Civil War Union Brigadier General. He graduated from 1st in his class at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1837. When the Civil War started he was assigned as Chief Engineer of the Department of Ohio in May 1861. Although assigned as an engineer he directed pursuits of Confederates forces in western Virginia and was commissioned Brigadier General, US Volunteers, and placed in command of a brigade in the occupation of Union Armies in western Virginia. He took part in unsuccessful frontal assaults at Fort Pulaski and at Secessionville, South Carolina, resulting he being assigned to command the engineering brigade of the Army of the Potomac. He was with the Army of the Potomac at the Battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Appomattox. Brevetted Major General, US Volunteers and Major General, US Regular Army on March 13, 1865, he remained in army after the war, engaging in engineering projects such as the construction of the Potomac aqueduct and the Washington Navy Yard. He also invented the picket shovel, the concept for rapid construction of pontoon bridges. He retired from active service in 1882.
Civil War Union Brigadier General. He graduated from 1st in his class at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1837. When the Civil War started he was assigned as Chief Engineer of the Department of Ohio in May 1861. Although assigned as an engineer he directed pursuits of Confederates forces in western Virginia and was commissioned Brigadier General, US Volunteers, and placed in command of a brigade in the occupation of Union Armies in western Virginia. He took part in unsuccessful frontal assaults at Fort Pulaski and at Secessionville, South Carolina, resulting he being assigned to command the engineering brigade of the Army of the Potomac. He was with the Army of the Potomac at the Battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Appomattox. Brevetted Major General, US Volunteers and Major General, US Regular Army on March 13, 1865, he remained in army after the war, engaging in engineering projects such as the construction of the Potomac aqueduct and the Washington Navy Yard. He also invented the picket shovel, the concept for rapid construction of pontoon bridges. He retired from active service in 1882.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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