Biography.

Fox Conner was born to Robert H. Conner and Nannie Fox Conner on November 2, 1874, at Slate Springs, Calhoun County, Mississippi. The eldest of six children, he had three brothers, Manly, Rush, and Gus; and two sisters, Mary and Nannie Gus. Conner attended the local public schools; and with the help of Mississippi Senator Hernando De Soto Money, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Fox Conner graduated from West Point in 1898 with high academic honors. After graduation from West Point, Fox Conner was commissioned a second lieutenant in the artillery; and in 1899, he joined the army of occupation in Cuba following the Spanish-American War. He was commissioned a first lieutenant in 1901 and a captain later that year. Conner married Virginia Brandreth on June 4, 1902; and they had three children, Betty Virginia, Fox Brandreth, and Florence Slocum.

Fox Conner entered the Army Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1905, graduating in 1906. In 1907, he began a four-year assignment on the Army General Staff in Washington, D.C., that included teaching responsibilities at the Army War College. Conner graduated from the Army War College in 1908. He also has the distinction of being the first American military officer to be assigned to a French artillery regiment, serving from 1911 to 1912. Fox Conner was commissioned a major in 1916, a lieutenant colonel in 1917, a colonel (temporary) also in 1917, and a brigadier general (temporary) in 1918. He returned to the rank of colonel in 1920.

During World War I, Fox Conner was assistant chief of staff operations for the American Expeditionary Force from 1917 to 1919. He was also a leading military advisor of General John J. Pershing. Conner was later promoted to chief of staff, American Expeditionary Force; and during 1919 and 1920, he authored the American Expeditionary Force after-action report for World War I in which he stated that another war with Germany was probably inevitable. Fox Conner was permanently commissioned a brigadier general in 1921. He was ordered to Panama to command the Twentieth Infantry Brigade at Camp Gaillard. While in Panama, he recognized the extraordinary ability of Dwight David Eisenhower, and he began to groom him for higher military service. Eisenhower was later to become Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II. Conner served as assistant chief of staff for supply and deputy chief of staff for the United States Army in Washington, D.C., from 1924 to 1927. He was commissioned a major general in 1925. Conner served as commanding general, Hawaiian Division and Hawaiian Department, Hawaii, from 1927 to 1930. Fox Conner's last military appointment was as commanding general, First Corps Area, Boston, Massachusetts, from 1930 to 1938. He died in Washington, D.C., on October 13, 1951, and he was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains twenty-eight letters written by Fox Conner to his family in Calhoun County, while he was attending the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, between the years 1894 and 1898. The letters primarily focus on daily life at the academy. Conner wrote of football, practical jokes, trips to New York City, his academic standing, and how he monitored the market price of cotton. Conner also inquired about the welfare of his brothers and sisters and about home life, and he also wrote a special note to his little sister, Nannie Gus, in each letter. In one letter, dated February 28, 1897, Conner mentioned the political turmoil in Cuba on the eve of the Spanish-American War. In another letter, dated October 17, 1897, Conner discussed the possible election of a William Jennings Bryan supporter as mayor of New York City. Also present are two letters sent by Conner to his brother, Rush, who was attending the Agricultural and Mechanical College, Starkville. Another letter dated May 22, 1944, was sent by Conner to Howard [Edmondson] and concerns the death of Nannie Gus Conner [Edmondson].