Brigadier General – Harry Dwight Chamberlin – Olympic Gold!

This post is a bit removed from my immediately family tree, but still interesting.

I am currently doing some study on the classical masters of horse training and as I was doing that research I stumbled into the name Harry Chamberlin as the person who brought the US Cavalry up to its peak in the period between WWI and WII. That caught my attention because I have recently taken on a volunteer role with the World Chamberlain Genealogy Society and I figured Harry had to be a relative.

As it turns out Harry is probably a VERY distant relative, but that’s OK. We’re still connected somehow through my Great Grandmother Blanche Pocock Mauser. Her line goes through Albright, Clutter, Kimble and then to Chamberlain.

Why was I so excited to learn more about Harry? As many of my readers may know I have been riding horses for a long time and have enjoyed the opportunities to learn more and improve. Harry has three books and numerous articles to his credit about training horses as well as a biography which include: Riding and Schooling Horses (1934); Training Hunters, Jumpers, and Hacks (1939); Breaking, Training and Reclaiming Cavalry Horses (1941), Horsemanship and Horsemastership By The US Cavalry (Republished 2021); The Chamberlin Reader: The Education and Writings of H.D. Chamberlin 1907-1942 edited by Warren C. Matha (2020); and a biography on his life – General Chamberlin: America’s Equestrian Genius: A biography of Harry Dwight Chamberlin by Warren Matha (2020).

Harry is also part of the US Show Jumping Hall of Fame and the US Eventing Association Hall of fame for his achievements. After serving in WWI he studied with several of the masters in Europe and then combined several of the training ideas to create his own program in the US. At this point in time the Olympic Equestrian events were only open to commissioned military, and he competed in the 1920, 1928 and 1932 Olympics, serving as the team captain from 1929-1932.

Using his methods to train the team the US team won their first ever Olympic Gold Medal in the Team Jumping competition with Harry as a member of the team. Harry won a silver medal in the individual competition and the team also medaled in several other events with an amazing showing for the US team. How exciting to see a relative (even if it is very distant) with such success in something I enjoy! A person could spend a lot of time researching Harry and all his accomplishments – he had an interesting life!