The Bozeman courier., 1927-10-21
H1NO

rONTANANS learned with regret the
MI other day Of the passing in Wash
lWE ingtOn, D. c., of Brig. Gen. Lloyd
NJ Brett. General Brett was not
only the last of the military superintend-
ents of Yellowstone national park but
he was Unidentified with Montana mill
tary life when he was an officer under
Gen. Nelson A. Miles during the Indian
war period. He first came to this state
in 1887. He married Miss Elma Wallace,
a Montana girl.
His death was due to arterio sclerosis.
A heart attack suffered two weeks prior
to his passing, Immediately after his re-
turn from Pittsburgh, Pa, where he had
attended a reunion of veterans Of the
Both division, with whom he served as
brigade commander during the World
war led to his transfer to the Walter
Reed hospital in Washington. He was In
his 72nd year.
Ends Distinguished Career
The death of General Brett brings to
an end a distinguished military career
which began in the spring Of 1879, when
with other members Of his graduating
class at West Point, he rode into the
West as a young lieutenant Of cavalry to
Join the command Of General Miles in
the Indians campaigns 1t was in keeping
with his life as a soldier that he died
with his boots on for most of his SER
vice was in the field and much Of it with
combat troops. After his statutory re-
tirement in 1922, with 43 years in the
army behind him, he was appointed ad-
jutant general Of the District Of Column
bia militia and when death took him he
was still on duty.
A few weeks ago General Brett, COM
plimented by a friend upon his general
healthful and soldierly appearance des-
pite his II years, replied that his earlier
life as a soldier in the field was beginn-
ing to take its toll. He recalled that in
ion
stricken with tropical fever, and that in
the Philippines a prolonged attack OF
dySentery, due to the rigorS of the cl1-
mate, the food and an ailment common
among soldiers at the time, had come
near costing him his life and had drained
to some extent his reserve vitality.
But his well regulated habits, mat
ter upon which he prided himself, saw
him through earlier hardships and saw
ed him for valuable service to his coun-
try in France.
Commanded Combat Troops
As a commander of combat troops III
the World war General Brett not Onl!
won for himself the repeated praise o.
his superiOrs, but in the eyes Of his sol
diers became a beloved hero and idol
Few of the general officers who com
manded troops in France so completed.
won the hearts of men under them, ant
few of them enjoyed such confidence
An officer who served with General Bret
recalls the picture of a private wht
tramped to brigade headquarters iron
his regiment 10 miles away to "see tn
general" Inquiries were made as to hi
reasons, and the soldier cOnfided to tn
officer that he wanted to borrow franc
from General Brett; that General Bret
was the one officer in the world VIII
would lend it to him General Brett
troops were recruited mainly from Wes
Virginia and from the vicinity of Pitts
bUrgh. His death brings a pang Of NOR
than ordinary sorrow to thousands of eX
service men in that region, as we'll as
his hundreds of friends in Washington
General Brett was a medal of homo
man." but it was characteristic of hi
mOdesty that ne would never allow him
self to be drawn or enticed into tellin
the story Of how he won this most hon
Orable and rare Of American decoration
At his mess in France the officers VIII
were members of his staff, and who cam
to know him intimately, never cease
their efforts to make the general tai
about it, But they never succeeded
There remains the bare citation: "FC
most distinguished gallantry in actiO
against Sioux Indians near OFalloT
creek, Mont, April 1, 1880, by fearle