Horace Logan McBride – Lieutenant General, United States Army

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Information Courtesy of Roger H. Nelson, September 2006:

Horace Logan McBride, Lieutenant General, US Army (Ret)
U. S. Military Academy,  June 13, 1916
28 June 1894 – 14  November 1962

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Lieutenant General Horace L. McBride, United States Army (retired) died on November 14, 1962, at the U. S. Air Force Hospital, Orlando Air Force Base, Florida., at 68 years of age.

General McBride was born in Madison, Nebraska, 28 June 1894. He was graduated from the U. S. Military Academy June 13, 1916, appointed a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery and assigned to the Eighth Field Artillery at Fort Bliss, Texas. In May 1917, General McBride was transferred to Camp Robinson at Sparta, Wisconsin for a brief period. He served as an instructor at the Officers Training Camp, Fort Myer, Virginia, from June to August 1917, and then joined the Sixth Field Artillery Training Battalion there. In December 1917, he sailed for France.

After attending the First Army Corps School, General McBride was on the staff at Army Artillery Headquarters and joined the staff of the Chief of Artillery in June 1918. He became a Battalion Commander of the 347th Field Artillery, 91st Division, in August 1918, and participated in the Meuse-Argone Offensive. In February 1919, he joined the Provost Marshal General’s Department in France and in June 1919, went to The Hague, Holland, as an assistant military attaché. He moved to Warsaw, Poland, in the same capacity in October 1919.

In July 1921, General McBride assumed command of a battalion of the 15th Field Artillery at Camp Travis, Texas. He enrolled in the advanced course at the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in September 1922, and was graduated in June 1923. For the next four years he was a Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Yale University. He was graduated from the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in June 1928, and assigned as an instructor at the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill.

General McBride, in July 1932, was assigned with the 24th Field Artillery at Camp Stotsenburg, Philippine Islands, and remained there until January’ 1935. His next assignment was as executive officer of the 16th Field Artillery at Fort Myer. On August 1935, he enrolled in the Army War College, was graduated in June 1936, and then served as an instructor at the Command and General Staff School for four years. He joined the Second Field Artillery Battalion at Fort Clayton, Panama Canal Zone, in May 1940, and from September 1940, until June 1941, was commanding officer of that battalion. He then became operations officer of the Panama Canal Department.

In April 1942, General McBride was assigned to the Army War College for duty with the Army Ground Forces at the Headquarters of Special Troops. In May 1942, he became artillery commander of the 80th Infantry Division at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, and in March 1943 became commanding general. In July 1944, he accompanied this division for duty in Europe.

The 80th Division joined the Third Army in Normandy on August 8, 1944, and served continuously with it in the sweep across France, Luxembourg and Germany to contact with the Russian Army on the Enns River in Austria. The 80th assisted in closing the Falaise Gap at Argentan, established the first American bridgehead across the Moselle River, breached the Maginot line in France, drove deep into the south flank of Von Rundstedt’s armies in the bulge, penetrated the Siegfried Line east of Luxembourg City, made an assault crossing of the Rhine at Mainz. In the closing weeks of combat, the 80th swept east to Chemnitz before turning south into Austria, where it received the surrender of the Sixth German Army.

General McBride was the only division commander in World War II who trained and continued on through the entire war with the same outfit.

General McBride assumed command of the 20th Corps on 1 October 1945 and handled occupational duties in Southern Bavaria until the Corps was deactivated. In February 1946, he assumed command of the Ninth Division, which shared responsibility of occupational duties with the First Division in the American Zone of Germany.

The Ninth Division was deactivated in January 1947, and General McBride assumed command of the First Service Command at Boston, Massachusetts In August 1947, he became chief of the U. S. Army Group of the American Mission for Aid to Turkey, with station at Ankara. In October 1950, he became commandant of the Command and General Staff College.

On 1 April 1952, General McBride became Commander-in-Chief of the Caribbean Command, with station at Quarry Heights, Canal Zone. In June 1954, he was assigned to Office Chief of Staff, and retired from active service on June 30, 1954.

General McBride has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Silver Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Bronze Star Medal. His foreign decorations include the Polish Cross of the Brave; the French Legion of Honor (degree of Officer), and Croix de Guerre with Palm and Star; the Luxembourg Croix de Guerre and the Russian Order of Alexander Novsky and Order of War of Fatherland.

The General was buried with full military honors on Nov. 16 in Arlington National Cemetery. Present at the interment were Major General Max Johnson, Lieutenant Colonels George N. Craig, Edward R. Fleisher and E. Coe Kerr – all former members of his staff; Kenneth Campbell, who for four years was the General’s driver, and Major General H. Dudley Ives, Deputy Inspector General of the Army, formerly of the 319th Infantry.

He is survived by his mother, residing in his native State of Nebraska, and His wife Irene, of Maitland, Florida.

R T Murrell, PNC Secretary/Editor 80th Division Veterans Association

Published in Blue Ridge, The Service Magazine Official Publication of the 80th Division Veterans Association.

A Eulogy:

General Horace Logan McBride is dead; and his passing leaves a sense of sorrow and desolation among those who knew him well. Naturally a review of his career, his commands, his awards and his encomiums will be published. But a bare recital of his vital statistics and military accomplishments does not do him sufficient honor and does not provide sufficient insight into his real personality.

With today’s prediction toward conformity, excessive stress is being placed on the qualities of the “common” man. Former President Hoover has aptly stated that what this nation needs is more “uncommon” men. General McBride was such an “uncommon” man-in the substantive rather than generic sense of the word. Those of the 80th Division who survived the vicissitudes of war can thank God for his uncommonness and for his indisputably high qualities of leadership.

Those who have served their nation in the armed forces often find it an impossible task to describe military matters in a comprehensive form to those who have always been civilians. In trying to describe the duties and responsibilities of a combat infantry division commanding general to our laymen friends we have found the following analogy to be generally successful: An infantry division commander’s duties can best be compared with those of a president of a large corporation comprised of anywhere from 14,000 to 18,000 employees-but with several key enlargements. The infantry division commander – just as the successful corporation president – must see to it that all of his employees (troops) are utilizing their maximum abilities at all times; they must be producing (fighting) with such effectiveness that the corporation (division) will realize a net profit (victory) during the fiscal year. Compounding the problems faced by a division commander over those of a corporation executive is the fact that the division commander must not only see that his men are supplied with the basic raw materials (ammunition) but also must provide for their food, their clothing, their housing (albeit in foxholes) and even their recreation.

But, overriding all other considerations is the fact that a division commanding general-unlike a corporation president-is permitted no margin for error because he is dealing in human lives and a major tactical error on his part will wipe out not only the profits (victory) for his organization but also will result in the death of thousands of his troops. A further awesome burden to be borne by a division commander is knowledge of the irrefutable fact that to be successful to any major degree in combat the victory can be achieved only at the cost of a considerable number of lives. It takes a man of rare ability and equanimity to achieve success in combat when faced with such an accumulation of foreboding problems. General McBride was such a man!

Published in Blue Ridge, The Service Magazine Official Publication of the 80th Division Veterans Association.

Obituary: Transcribed verbatim from the newspaper copy by R H Nelson, Akron Ohio.Orlando Sentinel, Friday November 16, 1962.

Lieutenant General Horace Logan McBride, 68, Bear Gully Lake, Maltland, died Wednesday. He had been a member of the military colony here since his retirement in 1954.

General McBride was a 1918 graduate of West Point and took part in the Meuse-Argonne offensive in France in World War I as a battalion commander in the 91st Division.

Between World Wars I and II, he held posts in the U.S., the Philippines, and the Panama Canal Zone.

In March 1943 he was appointed commander of the 80th Infantry Division, which joined the third Army in Normandy in August 1944, and participated in the sweep across France, Luxembourg and Germany and at the close of hostilities contacted the Russian Army in Austria.

After the war, General McBride organized the U.S. Army Group of the American mission to Turkey and from 1947 to 1950 headed the joint Military mission to Turkey.

He was commandant of the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from 1950 to 1952 and then took over as chief of the Caribbean Command.

General McBride held the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Silver Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Bronze Star and decorations from Poland, Belgium, France, Brazil, Chile, Panama, the Soviet Union and Luxembourg.

He was a native of Madison, Nebraska.

Wife, Irene; mother Mrs. Carrie Wood, Elgin Nebraska, sister, Mrs. M.H. Taylor, San Diego, California survive.
Services will be conducted at 3p.m. Friday at Arlington National Cemetery  Cox-Parker Funeral Home is in charge.

Horace Logan McBrideNO. 5498 CLASS OF 1916 USMADied 14 November 1962 at the USAF Hospital, Orlando AFB, Florida, aged 68 years.Interment: Arlington National Cemetery

Of all the men who graduated in the Class of 1916, none established a more brilliant military career than Horace McBride. He served overseas in both World Wars: 1917 – 1918 as a Captain and Major of Field Artillery; 1944-1947 as a Major General commanding the 80th Infantry Division and later as a Lieutenant General   in command of the 20th Corps.

Mac, as he was affectionately known by those who knew and understood him, was born in Nebraska, 28 June 1894. He entered the U. S. Military Academy June 1912 and graduated June 1916. The Field Artillery was his first love and he was true to it throughout his entire active career-as a student, instructor and administrator Mac ex- celled. He was a non-conformist, probing constantly for new and better methods of supporting the “doughboy”, at the same time preparing himself to be ready to shoulder the great responsibility that was later thrust upon him. Mac was a practical thinker, not a dreamer; he possessed both physical and moral courage; he brooked no compromise. He knew his job and set a high standard for those serving with him. Never a diplomat, just a straightforward, hard-hitting Scotsman with a dry wit and sense of humor, not always understood by some of his subordinates. He was highly respected for his military knowledge, common sense and, above all. for his leadership. Following his death, the Service Magazine of his 80th Division paid him the following tribute.

“With today’s prediction toward conformity, excessive stress is being placed on the qualities of the ‘common’ man. Former President Hoover has aptly stated that what this nation needs is more ‘uncommon’ men. General McBride was such an ‘uncommon’ man – in the substantive rather than generic sense of the word. Those of the 80th Division who survived the vicissitudes of war can thank God for his uncommonness and for his indisputably high qualities of leadership.

“The 80th Division under General McBride’s leadership in 277 days of fierce and bloody combat never failed to attain a major objective; in the process captured more than 212,000 enemy troops and accomplished its objectives at the lowest possible rate of attrition of 80th division personnel. The best proof of the successful results of the 80th Division endeavors was the high accolade paid to General McBride and the division by General Patton when he said in his postwar book ‘Whenever we turned the 80th on anything we always knew the objective would be attained!’ “
Mac would have cherished this tribute more than the many decorations he received from his own country as well as many foreign countries.

After the defeat of Germany he became chief of the U. S. Army Group of the American Mission for Aid to Turkey, August 1947, with station at Ankara. The friendship between our country and Turkey was influenced by the successful accomplishments of this mission in which the military under his command played a significant part.

Upon his return to the United States, he became commandant of the Command and General Staff College following which he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Caribbean Command with station at Quarry Heights, Canal Zone. This was his final station from which he retired from active service on June 30, 1954. Upon retirement he I and his wife settled in Maitland, Florida.

He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Carrie McBride Wood, Elgin, Nebraska; a sister, Mrs. M. H. Taylor, San Diego, California and his wife Irene, of Maitland, Florida.

Source: Transcribed from Summer 1963 edition of Assembly Magazine (VOLXXII, no. 2) USMA..  Scanned copy provided by USMA Library, West Point NY. R H Nelson, Akron Ohio, July 2006

5498 HORACE LOGAN McBRIDE (B-Neb 28 Jun 1894; A-Neb) 22Horace Logan McBride, Born June 28, 1894.

Copied from Biographical Registers of the Officers and Graduates of USMA – USMA Library On-Line

Military History:

Cadet at the Military Academy, June 14, 1912, to June 13, 1916, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to Second Lieutenant, 8th Field Artillery.

First Lieutenant, 8th Field Artillery, July 1, 1916.
Served: At Fort Bliss, Texas, With Regiment, September 13, 1916, to (Captain Of Field Artillery, May 15, 1917) May 26, 1917;
At Camp Robinson, Sparta, Wisconsin, May 31 to June 9;
At Fort Myer, Virginia, Instructor at Reserve Officers’ Training Camp, June 11 to August 22, and with Training Battalion, 6th Field Artillery, August 22 to December 10;
En route to France, Dec. 12 to 25, 1917;
Commanding battery and battalion Field Artillery Replacement Regiment, La Courtine, to February 26, 1918;
1st Corps School, Gondrecourt, February 27, to March 31, 1918;
Army Artillery Headquarters, Bar-Sur-Aube, April 1, to May 26, 1918;
Office, Chief of Artillery, General Headquarters, April 27, 1918, to (Major Of Field Artillery, National Army, July 3, 1918) August 7, 1918;
Commanding 2nd Battalion, 347th Field Artillery, 166th FA Brig, 91st Division, August 8, 1918, to February 10, 1919;
Provost Marshal-General Department, February 11, 1919, to June 12, 1919;
At The Hague, Holland, Assistant Military Attache, June 13, 1919, to October, 1919;
At Warsaw, Poland, Assistant Military Attache, Octoner 18, 1919, to (Returned To Grade Of Captain), June 30, 1920,
Major Of Field Artillery, March 18, 1921.
(Major, F.A., August 19, 1926.)
At Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, Instr., Dept. of Tactics, F.A. School, September, 1928 to June, 1931;
En route to station to December 25, 1931;
At Manila, P.I., 24th F.A., to Jan. 18, 1935;
En route to U.S., to May 5, 1935;
At Ft. Myer, Virginia, 16th F.A., 4 th Div, to Sept. 2, 1935;
At Washington, D.C., student off.,A.W.C., to June 24, 1936, en route to station to July 31, 1936;
At Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, Instr. C. & G.S. School, to (Lieutenant Colonel, F.A., July 1, 1937) April 30, 1940;
En route to Canal Zone, to –
Ft Clayton CZ, CO 2 FA Bn, May 40-Jun 41;
G-3 PCD, – (Colonel AUS 26 June 41) to 10 April 42;
Washington DC, Hq AGF of Spec Tps, to May 42;
Camp Forrest Tenn, CG 80 Div Arty, to (Brigadier General AUS 23 May 42) March 43;
CG 80 Inf Div, to (Major General AUS 15 Mar 43) Jul 44;
ETO, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany,
CG 80 Inf Div,  – (Colonel, FA 1 Aug 44) – (DSM 2SS LM BSM CR)-Sep 45;
CG 20 Corps, – (ETO) 1 October 45 – 9 February 46;
CG 9 Inf Div, -31 March 1946 to 15 January 47;
Boston Massachusetts, CG 1 SvC, 13 February – 8 August 47;
Ankara Turkey, C Jt Mil Msn Aid Turkey, 9 August 47
Foriegn Medals: Cross of the Brave (Poland); Legion of Honor, degree of Officer (France); Croix de Guerre w/Palm and Star (France); Croix de Guerre (Luxembourg); Croix de Guerre (Belgium); Order of Alexander Nevsky (Russia); Order of War of the Fatherland (Russia)

From Hard copy of Register of Graduates USMA 1954
ChUSAGT 47: Lieutenant General 52:
CinC HqCarCmd 52: Ret 1954 Lieutenant General
11714 Lakeside Dr Merritt Park, Orlando Florida

Accumulated by R H Nelson, Akron Ohio from the USMA Library

Horace Logan, Lieutenant-General
(1894-1962)
1942 – 1943 Commanding Officer Artillery 80th Division
1943 – 1944 Commanding General 80th Division, North-West Europe
1945 – 1946 Commanding General XX Corps
1946 – 1947 Commanding General 9th Division
1950 – 1952 Commandant Command & General Staff College
1952 – 1954 Commander in Chief Caribbean Command

MC BRIDE, HORACE LOGAN
LT GEN USA

  • DATE OF BIRTH: 06/28/1894
  • DATE OF DEATH: 11/14/1962
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 2  SITE 1232 L H
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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