Major General William Sidney Graves (March 27, 1865 – February 27, 1940) was a United States Army officer who commanded American forces in Siberia during the Siberian Expedition, part of the Allied Intervention in Russia, towards the end of World War I.

He was born on March 27, 1865, in Mount Calm, Texas, to the Reverend Andrew Carrol, a Southern Baptist minister and Evelyn Bennett.

[1][2][3][4] Graves began attendance at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, in 1884, although he caught pneumonia and missed his plebe year as a result.

[9] In 1918, the year after the American entry into World War I, he was given command of the 8th Division and sent to Siberia under direct orders from President Woodrow Wilson.

[citation needed] U.S. forces operated the Trans-Siberian railroad for almost two years, while bandits roamed the Siberian countryside and the political situation turned chaotic.

The first two children are buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado: a newborn infant (died October 27, 1891) and a girl, Marjorie (November 19, 1892 – February 24, 1894).

[13] A son, Sidney Carroll Graves (1893–1974) graduated from West Point in 1915 and followed his father into a military career, attaining the rank of major.

[2] His awards included the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the citation for which 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 Major General William Sidney Graves, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I, as an Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff and as Commanding General of the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia.