Herbert Ludwell Earnest (11 November 1895–11 June 1970), army officer, was born in Richmond and was the son of James Austin Earnest, a railroad foreman, and Mary Elizabeth Talley Earnest. After graduating from Fork Union Military Academy in 1914, he attended the Medical College of Virginia during the 1915–1916 academic term. Earnest enlisted in the Richmond Light Infantry Blues, which became the 1st Squadron Cavalry, Virginia National Guard, in June 1916 when it began serving as a mounted unit patrolling the border with Mexico. The following year he received an honorable discharge from the National Guard and became a second lieutenant in its officers' reserve corps. After the United States entered World War I, Earnest was commissioned as a second lieutenant cavalry officer in the United States Army in October 1917 and assigned to the Third Cavalry in January 1918. Sent to France with the American Expeditionary Force, his unit chiefly worked with artillery horses. Following the war's end, Earnest received promotion to first lieutenant on 18 May 1919 and continued to serve in the Third Cavalry stateside in Vermont. He married Frances Alexander Campbell on 20 October 1920, in Montclair, New Jersey. They had one son and one daughter.

Choosing to make the army his career after the war, Earnest served in various instructional and command roles during the 1920s and 1930s as the cavalry transitioned from horses to tanks. He was promoted to captain in July 1920 and to major in August 1935. After being posted to the army's general staff in 1939, he became a lieutenant colonel in August 1940 and colonel in December 1941. After the United States entered World War II, Earnest was sent to the Tank Destroyer Tactical and Firing Center at Camp (later Fort) Hood (later Fort Cavazos) in central Texas, the first installation devoted to training and tactics for the new tank destroyers, which were armored half-tracks vehicles fitted with antitank guns. Earnest first served as the executive officer of the center, and then in November 1942 he took command of the First Tank Destroyer Brigade. He was promoted to brigadier general on 3 February 1943.

In January 1944 Earnest's brigade deployed for England and was assigned to Lieutenant General George S. Patton's Third Army. Entering France after D-Day, Earnest commanded Task Force A of the Third Army in August and September 1944. The task force, which consisted of tank destroyers, armor, artillery, infantry, and air support, captured much of Brittany from the Germans. In December 1944 Earnest took charge of Combat Command A of the Fourth Armored Division and led his troops in a successful mission to secure the route from Arlon to Bastogne. He helped to break the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and reopened a main supply route through Belgium for the allied forces.

Earnest transferred to the Ninetieth Infantry Division in January 1945 as assistant commanding general and received promotion to division commander in March. He led the Ninetieth Infantry, known as the Tough 'Ombres, on a forty-seven-day combat mission leading the Third Army from the Belgian border, through the Eifel region, across the Rhine River, and into Czechoslovakia. On 7 April 1945 the division uncovered Nazi financial reserves in a salt mine in the German town of Merkers, including more than 100 tons of gold bullion, and millions in German, American, Norwegian, and French currency, as well as thousands of pieces of looted art, including masterpieces by such artists as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Renoir. Top American generals, including Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley, came to see the treasure trove. Earnest chafed at the delay, however, commenting that "it slowed up our advance across Germany. That was the big thing we were out to do." In May 1945 the German Army's Eleventh Panzer Division surrendered to Earnest in Czechoslovakia. That month he was promoted to major general and commanded the Ninetieth Infantry as the division occupied parts of Bavaria until returning to the United States in the autumn of that year.

After being stationed in Fort Knox, Kentucky, and in Washington, D.C., Earnest was named assistant chief of staff for training in August 1946 and assigned to Fort Monroe, in Virginia, until he retired in October 1947. He received many commendations and medals for his military service, including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Silver Star, three Bronze Stars with Two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Croix de Guerre with Palm, the Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, and the Distinguished Order of Britain.

In retirement, Earnest bred registered Hereford cattle and Hampshire hogs on a fifty-acre farm near White Stone, in Lancaster County. He also served as a director of the Foundation for Historic Christ Church in nearby Irvington. Herbert Ludwell Earnest died in a Richmond hospital on 11 June 1970 and was buried in the cemetery at Christ Episcopal Church.

Sources Consulted:
Biographies in Richard Lee Morton, comp., Virginia Lives: The Old Dominion Who's Who (1964), 290–291 (portrait), National Cyclopedia of American Biography (1891–1984), 57:43–44, and R. Manning Ancell with Christine M. Miller, The Biographical Dictionary of World War II Generals and Flag Officers (1996), 93; Birth Register, Richmond City, Bureau of Vital Statistics (BVS), Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health, Record Group 36, Library of Virginia; Official Army Register (1946), 79th Cong., 2d sess., 1946, House Doc. 544, serial 11071, 1:200; Richmond Times-Dispatch, 9 Feb. 1943; Richmond News Leader, 1 Jan., 15 May, 1, 11 June 1945 (quotation), 26 July, 12 Aug. 1946, 3 Oct. 1947; New York Times, 6 May 1945; BVS Death Certificate, Richmond City; obituaries in New York Times, Richmond News Leader, and Richmond Times-Dispatch, all 12 June 1970, Washington Post, 13 June 1970, and Kilmarnock Rappahannock Record, 18 June 1970.

Written for the Dictionary of Virginia Biography by Christopher T. Brooks.

How to cite this page:
Christopher T. Brooks, "Herbert Ludwell Earnest (1895–1970)," Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Library of Virginia (1998– ), published 2024 (http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.asp?b=Earnest_Herbert_Ludwell, accessed [today's date]).

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