William Wallace Wotherspoon (November 16, 1850 – October 21, 1921) was a United States Army general who served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army in 1914. Early life Wotherspoon was born in Washington, D.C., on November 16, 1850, the son of Army surgeon Alexander Summerville Wotherspoon (1817–1884) and Louisa Kuhn Wotherspoon. Alexander Wotherspoon was a veteran of the Mexican War; in addition to serving on Winfield Scott's staff, he was present when President Zachary Taylor became ill in 1850, and treated Taylor during his final illness. William Wotherspoon was educated in private schools and served as a mate in the United States Navy from March 9, 1870 to October 9, 1873 aboard the screw sloop of war USS Plymouth and the paddle steamer USS Tallapoosa. He resigned from the Navy to accept a commission in the U.S. Army. Army career Wotherspoon was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 12th Infantry in October 1873. From 1874 to 1881, he served in the West during the Indian wars as a troop officer and quartermaster. After a year of absence from the Army for being sick, he became the superintendent and did much needed work to expand the Soldiers' Home in Washington, D.C. He then served at Fort Sully and at Mount Vernon Barracks, where he trained a company of Apache prisoners from 1890 to 1894. In 1893 he became an hereditary member of the Aztec Club of 1847. In 1894, he became aide to General Oliver O. Howard, commander of the Department of the East, and was the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (today named the University of Rhode Island) first Professor Military Science and Tactics from 1894 to 1898. Spanish–American War In 1898, while on recruiting duty at Fort McPherson, he organized the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry. He served in the Philippines against insurgents and as collector of customs at Iloilo from 1899 to 1901 under the command of Colonel Edmund Rice. Senior command In 1901, he was promoted to major and transferred to the 30th Infantry. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry at Fort Leavenworth and then taught at the Command and General Staff College from 1902 to 1904. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned to the 14th Infantry in 1904 and later was transferred to the 19th Infantry and became the director of the U.S. Army War College