Enoch Crowder - Judge Advocate General

Judge Advocate General

Upon completion of this detail, Lieutenant Crowder returned to the 8th Cavalry at Fort Yates, Dakota Territory, where he participated in the final campaign against Sitting Bull. In 1891, upon his promotion to Captain he accepted a position as the acting Judge Advocate General of the Department of the Platte in Omaha, Nebraska. In January 1895, this temporary branch transfer became final and Crowder was promoted to Major.

The beginning of the Spanish-American War marked his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. From 1898–1901 while in the Philippines, he served as a judge advocate, and later served as secretary to the island governors, one who was Arthur MacArthur, Jr., father of Douglas MacArthur. He also served on the commission which arranged the Spanish surrender of the Philippines. During his service in the Philippines, he filled many important posts in the military government of the Islands, specializing in military law. In 1899, he headed the Board of Claims, served on the Philippine Supreme Court, and drafted the new Philippine criminal code.

Impressed with the ability Crowder had demonstrated in the Philippines, Judge Advocate General Davis in 1901 called him to Washington to serve as Deputy Judge Advocate General. In this capacity, Crowder assisted in the prosecution of the then noteworthy Deming case in 1902, became a member of the General Staff, and attained the rank of Colonel. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 he was senior American observer with the Japanese Army. From 1906 to 1909, while serving on the staff of the provisional governors in Cuba, he oversaw the Cuban elections in 1908, and later helped draft a body of laws for Cuba.

In 1910, he represented the United States at the Fourth Pan American Conference in Buenos Aires and in that capacity made official visits to Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. On February 11, 1911, after studying the military justice and penal systems of France and England on a European tour, he returned to Washington to be promoted to Brigadier General and assume the duties as Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, a post he held for 12 years.

As Judge Advocate General, General Crowder initiated a number of innovations including the regular publication of Judge Advocate General opinions; the issuance of a new digest (published in 1912) of all JAG opinions issued since 1862; and a program for the legal education of line officers at government expense. He additionally supervised the revision of the Articles of War for the first time since 1874, revised the Manual for Courts-Martial and took an active part in prison reform in the Army.