Carlos Brewer
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Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Carlos Brewer (5 December 1890 – 29 September 1976) was a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
officer who commanded the 12th Armored Division during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. After training the 12th Armored Division, he was not permitted to command the division in combat due to his age, so he requested his rank be reverted from major general to Colonel so that he could become an artillery officer in the
European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground For ...
(ETO). He innovated the method of
field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20t ...
targeting used in World War II, and implemented triangular organization of divisions.


Early life

Carlos Brewer was born on 5 December 1890 in
Golo, Kentucky Golo is an unincorporated community in Graves County, Kentucky, United States. Notable people *United States Army General Carlos Brewer Major General Carlos Brewer (5 December 1890 – 29 September 1976) was a United States Army officer who ...
and attended West Kentucky College in
Mayfield, Kentucky Mayfield is a home rule–class city and the county seat of Graves County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 10,017 as of the 2020 United States Census. History 19th century Mayfield is in the center of the Jackson Purchase, an eig ...
, until he entered
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
(USMA) at
West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...
in 1909, graduating 15th in his class in 1913. Many of the graduates of the West Point Class of 1913 later became
general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
s, including
Alexander Patch General Alexander McCarrell Patch (November 23, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was a senior United States Army officer who fought in both world wars, rising to rank of general. During World War II, he commanded U.S. Army and Marine Corps force ...
,
Douglass T. Greene Major General Douglass Taft Greene (April 23, 1891 – June 16, 1964) was a United States Army officer during World War II. He served as commanding general of the 16th Armored Division and the 12th Armored Division during their training in the ...
,
Geoffrey Keyes Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer who served with distinction in Sicily and Italy during World War II. Early life Keyes was born on October 30, ...
, Willis D. Crittenberger, Charles H. Corlett,
Paul Newgarden Major general (United States), Major General Paul Woolever Newgarden (February 24, 1892 – July 14, 1944) was a senior United States Army Officer (armed forces), officer. Early years Newgarden was born on February 24, 1892 in Philadelphia, Pe ...
, William R. Schmidt,
Robert L. Spragins Major General Robert Lily Spragins (November 12, 1890 – December 26, 1964) was a senior United States Army officer. He was notable for his command of the 71st and 44th Infantry Divisions in World War II. Early life and military career Spr ...
,
Louis A. Craig Louis A. Craig (July 29, 1891 – January 3, 1984) was a career officer in the United States Army. He attained the rank of Major general (United States), major general, and served in both World War I and World War II. Craig served as a corps ...
, Selby H. Frank, Henry B. Lewis, Henry B. Cheadle, John E. McMahon, Jr., Richard U. Nicholas, Robert H. Van Volkenburgh, Robert M. Perkins, William A. McCulloch, Francis K. Newcomer,
Lunsford E. Oliver Major General Lunsford Errett Oliver (March 17, 1889 – October 13, 1978) was a senior United States Army officer, who commanded the 5th Armored Division during World War II. Early life and military career Lunsford Errett Oliver was born on ...
and Henry B. Cheadle. After graduation, Brewer went onto the Field Artillery Branch of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
.


Military career

Upon graduation from West Point in 1913, Brewer was commissioned as a
second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
and was assigned to the 3rd Field Artillery at
Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the U.S. Senator from Texas, U.S. Represen ...
, serving along the Texas border until 1916 during the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
. In March 1916, he went with the 4th Field Artillery to the
Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...
. From August 1916 through 1921, he taught in the Department of Mathematics at the USMA, missing out combat during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In 1920, he was promoted to
major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
and, from 1921 through to 1924, he went to the 8th Field Artillery in Hawaii. Brewer studied at the Advanced Course at the
United States Army Field Artillery School The United States Army Field Artillery School (USAFAS) trains Field Artillery Soldiers and Marines in tactics, techniques, and procedures for the employment of fire support systems in support of the maneuver commander. The school further develo ...
at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, in 1926–1927, and then graduated at the top of his class at the
United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...
at
Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...
(1927–1928). He went back to the Field Artillery School in 1928 and taught in the Gunnery Department, becoming the Director of the department. His immediate predecessor as head of the Department of Gunnery, who was also an instructor when Brewer took advanced coursework there, was
Jacob L. Devers Jacob Loucks Devers (; 8 September 1887 – 15 October 1979) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the 6th Army Group in the European Theater during World War II. He was involved in the development and adoption of numerous w ...
, who would remain a lifelong friend and later prove providential in the course of his career. The Artillery School's most innovative work came with the creation of the
fire direction center In the US system for land-based field artillery, the field artillery team is organized to direct and control indirect artillery fire on the battlefield. Since World War I, to conduct indirect artillery fire, three distinct components have evolv ...
during the 1930s under the leadership of its Director of Gunnery, Carlos Brewer and his instructors, who abandoned massing fire by a described terrain feature or grid coordinate reference. They introduced a firing chart, adopted the practice of locating battery positions by survey, and designated targets with reference to the base point on the chart. In the spring of 1931, the Gunnery Department successfully demonstrated massing battalion fire using this method.
During his period as Director of the Department of Gunnery, rewerdeveloped the technique of fire direction with a central fire direction center in the battalion which proved very effective in World War II. This procedure permitted the massing of fire of all the divisional artillery on a target that one battery had adjusted on, or on a target that the division commander had designated, in a matter of minutes. One big advantage of this central fire control is that a few specialists can perform the necessary technical operations for the entire battalion. As a result of this development, the division commanders were generally well pleased with the artillery support in World War II.
Brewer graduated from the Army War College in 1934 with a superior rating. While his wife was convalescing due to tuberculosis, he became head of the Military Science Department of the
ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...
Program at
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
, the largest field artillery unit in the Army at the time. On 1 August 1935 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1939, he was assigned to command the 25th Field Artillery Battalion at
Madison Barracks File:Madison Barracks.jpg File:Madison Barracks02.jpg File:Madison Barracks Stone Tower.jpg File:Madison Barracks Stone Tower 02.jpg Madison Barracks was a military installation established in 1813 or 1815 at Sackets Harbor, New York, Sackets Harb ...
, NY. In 1941, he was then transferred to
Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...
, GA to command the 7th Field Artillery Regiment, where he developed the
triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade head ...
organization that was adopted during World War II. After 2 months of courses at the
Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...
, he served as Assistant, then Chief of Staff (G-3) for the newly activated 9th Infantry Division, now commanded by his mentor, Major General Jacob L. Devers, at
Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...
, NC from August 1940 to February 1942. On 26 June 1941, he was promoted to the temporary rank of colonel Brewer planned and implemented the triangular division organization for the 9th Infantry Division consisting of 3 infantry regiments and 4 artillery battalions, constituting 9,000 soldiers, with an additional 5,000 draftees completing the ranks, beginning in 1941. On 16 February 1942, Brewer was promoted to temporary brigadier general and given command of a unit of the 6th Armored Division. On 7 August 1942, he was promoted to temporary major general, and assumed command of the new 12th Armored Division on 19 August 1942, which was activated at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, on 2 September 1942. He oversaw their training through the Tennessee Maneuvers, from September into November 1943 and re-organization from a heavy to a medium tank division. He continued to supervise the training of the 12th Armored Division at
Camp Barkeley Camp Barkeley was a large United States Army training installation during World War II. The base was located southwest of Abilene, Texas near what is now Dyess Air Force Base. The base was named after David B. Barkley, a Medal of Honor recipient ...
, near
Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...
, from November 1943, until August 1944 when the Division prepared to depart for the European Theater of Operations. Despite the 12th Armored Division receiving excellent ratings in its final evaluation of readiness for combat service, Brewer was relieved of command and assigned to training replacement troops at
Camp Wheeler Camp Wheeler was a United States Army base near Macon, Georgia. The camp was a staging location for many US Army units during World War I and World War II. It was named for Joseph Wheeler, a general in the Confederate States of America's Army and ...
, Georgia. General
George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...
, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, informed Brewer that the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied forces in
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
, General
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
had requested that only commanders of divisions younger than 50 years old be sent to command soldiers in the European Theater of Operations, and Brewer was 53 years old at the time. Brewer was replaced as Commanding General of the 12th Armored Division by
Douglass T. Greene Major General Douglass Taft Greene (April 23, 1891 – June 16, 1964) was a United States Army officer during World War II. He served as commanding general of the 16th Armored Division and the 12th Armored Division during their training in the ...
, who had been in his 1913 graduating class at West Point.


World War II combat

Brewer had missed combat duty during World War I because he had been on the faculty teaching at West Point and was not enamored with having a non-combat command again. He requested termination of his rank of major general and permanent reversion to the rank of colonel, then he wrote to Devers who had been his instructor at Field Artillery School, whom he replaced as its director, and for whom he served as Chief of Staff with the 9th Infantry Division. Devers was by now in command of the newly formed
Sixth United States Army Group The 6th United States Army Group was an Allied Army Group that fought in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Made up of field armies from both the United States Army and the French Army, it fought in France, Germany, A ...
leading the Allied invasion in the south of France, which consisted of the
U.S. Seventh Army The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and Fran ...
, under Lieutenant General Alexander Patch, and the First French Army under Gen.
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (2 February 1889 – 11 January 1952) was a French général d'armée during World War II and the First Indochina War. He was posthumously elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France in 1952. As ...
. His former command, the 12th Armored Division was assigned to Patch's Seventh Army. Brewer asked Devers if as a colonel he could command the newly formed 46th Group Heavy Army Artillery assigned to the Seventh Army, commanded by Patch who had been in the same graduating class at West Point and with whom he served under Jacob Devers with the 9th Infantry Division. The 46th Field Artillery Group under Col. Brewer began its combat operations in January 1945 in the
Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
Mountains, providing heavy artillery support for the
VI Corps 6 Corps, 6th Corps, Sixth Corps, or VI Corps may refer to: France * VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry formation of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VI Corps (Grande Armée), a formation of the Imperial French army du ...
, commanded by Major General
Edward H. Brooks Lieutenant General Edward Hale Brooks (April 25, 1893 – October 10, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army, a veteran of both World War I and World War II, who commanded the U.S. Second Army during the Korean War. He received the ...
. They continued support of the Corps through its advance into Germany through the
Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the west ...
, across the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
river, through the
Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
and into
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. Their combat ended at
Garmisch Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...
when the Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945, which brought the
end of World War II in Europe The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf H ...
.


Post-World War II

Brewer served in the Army of Occupation under the command of Lieutenant General
Geoffrey Keyes Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer who served with distinction in Sicily and Italy during World War II. Early life Keyes was born on October 30, ...
, another West Point classmate, as the Seventh Army Artillery Officer and as Headquarters Commandant & Commander of the
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
Area Command in Germany from 1946 to 1947. From 1947 to 1950, he was Professor of Military Science & Tactics at Ohio State University where he ran the ROTC Program. He retired from the military in 1950, but continued working for the Ohio State Research Foundation from 1950 to 1960 as a consultant on classified military research contracts.


Personal life

He married Grace Moore (1891–1956) on 20 December 1913. They had four children: Carlos Jr., Sherman (Ted), Robert (Bob), and Grace Elizabeth (Betty) Brewer Schulten. After the death of his first wife from tuberculosis in 1956, he married Mary Taylor Williams in 1959. At West Point, he was on the polo team, was an expert marksman, and was on the
broadsword The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. In mod ...
team. He also was an avid chess player, and was one of twenty players at West Point who played simultaneous games against nine-year old Polish chess prodigy
Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960 ...
in 1920. Reshevsky won 19 of the 20 games, including the game against Brewer, which lasted just under two hours. He was buried at
Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
, in
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
.


Awards

Major General Brewer's ribbon bar


See also

*
12th Armored Division (United States) The 12th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. It fought in the European Theater of Operations in France, Germany and Austria, between November 1944 and May 1945. The German Army called the 12th Ar ...
*
6th Armored Division (United States) The 6th Armored Division ("Super Sixth") was an armored division of the United States Army during World War II. It was formed with a cadre from the 2nd Armored Division. History The division was activated on 15 February 1942 at Fort Knox o ...
*
Sixth United States Army Group The 6th United States Army Group was an Allied Army Group that fought in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Made up of field armies from both the United States Army and the French Army, it fought in France, Germany, A ...
*
Seventh United States Army The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and Fran ...


References


External links

*Brewer, Carlo
"Flash-Sound Ranging"
The Field Artillery Journal, vol. XXI, no. 4: 345–53, July–August 1931 *Brewer, Carlos "Recommendations for Changes in Gunnery Instruction and Battalion Organization," June 2, 1932, Field Artillery School Archives, Morris Swett Technical Library, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 1.316 *Calhoun, Mark T
"General Lesley J. McNair: Little-Known Architect of the U.S. Army"
Ph.D. Dissertation, Dept. of History, University of Kansas, 2012 *Walker, John R
"Bracketing the Enemy: Forward Observers and Combined Arms Effectiveness During The Second World War"
Ph.D. Dissertation, Kent State University, August 2009, p. 67 et. seq.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Carlos 1890 births 1976 deaths United States Army Field Artillery Branch personnel Military personnel from Kentucky People from Graves County, Kentucky People from Columbus, Ohio Burials at Arlington National Cemetery United States Military Academy alumni United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit Ohio State University faculty United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army generals of World War II United States Army generals Naval War College alumni United States Army War College alumni United States Military Academy faculty Purdue University faculty