Administrative Information

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Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

Samuel D. Rockenbach Papers, MS 0001, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, VA.

Acquisition Information

The collection was received from the estate of Samuel D. Rockenbach in 1953.

Biographical/Historical Information

Samuel Dickerson Rockenbach, United States Army officer, was born on January 27, 1869 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1889 and in 1891 was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. He married Emma Baldwin on October 19, 1898. Prior to World War I he saw tours of duty in Cuba, the Philippines, various U.S. posts, and served as a military observer in Germany in 1914. He arrived in France in June 1917 with the American Expeditionary Force and from 1917-1919 served as Chief of the newly formed Tank Corps, A.E.F. He was notable for his role in the establishment of the Tank Corps and for his work in the development of tank warfare.

At the end of the war, Rockenbach continued his work with tanks, serving as the Army's Chief of the Tank Corps and as Commander of the Tank School at Camp Meade, Maryland. He retired to Brownsville, Texas in 1933 and died in 1952 at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC.

Scope and Content Information

The collection consists of papers (1,000 items) documenting Rockenbach's career in the United States Army. Topics include his duties as Engineer officer in Cuba (1898-1902), the Philippines (1903- 1910), in France as Chief of the Tank Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, 1917-1919, and his postwar work with the Tank Corps until his retirement in 1933. The collection contains correspondence and memoranda (1889- 1945), military orders (1891-1933), photographs, and miscellaneous personal documents (certificates, travel souvenirs, etc.). Tank Corps material includes operations reports (1918), numerous photographs of early tank designs and tank maneuvers, drawings of tank designs, and reports and minutes of the Inter-Allied Tank Committee. Also included are letters and photographs documenting the early army career of George S. Patton, Jr., who served under Rockenbach during World War I (ca. 15 items). Other notable correspondents are John J. Pershing, Leonard Wood, Douglas MacArthur, James G. Harbord, and Charles P. Summerall.

Organization

The collection is divided into 8 series:
1. Correspondence and memoranda, 1889-1945
2. Military Orders, 1891-1933
3. Subject Files
4. Articles by Rockenbach
5. Speeches and Lectures
6. Personal File
7. Bound volumes and Printed Material
8. Photographs