Edmund L . Gruber Edmund Louis " Snitz " Gruber ( November 11 , 1879 - May 30 , 1941 ) was an artillery officer and general in the United States Army who also gained popularity as composer of military music . He served as Commandant of the Command and General Staff College from October 1940 to May 1941 . Life and career . Edmund Louis Gruber was born in Cincinnati , Ohio . His family had a musical background . His ancestor , Franz Gruber , composed the music to the classic Christmas song " Silent Night . " 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 Riley at Junction City , Kansas ; Fort Douglas , Utah ; and the first Fort D . A . Russell ( later called Fort Francis E . Warren ) at Cheyenne , Wyoming , 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 at Leavenworth , Kansas , 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 at Lawton , Oklahoma , 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 at Macon , 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 . , 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 at Lyndon , Kentucky . 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 at Fayetteville , North Carolina . 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 at Essex Junction , Vermont , 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 Medal , 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 . The camp was named " Camp Gruber , " 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 . Fort Bragg also named one of its major roads after General Gruber .