Frederick Crayton Ainsworth

United States Army General. He entered the United States Medical Corps in 1874, serving in Alaska and the Southwest until 1884. Assigned to direct the Records and Pensions division of the Surgeon General's office in 1886, in this capacity he reorganized and brought up to date the records thousands of soldiers files, which made Civil War veteran pension claims faster and easier to process. In 1889 the records of the Adjutant General's office were placed under his control, and in 1892 he was named to head the newly created Records and Pension Office of the War Department. In 1898 he took over the organization and publication of all the "Official Records of the Civil War", which had been published sporadically since 1880. Through his efforts the records of the War were effectively consolidated and published, thus providing an extremely valuable source of information for Civil War historians and researchers. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1899, and Major General and Adjutant General of the United States Army in 1904. In his later years as Adjutant, he was very resistant to change and innovation to the point of insubordination, and he was retired in 1912 to avoid a court martial. The United States Navy troop transport ship "USNS Fred C. Ainsworth" (T-AP-181) was named in his honor.