Major General Edward Mann Lewis, KCB, KCMG, (December 10, 1863 – July 27, 1949) was a highly decorated United States Army officer who served his nation for 46 years.

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.

He entered the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York in September 1881 and graduated seventieth in a class of seventy-seven in July 1886,[1] a classmate of John J. Pershing.

Called 'Sep' by his friends and classmates, they stood in honor when the funeral train of Ulysses S. Grant made a stop in West Point in 1885.

At the Battle of El Caney the same day, U.S. forces took the fortified Spanish position and were then able to extend the U.S. flank on San Juan Hill.

The U.S. troops met stiff resistance from a well-armed adversary at the Battle of El Caney, fought on July 1, 1898, in southeastern Cuba.

The Division under General Lawton succeeded in capturing the town, fort and blockhouses and protected the right flank of the main American attack on the Heights of San Juan to the south.

On July 3, 1898, the same day as the naval battle, Major General William "Pecos Bill" Shafter began the siege of Santiago.

He was then transferred back to Chicago to help the recruiting effort, returning to the Philippines with the 20th in 1904 for two more years of occupation duty during the Moro War.

A few years earlier, while John J Pershing was in the Philippines, a fire consumed the General's residence at the Presidio, killing his wife and three of his young children.

Captain Lewis was still serving with the 20th Infantry Regiment when they were stationed in at the Presidio in Monterey when an urgent call for aid was sent to the commanding officer, Colonel Marion P. Maus.

They pitched their tents in front of the Hall of Justice, and played a key role in restoring order to daily life in the city.

It was noted in the after action report "The most important duties were those devolving upon Colonel Maus, who guarded the business center in the burned district."

These orders were delivered with great dispatch and with the result that on the 21st headquarters, 1st and 3d Battalions of the 20th Infantry, Col. Marion P. Maus, commanding, reached San Francisco and reported for duty, being followed the next day by field and staff and the 2d Squadron, 14th Cavalry.

Added to this the 20th Infantry was obliged to occupy points, where walls of building were tottering, where fires still raged, and in streets filled with debris.

Placed in Command of the Llano Grande District, his 13th Provisional Brigade was composed of guardsmen from Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

He published orders in December that prescribed the rules of conduct for all American forces in or visiting the city, or those rotating to or from the front lines.

These regulations remained in force under his successors, when Paris was full of men seeking recuperation and recreation, and for whose good behavior the district commander was responsible.

With the Marines assigned to the division fighting in Belleau Wood, troops under Lewis dug in just south of the Paris to Metz road stopping the German advance just outside Chateau-Thierry.

In what Pershing called a "Brilliantly executed operation" Lewis led his brigade in capturing the important town of Vaux on July 1.

[14] To celebrate the victories of the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions, including the Marine Brigade serving under them in nearby Belleau Wood, a monument was raised just above the town of Chateau Thierry.

As part of the Fourth British Army, they broke through the Hindenburg Line on September 29, 1918, at Bellicourt in the Battle of St. Quentin Canal winning the praise of General Pershing "... the 30th Division did especially well.

[16]Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force, sent this letter to General Read, Commanding the II American Corps: "I wish to express to you personally and to all the officers and men serving under you my warm appreciation of the very valuable and gallant services rendered by you throughout the recent operations with the Fourth British Army.

It gives me much pleasure to extend to you and the officers and men of the 30th Division my sincere compliments upon their appearance at the review and inspection on the 21st of January, southwest of Teille, which was excellent, and is just what would be expected in a command with such a splendid fighting record.

On September 29, the Division broke through both the Hindenburg and the Le Catlet-Nauroy lines, capturing Bellicourt and Nauroy, an operation on which all subsequent action of the 4th British Army depended.

Brancourt, Premont, Busigny, St. Benin, St. Couplet and Escaufort, La Haie Mineresse, and Vaux Andigny are names which will live in the memories of those who fought in the 30th Division.

It is gratifying to see your troops in such good physical shape, but still more so to know that this almost ideal condition will continue to the end of their service and beyond, as an exemplification of their high character and soldierly qualities.

Later he was placed in command of his much loved "Indianhead" 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Travis in Texas, and helped give birth to Army Aviation there.

While in Hawaii, General Lewis presided over the largest military exercises in US history to date, with the Army defending the islands from a Naval invasion.