William Rufus Shafter (1835-1906) was a Major General in the United States Army. Fort Shafter, Hawaii is named for him. He took a prominent part in the Spanish-American War.

Early Life

Shafter was born in Galesburg, Michigan on 16 October 1836. He served in the Union army during the Civil War. He was wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks and later received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the battle. By the end of the war he had been promoted to brevet brigadier general. He stayed in the army, and during his service in the Indian Wars, he received his nickname Pecos Bill. In May, 1897 he was appointed brigadier general.

Spanish-American War

When the Spanish-American War began, the United States organized a ground expedition for the island of Cuba. Shafter weighed over 300 pounds and was not fit for the tropical conditions, but he received the appointment anyways, due to his lack of political ambitions. In May, 1898 he was appointed major general in the regular and assumed command of the V Corps and sailed for Cuba. During the Santiago Campaign he suffered from gout. After winning the battles of San Juan Hill and El Caney, Shafter's forces laid siege to Santiago. The city surrendered on 17 July 1898, bringing an end to the war on Cuba. Sickness and disease plagued the army, and Shafter returned to the U.S. with the V Corps in September. He took command of the Department of California after returning to the U.S. and was in that position when he retired in 1900.

Bacon Number

Having appeared in two early films, he was once listed as the "actor" with the biggest known finite Bacon number (10):

• William Rufus Shafter was in Surrender of General Toral (1898) with Joseph Wheeler.
• Joseph Wheeler was in General Wheeler and Secretary of War Alger at Camp Wikoff (1898) with Russell Alexander Alger.
• Russell Alexander Alger was in President McKinley's Inspection of Camp Wikoff (1898) with William McKinley.
• William McKinley was in President McKinley and Escort Going to the Capitol (1901) with Nelson Miles.
• Nelson Miles was in The Indian Wars (1914) with William F. Cody.
• William F. Cody was in Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Pawnee Bill's Far East (1910) with Major Gordon W. 'Pawnee Bill' Lillie .
• Major Gordon W. 'Pawnee Bill' Lillie was in In the Days of the Thundering Herd (1914) with Wheeler Oakman .
• Wheeler Oakman was in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) with Jerry Gardner .
• Jerry Gardner was in Natural Born Killers (1994) with Pruitt Taylor Vince .
• Pruitt Taylor Vince was in 24 Hours (2002) with Kevin Bacon.

The average Rufus Shafter number is 10.182, with 86% of film actors having a Rufus Shafter number of 10 or 11. The highest known finite Rufus Shafter number is 16, possessed by seven (as yet unknown) actors. The lowest known nonzero Rufus Shafter number is 1, possessed by just one actor, Joseph Wheeler. There is also only one actor with a Rufus Shafter number of 2, Russell A. Alger.

As of 12 July 2003 William F. Cody's Bacon number has dropped to three, apparently due to new information rather than new movies. This has dropped Rufus Shafter's Bacon number to 8, and he is no longer unique. See this page for details.

See also

• Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
• Bacon number
• Battle of San Juan Hill
• Battle of Santiago