Granville Roland Fortescue (October 12, 1875 – April 21, 1952) was an American soldier, a Rough Rider serving with his cousin, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in Cuba, a presidential aide in the first Roosevelt administration and later, a journalist and war correspondent for the London Standard during the Rif War in 1920 Spanish Morocco. He wrote for the London Daily Telegraph during World War ISpinzia, Raymond E. (2006). Long Island's Prominent North Shore Families: Their Estates And Their Country Homes, sample excerpt, p. 2. and during the Spanish Civil War.Price, Warren C. (1999). Literature of Journalism, p. 90.

Early life and education Fortescue was the son of U.S. Congressman Robert Roosevelt (1829–1906),"Roosevelt, Robert Barnwell." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. and Marion Theresa "Minnie" O'Shea Fortescue, his mistress. At the time of his birth, his father was still married to his first wife, Elizabeth Ellis. After Ellis' death, Robert married Minnie. His father then adopted the three children that he had conceived with Minnie before their marriage, Granville, Kenyon, and Maud, and they were known as his stepchildren, although they were his biological children.Spinzia, Raymond E. "These Other Roosevelts: The Fortescues," Oyster Bay Historical Society Freeholder Magazine. 2006; "Robert B. Roosevelt's Will; Testator's Three Children Inherit Most of the Large Estate," New York Times. June 20, 1906. At the time of their birth, their father had been listed as "Robert Francis Fortescue," and all maintained the Fortescue name throughout their lives, even though they were born to Robert Roosevelt.

His father, Robert Roosevelt, was the brother of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., the uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt and the great-uncle of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Fortescue's undergraduate education began at Yale College; then he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania. His college years were cut short when he volunteered in 1898 for the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry. He completed his education when he graduated from the Army Staff College in 1904.Renehan, Edward J. "A Secret Roosevelt," History News Network. February 22, 2003.

Career Fortescue was a Rough Rider wounded at San Juan Hill in Cuba and serving in the Philippines during the Spanish–American War.

Fortescue was posted as a U.S. military attaché in Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. Along with other Western military attachés, he had two complementary missions—to assist the Japanese and to observe the Japanese forces in the field during the Russo-Japanese War.Chapman, John and Ian Nish. (2004). "On the Periphery of the Russo-Japanese War," Part I, p. 53 n42, Paper No. IS/2004/475. Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Service as an artillery officer during World War I was the capstone of Fortescue's military career.

Military honors Purple Heart, wounded in foot at San Juan Hill, Cuba, July 1898; wounded at Montfaucon d'Argonne in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, September 1918. Distinguished Service Cross. World War I Victory Medal Spanish Campaign Medal Philippine Insurrection War Medal Order of the Rising Sun, Japan. Russo-Japanese War Medal, Japan.

Personal life In 1910, Captain "Rolly" Fortescue married Grace Hubbard Fortescue (née Grace Hubbard Bell) (1883–1979), a niece of the inventor Alexander Graham Bell and an heir to the Bell Telephone Company fortune. The wedding party included Captain Archibald Butt, who served with the groom in the White House as a Presidential aide. "Society at Home and Abroad: The Fortescue-Bell Wedding in Washington," New York Times. May 29, 1910. The couple had three daughters: Thalia Fortescue (1911–1963), who married Thomas Hedges Massie (1905–1987), a Navy lieutenant. Kenyon Fortescue (1914–1990), an actress whose stage-name was Helene Whitney; she married J. Louis Reynolds in 1936. Marion Fortescue, who married Daulton Gillespie Viskniskki in 1934

The couple's eldest daughter, Thalia Massie, was allegedly raped in 1932, and this embroiled her mother, Grace Fortescue, in a case of murder. The trial for murder, conducted in Hawaii in 1932, came to be known as the "Massie Affair". Afterwards, Grace returned to a quiet life with her husband as they moved seasonally between family homes on Long Island and in Palm Beach.

Fortescue died on April 21, 1952, and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery,Arlington National Cemetery: Granville Roland Fortescue the only Roosevelt to be buried there.

Family tree

Published works His journalism experience led to further writing: 1914 – At the Front with Three Allies: My Adventures in the Great War. London: A. Melrose, Ltd.New York Public Library. (1915). Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, v.19 no.2, p. 618. 1915 – Russia, the Balkans and the Dardanelles. London: A. Melrose, Ltd. OCLC: 1562062 1915 – What of the Dardanelles? An Analysis. London: Hodder and Stoughton. OCLC: 2736904 1916 – Fore-armed: How to Build a Citizen Army. Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co. OCLC: 406647 1917 – France Bears the Burden. New York: Macmillan. OCLC: 1183757 1937 – Front Line and Deadline: The Experiences of a War Correspondent. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. OCLC: 987696

See also Military attachés and observers in the Russo-Japanese War

Notes

References Spinzia, Raymond E. and Judith A. Spinzia. (2006). Long Island's Prominent North Shore Families: Their Estates And Their Country Homes. College Station, Texas: Virtualbookworm. ; OCLC: 74029682 Stannard, David. "The Massie case: Injustice and courage," The Honolulu Advertiser. October 14, 2001.

External links

1905 Biographical Sketch PBS American Experience: "The Massie Affair".