WASHINGTON, July 3, 1920 – Brigadier General William L. Marshall, U.S.A., retired, discovered of the Marshall Pass across the Rocky Mountains and constructor of the Ambrose Channel in New York Harbor, died here last night in an Army hospital after a short illness.  Services were held today followed by burial in Arlington National Cemetery.

General Marshall was Chief of Engineers from 1908 to 1910, when he retired and became a consulting engineer to the Reclamation Service.  He was born at Washington, Kentucky, in 1846 and after fighting in the Civil War as a cavalry Private gained admission to West Point.  His long career in the Engineer Corps included many important works in the West and Middle West.  He built levees on the Mississippi, harbor improvements on Lake Michigan, constructed the Hennepin Canal and did much exploration in the region of the Rockies.

He was sent to New York in 1900 to take charge of the fortifications at the eastern and southern entrances of the harbor and to improve the main channels thereof.  It was then that he widened the eastern passage so that ships the size of the Mauretania could enter.

General Marshall was the inventory of various automatic moveable dams, lock gates and valves.  He was a giant in stature, weighing more than three hundred pounds and in 1907 was excused from taking the 90-mile military horsemanship test.

Webmaster: Michael Robert Patterson