Adolphus Washington Greely FRSGS (March 27, 1844 – October 20, 1935) was a United States Army officer and polar explorer.

In March 1887, Greely was serving as a captain when President Grover Cleveland appointed him as the Army's Chief Signal Officer with the rank of brigadier general.

[1] After having been rejected twice, on 26 July 1861, he joined the Union Army for the American Civil War, enlisting in the 19th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.

[1] His efforts helped establish the floodplains of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers, which facilitated Corps of Engineers flood control projects.

[1] Promoted by Henry W. Howgate, its purpose was to establish one of a chain of meteorological-observation stations as part of the First International Polar Year.

[1] Greely was without previous Arctic experience, but he and his party succeeded in discovering and exploring much of the coast of northwest Greenland.

[10] His team reached Cape Sabine expecting to find food and equipment left by the supply ships, but these had not been provided.

[1] With winter setting in Greely and his men were forced to remain at Cape Sabine with inadequate rations and little fuel.

Winfield Scott Schley on USRC Bear (a former whaler built in Greenock, Scotland), was sent to rescue the Greely party.

[2] In March 1887, President Grover Cleveland appointed him as Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army with the rank of brigadier general.

[18] Greely also oversaw construction under adverse conditions a telegraph system for Alaska consisting of nearly 4,000 mi (6,400 km) of submarine cables, land cables and 107 mi (172 km) of wireless telegraphy, which at the time was the longest regularly working commercial system in the world.

[19] Greely's innovations as Chief Signal Officer led to the Army's fielding of wireless telegraphy, airplanes, motorized automobiles and trucks, and other modern equipment.

[2] In 1890, Greely was a founding member of the District of Columbia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and was elected vice president.

[21] Greely was a companion of the District of Columbia Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

[28] Honorary pallbearers included David L. Brainard, Charles McKinley Saltzman, George Sabin Gibbs, Irving J. Carr, Leon Kromer, Billy Mitchell, and Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor.

[34][35] The Greelys were the parents of seven children, of whom six lived to adulthood:[28][36] Greely received the Medal of Honor in 1935: "For his life of splendid public service, begun on March 27, 1844, having enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army on July 26, 1861, and by successive promotions was commissioned as major general February 10, 1906, and retired by operation of law on his 64th birthday.

"[38] Greely was the second person (after Frederick W. Gerber) to receive the award for lifetime achievement rather than for acts of physical courage at the risk of one's own life.

[20] When the Purple Heart was created in 1932, Greely received the medal with an oak leaf cluster in recognition of his wounds.