Edmund L. Gruber
Encyclopedia
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
officer and general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
who also gained popularity as composer of military music. He served as Commandant of the Command and General Staff College
Commandant of the United States Army Command and General Staff College
The Commandant of the United States Army Command and General Staff College is the highest ranking official at the United States Army's Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, installation. The position is similar to the West Point Superintendent and is roughly equivalent to the chancellor or president of an...
from October 1940 to May 1941.
Life and career
Edmund Louis Gruber was born in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. His family had a musical background. His ancestor, Franz Gruber, composed the music to the classic Christmas song "Silent Night
Silent Night
"Silent Night" is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" were written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber...
."
Promotions
Edmund Gruber attended the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, from June 19, 1900 to June 15, 1904. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Artillery Corps. He was promoted to first lieutenant on January 25, 1907; to captain on July 1, 1916; to lieutenant colonel (temporary) on August 5, 1917; and to colonel (temporary) on July 30, 1918. He resigned from the Regular Army on October 28, 1919 and was reappointed as a major of Field Artillery on July 1, 1920. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on January 7, 1929, to colonel on August 1, 1935, and to brigadier general (temporary) on October 1, 1940.Service
He first served with Field Artillery units at Fort RileyFort Riley
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 100,656 acres in Geary and Riley counties and includes two census-designated places: Fort Riley North and Fort...
at Junction City, Kansas
Junction City, Kansas
Junction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 23,353. Fort Riley, a major U.S. Army post, is nearby...
; Fort Douglas, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
; and the first Fort D.A. Russell (later called Fort Francis E. Warren) at Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
, from 1904 to 1906. In February 1906 he sailed for the Philippine Islands where he served until April 1908. Returning to the United States, he was stationed at Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
at Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, until the summer of 1908, when he was ordered to Fort Riley, Kansas, as a student officer at the mounted Service School. He was graduated in the summer of 1909, when he again was ordered to the Philippine Islands where he served at Fort William McKinley until April 1910.
Upon his return from the Philippine Islands, he was stationed for several months at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. He was then ordered to Germany as a student officer at the Imperial Military Riding School at Hanover. He served on that assignment until August 1912, when he was graduated. Returning to the United States, he was detailed to duty as an instructor in equitation at the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, until December 1912, when he joined the 5th Field Artillery at Fort Sill
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.Today, Fort Sill remains the only active Army installation of all the forts on the South Plains built during the Indian Wars...
at Lawton, Oklahoma
Lawton, Oklahoma
The city of Lawton is the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Located in the southwestern region of Oklahoma approximately southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, with which regiment he served until July 1914. He again was assigned as an instructor at the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, until January 1915, when he rejoined the 5th Field Artillery at Fort Sill, where he was stationed until June 1915.
His next assignment was to the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, as an instructor in the Department of Tactics, in which capacity he served until August 1917. He subsequent assignments during World War I included the command of the 332d Field Artillery at Camp Grant, Illinois, from August to December 1917; command of the 116th Field Artillery at Camp Wheeler
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....
at Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, from January to March 1918; duty as Assistant to the Chief of Field Artillery in Washington, D.C., from March to May 1918; command of the Field Artillery Brigade Firing Center at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from May to October 1918; duty in the Office of the Chief of Field Artillery, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, in November 1918; and an assignment with the War Plans Division of the War Department General Staff, Washington, D.C., form December 1918 to October 1919.
Resigning on October 28, 1919, he became president and superintendent of the Kentucky Military Institute
Kentucky Military Institute
The Kentucky Military Institute was a military preparatory school in Lyndon, Kentucky and Venice, Florida, in operation from 1845 to 1971....
at Lyndon, Kentucky
Lyndon, Kentucky
There were 4,520 households out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.5% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.3% were non-families. 40.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone...
. He was re-commissioned in the Regular Army on July 1, 1920.
From December 1920 to July 1922 he was Assistant Commandant of the Field Artillery School at Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...
at Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
. The newly established school was expected to attract officers from all over the country to Camp Bragg, considered by artillerymen as the Army’s best practice range. MAJ Gruber was Camp Bragg Commander from 1 February 1921 to 15 February 1921.
From August 1922 to July 1923, he was a student officer at the General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Completing that course as a distinguished graduate, he was assigned to duty as an instructor at the Cavalry School at Fort Riley, Kansas, in which capacity he served until June 1926. He then was ordered to Washington, D.C., as a student officer at the Army War College. He was graduated in June 1927 and was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he served for five years as instructor at the Command and General Staff School.
From September 1932 to June 1935, he served in the Panama Canal Zone at Forts Davis and Clayton. Returning to the United States in the summer of 1935 he was detailed to duty with the War Department General Staff, serving with the September 1939. He was then ordered to Fort Ethan Allen
Fort Ethan Allen
Fort Ethan Allen was a U.S. army installation in Vermont, named for American Revolutionary War figure Ethan Allen. First serving as a cavalry post in 1894, today it is the center of a designated national historic district straddling the town line between Colchester and Essex...
at Essex Junction, Vermont
Essex Junction, Vermont
Essex Junction is a village in the town of Essex in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The population was 8,591 at the 2000 census. It was incorporated on November 15, 1892....
, where in October 1939, he was assigned as Chief of the Artillery Section of the 1st Division. In October 1940 he became Commandant of the Command and General Staff School and Commanding General of the Seventh Corps Area, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
General Gruber died from natural causes on May 30, 1941.
Music
Edmund L. Gruber was one of the most popular artillerymen of his time and was a noted Army polo team champion. But he would make his enduring mark with music. He was the author of the 5th Artillery Regimental song. Titled "The Caissons Go Rolling Along," it was adopted by all regiments of the Artillery and became the Field Artillery Song. It later became the Army’s Official Song. His song was even used to sell vacuum cleaners.Awards and honors
Edmund L. Gruber was awarded the Distinguished Service MedalDistinguished Service Medal (United States)
The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest non-valorous military and civilian decoration of the United States military which is issued for exceptionally meritorious service to the government of the United States in either a senior government service position or as a senior officer of the United...
, with the following citation: "He displayed exceptional ability in planning the organization of Field Artillery brigade firing centers; in April, 1918, established such a center at Fort Sill and during the remainder of the war displayed rare judgment and high professional attainments in the administration of this center."
In February 1942, as part of the War Department's build-up for World War II, an infantry training camp was constructed, near Braggs, Oklahoma
Braggs, Oklahoma
Braggs is a town in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 301 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, Braggs has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:...
. The camp was named "Camp Gruber
Camp Gruber
Camp Gruber Maneuver Training Center is an Oklahoma Army National Guard training facility used for Summer field training exercises and for monthly drills. It covers a total of .The base is named after General Edmund L...
," after General Gruber, who had served as an artillery officer at Fort Sill, Oklahoma for many years. Today Camp Gruber is a training center for the Oklahoma Army National Guard
Oklahoma Army National Guard
The Oklahoma Army National Guard is the Army National Guard component of the Oklahoma National Guard. The Commander in Chief of the Oklahoma National Guard is the Governor of Oklahoma, who appoints the State Adjutant General , a Major General from either Army or Air. Currently, the TAG is Major...
.
Fort Bragg also named one of its major roads after General Gruber.