William L . Sibert William Luther Sibert ( October 12 , 1860 – October 16 , 1935 ) was a United States Army officer with the rank of Major General , who commanded the 1st Infantry Division during World War I . He was also commander of the Chemical Warfare Service after the War and today , Sibert is considered as a “ father of the US Army Chemical Corps ” . Biography . William Luther Sibert was born in Gadsden , Alabama on October 12 , 1860 . After attending the University of Alabama from 1879 to 1880 , he entered the U . S . Military Academy and was appointed a Second Lieutenant of Engineers on June 15 , 1884 . His appointment was a distinction as only the top 10 percent of each West Point class was then commissioned in the Engineers . He graduated from the Engineer School of Applications in 1887 and went on to hold several Engineer positions in the United States and overseas . In 1899 , he was assigned as the Chief Engineer of the 8th Army Corps and the Chief Engineer and General Manager of the Manila and Dagupan Railroad during the Philippine Insurrection . Later , he returned to the United States where he was in charge of river and harbor districts and headquarters in Louisville and Pittsburgh . From 1907 through 1914 , Sibert was a member of the Panama Canal Commission and was responsible for the building of a number of critical parts of the Panama Canal , including the Gatun Locks and Dam , the West Breakwater in Colon , and the channel from Gatun Lake to the Pacific Ocean . On March 15 , 1915 , General Sibert was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General . Following the United States entry into the First World War in 1917 , BG Sibert deployed with the initial elements of the American Expeditionary Force ( AEF ) and was placed in charge of the 1st Infantry Division " the Big Red One " once in France . The division having been newly organized under AEF commander , General John J . Pershing . Sibert led the division during its initial training by French and British forces . Sibert was relieved by General John J . Pershing before the Division ' s deployment to the front . Pershing was dissatisfied with the Division ' s progress and elevated Brigadier General Robert Lee Bullard to replace Sibert . Sibert was returned to the United States and in January 1918 , where he become the commanding General of the US Army Corps of Engineers Southeastern Department located at Charleston , South Carolina . When the War Department created the Chemical Warfare Service ( CWS ) later that spring , Pershing was asked to name a general officer to head it . Pershing recommended Sibert to the War Department . Following his assignment to the CWS on June 28 , 1918 , he was advanced to the rank of Major General . Siebert led the CWS from May 1918 to February 1920 . As commander of the CWS he oversaw the production of America ' s first chemical warfare agent , Lewisite , and the development of the US Army ' s chemical defense equipment , including the first US protective ( or " gas " ) masks , the M - 1 and M - 2 . Today the US Army considers him the “ father of the US Army Chemical Corps ” because he was the first commander of the CWS . Sibert retired from active duty in February 1920 and settled in Bowling Green , Kentucky . Following his retirement from the Army , Sibert led the modernization of the docks and waterways in Mobile , Alabama and served on the Presidential Commission that led to the building of Hoover Dam . He was elected to the University of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 1961 . Sibert married Mary Margaret Cummings in September 1887 , with whom he had five sons and one daughter . After Mary ' s death in 1915 , General Sibert married Juliette Roberts in June 1917 . She died 15 months later and in 1922 Sibert married Evelyn Clyne Bairnsfather of Edinburg , Scotland who remained his wife until his death on October 16 , 1935 in Bowling Green . General Sibert is buried at Arlington National Cemetery . Two of his two sons , Edwin L . Sibert and Franklin C . Sibert , each retired as Major Generals in the Army .