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Home Town Lexington
Last Address Martha's Vinyard, MA
Date of Passing Jun 30, 1948
Location of Interment Cave Hill National Cemetery (VA) - Louisville, Kentucky
Major General Preston Brown, retired United States Army officer, died June 30, 1948, after a brief illness at his home in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts. His body was brought to Louisville for services, held Monday, July 5, at the family lot in Cave Hill Cemetery. General Brown was bona in Lexington, Kentucky, January 2, 1872. His father, John Mason Brown, was a son of Judge Mason Brown, of Frankfort. His mother, Mary Owen Preston Brown, was the daughter of General William Preston and his wife, Margaret Wicklfffe Preston, of Lexington. The family moved to Louisville in 1873, and their home was for years a center of gracious hospitality. Young Brown was prepared for college in Louisville by his father and at Professor Jason W. Chenault's school. Following his father's example, he graduated from Yale, receiving an A.B. degree in 1892, at the age of twenty. Later, the honorary degree of M.A. was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater and an LL.D. by Trinity College, Hartford. After graduating at Yale he attended the University of Virginia Law School, finishing his legal training in one year, and was admitted to the bar in Virginia and Kentucky. He also practiced his profession for a year in Long Island, and was sent by his firm, for work on a law encyclopedia, to California where in 1894 he enlisted in "the army as a private at the United States Presidio Barracks near San Francisco. Here he received his initial lessons in soldiering from First Sergeant Joseph Heifer, a stern drillmaster of the old school. Sergeant Heifer became a loyal friend and was present at Fort Hamilton, New York, March 1897, when his pupil was commissioned second lieutenant, and again on December 10, 1925, when the officer took the oath as major general, and thirteen guns were fired in his honor.
General Brown fought the Cheyenne Indians in 1897, served in the Spanish American War, and was in the Philippines from 1915 to 1917, advancing constantly in rank. Attending the Army Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth, he was graduated from the Army Staff College in 1914. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in August, 1917, he left for Europe in December to become actively engaged in World War I. A colonel in
February, 1918, and brigadier general later in the same year, he served as chief of staff of the Second Division of the American Expeditionary Force and also as commanding general of the Third Division. For his accomplishments he was decorated as commander of the French Legion of Honor, personally recommended by Marshal Foch; and of the Belgium Order of the Crown. He was presented with the United States Distinguished Service Medal by General Pershing for his work in the creation of the American Army in France and its successful assault on the German lines. In November, 1918, he was assistant chief of staff of the A.E.F. at Advanced General Headquarters in occupied German territory. After the Armistice, having led the Third Division into Germany, he returned to the United States, and from 1919 to 1921 was director and acting commandant of the Army War College in Washington, D. C. He commanded the First Corps Area (Boston) 1926-1930; the Panama Canal Department 1930-1933; and the Second Army and Sixth Corps Area (Chicago), until his retirement, November 30, 1934, ended forty years of service.
General Brown is survived by his wife, the former Miss Susan Ford Dorranee, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, whom he married February 8, 1905. Their only son, Dorrance, died in June, 1936. He is also survived by a sister, Mrs. Henry M. Waite (nee Mary Mason Brown), of New York, and a niece and nephew, Mrs. J. Wooster Lambert and John Mason Brown, of New York, children of a younger brother (John Mason Brown, deceased). His nephew, the well known author and dramatic critic, was born in Louisville, July, 1900, and started his literary career by writing for the Louisville Courier-Journal. He now resides in New York where he is a member of the staff of the Saturday Review of Literature. Active in World War II as lieutenant USNR, he received the Bronze Star for service on the staff of Vice Admiral Allen G. Kirk during the invasion of Sicily and Normandy.
Preston Brown, tall and stately, with a commanding presence and courtly manners, was a favorite with all who knew him well. His rise from a "buck" private to the rank of major general was due to sheer ability and hard work. He was a student of history, interested especially in the campaigns of Napoleon and the Civil War, and also in genealogical lore. He belonged to the Society of Cincinnati and delighted in the deeds of his ancestors, among whom he found many soldiers and statesmen whose lives were dedicated to their country and to the development of Virginia and Kentucky. Rating high in his estimation were his great-grandfather John Brown, Kentucky's first United States Senator; William Hancock, an incorporator of the Colony of Virginia; and Col. Wm. Preston, a founder of Washington and Lee University. He was devoted to his father, whose life he reviewed in an article in The Filson Club History Quarterly, of July, 1939, entitled "John Mason Brown, 1837-1890, One of the Founders of The Filson Club." The father's death, January 29, 1890, while the son was still at Yale, was a civic loss. An outstanding lawyer of the firm of Brown, Humphrey and Davie, John Mason Brown, if he had lived would shortly have been appointed an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, according to his close friend and Yale classmate, Chauncey M. Depew, erstwhile senator and Republican party. He was also an author of note. As indicated, he was a founder of The Filson Club and wrote its valued publication The Political Beginnings of Kentucky, reading it as a paper at the last Club meeting which he attended. At the time of his death he was busily engaged in procuring a public park system for Louisville. He drew the bill passed by the Legislature May 6, 1890, under which lands for the system were purchased. His name will always be associated with the beautiful woods surrounding the city which now offer recreation to its teeming population.
Army Distinguished Service Medal Citation:
General Order No. 12, U. S. War Department, Washington, January 17, 1919, published the citation as follows: "Brigadier General Preston Brown, United States Army. For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services. As chief of staff of the Second Division he directed the details of the battles near Chateau-Thierry,' Soissons, and at the St. Mihiel salient with great credit. Later, in command of the Third Division in the Argonne-Meuse offensive, at a most critical time, by his splendid judgment and energetic action, his division was able to carry to a successful conclusion the operations at Clairs Chenes and at Hill 294."
Other Comments:
1918-1918, 2nd Infantry Division
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The 2nd Division was first constituted on 21 September 1917 in the Regular Army.It was organized on 26 October 1917 at Bourmont, Haute Marne, France.
The 2nd Infantry Division is a formation of the United States Army. Its current primary mission is the pre-emptive defense of South Korea in the event of an invasion from North Korea. There are approximately 17,000 soldiers in the 2nd Infantry Division, with 10,000 of them stationed in South Korea,accounting for about 35% of the United States Forces Korea personnel.
The 2nd Infantry Division is unique in that it is the only U.S. Army division that is made up partially of South Korean soldiers, called KATUSAs (Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army). This program began in 1950 by agreement with the first South Korean president, Syngman Rhee. Some 27,000 KATUSAs served with the U.S. forces at the end of the Korean War. As of May 2006, approximately 1,100 KATUSA soldiers serve with the 2ID. There were also more than 4,748 Dutch soldiers assigned to the division between 1950 and 1954.
Twice during World War I the division was commanded by US Marine Corps generals, Brigadier GeneralCharles A. Doyen and Major GeneralJohn A. Lejeune (after whom the Marine Corps Camp in North Carolina is named), the only time in U.S. military history when Marine Corps officers commanded an Army division.
He organized and commanded the 5th Marine Regiment in World War I, and in France took command of the 4th Brigade, 2d Division, composed of the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments and the 6th Machine Gun Battalion. from 26 October to 8 November 1917, he served as commanding general, 2nd Division (United States), the first Marine officer to command a U.S. Army division. He returned to the United States, dying of influenza during the height of the global pandemic on 6 October 1918 at Quantico, Virginia.The 4th Brigade went on to win a historic victory in Belleau Wood. Brigadier General Doyen's contribution to these victories was recognized by the posthumous award of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the first to ever be awarded.
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina was named in his honor during World War II. Lejeune is often referred to in the present day as being the "greatest of all Leathernecks" and the "Marine's Marine."
Major General John A. Lejeune, U.S. Marine Corps, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps (1920-1929)
MOH Recipient(s) Private Frank J. Bart U.S. Army, Company C, 9th Infantry, 2nd Division.
being on duty as a company runner, when the advance was held up by machinegun fire voluntarily picked up an automatic rifle, ran out ahead of the line, and silenced a hostile machinegun nest, killing the German gunners. The advance then continued, and when it was again hindered shortly afterward by another machinegun nest this courageous soldier repeated his bold exploit by putting the second machinegun out of action.
PVT Frank J. Bart
MOH Recipient(s) SFC Junior D. Edwards,U.S. Army, Company E, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
SFC Edwards, Company E, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. When his platoon, while assisting in the defense of a strategic hill, was forced out of its position and came under vicious raking fire from an enemy machine gun set up on adjacent high ground, SFC Edwards individually charged the hostile emplacement, throwing grenades as he advanced. The enemy withdrew but returned to deliver devastating fire when he had expended his ammunition. Securing a fresh supply of grenades, he again charged the emplacement, neutralized the weapon and killed the crew, but was forced back by hostile small-arms fire. When the enemy emplaced another machine gun and resumed fire, SFC Edwards again renewed his supply of grenades, rushed a third time through a vicious hail of fire, silenced this second gun and annihilated its crew. In this third daring assault he was mortally wounded but his indomitable courage and successful action enabled his platoon to regain and hold the vital strongpoint. SFC Edwards' consummate valor and gallant self-sacrifice reflect the utmost glory upon himself and are in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the Infantry and military service.
SFC Junior D. Edwards
MOH Recipient (s) Corporal Victor H. Espinoza,U.S. Army, Company A, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
For acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an Acting Rifleman in Company A, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division during combat operations against an armed enemy in Chorwon, Korea on 1 August 1952. On that day, Corporal Espinoza and his unit were responsible for securing and holding a vital enemy hill. As the friendly unit neared its objective, it was subjected to a devastating volume of enemy fire, slowing its progress. Corporal Espinoza, unhesitatingly and being fully aware of the hazards involved, left his place of comparative safety and made a deliberate one man assault on the enemy with his rifle and grenades, destroying a machinegun and killing its crew. Corporal Espinoza continued across the fire-swept terrain to an exposed vantage point where he attacked an enemy mortar position and two bunkers with grenades and rifle fire, knocking out the enemy mortar position and destroying both bunkers and killing their occupants. Upon reaching the crest, and after running out of rifle ammunition, he called for more grenades. A comrade who was behind him threw some Chinese grenades to him. Immediately upon catching them, he pulled the pins and hurled them into the occupied trenches, killing and wounding more of the enemy with their own weapons. Continuing on through a tunnel, Corporal Espinoza made a daring charge, inflicting at least seven more casualties upon the enemy who were fast retreating into the tunnel. Corporal Espinoza was quickly in pursuit, but the hostile fire from the opening prevented him from overtaking the retreating enemy. As a result, Corporal Espinoza destroyed the tunnel with TNT, called for more grenades from his company, and hurled them at the enemy troops until they were out of reach. Corporal Espinoza's incredible display of valor secured the vital strong point and took a heavy toll on the enemy, resulting in at least fourteen dead and eleven wounded. Corporal Espinoza's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
