Taihei simpson biography of william

“Never Send an Infantryman Where You Can Send an Artillery Shell”

Born the son of a rancher in Weatherford, Texas in 1888, William Hood Smith was raised on the family ranch in Aledo, Texas.

There he was regaled with his father’s stories of his time serving in the Confederate Army under cavalry general Nathan Bedford Forrest, along with those of Indian raids on the frontier community in the mid nineteenth century.

Schooling did not begin for Simpson until the age of eight, when he began to ride a horse in to class every day, and although he demonstrated athletic prowess his academic abilities were considered average at best. Desiring a career in the military, he was able to gain a place at West Point through Texas Governor Samuel Lanham, an old friend and law practice partner of his grandfather.

Despite his earlier performance, he was able to pass the required entrance examination, entering the Academy in 1905 at the age of 17.

In 1909 Simpson graduated from