Charles Pelot Summerall (March 4, 1867 - May 14, 1955) was a U.S. general who fought in World War I and served as Army Chief of Staff between 1926 and 1930.
Born in Blount's Ferry, Florida, Summerall attended the Porter Military Academy in South Carolina from 1882 to 1885. After graduation, he worked as a school teacher for three years. In 1888, he enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and graduated in June 1892. He was first assigned to the 1st Infantry but transferred to the 5th Artillery in March of 1893.
Charles Summerall fought in the Spanish-American war in 1898. From 1899 to 1900, he fought in the Philippine-American War as an Engineer Officer and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. In 1900-1901, he was promoted to Captain and assigned to the 106th Field Artillery while participating in the attack on Peking during the China Relief Expedition at the time of the Chinese Boxer Rebellion.
Charles married Laura Mordecai in August of 1901. His son, Charles Summerall Jr., was born in 1902 and eventually retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Army.
From 1905 to 1911, Charles Summerall was the Senior Instructor of Artillery Tactics at West Point. He was promoted to Major in 1911 and put in charge of purchasing land for artillery training on behalf of the U.S. Army. In 1915, he was assigned to investigating the manufacture of munitions to be purchased by the U.S. Army.
Charles Summerall was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1916, and Colonel in 1917. In August of 1917 he was promoted to Brigadier-General in the National Army and National Army Major-General in 1918. In February 1919, he was promoted to Brigadier-General in the Regular Army and Regular Army Major-General in April 1920.
Serving on the front line in France during World War I, Major-General Charles Summerall was Commander of the First Division and later became Commander of the Fifth Corps.
November 21, 1926, Major-General Summerall became Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. He was promoted to General in February 1929. In November 1930, after 38 years of service, he retired from the U.S. Army.
In 1931, General Summerall took position as President of The Citadel where he stayed for 22 years, retiring in 1953. In his honor, The Citadel's silent drill team was named The Summerall Guards. General Summerall died in Washington D.C. in 1954. He rests at the Arlington National Cemetery - (Section 30 USA S-19) along with his wife Laura (Mordecai) Summerall, son Colonel Charles Pelot Summerall, Jr., and daughter in-law Julia Summerall.
General Summerall's decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star and numerous foreign decorations. He received the Distinguished Service Cross as commanding general of the 1st Division
"for extraordinary heroism in action before Berzy-le-Sec, near Soissons, France, during the Aisne-Marne offensive, July 19, 1918. General Summerall, commanding the 1st Division, visited, with great gallantry and with utter disregard for his own safety, the extreme front lines of his division and personally made a reconnaissance of the position in the face of heavy hostile machine-gun and artillery fire, exhorting his men to renew the attack on Berzy-le-Sec, promising them a powerful artillery support, and so encouraging them by his presence and example that they declared their readiness to take the town for him. Due to his great courage and utter disregard for his own safety, the men of his division were inspired to enormous and heroic efforts, capturing Berzy-le-Sec the next morning under terrific enemy fire, and later in the day the division reached all its objectives." (War Department General Orders No. 9, 1923)