Some of the military features of the Panama Canal; military lecture by Brigadier General Wm. L. Sibe
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Report of Board of Engineers On the Huai River Conservancy Project in the Provinces of Kiangsu and Anhui, China
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The construction of the Panama canal - Scholar's Choice Edition
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Report of Board of Engineers On the Huai River Conservancy Project in the Provinces of Kiangsu and Anhui, China - Primary Source Edition
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
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(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
William Luther Sibert was a senior United States Army officer who commanded the 1st Division on the Western Front during World War I.
Background
William Luther Sibert was born on October 12, 1860 at Gadsden, in what is now Etowah County, Alabama, eldest son of William J. and Marietta (Ward) Sibert. His great-grandfather, who, by family tradition, came from Alsace-Lorraine, was a South Carolina Revolutionary soldier, whose son moved to Alabama.
Education
William attended rural schools until he was fourteen, when financial difficulties confined him to work on his family's farm. Three years later conditions improved, and after a year of tutoring he entered the University of Alabama (1878). From there he was appointed to the United States Military Academy, entering in 1880 and graduating in 1884, number seven in his class. This ranking afforded him a commission as second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, and there followed the usual three years at the Engineer School of Application.
Career
In 1887 he was assigned to river and harbor engineering around Cincinnati and the following year was given what amounted to independent responsibility in repairing the locks and dams on the Green and Barren rivers in Kentucky. His next assignment took him to the waterways of the Great Lakes region, following which, in August 1894, he was given independent command of the river and harbor district at Little Rock, Ark.
The outbreak of the Spanish-American War found him here. Lack of appropriations had momentarily slowed the work, and Sibert saw opportunity of field service. He had been a captain since March 31, 1896, and he now applied for a lieutenant-colonelcy in one of the volunteer regiments being formed. There were no vacancies, however, and in September 1898 he returned to the Engineer School as an instructor in civil engineering.
It was a tantalizing period, but it ended the following summer when he was ordered to the Philippines and duty in the field. Sibert, commanding a company of engineer troops, arrived at Manila in August 1899 and at once entered upon the work of reconstructing the Manila & Dagupan Railway.
Shortly afterward he was appointed chief engineer of the VIII Army Corps and a member of the staff of Gen. Elwell S. Otis. Although he played a highly creditable part in several military expeditions on the Island of Luzon, the bulk of his work continued to be with the railway, its entire operation later being placed in his hands. In April 1900 it was transferred to the original owners and Sibert returned to the United States. For almost seven years thereafter he was engaged in improving navigation on the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela rivers.
Here his skill and foresight brought him considerable recognition and led eventually to several important developments, notably a nine-foot channel in the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Cairo. But this was not accomplished without several sharp clashes with industrial concerns and railways whose bridges and plants he felt obstructed river navigation. Sibert proved a stubborn adversary and this, together with other forthright actions at this period, gained him the notice of President Theodore Roosevelt, who, in March 1907, appointed him a member of the newly reorganized Isthmian Canal Commission, headed by George W. Goethals.
Sibert's part in the construction of what was to become the Panama Canal was for the first year confined to the locks, dams, and regulating works; but after June 30, 1908, he was given charge of the Atlantic Division, which embraced all construction north of Gatun Lake. His greatest problem proved to be with the locks and dam at Gatun and in successfully overcoming this he came into occasional conflict with his chief, Colonel Goethals.
This was to be expected in so gigantic and novel an engineering project, but the principal criticism leveled at Sibert was for his unwillingness to restrict his opinions to the halls of the commission. One such episode led members of that body to report to the secretary of war that he was openly disloyal to the entire project and almost led to his removal.
He was sustained, however, by the chief of engineers and continued his work until the abolishment of the commission, April 1, 1914. In the meantime Sibert had been promoted major (1904) and lieutenant-colonel (1909). Upon his return from Panama he was lent to the American Red Cross to serve on a committee sent to China to study conditions in the Huai River valley and formulate a plan for flood prevention. A careful report was submitted but the outbreak of the First World War prevented further action. There followed for Sibert a short period of river and harbor work.
By the act of Congress of March 4, 1915, the members of the Isthmian Commission were given the thanks of that body and he, the rank of brigadier-general. This removed him from the Corps of Engineers and placed him in a line command for which he was not especially trained.
For a while he commanded the Coast Artillery on the Pacific seaboard. Upon the entry of the United States into the war, he was promoted major-general (May 15, 1917) and given the 16t Division, which he took to France that June.
For his new duties his career as an engineer did not particularly fit him, and on December 14, 1917, he was relieved of his command.
He returned to the United States and in May 1918 was assigned the more congenial task of organizing a Chemical Warfare Service for the army. By the end of hostilities he had succeeded in establishing an integrated service out of the chaotic mélange with which he had started.
On April 4, 1920, after forty years' active military service, he retired to his farm near Bowling Green, Kentucky. Three years later he was persuaded to accept the chairmanship of the Alabama State Docks Commission, then engaged in building an ocean terminal at Mobile. This and other work of a consultative nature - notably as chairman of the Boulder Dam Commission, 1928 - kept him busy for almost ten years.
He died on his Kentucky farm following a long period of illness.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
Personality
He was over six feet tall and his powerful physique commanded respect.
He was essentially methodical and Goethals thought him overcautious and rather fearful of responsibility; but there were occasions where he demonstrated that he could act swiftly and with decision.
Connections
Sibert was thrice married: first, in September 1887, at Brownsville, Texas, to Mary Margaret Cummings, of Portland, Maine; second, in June 1917, to Juliette Roberts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and third, in June 1922, to Evelyn Clyne Bairns-father, of Edinburgh, Scotland. By his first wife he had five sons, William Olin, Franklin Cummings, Harold Ward, Edwin Luther, and Martin David, and one daughter, Mary Elizabeth. Four of his sons saw service in the First World War.