29th Quartermaster General

Louis Hermann Bash was born at Chicago, Illinois, in 1872. He graduated from West Point in 1895 and was assigned to the Infantry.

During the Spanish-American War, he served in Cuba where he participated in the assault on San Juan Hill and in the siege of Santiago and was recommended for promotion for gallantry in action. He was awarded a Silver Star Citation for gallantry in action against Spanish Forces at Santiago, Cuba, July 1, 1898.

In 1898 he was promoted to first lieutenant and the following year accompanied his regiment to the Philippines where he served almost continuously until 1907. He participated in many engagements and expeditions and was commended for his services both by his colonel and General J. Franklin Bell. He was promoted to captain in 1901. From 1905 to 1909 he served in the Commissary Department. With the exception of a short detail in the Subsistence Department, General Bash served in the Infantry until World War I, accompanying the 6th Infantry with the Mexican Punitive Expedition. He was promoted to major in 1916.

During Word War I, General Bash went overseas with the 16th Infantry of the First Division as a major. He was promoted colonel (temporary) in 1917 and assigned to the Service of Supply (SOS) and after commanding Base Section 5 until 1918, he was made Adjutant of the SOS.

For his service in World War I he earned the Distinguished Service Medal. The citation reads as follows:

"He supervised with tact and sound judgment the establishment of the important base ports of St. Nazaire and Brest. Later, while he was adjutant general of the Service of Supply, his splendid knowledge of administration, his energy, and personal attention to duties were shown by the efficiency of his office, which met fully the diversified demands made upon it."

General Bash graduated from the School of the Line in 1920. After the war, General Bash was promoted colonel and transferred to the Quartermaster Corps, and served with it in various capacities. In 1929 he was appointed Assistant to The Quartermaster General with the rank of brigadier general for four years.

In 1933, General Bash became the Corps Area Quartermaster of the 3rd Corps Area at Baltimore, Maryland.

He was later appointed as Assistant to the Quartermaster General, with the rank of Brigadier General, the head of the Construction Division. While on this assignment he directed the launching of the huge Army building program which was financed by an allotment of funds from the Public Works Administration for the purpose of relieving unemployment during the great depression.

On March 13, 1934, the President selected Colonel Louis H. Bash to the post of Quartermaster General with the rank of Major General. This appointment, climaxing a distinguished military career, was a reward for more than forty years service in the Army.

He died in Palo Alto, California on 24 May 1952.