USMA Class of 1884. Cullum No. 3031.
He was the son of James W. Lewis and Anna Kendall Lewis.
On October 21, 1886 as Isaac Lewis, he married Mary Wheatley at Manhattan, New York.
They were the parents of four children.
Inventor, scientist, military officer. He invented the Lewis machine gun which was light and simply constructed. It was immediately accepted by the British, but ignored by the United States Army. He made a dramatic appeal to the Senate Military Affairs Committee and wept during his testimony as he described the rebuffs by the War Department. During World War I more than 100,000 of the guns were used by the allied forces, changing the face of modern warfare. The British government detached 500,000 men from active duty to train them in the use of the weapon and they were even used by aviators. The Lewis machine gun was credited with bringing down the first Zeppelin in the war. He earned millions in royalties from the Lewis machine gun during World War I. He was an 1884 graduate of the United States Military Academy. He was on active duty for 29 years, retiring for disability incurred in the line of duty with the rank of Colonel in 1913. He was the first Commanding Officer of Fort Casey in Washington State which was constructed for the defense of the coast of Puget Sound. He also invented a depression range finder for use in firing artillery. In 1896 the Board of Ordnance and Fortification advised it be adopted and it became the basis for the artillery fire control installed in all American coastal defense installations. Other inventions of his were also utilized by the Army – a telescope for big gun position finding, mechanical verniers for angle reading instruments, an automatic light for cannon, a plotting board for accurate replotting and vessel tracking, an electrical dial for transmitting ballistic data, an electrical device for charging storage batteries and an electric clock and bell for use in fire control installations. He was the inventor of a system of electric lights for railway cars that relied on a self-regulating dynamo operated from the train car axle. He also invented a system of electric lighting for rural homes using windmills as well as the differentially wound dynamo in general use at the time of his death. He was a member of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, an Associate of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and a member of the Union League and Lawyers' clubs of New York.
He was the son of James W. Lewis and Anna Kendall Lewis.
On October 21, 1886 as Isaac Lewis, he married Mary Wheatley at Manhattan, New York.
They were the parents of four children.
Inventor, scientist, military officer. He invented the Lewis machine gun which was light and simply constructed. It was immediately accepted by the British, but ignored by the United States Army. He made a dramatic appeal to the Senate Military Affairs Committee and wept during his testimony as he described the rebuffs by the War Department. During World War I more than 100,000 of the guns were used by the allied forces, changing the face of modern warfare. The British government detached 500,000 men from active duty to train them in the use of the weapon and they were even used by aviators. The Lewis machine gun was credited with bringing down the first Zeppelin in the war. He earned millions in royalties from the Lewis machine gun during World War I. He was an 1884 graduate of the United States Military Academy. He was on active duty for 29 years, retiring for disability incurred in the line of duty with the rank of Colonel in 1913. He was the first Commanding Officer of Fort Casey in Washington State which was constructed for the defense of the coast of Puget Sound. He also invented a depression range finder for use in firing artillery. In 1896 the Board of Ordnance and Fortification advised it be adopted and it became the basis for the artillery fire control installed in all American coastal defense installations. Other inventions of his were also utilized by the Army – a telescope for big gun position finding, mechanical verniers for angle reading instruments, an automatic light for cannon, a plotting board for accurate replotting and vessel tracking, an electrical dial for transmitting ballistic data, an electrical device for charging storage batteries and an electric clock and bell for use in fire control installations. He was the inventor of a system of electric lights for railway cars that relied on a self-regulating dynamo operated from the train car axle. He also invented a system of electric lighting for rural homes using windmills as well as the differentially wound dynamo in general use at the time of his death. He was a member of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, an Associate of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and a member of the Union League and Lawyers' clubs of New York.
USMA Class of 1884. Cullum No. 3031.
He was the son of James W. Lewis and Anna Kendall Lewis.
On October 21, 1886 as Isaac Lewis, he married Mary Wheatley at Manhattan, New York.
They were the parents of four children.
Inventor, scientist, military officer. He invented the Lewis machine gun which was light and simply constructed. It was immediately accepted by the British, but ignored by the United States Army. He made a dramatic appeal to the Senate Military Affairs Committee and wept during his testimony as he described the rebuffs by the War Department. During World War I more than 100,000 of the guns were used by the allied forces, changing the face of modern warfare. The British government detached 500,000 men from active duty to train them in the use of the weapon and they were even used by aviators. The Lewis machine gun was credited with bringing down the first Zeppelin in the war. He earned millions in royalties from the Lewis machine gun during World War I. He was an 1884 graduate of the United States Military Academy. He was on active duty for 29 years, retiring for disability incurred in the line of duty with the rank of Colonel in 1913. He was the first Commanding Officer of Fort Casey in Washington State which was constructed for the defense of the coast of Puget Sound. He also invented a depression range finder for use in firing artillery. In 1896 the Board of Ordnance and Fortification advised it be adopted and it became the basis for the artillery fire control installed in all American coastal defense installations. Other inventions of his were also utilized by the Army – a telescope for big gun position finding, mechanical verniers for angle reading instruments, an automatic light for cannon, a plotting board for accurate replotting and vessel tracking, an electrical dial for transmitting ballistic data, an electrical device for charging storage batteries and an electric clock and bell for use in fire control installations. He was the inventor of a system of electric lights for railway cars that relied on a self-regulating dynamo operated from the train car axle. He also invented a system of electric lighting for rural homes using windmills as well as the differentially wound dynamo in general use at the time of his death. He was a member of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, an Associate of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and a member of the Union League and Lawyers' clubs of New York.
He was the son of James W. Lewis and Anna Kendall Lewis.
On October 21, 1886 as Isaac Lewis, he married Mary Wheatley at Manhattan, New York.
They were the parents of four children.
Inventor, scientist, military officer. He invented the Lewis machine gun which was light and simply constructed. It was immediately accepted by the British, but ignored by the United States Army. He made a dramatic appeal to the Senate Military Affairs Committee and wept during his testimony as he described the rebuffs by the War Department. During World War I more than 100,000 of the guns were used by the allied forces, changing the face of modern warfare. The British government detached 500,000 men from active duty to train them in the use of the weapon and they were even used by aviators. The Lewis machine gun was credited with bringing down the first Zeppelin in the war. He earned millions in royalties from the Lewis machine gun during World War I. He was an 1884 graduate of the United States Military Academy. He was on active duty for 29 years, retiring for disability incurred in the line of duty with the rank of Colonel in 1913. He was the first Commanding Officer of Fort Casey in Washington State which was constructed for the defense of the coast of Puget Sound. He also invented a depression range finder for use in firing artillery. In 1896 the Board of Ordnance and Fortification advised it be adopted and it became the basis for the artillery fire control installed in all American coastal defense installations. Other inventions of his were also utilized by the Army – a telescope for big gun position finding, mechanical verniers for angle reading instruments, an automatic light for cannon, a plotting board for accurate replotting and vessel tracking, an electrical dial for transmitting ballistic data, an electrical device for charging storage batteries and an electric clock and bell for use in fire control installations. He was the inventor of a system of electric lights for railway cars that relied on a self-regulating dynamo operated from the train car axle. He also invented a system of electric lighting for rural homes using windmills as well as the differentially wound dynamo in general use at the time of his death. He was a member of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, an Associate of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and a member of the Union League and Lawyers' clubs of New York.
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