Lytle Brown
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Lytle Brown (November 22, 1872 - May 3, 1951) was a Major General of the US Army and Chief of Engineers commanding the US Army Corps of Engineers. He served at the Battle of San Juan Hill and the siege of Santiago in the war with Spain, where he became city engineer of Manila and engineering officer for Northern Luzon. He was an instructor at West Point from 1903-1907.
[edit] Biography
Born November 22, 1872, in Nashville, Tennessee, graduated fourth in the United States Military Academy (West Point) class of 1898 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.
He served with engineer troops in Cuba in 1898 at the Battle of San Juan Hill and the siege of Santiago and in 1900-02 was Engineer of the Department of Northern Luzon in the Philippine Islands. Brown oversaw river improvement projects in 1908-12 as Louisville District Engineer.
While commanding a battalion of engineers at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1911, General Brown made Douglas MacArthur, future General of the Army, his Adjutant. When General MacArthur was Chief of Staff, he placed Brown in charge of the Panama Canal district.
He commanded the 2d Battalion of Engineers and served as engineer of Pershing's 1916 punitive expedition into Mexico. In 1917, he received the rank of colonel, and in 1918 the rank of wartime brigadier. Brown headed the War Plans Division of the War Department General Staff from May 1918 to June 1919, addressing important Army policy issues during and immediately after World War I.
He received a Distinguished Service Medal. Brown oversaw construction work at the Wilson Dam hydroelectric project in 1919-20. He was assistant commandant of the Army War College and a brigade commander in the Canal Zone before becoming Chief of Engineers, from 1929-1933. He concluded his military career as commander of the Panama Canal Department (1935-36). General Brown retired November 30, 1936.
He died in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 3, 1951, at the age of 78.
[edit] References
- This article contains public domain text from Major General Lytle Brown. Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers. Retrieved on August 26, 2005.
- New York Times, May 4, 1951, p. 27 obituary (PDF)
| Preceded by Edgar Jadwin |
Chief of Engineers 1929–1933 |
Succeeded by Edward Murphy Markham |
