Major General Edward Mann Lewis, KCMG, (December 10, 1863 – July 27, 1949) was a highly decorated United States Army officer who served his nation for 46 years. During the First World War, he led the 30th Infantry Division when they broke the Hindenburg Line. Upon arrival in France in 1917, he was placed in command of all U.S. forces in Paris. In 1918 he led the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division at Château-Thierry where he was responsible for planning and leading the attack on the strategic town of Vaux. General John J. Pershing then promoted him and placed him in command of the 30th Infantry Division in July 1918. Assigned to the Fourth British Army, the 30th Division (Old Hickory) broke the Hindenburg Line on September 29, hastening the end of the Great War. Biography The son of William Henry and Julia Frances (Snively) Lewis, Edward Mann Lewis was born December 10, 1863, in New Albany, Indiana. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in September 1881 and graduated in July 1886, a classmate of John J. Pershing. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry and served in the Spanish–American War and the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines while assigned to the 20th Infantry Regiment. During World War I, General Lewis was placed in charge of the Paris Military District before commanding the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, and later commanded the 30th Infantry Division. Following World War I, he commanded the 8th Corps Area in Texas, then the Hawaiian Department from 1925 to 1927. Early life and West Point Edward Mann Lewis was born on December 10, 1863, alongside the river in New Albany, Indiana. His father, a railroad executive, told him stories of the Lewis family who served in the military, going back to the American Revolution. He was able to secure an appointment to West Point in 1881, where he excelled in the classroom and on the athletic field. He was made a cadet lieutenant in his first year, but ran into trouble with mathematics. His potential was recognized, however, so he was granted a "turnback" joining the class of 1886 and becoming a friend of classmate John J. Pershing. That friendship would last for over 40 years while they served together in The Philippines, San Francisco, Mexico and in Europe during the Great War. Called 'Sep'