John McAuley Palmer (April 23, 1870 – October 26, 1955) was a soldier and administrator in the United States Army. Early life and start of career Born in Carlinville, Illinois, he was the son of John and Ellen Palmer, and the grandson and namesake of John McAuley Palmer, a famous American Civil War general and Governor of Illinois. He was educated in Springfield, Illinois, graduated from West Point in 1892, and was appointed a second lieutenant of infantry, initially assigned to the 15th Infantry at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He participated in the suppression of the Chicago railroad riots of 1894, then went to Cuba as an aide to Samuel S. Sumner (1898–1899) during the Spanish–American War. Post-Spanish–American War career Following his Cuba service, he became a member of the China Relief Expedition (1900–1901), then an instructor and assistant professor of chemistry at West Point (1901–1906). Following this academic stint, he was then assigned a billet as governor of Lanao District on Mindanao in the Philippines (1906–1908). Upon return from Far East Service, he was a student at the United States Army Command and General Staff College. After graduating he was assigned to the War Department General Staff under the command of the then-Army Chief of Staff Leonard Wood (1908–1910). During this period of service he received recognition as a writer and advocate on military theory. Later career and World War I In 1910 he rejoined his regiment in Tientsin (Tianjin) China and was promoted to the permanent rank of major. He was then transferred to the 24th Infantry on Corregidor and was instrumental in creating the plans for the defense of the Bataan Peninsula (1914–1916). Following this assignment, he returned to the General Staff in Washington, D.C. (1916) and on the outbreak of the First World War was instrumental in drafting the Draft Act of 1917 and plans for an American Expeditionary Force (AEF). This work caught the notice of Major General John J. Pershing, who selected Palmer to become his Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, G-3, where he went to France and set up operational plans and staff schools for the American Army. He left the AEF staff due to illness, but recovered in time, as a colonel, to command the 58th Infantry Brigade of the 29th Division in combat against the enemy at Verdun in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive that helped to end World War I. He received