Williams is credited in the persuasion of Admiral Dewey in 1907 to assert Congress that "a force of 5,000 Marines with a Fleet" would have ensued the Philippine–American War following the Spanish defeat.

After completing the required 2-year sea duty aboard the USS Atlanta as a midshipman, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps on July 1, 1893.

[3] He participated in the May 1, 1898 Battle of Manila Bay while serving aboard the USS Baltimore' under Admiral George Dewey.

Many of the reconnaissance ideas advanced in his studies surpassed and were eventually incorporated in the 1934 Tentative Manual for Landing Operations.

Returning to MCB Quantico in 1921, he assumed command of the 4th Marine Brigade as part of the East Coast Expeditionary Force participating in the ongoing advanced base exercises held by the Navy's North Atlantic Fleet on Culebra.

After an illness of several months, died at age 82 at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, near the District of Columbia.

Brigadier General Williams was buried with full military honors on December 15, 1952, in Arlington National Cemetery.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.