Lytle Brown (November 22, 1872 – May 3, 1951) was a U.S. Army officer who fought in the Spanish–American War and participated in the

Mexican Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the p ...

of 1916. Brown served as

Chief of Engineers The Chief of Engineers is a principal United States Army staff officer at The Pentagon. The Chief advises the Army on engineering matters, and serves as the Army's topographer and proponent for real estate and other related engineering program ...

from 1929 to 1933.

Early life

Born November 22, 1872, in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, Lytle Brown was the son of James Trimble Brown (1842-1878) and Jane Foster Nichol Brown (1845-1916). His father had been a first lieutenant in the Confederate Army and a post-war attorney in Nashville. Lytle Brown was a grandson of

Neill S. Brown Neill Smith Brown (April 18, 1810January 30, 1886) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 12th Governor of Tennessee from 1847 to 1849, and as the United States Minister to Russia from 1850 to 1853. He also served several term ...

, an antebellum governor of Tennessee. Brown graduated fourth in the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

(West Point) class of 1898 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.

Military career

Brown served with engineer troops in Cuba in 1898 at the

Battle of San Juan Hill The Battle of San Juan Hill, also known as the Battle for the San Juan Heights, was a major battle of the Spanish–American War fought between an American force under the command of William Rufus Shafter and Joseph Wheeler against a Spanish ...

and the siege of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...

before being made Engineer of the Department of Northern Luzon in the Philippine Islands in 1900. After completing his tour in the Philippines, he served an instructor at West Point from 1903 to 1907. Brown oversaw river improvement projects in 1908–12 as Louisville District Engineer. While commanding a battalion of engineers at

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perman ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

in 1911, General Brown made Douglas MacArthur, future General of the Army, his

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

. When General MacArthur was Chief of Staff, he placed Brown in charge of the Panama Canal district. Brown commanded the 2d Battalion of Engineers and served as engineer of Pershing's 1916

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

into Mexico. In 1917, he was promoted to colonel, and then in 1918 to the rank of wartime brigadier. Brown headed the War Plans Division of the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * De ...

General Staff from May 1918 to June 1919, addressing important Army policy issues during and immediately after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and was awarded the

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. Th ...

. 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

, from 1929 to 1933. He concluded his military career as commander of the Panama Canal Department (1935–36). General Brown retired November 30, 1936.

Awards

*Army Distinguished Service Medal *

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...

*Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

In politics

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

's posthumous book, '' My First Days in the White House'', Brown was to have been his nominee to be Secretary of the Interior. During his retirement, he was active as a member of the

National Capital Planning Commission The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a U.S. government executive branch agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its planning policies and review of development ...

Death and legacy

Brown died in

, on May 3, 1951, at the age of 78. He was buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery.

References

External links

* ''This article contains

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

text from'' * ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 4, 1951, p. 27 obituary
PDF

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Lytle 1872 births 1951 deaths Military personnel from Tennessee United States Army generals American military personnel of the Spanish–American War United States Military Academy alumni People from Nashville, Tennessee United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville) United States Army generals of World War I