Samuel Hof

{{Infobox military person

| name = Samuel Hof

| image = Samuel Hof.jpg

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1870|10|24}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1937|03|10|1870|10|24}}

| birth_place = Boscobel, Wisconsin

| death_place = Washington, D.C.

| placeofburial =

| allegiance = {{flagicon|United States}} United States of America

| branch = 25px United States Army

| serviceyears = 1894–1934

| rank = 32px Major General

| servicenumber =

| commands = 13th Chief of Ordnance (1930-1934)

| battles = Spanish–American War
World War I

| awards = Distinguished Service Medal
Spanish War Service Medal
World War I Victory Medal

| relations =

| laterwork =

| boyhood home =

}}

Samuel Hof (October 24, 1870 – March 10, 1937) was an officer in the United States Army during World War I. He was 13th Chief of Ordnance for the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps.

Biography

Samuel Hof was born on October 24, 1870, in Boscobel, Wisconsin,{{cite news|title=Rites Held Today for General Hof, Burial Tomorrow|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10215838/samuel_hof_18701937/|newspaper=The Oshkosh Northwestern|date=March 12, 1937|page=21|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = April 12, 2017}} {{Open access}}{{cite web|url=https://goordnance.army.mil/history/chiefs/hof.html|title=Major General Samuel Hof, Chief of Ordnance 1930-1934|publisher=goordnance.army.mil|access-date=August 18, 2013}} and graduated from West Point in 1894. Some of his classmates also became general officers, including Frank Parker, Hamilton S. Hawkins III, Oliver Edwards, George H. Estes, John W. Joyes, Ora E. Hunt, Pegram Whitworth, William E. Welsh, Briant H. Wells, John F. Preston, Francis L. Parker, Paul B. Malone and George Vidmer.{{cite web|url= http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/|title=Deceased Graduate Search|publisher=apps.westpointaog.org|access-date=August 18, 2013}}

He was originally commissioned a second lieutenant of cavalry in 1894, but he was later transferred to the Ordnance Corps. For his service as a commanding officer of the Frankford Arsenal during World War I, he was later awarded with the Distinguished Service Medal.{{cite web |url=http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=17690 |title=Samuel Hof |publisher=militarytimes.com}}

Hof graduated from the United States Army War College in 1921 and earned an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1926.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CO0cAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA306 |title=Official Army Register |date=January 1, 1930 |page=306 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=August 28, 2022}} He was promoted to brigadier general in 1927 and major general in 1930.

He was Chief of Ordnance{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1055832/reference_for_rank_and_responsibilities/?|title=28 Army Officers from This State May Be Retired|date=May 14, 1932|newspaper=The Post-Crescent|access-date=September 23, 2014|page=14|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} from 1930 to 1934. His four-year term came at the height of the Depression resulting in a significant decrease in funding for the Ordnance Department. Despite these difficulties, there was a general advance in the design and manufacturing of ordnance materiel. He made a number of recommendations for improved efficiencies in the department's supply responsibilities.{{Cite book|title=Serving the Line with Excellence 1775 - 1992|last=Sterling|first=Keir|publisher=U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Historical Studies|year=1992|pages=50–51}}

Hof moved to Washington, D.C., in 1927 when he became Assistant Chief of Ordnance and retired from the Army in 1934. He died of heart disease on March 10, 1937, in Walter Reed Hospital aged 66.{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/150895321 |title=Maj. Gen. Hof Dies in Hospital Of Heart Attack: Retired Officer Was Once Ordnance Chief; Was Decorated in War |date=March 11, 1937 |page=14 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 28, 2022|id={{ProQuest|150895321}} }} Hof is buried together with his wife Alice Mayo Hof (1873–1962) at West Point Cemetery.

Distinguished Service Medal citation

His award citation reads:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Colonel (Ordnance Corps) Samuel Hof, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in positions of great responsibility first as commanding officer, Frankford Arsenal from March 1918 to March 1919, where, by his indefatigable energy, outstanding administrative ability, and thorough technical knowledge, he brought to a successful production, basic tracer, incendiary, and armor-piercing small-arms ammunition, and supplied substantially all that was used by our troops; later as acting chairman of the ordnance claims board, where, by his energy, tact and business ability, he secured the settlement of outstanding obligations and later as chief of field service, ordnance department, where he perfected the organization and controlled the disposition of vast quantities of materials and plants left over from the war.