He was born at
Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas on August 22, 1857, the son of
Stewart Van Vliet and Sarah Jane Brown. He was appointed to the
United States Military Academy from
New Jersey, which he attended from July to December 1875. Van Vliet resigned before taking his midyear exams in January 1876. His father requested that President
Ulysses S. Grant reappoint him to West Point. Instead, in December 1876, Grant appointed Van Vliet as a
second lieutenant. Initially assigned to the
10th Infantry, Van Vliet participated in the Indian Wars, including the Geronimo campaign. He served as commander of Fort Davis in Nome, Alaska prior to the
Spanish–American War. During the war, he served as commander of Company G,
10th Infantry Regiment in
Cuba, including the attack on Santiago, at which he was wounded. He received the
Silver Star and
Purple Heart. Van Vliet commanded several posts and garrisons, including:
Fort Slocum,
New York; the
federal prison on
Alcatraz Island in
San Francisco,
California; and
Fort McIntosh, Texas. In 1911 and 1912 he commanded the
25th Infantry Regiment and he commanded the
4th Infantry Regiment in 1913 and 1914. During the
Veracruz expedition, Van Vliet was served as second in command of US forces under Frederick Funston. During
World War I, Van Vliet's physical condition as a result of his old wound prevented him from serving in France. He was promoted to brigadier general, and assigned as commander of the 173rd Infantry Brigade and the 87th Division during their pre-deployment training at
Camp Pike, Arkansas. Van Vliet's continued ill health prevented him from serving overseas, so in September 1918 he was assigned to command of the
Student Army Training Corps unit at the
City College of New York. ==Death and burial==