United States. Campaign Medals to Brigadier General Alfred Collins Markley, United States Army

 

Footnote: Alfred Collins Markley was born on April 18, 1843 in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He rose through the ranks during the Civil War, first as a Sergeant with Company "K", 197th Pennsylvania Infantry on July 19, 1864 and was Honorably Discharged on September 5, 1864. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant with the 127th United States Infantry on September 9, 1864, then promoted to the First Lieutenant on March 5, 1865 with the same unit. Markley was honorably mustered out on October 20th. After mustering out, he rejoined the army as a Second Lieutenant with the 41st Infantry on July 28, 1866 and was accepted on October 13th. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on March 31, 1868, then transferred to the 24th Infantry on November 11, 1869. Almost ten years after his transfer to the 24th Infantry, he was promoted to Captain on March 20, 1879. It was during this period that he was awarded the Army Indian Campaign Medal. He was promoted to Major with the 11th Infantry on April 26, 1898, then transferred back to the 24th Infantry on August 6, 1898. Markley would serve in the Philippines during the Philippine-American War. He was named Lieutenant-Colonel with the 22nd Infantry on June 9, 1900, then transferred for a third stint with the 24th Infantry on August 7, 1900. He was named Colonel with the 13th Infantry on October 5, 1901. The 13th and 16th Infantry regiments were commanded by Colonels Alfred C. Markley and Cornelius Gardener at Fort McKinley, near Manila. In April 1902, Colonel Markley was one of nine, consisting of four Generals and five Colonels, comprising the court for the court-martial trial of General Jacob Hurd Smith, who was in command of United States troops on the island of Samar. General Smith was notorious for ordering an indiscriminate retaliatory attack on a group of Filipinos during the Philippine-American War, in which American soldiers killed between 2,500 and 50,000 civilians.

 

His orders included, "kill everyone over the age of ten" and make the island "a howling wilderness." In May 1902, Smith faced court-martial for his orders, being tried not for murder or other war crimes, but for "conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline". He was also investigated for authorizing "water cure", a form of torture in which the victim is forced to drink large quantities of water in a short time, resulting in gastric distension, water intoxication, and possibly death. The court-martial found Smith guilty and sentenced him "to be admonished by the reviewing authority." To ease the subsequent public outcry in America, Secretary of War Elihu Root recommended that Smith be retired. President Roosevelt accepted this recommendation, and ordered Smith's retirement from the Army, with no additional punishment. After his service in the Philippines, Colonel Markley returned to the United States, where he was named Brigadier-General on March 2, 1907, which was accepted on March 7th. He retired from active service six weeks later, on April 18th. Brigadier General Alfred Collins Markley, United States Army died on August 25, 1926 in Alton, Madison County, Illinois, at the age of 83. He is buried in Old Saint David Church Cemetery in Wayne, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Plot O.Y. 62 1.