Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright

Wainwright's ties to Texas ran through the cavalry. Nicknamed Skinny, he followed his father through West Point and took his first troop command with a cavalry unit on the Texas border, returning to Texas forts at several points in a forty-five-year career. He became a brigadier general in 1938 and was sent to the Philippines under Douglas MacArthur in October 1940, inheriting command when MacArthur left. He married Adele Howard Holley in 1911, and they had one son. Having grown fond of Texas over his tours there, he chose to make it his home.

What the plaque says

Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright Born on August 23, 1883, at Fort Walla Walla, Washington, Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright was a United States Army General and Commander of the Allied Forces in the Philippines during WWII. Wainwright graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1906. In 1908, he was sent to the Philippines and fought on the island of Jolo during the Moro Rebellion. Upon the United States' entrance into WWII, Wainwright was stationed in France and named the Assistant Chief of Staff of the 82nd infantry division. After the war, he served at multiple bases in the United States. In 1940, Wainwright was stationed at Fort Stotsenburg on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. In December 1941, the Japanese landed ground forces in the Philippines, confronting Wainwright's troops. In March 1942, he was named the Commander of the Allied Forces in the Philippines. The following month, Bataan fell to the Japanese and the remainder of Wainwright's troops retreated to Corregidor. After continued attacks, in May 1942 he surrendered to the Japanese to avoid further loss of life. For the next three years, Wainwright was held as a prisoner of war until his rescue in August 1945 at a prison camp in Manchuria. At the end of WWII, Wainwright was promoted to the rank of four-star general. In January 1946, he was named the Commander of the Fourth Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Wainwright retired from the army in August 1947 at the age of 64. Jonathan M. Wainwright died on September 2, 1953, at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. For his service to the United States, he received numerous honors including the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Army Distinguished Service Medal. Wainwright is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. (2023)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Alamo — 3.9 mi
  Mission San Antonio de Valero before it was a fort: a church its builders never finished, a thirteen-day siege in 1836, and the Army gable of 1850-52 that became its emblem.
• La Villita Historic Arts Village — 4.2 mi
  The little village across the river from the presidio, where Cos surrendered San Antonio in 1835, rebuilt by Depression-era youth crews as a working crafts village.
• San Antonio River Walk — 4.2 mi
  A Depression-era park one level below downtown, built because San Antonio refused to pave its river after the 1921 flood, and designed by an architect the project later fired.
• San Fernando Cathedral — 4.2 mi
  The Canary Islanders' parish church on Main Plaza, where Bowie married and Santa Anna raised a red flag, rebuilt in Gothic Revival around the walls of the 1750s church.

More markers nearby

• Incarnate Word College — 0.9 mi
• Dodd Field (Fort Sam Houston) Enemy Alien Detention Station, World War II — 1.3 mi
• Ludwig Mahncke — 1.4 mi
• Portland Cement Plants — 1.7 mi