Maj. Gen. William J. Snow, the Army's first Chief of Field Artillery; Major Charles S. Blakely, and Major Edward P. King Jr. were photographed at Camp Knox during a review of the Second Field Artillery Regiment held at Camp Knox in June 1921. This photograph was soon after inscribed with the title "Founders of Camp Knox Ky.," due to their important roles in the early days of the installation.
Maj. Gen. Snow was influential in settling on the location for Camp Knox. He retired as Chief of Artillery in 1927, having brought much needed order and system to the branch, and died twenty years later.
Blakely, who closed WWI with the temporary rank of brigadier general, commanded the Field Artillery Firing Center and the 170th Field Artillery Brigade at Camp Knox in 1918. After the war he briefly served as Snow's aide, rose back through the ranks and retired as a brigadier general in 1938. He lived the remainder of his life in Louisville, where he died in 1975, and was buried in the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.
King was Snow's aide during the development of Camp Knox. He rose to the rank of major general during WWII. In March 1942 he was given command of the Philippine-American Forces on the Bataan Peninsula. Weeks later he surrendered the battle fatigued forces of more than 75,000 to the Japanese and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner. He survived and died in 1958.
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