Explorer Adolphus Washington Greeley was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He served with the Union forces during the Civil War, and afterwards was appointed to the Signal Service. In 1881 he commanded the 24-man International Polar Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, the furthest point north then attained; he was one of the seven survivors rescued in 1884. Greeley continued to serve in the army until his retirement in 1908. For his services in organizing relief operations in San Francisco following the earthquake (1904) he was raised to the rank of major-general. He wrote a number of books on Arctic exploration.