Greely, Adolphus Washington, 1844-1935

Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, Explorer. At the start of the Civil War, he enlisted as a Private in the 19th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, seeing action in several major battles and rose through the ranks to Major of US Volunteers. After the war, he remained in the Army, serving in the West and Washington D.C. In 1881, he volunteered for an expedition to the Arctic as the first International Polar Geographical Conference. There he established his base camp, detailing meteorological and geophysical observations. He carried out exploratory expeditions, discovering Lake Hazen, Greely Fjord and reached the furthest point north in 1882. In 1886, after serving over twenty years in regular service, he was promoted Brigadier General Chief Signal Officer, US Army by President Grover Cleveland. As Chief Signal Officer, military telegraph lines were constructed, operated and maintained during the Spanish American War, in the Philippines, Alaska and established the longest commercial system regularly working in the world. In 1906, he served as military commander over the emergency situation created by the San Francisco earthquake and retired from the Army as a Major General in 1906. For his life of splendid public service, from having enlisted as a Private in the US Army on July 26, 1861 and by successive promotions was commissioned as Major General February 10, 1906, being retired by operation of law on his 64th birthday, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on March 21, 1935.

Adolphus Washington Greely (March 27, 1844 – October 20, 1935) was a United States Army officer, polar explorer.