George Washington appointed the first engineer officers of the Army on June 16, 1775, during the American Revolution, and engineers have served in combat in all subsequent American wars. The Army established the Corps of Engineers as a separate, permanent branch on March 16, 1802, and gave the engineers responsibility for founding and operating the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Since then the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has responded to changing defense requirements and played an integral part in the development of the country. Throughout the 19th century, the Corps built coastal fortifications, surveyed roads and canals, eliminated navigational hazards, explored and mapped the Western frontier, and constructed buildings and monuments in the Nation’s capital.
From the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps to contribute to both military construction and works "of a civil nature." Throughout the 19th century, the Corps supervised the construction of coastal fortifications and mapped much of the American West with the Corps of Topographical Engineers, which enjoyed a separate existence for 25 years (1838-1863). The Corps of Engineers also constructed lighthouses, helped develop jetties and piers for harbors, and carefully mapped the navigation channels.
In the 20th century, the Corps became the lead federal flood control agency and significantly expanded its civil works activities, becoming among other things a major provider of hydroelectric energy and the country’s leading provider of recreation. Its role in responding to natural disasters also grew dramatically.
Assigned the military construction mission in 1941, the Corps built facilities at home and abroad to support the U.S. Army and Air Force. During the Cold War, Army engineers managed construction programs for America’s allies, including a massive effort in Saudi Arabia. In addition, the Corps of Engineers also completed large construction programs for federal agencies such as NASA and the postal service.. The Corps also maintains a rigorous research and development program in support of its water resources, construction, and military activities.
In the late 1960s, the Corps became a leading environmental preservation and restoration agency. It now carries out natural and cultural resource management programs at its water resources projects and regulates activities in the Nation’s wetlands. In addition, the Corps assists the military services in environmental management and restoration at former and current military installations.
When the Cold War ended, the Corps was poised to support the Army and the Nation in the new era. Army engineers supported 9/11 recovery efforts and currently play an important international role in the rapidly evolving Global War on Terrorism, including reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stands ready to support the country’s military and water resources needs in the 21st century as it has done during its more than two centuries of service.
At the end of the Revolutionary War, the engineers mustered out of service. In 1794, Congress organized a Corps of Artillerists and Engineers, but it was not until 1802 that it reestablished a separate Corps of Engineers. The Corps' continuous existence dates from this year. At the same time, Congress established a new military academy at West Point, New York. Until 1866, the superintendent of the academy was always an engineer officer. The first superintendent, Jonathan Williams, also became the chief engineer of the Corps. During the first half of the 19th century, West Point was the major and for a while, the only engineering school in the country.
From the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps to contribute to both military construction and works "of a civil nature." Throughout the 19th century, the Corps supervised the construction of coastal fortifications and mapped much of the American West with the Corps of Topographical Engineers, which enjoyed a separate existence for 25 years (1838-1863). The Corps of Engineers also constructed lighthouses, helped develop jetties and piers for harbors, and carefully mapped the navigation channels.
Once reestablished, the Corps of Engineers began constructing and repairing fortifications, first in Norfolk and then in New Orleans. The Corps' fortifications assignments proliferated during the 5 years of diplomatic tension that preceded the War of 1812. The chief engineer, Colonel Jonathan Williams, substantially expanded the system of fortifications protecting New York Harbor. The works, which Williams and his successor Joseph Swift erected around that harbor including the 11-pointed fort that now serves as the base of the Statute of Liberty, convinced the commanders of the British navy to avoid attacking that strategic location during the War of 1812.
Responding to the success of its fortifications during the War of 1812, the United States soon developed an expanded system of modern, casemated, masonry fortifications to provide the first line of land defense against the threat of attack from European powers.
While Congress reduced the size of the country's infantry and artillery forces after the war, it retained the increased number of officers that it had authorized for the Corps of Engineers in 1812. Pleas from several secretaries of war for more engineers to work on fortifications led Congress to double the size of the Corps again in 1838. The fortifications, which the Army engineers built on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and after 1848 on the Pacific coast, securely defended the nation until the second half of the 19th century when the development of rifled artillery ended the earlier impregnability of the massive structures
Although its work on fortifications was important, perhaps the greatest legacy the early Corps of Engineers bestowed to future generations was its work on canals, rivers, and roads. America was a young nation, and rivers were its paths of commerce. They provided routes from western farms to eastern markets and for settlers seeking new homes beyond the Appalachian frontier. The rivers beckoned and enticed, but then could treacherously destroy the dreams of unwary travelers and shippers whose boats were punctured by snags and sawyers or stranded by sandbars. Both commercial development and national defense, as shown during the War of 1812, required more reliable transportation arteries. Out of those unruly streams, engineers carved navigation passages and harbors for a growing nation.
Still, federal assistance for "internal improvements" evolved slowly and haphazardly—the product of contentious congressional factions and an executive branch generally concerned with avoiding unconstitutional federal intrusions into state affairs. In 1824, however, the Supreme Court ruled in Gibbons v. Ogden that federal authority covered interstate commerce including riverine navigation. Shortly thereafter, Congress passed two important laws that, together, marked the beginning of the Corps' continuous involvement in civil works. The General Survey Act authorized the president to have surveys made of routes for roads and canals "of national importance, in a commercial or military point of view, or necessary for the transportation of public mail." The president assigned responsibility for the surveys to the Corps of Engineers. The second act, passed a month later, appropriated $75,000 to improve navigation on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers by removing sandbars, snags, and other obstacles. Subsequently, the act was amended to include other rivers such as the Missouri. This work, too, was given to the Corps of Engineers—the only formally trained body of engineers in the new republic and, as part of the nation's small army, available to serve the wishes of Congress and the executive branch.
The work was important. At first a Board of Internal Improvements, headed by an engineer officer, planned surveys and the development of canals, roads, and railroads. The board, the Engineer Department, and the War Department, agreed that national defense and inland transportation were complementary and interdependent. This idea governed earliest activities. In some cases various modes of transportation were considered in relationship to each other, thus, an 1826 investigation considered whether it was practical to unite the Kanawha River with the James and Roanoke rivers by canals, railroads, or both. By the mid 1830s, however, local political considerations outweighed any overall plan in determining which projects received attention.
Much of the work was done by the topographical engineers or "Topogs," who reported to a separate Topographical Bureau in the Engineer Department. In 1838, the topographical engineers became a separate corps and remained that way until 1863 when they were reunited with the Corps of Engineers. As surveyors, explorers, cartographers, and construction managers, the topographical engineers helped open the nation's interior to commercial development and settlement.
Congress expanded the Army engineers' workload in 1826. New legislation authorized the president to have river surveys made to clean out and deepen selected waterways and to make various other river and harbor improvements. Although the 1824 act to improve the Mississippi and Ohio rivers is often called the first rivers and harbors legislation, the 1826 act was the first to combine authorizations for both surveys and projects, thereby establishing a pattern that continues to the present day.
An early project that reflected engineer innovation was the removal of sandbars in the Ohio River. By September 1825, topographical engineer Major Stephen H. Long, working on the Ohio River just below Henderson, Kentucky, had constructed a wing dam consisting of two rows of more than 600 wooden piles, driven to a depth of 16 feet. He experimented with the proper angle, width, and length to achieve the greatest velocity of current. Theory and empirical data agreed that the increased velocity should reduce the sandbar and increase the height of the river. Long finally figured out an angle and length for the dam that seemed to work, and the dam served as the prototype for many others along the Ohio River. It required no significant repair until 1872.
Long, however, was not completely satisfied with his work. He realized that the dam would not prevent the formation of sandbars. From year to year, the Ohio would continue to push and carry sediment downstream, forming bars at many different points, including the dams themselves. Long's misgivings led to further innovation. He convinced Colonel Alexander Macomb, the chief engineer, to sponsor a contest to find a machine that could eliminate navigation obstructions. The winner would receive a prize of $1,000 and, potentially of more value, a contract to open up the Ohio River. However, the winner, John Bruce, designed a boat of limited use; moreover, he argued with Macomb over the terms of the contract. Long suggested someone to replace Bruce. He was Henry M. Shreve, a man known for navigation skill on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and for his pioneering efforts to bring trade and commerce to the Mississippi Valley.
Shreve cared little for hydraulic theory. His attitude was to design whatever it took to get the job done, and he constructed a revolutionary new steam-powered snag boat. Put into service in 1829, it became the model for steam snag boats on the Ohio, Mississippi, and elsewhere. Shreve's boat ran full steam into the snags, jarring them loose. The limbs were then hoisted and broken apart on the vessel's deck. "Uncle Sam's tooth pullers," Shreve's snag boats came to be called. They were unlike anything known elsewhere in the world, and their impact was dramatic. Insurance and shipping rates dropped, and the number of steamboats on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers increased significantly.
The innovative work to clear the nation's rivers of navigation obstacles continued after the Civil War. In 1871, engineer Major Quincy A. Gillmore chartered a steamer and converted it for suction dredging. Named the Henry Burden, the converted boat was the Corps' first hydraulic dredge, and one of the first in the country. Within 3 years, the government purchased another propeller-driven steamer, the Woodbury, and converted it into a suction dredge to deepen the Cape Fear River below Wilmington, North Carolina. More than half a dozen hydraulic hopper dredges were constructed for the Corps just before the turn of the century.
After the Civil War, a special Army Engineer Board concluded that a system of locks and dams on the Ohio River was preferable either to continued dependence on wing dams and dredging or to the construction of a system of canals to by-pass the Ohio's obstacles. Major William E. Merrill, who was in charge of Ohio River improvements, needed to develop a system of river regulation dams that would easily allow passage of coal barges. He concluded that the wicket dam design developed by Jacques Chanoine in France in 1852 would be best, and in 1874 he formally proposed that a series of movable dams, employing Chanoine wickets, be constructed on the Ohio. After Congress approved Merrill's plan in 1877, the Corps began constructing the Davis Island project, just south of Pittsburgh. Completed in 7 years, the 110 by 600-foot lock and 1,223-foot dam were the largest in the world at that time. The Davis Island Lock also was one of the first in the country to use concrete in place of stone masonry. The Corps' success at Davis Island led Congress to authorize extension of the project down the Ohio. Later, the Corps increased the initial 6-foot channel to 9 feet. The project was completed in 1929 at a cost of about $125 million.
Throughout the 19th century, engineer officers were involved in the construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of canals and river navigation features. They surveyed the Chesapeake and Ohio and the Muscle Shoals canal routes in the 1820s. Several prominent Army engineers launched their careers at the revived Muscle Shoals after the Civil War. These included Major William Rice King and Lieutenants William Louis Marshall later chief of engineers, and George W. Goethals. Goethals designed the Riverton Lock with a low-water lift of 26 feet, the largest yet attempted in the United States when the Muscle Shoals Canal opened in 1911. Successes like these assured that engineers like Goethals would be called on again, as he was for the Panama Canal.
The Corps' canal-building efforts continued in the 20th century. After the federal government purchased the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in 1919, the Corps' Wilmington (Delaware) District directed a reconstruction effort to deepen the channel to 12 feet and add several bridges. Traffic soon increased, and as an immediate result, demands were made to enlarge it. The C&D Ship Canal became part of an intercoastal waterway envisioned to connect existing bodies of water in a line roughly paralleling the coast from Boston, south to Key West, and then west to the Rio Grande. Today, the Corps retains responsibility for this canal and the entire intracoastal waterway of which it is a part.
Aside from the actual construction and maintenance of canals, locks, and other navigation features, Army engineers performed important survey work. Two important surveys were of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Delta. The necessity for a good survey of the Great Lakes had long been recognized, for the uncharted lakes posed significant navigation hazards. Army topographers had surveyed some of the Great Lakes as early as 1823, but Congress did not appropriate funds for a systematic survey until 1841. Captain William G. Williams, who had been the general superintendent of harbor improvements on Lake Erie, headed the survey.
Despite the modest and belated support given to the Great Lakes survey, the subsequent years revealed a rare congressional consensus that the work was, indeed, important. From 1841 to 1860, Congress appropriated a total of $640,000 for the survey; funds were provided in 10 of those 20 years. The survey itself was daunting. Some 6,000 miles of shoreline needed to be surveyed. The surveyors determined latitude and longitude; measured the discharge of rivers into the Great Lakes; surveyed rivers, narrows, and shoals; develop charts and maps; and marked points of danger. A special iron-hulled steamer was constructed for the work. The Corps continued this survey work until 1970, when many of the survey office's functions were transferred to the newly established National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Detroit District of the Corps of Engineers assumed the responsibility for forecasting lake levels.
The scientific conclusions of the Mississippi Delta survey gave it an importance in the history of hydraulic engineering out of proportion to the funds invested in it. In September 1850, responding to the pleas of southern congressmen seeking federal assistance to fight the periodic disastrous flooding that struck New Orleans and other lower Mississippi River communities, Congress appropriated $50,000 for a topographical and hydrographical survey of the Mississippi Delta, including a study of the best means of securing a 20-foot navigation channel at the Mississippi's mouth.
Topographical engineer Captain Andrew A. Humphreys initiated the survey and maintained overall supervision of the project, but beginning in 1857 he received the assistance of a young engineer, Second Lieutenant Henry L. Abbot. Abbot's field work proved so indispensable that when the final report was published in 1861, Humphreys named Abbot as its coauthor. Officially called the Report upon the Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River, the survey is often simply referred to as the Humphreys Abbot report.
The two Army engineers submitted a report full of new details about the lower Mississippi Basin. From just south of the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to where the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico, they obtained data on river flow, channel cross sections, and general topographical and geological features. After examining some 15 different formulas and finding each lacking, they began to develop their own formula to measure the flow of water in rivers, one that subsequently also proved faulty. Most important, it failed to take into account the degree of roughness of the slopes of a river channel. Still, their work stimulated other hydraulic engineers, and further research led to important theoretical discoveries. The report obtained the respect of engineers around the world.
The conclusions of Humphreys and Abbot decidedly influenced the development of river engineering and the evolution of the Corps of Engineers. The authors believed that "levees only" could control flooding along the lower Mississippi. Neither costly reservoirs nor cutoffs were needed. The Corps of Engineers accepted these conclusions for nearly 60 years, not just for the lower Mississippi but for other large rivers as well. The "levees only" policy profoundly affected the manner in which the United States developed its water resources. Indeed, the influence of the Humphreys Abbot report extended past World War II, despite the fact that by then Congress had authorized hundreds of reservoir projects.
In the 19th century the Corps of Engineers also constructed roads. The most famous project was the Cumberland or National Road that was constructed between 1811 and 1841. The road extended from Cumberland, Maryland, across the Appalachian ridges of western Pennsylvania to Wheeling and then across the midsections of Ohio and Indiana to Vandalia, Illinois. The Corps' involvement on the road occurred in large part because civilian superintendents failed. Congress authorized the Treasury Department to build the road in 1806, but in the following years the Treasury Department was accused of inefficient, costly, and unsatisfactory progress on the project. In 1825, President John Quincy Adams turned the responsibility over to the War Department.
In constructing the National Road, the Corps applied the techniques developed in England by John McAdam, and it engaged in some innovative bridge building. At Brownsville, Pennsylvania, Captain Richard Delafield, a future chief engineer, built the first bridge in the United States with a cast-iron superstructure, an 80-foot span that remains in use today. By 1840 engineer officers had overseen construction of 268 miles of macadamized surface with bridges across all but the widest rivers.
Engineer officers also superintended railroad work after 1824. They surveyed railroad routes and, once construction commenced, the War Department loaned engineers to various railroad companies. Thus, with the permission of the chief engineer, Captain William G. McNeill entered the service of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1828 to supervise the surveying and construction of a railroad line. In October 1829, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began laying track under the supervision of Lieutenant George W. Whistler. By 1830 many officers were being granted furloughs to work on railroads, in either construction or surveying activities. Finally, in 1838, Congress passed legislation that prohibited granting leave to Army officers to allow them temporary employment with private companies.
In the 1850s', westward expansion generated interest in a rail link from the Mississippi to the Pacific coast, and topographical engineer officers surveyed and evaluated four alternative routes for the road, gathering a great deal of scientific information at the same time. The Corps of Engineers sponsored two more surveys after the Civil War in an effort to gather knowledge about the American West. One survey, led by a civilian, Clarence King, explored the 40th parallel route across the "Great Basin" that extended from the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada to the western fringes of Wyoming and Colorado, while Major George M. Wheeler led another scientific expedition into the Southwest. Both expeditions produced a wealth of data on the natural history of the West.
U.S. Army engineers played significant roles in the Mexican and Civil Wars, providing both mapping and construction services and troop leaders in theaters of operations while largely suspending work on navigational improvements. Engineers of all ranks gained renown for their military efforts during their service in Mexico in 1846-48. Chief Engineer Joseph Totten directed the successful siege of the port city of Veracruz, from which General Winfield Scott launched his decisive assault on the interior of the country. Captain William Williams, who had directed the Great Lakes survey, served as chief topographical engineer for General Zachary Taylor until his death at the battle of Monterey.
During the Civil War, Army engineers built ponton and railroad bridges, constructed forts and batteries, demolished enemy supply lines, and conducted siege warfare. In December 1862 they laid six pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock River, under devastating fire from Confederate sharpshooters, in support of the Union attack on Fredericksburg, Virginia. The 2,170-foot pontoon bridge, which Union engineer troops laid across the James River in June 1864 as the Army of the Potomac approached Petersburg, Virginia, was the longest floating bridge erected before World War II. Drawn largely from the top of their West Point classes, the engineers in the Corps before the Civil War included many excellent military strategists who rose to leadership roles during the war. Among them were Union generals George McClellan, Henry Halleck, George Meade, and Confederate generals Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, and P. G. T. Beauregard.
In the early 19th century, the Corps constructed many projects in support of the Department of the Treasury. For instance, the Corps built three customs houses and more than half a dozen marine hospitals (to treat merchant seamen). These hospitals were built at such places as Napoleon, Arkansas; Paducah and Louisville, Kentucky; and Natchez, Mississippi. Also for the Department of Treasury, the Corps built a number of lighthouses. Between 1831 and 1851, engineer officers were regularly engaged in this duty, which often involved extraordinarily difficult and perilous construction challenges. In 1852 Congress established a Lighthouse Board, which included engineer officers, to superintend lighthouse construction. Eventually, Corps officers supervised the construction of dozens of lighthouses along the nation's coasts, including the Great Lakes.
The Corps also contributed substantially to the construction of many public buildings and monuments in Washington, D.C. This work began as early as 1822, when Isaac Roberdeau, a topographical engineer, supervised installation of cast iron pipes to bring spring water to the White House and surrounding executive offices. In 1853 responsibility for constructing permanent water supply facilities for Washington fell upon Lieutenant Montgomery C. Meigs. His project included two bridges later to carry traffic as well as water pipes over Cabin John and Rock creeks. Both bridges were engineering feats in their day. The Cabin John Bridge, built between 1857 and 1864, remained the world's longest masonry arch for more than 40 years and is still in use.
In 1867 Congress gave control of public parks and monuments to the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds under the chief of engineers and in 1878 replaced Washington's elected government with a three-man commission. An Army engineer holding the title of engineer commissioner for the District of Columbia served on that board and had responsibility for the city's physical plant until Congress approved the district's current home rule charter in 1967. During the last half of the 19th century, the Corps improved navigation on the Potomac River and its tributaries; expanded the local water supply system; completed the Washington Monument; helped design and construct numerous structures including the Executive Office Building, the Lincoln Memorial, the Library of Congress, and the Government Printing Office; undertook swamp reclamation which resulted in the Tidal Basin; and developed Rock Creek Park as a major urban recreation area.
Despite continuing congressional reservations about federal involvement, the Corps became involved in flood control after the Civil War. Particularly on large rivers such as the Mississippi, floods impaired commerce, destroyed property, and cost lives. In 1879 Congress created the Mississippi River Commission, composed of seven people: three from the Corps including the commission president, three from civilian life including at least two civil engineers, and one from the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Congress created the commission to insure that the best advice from both the military and civilian communities was heard on the subject of improving the Mississippi River for navigation and flood control.
After much debate, the commission decided to rely principally on levees to protect the lower Mississippi Valley. Cooperating with local levee districts, the Mississippi River Commission oversaw the construction of many levees along the river. Later, this levee construction was supplemented with considerable dredging on the river. The commission also attempted to stop the erosion of banks by constructing willow mattresses. In the early 20th century, the Mississippi River Commission experimented with concrete mattresses. Learning both from the successes and failures of these experiments, the Corps developed the articulated concrete revetment that has been used for several decades to protect the banks of the lower Mississippi River.
Beginning in 1893, another important activity of the Corps of Engineers was the California Debris Commission, a three-member body of Army engineers charged to regulate the streams of California that had been devastated by the sediment washed into them from mining operations. Given substantial power by Congress, the California Debris Commission significantly reduced the stream damage caused by hydraulic mining. The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 eliminated this commission. Its work is now the responsibility of the Corps' South Pacific Division.
In 1917, as the United States prepared to enter World War I, the Corps could look back with satisfaction. The versatility, dedication, and intelligence of engineer officers were truly impressive. For instance, Chief of Engineers Henry M. Robert, who is best known as the author of Robert's Rules of Order, oversaw the planning of the Galveston Seawall, a major engineering project. As an engineer officer, Hiram M. Chittenden supervised the construction of roads, bridges, and aqueducts in Yellowstone National Park. He wrote a report on his survey of reservoir sites in Wyoming and Colorado that contributed to the establishment of what came to be called the Bureau of Reclamation, wrote several important works dealing with the early exploration of the Missouri River Basin by white men, and became a recognized expert on flood control. Finally, George W. Goethals' early work at Davis Island and Muscle Shoals gave him valuable engineering skills and management expertise to successfully finish the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal was built by the Panama Canal Commission, not as is commonly thought by the Corps of Engineers. However, through the efforts of engineer officers such as Goethals, who were detailed to the commission, some of the most difficult construction obstacles were overcome. The canal was opened in August 1914.
The British and French governments made the arrival of American engineers their top priority after the United States joined "The Great War" in April 1917. The Americans responded quickly. By the end of August 1917, nine newly organized engineer railway regiments, recruited largely from workers on the nation's private railroads, together with the engineer regiment of the 1st Division, had crossed the Atlantic and arrived in France. Several of the railway regiments were assigned initially to British or French military formations. It was while serving with the British southwest of Cambrai, France, on September 5, 1917, that Sergeant Matthew Calderwood and Private William Branigan of the 11th Engineers were wounded by artillery fire, thus becoming the first casualties in any U.S. Army unit serving at the front in Europe.
The thousands of engineer troops that served in France in 1917 and 1918 contributed both to front-line and rear-support efforts. The combat engineers constructed bridges, roads, and narrow-gauge railroads at or immediately behind the front. The forestry troops of the 20th Engineers produced roughly 200 million feet of lumber in France. Other engineer troops enlarged French port facilities, constructed more than 20 million square feet of storage space, and built 800 miles of standard-gauge rail lines, plus an equal distance in yards and storage tracks. The technically trained engineers organized the first U.S. Army tank units and developed chemical warfare munitions and defensive equipment. So important were these pursuits that in 1918 the War Department created a separate Tank Corps and a Chemical Warfare Service, the latter headed initially by an engineer officer.
Neglected waterways, demands for hydropower throughout the country, and calls for irrigation projects in the West drew attention to the nation's water resources at the beginning of the 20th century. Multipurpose partisans advocated