Isaac Newton Lewis (October 12, 1858 – November 9, 1931) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer and the inventor of the Lewis gun.

Biography

Lewis was born in New Salem, Pennsylvania on October 12, 1858. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in 1884 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Second Artillery.''New International Encyclopedia'' Early in his career he made himself an authority on ordnance. In 1900, then-Captain Lewis was sent by Adjutant General Henry Clarke Corbin to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

to study that subject, his report resulting in the re-armament of the field artillery. By successive promotions, he rose to the rank of colonel in the

Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an Corps#Administrative corps, administrative corps responsible for coastal defence and fortification, coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft Seacoast defense in the United States, defense of the United ...

in August 1913, and he was retired the next month for disability incurred in line of duty. In 1911, he refined an original machine gun design of Samuel Maclean and began active marketing of a type which came to be known simply as the "Lewis Gun", which was used in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

by the Allied armies, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, and the airplanes of the United States and Allies. Initially, the United States Army was not interested in his new gun, but after the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and French had bought more than 100,000 for use in the trenches in France, the US Army did purchase them. Lewis, already a wealthy man, declined the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

—amounting to at least $1,200,000 ($35,557,320 in 2022 terms)—on guns made for the United States after it entered the war. His other inventions included a time-interval clock and bell system of signals, a replotting and relocating system for coast batteries, an automatic

sight Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...

, quick-reading mechanical verniers for use in coast defenses, electric car lighting, and windmill electric lighting systems. He was awarded the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

Elliott Cresson Medal The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848. Th ...

in 1919.

Death and interment

Lewis died from a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the Lackawanna Railroad terminal in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

, while waiting for a train to his home in Montclair."COL. LEWIS, FAMOUS INVENTOR, DEAD; Designed the First Portable, Air-Cooled Machine Gun, Which Helped Win War. BRITISH BOUGHT RIGHTS United States Had Rejected Offer of Invention as a Gift--Colonel Was a West Point Graduate."
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', November 10, 1931. Accessed February 6, 2013. "colonel Isaac newton Lewis, who invented the first portable, air-cooled machine gun, dropped dead of heart disease yesterday afternoon in the Lackawanna Railroad station in Hoboken, N. J., while awaiting a train to Montclair, where he lived at 1 Russell Terrace."

References

External links

Biographical sketch
with portrait photo {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Isaac Newton 1858 births 1931 deaths American inventors United States Army Coast Artillery Corps personnel People from New Salem, Pennsylvania United States Army colonels United States Military Academy alumni Engineers from Pennsylvania Engineers from New Jersey Military personnel from Pennsylvania 19th-century United States Army personnel 20th-century United States Army personnel