Edgar Jadwin – Major General, United States Army

Courtesy of the United States Army

Major General Edgar Jadwin Chief of Engineers
(June 27, 1926-August 7, 1929)

Born August 7, 1865, in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, Edgar Jadwin graduated first in the Military Academy class of 1890 and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers.

He served with engineer troops in 1891-95 and was lieutenant colonel of the 3d U.S.  Volunteer Engineers in the Spanish-American War. After serving as district engineer at the expanding ports of Los Angeles and Galveston, he was selected by General Goethals as an assistant in the construction of the Panama Canal.

  Jadwin served in 1911-16 in the Office of the Chief of Engineers focusing on bridge and road matters.   Upon the United States’ entry into World War I in 1917, he recruited the 15th Engineers, a railway construction regiment, and led it to France.   He directed American construction and forestry work there for a year and received the Distinguished Service Medal.   President Wilson appointed Jadwin to investigate conditions in Poland in 1919. In 1922-24 Jadwin headed the Corps’ Charleston District and Southeast Division. He then served two years as Assistant Chief of Engineers. As Chief of Engineers he sponsored the plan for Mississippi River flood control that was adopted by Congress in May 1928.   Jadwin retired as a lieutenant general, August 7, 1929.

He died in Gorgas Hospital in the Canal Zone on March 2, 1931, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard