Scope and Content Note
The papers of John Leonard Hines (1868-1968) span the years 1881-1944, with the bulk of the collection dating from the later years of his army career, 1916-1932. The papers are organized into five series: Special Correspondence , General Correspondence , Subject File , Miscellany , and Oversize .
Hines's early career, beginning at the United State Military Academy and including combat experiences in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine American War, is sparsely documented. Except for references to experiences in Cuba, the only mention of his service in Cuba is in correspondence with Frederick B. Shaw. There is correspondence with the Quartermaster General's office for the years 1907-1911, but little else before 1916.
Hines's position as adjutant of the Mexican Punitive Expedition of 1916 is reflected in training orders and memoranda, efficiency reports on officers of the expedition, a 1936 deposition relative to Mexican damage claims, and photostatic copies of maps showing the routes taken by John J. Pershing and Pancho Villa. Students of American military history may be interested in the training memoranda and what they reveal about American tactical doctrine in 1916 and the extent to which World War I had influenced American thinking. This earliest period, from 1891 to 1916, is documented in the General Correspondence series.
Documentation of the balance of Hines's career is roughly divided into two parts: 1917-1923 and 1924-1932. The earlier portion is covered mainly in the Special Correspondence series and the later portion in the General Correspondence . The Special Correspondence series is in reality a subject file arranged according to the War Department's decimal classification system. A guide to the classification system is attached as an appendix to the finding aid.
Hines's World War I service is documented by training and operations reports, orders, and memoranda; intelligence summaries; unit histories; a report of the commanding general of the First Army; and memoranda and reports on logistics, tactics, and the use of auxiliary weapons such as chemical weapons, machine guns, and tanks. Printed maps, some with annotations, are attached to the various orders and intelligence summaries. Correspondence from the World War I period is minimal.
A topic of importance in both correspondence series is the effect of the National Defense Act of 1920 and other defense legislation during the 1920s. Letters to and from Robert Courtney Davis, J. T. Dickman, Hanson Edward Ely, James G. Harbord, Robert Lee Howze, Merritte Weber Ireland, Mason M. Patrick, John J. Pershing, and William M. Wright refer to manpower shortages and the limitations imposed by inadequate appropriations. Other correspondents from the period include Secretary of War Dwight Filley Davis and Congressman William Francis James, chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee.
Of particular interest in regard to administrative policy are a file in the Subject File series on the War Department's budget policies and processes, 1924-1925, and a memorandum by Adjutant General Robert Courtney Davis in the Special Correspondence series on the relation of his office to the General Staff. There are spirited and informative exchanges concerning War Department internal affairs, 1921-1932, between Hines and Merritte Weber Ireland, the surgeon general. Ireland kept Hines informed on developments in Washington, D.C. Correspondence after 1932 includes candid appraisals of his successors as chief of staff: Charles Pelot Summerall, Douglas MacArthur, and Malin Craig.
Although the court martial of William "Billy" Mitchell is lightly mentioned in the collection, Hines wrote to General T. H. Salven on 8 January 1926 that "Of course I regard the sentence as moderate, but we must be satisfied in this life with many things we do not entirely agree with." His report on the 1925 maneuvers in Hawaii supports Mitchell's charges concerning the inadequacy of the islands' air defenses.
The bulk of family correspondence in the papers is with his brother William B. Hines and his son, John Leonard Hines, Jr.