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CHAPTER XXI

ACHIEVEMENTS OF A NOBLE MAN

HE naval engagement in Hampton Roads, Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, between the ironclad Monitor built by Ericsson, and that of the Confederate ironclad Merrimac, revolutionized the building of vessels of war the world over. That naval engagement gave birth to the building of breech-loading guns of large caliber with great penetrating power and also changed the materials used in the construction of fortifications built to defend our seacoast cities and harbors.

Experiments on a small scale were conducted, looking to the protection of the seacoast forts then in existence from the obliterating and smashing effect of the immense projectiles hurled from powerful guns, which would, shortly after fire was opened, reduce them to a mass of rubbish.

This problem engaged the attention of the Engineer Corps with its other duties, such as the improvement of rivers and harbors; the continuance of the surveys of the Great Lakes; the exploration and surveys of the country west of the 100th meridian; the West Point Academy, afterwards taken from the Corps; the Engineer School at Willets Point, New York Harbor, where experiments in torpedo mines were begun and finally developed; internal improvements of national importance; the building of bridges over our great rivers so as not to interfere with their navigation and internal commerce. All these matters were submitted to the Chief of the Corps, who after studying them, either approved, disapproved, or directed other means be taken to secure the desired ends; their examina

tion occupied the time of the Chief during his incumbency, leaving to him no time for matters of a personal character.

The new chief divided the country into districts, placing them under the direction of the older officers of the Corps, due regard being paid to rank and attainments; these officers had under them the younger members of the Corps, whose field service during the war prevented them from acquiring the experience so necessary to the successful working out of the many intricate problems which presented themselves from time to time. Executive ability of a high order, with a full knowledge of engineering, was required to control and harmonize these important duties without friction, and such this man possessed to an eminent degree.

As the country opened, each Session of Congress sent to the Corps projects of possible national importance, as well as schemes of a local character, which, before a report could be made, required an accurate knowledge of all the factors entering into them, which determined their feasibility.

While directing the duties of this eminent body of officers, their chief served as a member of many boards or commissions, viz., of the Lighthouse Board, February 20, 1870, to January, 1874; of the Interoceanic Canal Commission to examine into canal routes across the Isthmus connecting North and South America, 1872-1877; of the Board on Washington and Georgetown Harbor Improvements, 1872 and 1873; of the Revising Board of Bulkheads and Pier Line of Brooklyn, 1872, to June, 1879; of Staten Island, from August, 1873, to June, 1879; of the Hudson River (Troy to Hudson), June, 1877, to June, 1879; of the Board for the survey of Baltimore Harbor and adjacent waters, from May, 1876, to June, 1879; of the Washington Monument Commission, from January, 1877, to June, 1879; of

the Advisory Board of Massachusetts Harbor Commissions, from January, 1877, to June, 1879; of the Examining Board of Moline Water Power Company contracts, April and June, 1877.

For the office work at Washington City five divisions were created, viz., to the first and second divisions, the subjects of fortification, battalion of engineers, depots, lands, armament; to the third division, river and harbor improvements; to the fourth and fifth divisions, property accounts, estimates of funds, surveys of the lakes, explorations, maps. To these divisions were sent the reports of the engineer officers in charge of the several works throughout the country. The five divisions were under the charge of three or four experienced officers of the corps, who, receiving papers requiring the action of higher authority, submitted them with their views to the head of the Bureau, and transmitted his orders, either approving, disapproving in part or in whole, or suggesting other measures.

One of the most important boards, that of fortification, organized in the year 1865, was engaged upon plans for protecting our seacoast defenses and their magazines erected upon the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and the Gulf of Mexico against the high power gunfire of modern artillery.

With an enormous debt saddled upon the country caused by our late struggle, and meager appropriations, means were sought to add to the resisting power of these defenses, for without such aids, we were completely at the mercy of any European Power with whom we might be at war. Fort Monroe was selected as the most suitable place to carry out the experiments of the Board, and subsequently, Fort Delaware, Delaware.

For the defense of the Pacific Coast, new sites were

selected; a number of important questions relating to those points were submitted for examination with a view to their modification and improvement.

Each year the report rendered by Humphreys increased in length. The subjects treated concerned the welfare of the country; they were varied and special in many cases, covering the entire country, from north to south, and east to west.

Always untiring in his carrying out of work in any connection, Humphreys brought this same zeal into a study of the United States statutes with a view to revising them as far as the Engineer Corps was concerned. He prepared a historical sketch of the Corps of Engineers and also a similar sketch of the Corps of Topographical Engineers in which he emphasized the differences between these two branches of service and the Army of the United States. Among his addresses and papers there is also a condensed history of the Army of the Potomac, July 3, 1863, to April 9, 1865.

At the Meade Memorial Meeting held at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1872, Humphreys delivered an address on the Military Service of General Meade. Both were natives of the city. Their association began when Meade commanded the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac, in which command Humphreys had a division. After the battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, Humphreys became Chief of Staff of the army, continuing in such position until November 25, 1864, when he was assigned to the command of the Second Corps of that army.

Naturally Philadelphia turned to him, a stranger to his native city, as the proper person to relate such services because of their association.

In that address this paragraph occurs:

"Of all the

sublime sights within the view and comprehension of man, the grandest, the most sublime is a great battle. Its sights and sounds arouse a feeling of exaltation, compared to which, tame indeed is the sense of the sublime excited by all other great works, either of God or man. No grander sight was seen throughout the war than this great battle (Gettysburg) between two brave, well disciplined, and ably commanded armies."

Cowper spoke the truth when he declared:

"Time, as he passes us, has a dove's wing,
Unsoiled and swift, and of a silken sound."

July 6, 1878, Humphreys, under a certain paragraph and section of the Revised Statutes of the United States, requested, that during his temporary absence from duty, Lieutenant Colonel H. G. Wright, of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, be assigned as Acting Chief of Engineers, thus practically naming his successor. That application was granted, and announced in orders from the Headquarters of the Army, July 29 of that year. The report for the year 1878 was one of the final acts of one who had served his country over forty years, and who now sought relief from the arduous and killing duties of office life to which he had devoted his life.

June 30, 1879, upon his application, he was retired from active duty. The Secretary of War announced this retirement in General Orders dated July 2, 1879, publicly acknowledging the valuable services rendered by him "in the varied and important duties which devolved upon him during his long military career, not only as a subordinate in the Corps of Engineers but in responsible commands in the field, in which he was highly distinguished, and as Chief of the Engineer Corps of the