William Murray Black
William Murray Black
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File:William Murray Black (December 8, 1855 – September 24, 1933) circa 1915.jpg
Major General William Murray Black, Chief of Engineers 1916–1919
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Born | Lancaster, Pennsylvania |
December 8, 1855
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Washington, D.C. |
Place of burial | |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ |
United States Army |
Years of service | 1877–1919 |
Rank | Major General |
Commands held | Chief of Engineers |
Awards | Distinguished Service Medal |
William Murray Black (December 8, 1855 – September 24, 1933) was career officer in the United States Army, noted for his ability to organize and train young engineers.
Contents
Biography
Black, born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, graduated first in the United States Military Academy class of 1877 and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. From 1886 to 1891 Black headed the Jacksonville District, and in 1897-98 he was the Engineer Commissioner on the governing board of the District of Columbia. In the Spanish–American War, he was Chief Engineer, 3d and 5th Army Corps. As Chief Engineer under Generals William Ludlow and Leonard Wood (1899–1901), and six years later as advisor to the Cuban Department of Public Works, he modernized Havana's sanitary system. As Commandant of the Army Engineer School (1901–03), Black moved it from Willets Point, New York, to Washington Barracks, D.C. After his return from Cuba in 1909, he was Northeast Division Engineer and chairman of a board to raise the battleship USS Maine. Devoted to training young engineer officers in the art of war, General Black's greatest responsibility came as Chief of Engineers during World War I in mobilizing and training some 300,000 engineer troops for a wide range of military engineering tasks. For this work he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
He retired October 31, 1919, and died in Washington, D.C. on September 24, 1933. He is buried at West Point Cemetery, Section C, Site 23.[1]
Legacy
The USS General W. M. Black (AP-135), launched July 1943, was named in his honor.
References
External links
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Military offices | ||
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Preceded by | Chief of Engineers 1917–1919 |
Succeeded by Lansing Hoskins Beach |
- Pages with broken file links
- 1855 births
- 1933 deaths
- People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- United States Army generals
- United States Military Academy alumni
- United States Army generals of World War I
- Members of the Board of Commissioners for the District of Columbia
- Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
- United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel
- Burials at West Point Cemetery