Preston Brown

Preston Brown (1872–1948) was an American army officer who saw action with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. Brown reached the rank of Major General, before retiring from active duty in 1936.

Brown was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His maternal grandfather was General William C. Preston of the Confederate Army, while his father was a Union Army colonel. He attended Yale, where he served on the editorial board of The Yale Record. After his graduation in 1892, he entered the army as a private and served in Battery A, Fifth Field Artillery Brigade.

He was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in 1897 and rose through the ranks; he became a major in 1916 and a Lieutenant Colonel in 1917. In 1918, he was appointed Colonel of the National Army and in August of the same year was promoted to be Brigadier General.

He served as Chief of Staff in the 2nd Infantry Division at Château-Thierry and Saint-Mihiel in 1918, and was Chief of Staff of the 4th Army Corps. In August 1918, he was appointed Commanding General of the 3rd Infantry Division, serving in that capacity through the Battle of Meuse-Argonne. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his leadership of the 3rd Infantry Division, as well as his previous efforts as Chief of Staff of the 2nd Infantry Division.

In November 1918, he became Assistant Chief of Staff at General Headquarters in the occupied German territory. He was appointed instructor in the Army General Staff College in 1919. In 1921, he was acting commander of the U.S. Army War College and in the same year was appointed Commanding General of the 3rd infantry brigade. Preston Brown was commandant of the Panama Canal Zone from 1928 until 1932.

He retired to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts in 1936, having reached the rank of Major General. Brown died on June 30, 1948, and is interred in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky.

In 1905, he married Susan Ford Dorrance. They had one child, Dorrance Brown who died in 1936.

He died in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts on June 30, 1948.