<p>
A long life in the military service ended on April 2, 1945, when Major General <em>Lansing Hoskins Beach</em>, U.S. Army, Ret’d, and former Chief of Engineers, passed away at Pasadena, California.</p>
<p>
His life covered a great span of years. Had he lived for a few more weeks he would have been eighty-five, for he was born at Dubuque, Iowa, June 15, 1860, during the tumultuous days immediately preceding the Civil War.</p>
<p>
The record does not show what inclined young Beach toward the U.S. Military Academy, but it is more than probable that in his boyhood he absorbed long stories of the war between the States. Doubtless, together with all of the boys of his home town, he followed the parades of the Grand Army of the Republic veterans and was thrilled by the martial music. West Point offered an ambitious young man the opening he wanted.</p>
<p>
Entering the Military Academy in 1878, Beach graduated with the class of Eighty-two, and as one of the men with the highest class standing he was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. Forthwith he reported to Fort Totten, New York, for troop duty and additional training. There the small engineer component of the army of that period, less than a battalion in strength, was for the most part assembled around the Engineer School.</p>
<p>
With this special training behind him, Beach by 1885 was assigned as assistant to Col. W. E. Merrill, C.E., in the Cincinnati District, the office charged with supervision of the improvement of navigable streams in a large area of the Middle and Lower Ohio Valley. One of his first assignments was the construction of a dam on the Muskingum River, near Zanesville, Ohio. There, in 1890, he married Miss Anna May Dillon. This gracious woman, with her adaptability and charm, made an ideal wife for an army man and the two led an unusually happy life together until she passed away in 1934.</p>
<p>
The union was blessed with one child only, a son, now Major Lansing Dillon Beach, on duty with the American Seventh Army in Europe. General Beach is understood to have outlived all others among his close relatives.</p>
<p>
The assignment to river improvement work, together with such details as service as a member of a commission to determine the boundary between the United States and what was then the Indian Territory, proved that young Beach was particularly well equipped for this type of duty, and most of his long subsequent years of service were devoted to it.</p>
<p>
Following the assignment to the Cincinnati District, the next important duty given this young officer was that as assistant engineer in the office of Lieut. Col. Wm. M. Black, C.F., Engineer Commissioner for the District of Columbia. This took place in 1894, the year he was commissioned a captain. When Colonel Black was ordered to Cuba in 1898, Captain Beach was appointed as his former chief’s successor.</p>
<p>
Commenting on this appointment, the <em>Washington Post</em> stated:</p>
<p>
“The retention of Commissioner Beach in his present position is viewed with great favor by many prominent citizens, as he has displayed great efficiency in the management of his office. Previous to the war he was Col. Black’s assistant. The latter applied for active duty in the field...Captain Beach was then promoted to the position of Acting Engineer Commissioner for the District, and at first it was generally supposed that Col. Black would resume his former duties at the end of the war. The Captain has, however, attended to the work of his department with such marked ability that the public desired his retention in the present position, and many lengthy petitions in his behalf were sent to President McKinley and Secretary Alger.”</p>
<p>
From Washington Captain Beach moved on to a post as Engineer in Charge of the 11th Lighthouse District, with headquarters in Detroit. This transfer brought the following comment from the Detroit ‘Tree I’ress’:</p>
<p>
“The transfer of Capt. L. H. Beach from the Office of Engineer Commissioner at Washington was a matter of sincere regret to an exceptionally wide circle of friends and to the public at large. Capt. Beach has the record of being one of the most successful and popular Engineer Commissioners ever connected with the District government.</p>
<p>
“Detroit is a favorite station among the engineers, and Captain Beach comes here from choice.”</p>
<p>
Assignments as instructor in military engineering at Fort Leavenworth and as district engineer in Jacksonville, FL., followed the tour in Detroit. Long before the transfer to Florida, this young officer had demonstrated that the success he had achieved in Washington in making friends and influencing people without sacrificing his professional efficiency as an administrator, could be expected of him wherever he was stationed. In congratulating him on his promotion to the grade of lieutenant-colonel in 1907 a <em>Jacksonville Journal</em> said:</p>
<p>
“As an engineer officer, his record has been one of the best in the service ... He is earnestly interested in his work and is so highly appreciated by the different sections of this State that he has been elected a member of the Boards of Trade of Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West; three seaports that have learned to value his services.</p>
<p>
“Personally he is a most delightful companion, easy of approach and most democratic in his manners...Florida is very fortunate in having such a broad-minded, liberal, intelligent army officer in charge of the government work, and under his supervision it is safe to say that it will be splendidly and intelligently accomplished.”</p>
<p>
Pleasant as it was, the tour in Florida proved to be short, less than two years, for a larger task awaited the new Lieutenant Colonel,—that of Engineer of the Gulf Division with headquarters in New Orleans. In that unique city the Beach family made a most favorable impression that persisted for many years after their departure in 1912. At a farewell banquet given the departing Division Engineer, after tributes had been paid by speakers to his personal qualities and professional fitness, Colonel Beach said, in opening his parting address:</p>
<p>
...There have been occasions when I wished for ability as an after dinner speaker; when I wished for the gift of language that would give me a fluent flow of words: But this evening I do not care for that gift. For mere eloquent words are insufficient with which to respond to the many kind things that have been said of me, and to express my feelings of friendship and kindness.”</p>
<p>
A tour of duty in Baltimore followed and then came almost five years as Division Engineer at Cincinnati. In addition, Colonel Beach served from 1913 to 1920 as a member of the Mississippi River Commission.</p>
<p>
In January, 1920, the high honor of being designated Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, came to Colonel Beach. Appointed over the heads of five colonels in the Corps senior to him, it was obvious that his special qualifications in the field of public works had swung the balance in his favor. This point was stressed in a dispatch to the Chattanooga “Times” from that paper Washington correspondent:</p>
<p>
“About a year ago Col. J. W. Worthington of the Tennessee River Improvement Association, announced that serious consideration should be given to the qualifications of the next Chief of Engineers, in view of the increasing importance of the system of navigable waterways that would meet the traffic needs of the country. Heretofore the appointment of a Chief of Engineers had been looked upon as more or less of a bureau selection, not a matter vitally affecting every avenue of commerce and business.</p>
<p>
“The Association made a careful investigation of the available officers in the Corps of Engineers, not with a desire to see any particular officer promoted, but merely to avoid the possibility of a selection—as has been the case in the past—where river and harbor interests would suffer.</p>
<p>
“The Association pointed out the need at this time of a Chief of Engineers who possessed all the needed technical training and experience, and one who possessed, in addition, a grasp of business affairs that would enable the vast river and harbor projects to be carried on with the same efficiency that is found in well-organized private concerns transacting business of a similar magnitude...</p>
<p>
“After a most thorough study of the engineering record and business ability of the various officers of the Corps of Engineers, the merits of Colonel Beach were recognized, and appeal was made to the Secretary of War from all sections of the country”.</p>
<p>
A writer in the same issue of the “<em>Times</em>” raised another point in favor of the Beach appointment:</p>
<p>
“General Beach’s selection is most gratifying not only to his host of friends in the Tennessee Valley, but it will prove equally satisfactory to all Mississippi River and tributary interests with which General Beach is familiar. Those who sought his appointment desired to see his selection not only because of his acknowledged ability and distinguished record in connection with river and harbor work, but also because General Beach will have more than four years to serve. It has frequently been the case that the Chief of Engineers only served for a few months, and on account of such short terms, no definite plans and policies could be laid down and carried out. Those who have sought General Beach’s appointment feel that they can expect and rely upon him to set down and carry out during his term of office a river and harbor program that will mark a new era in these improvements”.</p>
<p>
The new Chief did not disappoint his supporters. His administration was marked by much constructive planning and progress in the country’s river and harbor projects. After five years’ good work, in June, 1925, he was retired. Following a yearlong tour of the world with his beloved wife, the General brought his family to Southern California where his son had previously settled.</p>
<p>
In reviewing General Beach’s career one cannot fail to be impressed by the consistency with which he adhered to his ideals. There was no variation from the high standards he set for himself in his early years.</p>
<p>
Geniality, approachability, kindliness: These and other admirable qualities he had but never did he permit them to dictate his professional decisions, for, above all, he also had a high conception of his duty to the taxpayers of his country whom he served through the Government that employed him. Accommodating by nature though he was, his name was never associated with any project representing an indefensible waste of Federal funds.</p>
<p>
General Beach also had a capacious memory and a sense of humor which he kept in excellent order. However, he never labored for a laugh by resorting to obscene or profane stories. And if he repeated his anecdotes once in a while, what “old-timer” does not from time to time! His stories were uniformly apt and would bear occasional repetition.</p>
<p>
A hospitable neighbor, was General Beach, a helpful and considerate friend, a trustworthy and efficient public servant, a splendid citizen. He had the characteristics of a Christian gentleman, and, in his own chosen field, the equipment of a scholar.</p>
<p>
A friend of long standing, the writer feels honored in having the opportunity of paying him this tribute.</p>
<p>
<em>—H. A. F.</em></p>
<p>
</p>