. Wells was head of the Nauvoo Legion (the name given to the predecessor of the Utah National Guard during the early period of Utah Territory).
Wells graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1894. After graduation, he was stationed at Fort Omaha. He returned to Salt Lake City to find a wife in 1896. He succeeded in this endeavor, marrying Mary Jane Jennings.
Wells served in the Spanish–American War, fighting at the Battle of San Juan Hill receiving the Silver Star Citation later the Silver Star. He served in the American Expeditionary Force during World War I and then was commandant of the Infantry School at Fort Benning. Wells was the first Latter-day Saint to be promoted to the rank of general officer in the regular army. Major General Wells served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army from 1927 to 1930, the second ranking officer in the U.S. Army.
Wells was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[1]
Sources
- ↑ Robert C. Freeman, "Latter-day Saints in the World Wars", Out of Obscurity: The LDS Church in the Twentieth Century (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000), p. 111