Bullard, Robert Lee

Bullard, Robert Lee (b. William)

(1861–1947) soldier; born in Lee County, Ala. The shy, sickly son of a planter, he changed his first name to honor the Confederate commander. An 1885 West Point graduate, he saw combat on the western frontier and in the Philippines (1900–01). In 1918, his 1st Division became the first U.S. division to occupy a section of the front line in France. He retired in 1925 and devoted his remaining years to writing and speech-making, often for conservative and isolationist causes. The last of his three books, Fighting Generals, appeared in 1944.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.