Willard Herbert Brownson was born on July 8, 1845 in Lyons, Wayne County, New York. He was the third child and second son of the five children of Morton and Harriet J. (Taft) Brownson. Both parents were of New England ancestry; the father was an iron manufacturer. His line of descent has been traced to the Englishman Richard Brownson, one of the first settlers of Hartford County, Connecticut. The mother was a distant relation of President W. H. Taft.
On November 29, 1861, Willard was appointed acting midshipman at the Naval Academy, then at Newport, Rhode Island, and in the following year his title was changed to midshipman. Since the practice cruises during the Civil War were often made in search of the enemy, he had a taste of actual warfare. In September 1865, when some of the school ships were returning to Annapolis, he was ordered, in preference to other members of his class, to a responsible position on board the yacht America (Log of the Macedonian, August-September 1865, United States Naval Academy Library).
On October 10 Brownson was graduated twenty-eighth in a class of fifty-four. For two years he was with the North Atlantic Squadron. From 1868 to 1871 he was on the Pacific Station, a part of the time on board the flagship Ossipee.
In 1870, when executive officer of the Mohican, he commanded a cutting-out expedition up the Teacapan River in Mexico which captured and burned the piratical vessel Forward, with the loss of two men killed and seven wounded. His commander commended him for his "ability and gallantry. "
In the meantime he had been made an ensign, 1866; master, 1868, and lieutenant, 1869. In 1875 he was sent with a draft of men to the Asiatic Station where he remained three years as senior lieutenant, at first of the Kearsarge, and later of the flagship Tennessee. As a lieutenant commander, a rank that he attained in 1880, he was for several years with the Coast and Geodetic Survey as commander of surveying vessels or as hydrographic inspector. While in command of the Petrel, of the North Atlantic Station, 1889-91, he was in the latter year commissioned commander.
In 1892 he took command of the Dolphin, on special service, and in the following year was transferred to the Detroit and sent to the South Atlantic Station. At Rio de Janeiro, in January 1894, where the most powerful American fleet since the Civil War was assembled on account of the revolt of the Brazilian navy, Brownson had the leading part, under his commander-in-chief, in opening the port to American commerce, an action commended by Congress.
In March 1898, in anticipation of a war with Spain, he was sent to Europe to buy ships and on his return was placed in command of the auxiliary cruiser Yankee, which after some preliminary duties patrolling the American coast joined the blockading squadron off Cuba and was employed in the bombardment of Santiago and the occupation of Guantanamo. After engagements with the enemy off Cienfuegos and near Casilda she captured and burned five fishing vessels in the vicinity of the Isle of Pines.
In recognition of his services in the war Brownson was awarded the Spanish Campaign and Sampson medals. Commissioned captain from March 3, 1899, he was in the following year placed in command of the battleship Alabama. Subsequently he became superintendent of the Naval Academy, an assignment that crowned a considerable service there--instructor in mathematics, 1872-75; assistant to the commandant of cadets, 1878-81; and commandant of cadets, 1894-95. The period of his superintendence, 1902-05, is notable in academy annals for the advancement of the work of rebuilding the physical plant. In 1936 a handsome mural in memory of Brownson was unveiled in Memorial Hall.
Soon after attaining the rank of rear admiral, May 6, 1905, he hoisted his flag on board the West Virginia as commander of the Fourth Division North Atlantic Fleet and in the following year attained the pinnacle of his career as commander-in-chief of the Asiatic Fleet, having previously for a few months commanded the Special Service Squadron.
On his return to the United States in 1907 he was appointed chief of the Bureau of Navigation, a shore duty that is regarded second to none; and when he was retired from the navy, July 8, he was by order of President Roosevelt continued as chief of the bureau.
In December he came into sharp disagreement with Surgeon-General P. M. Rixey over the placing of a medical officer in command of the hospital ship Relief, and when the President supported Rixey Brownson resigned as chief, thus ending his long naval service, according to the line officers, "in a blaze of glory. "
He died in Washington, D. C. , of bronchopneumonia.
Achieving the rank of Captain in 1899, Brownson took command of the battleship Alabama (BB-8), and from 1902 to 1905 was Superintendent of the Naval Academy. He was then promoted to Rear Admiral in 1905, when he hoisted his flag on board West Virginia (ACR-5) as Commander, 4th Division, North Atlantic Fleet. He served as Commander, Special Service Squadron in Central American Waters and became Commander-in-Chief of the Asiatic Fleet 15 October 1906. Brownson successfully participated in the following military affairs: battle of Boca Teacapan, Brazilian Naval revolt, Rio de Janeiro affair, Spanish–American War, battle of Guantánamo Bay. Brownson had the distinction, unusual for a naval officer, of making a private fortune (at one time running to five figures), a success that led to his election to a directorship in the International Nickel Company.
Slender, under average height, neat in appearance, Willard Brownson was robust even in extreme old age. He was an excellent sailor and disciplinarian, a natural leader, afloat or ashore.
His marriage to Isabella King Roberts occurred on July 10, 1872, at Yonkers, New York. Three of his six children grew to maturity, Roswell Roberts, Harriet, and Caroline Robinson.
