CONTENTS PAGI I Origin of the Corps of Engineers The work really starts, 1824 to 1829 Sustained activity from 1829 to 1839 Reduced activity from 1839 to 1852 The period from 1852 to the end of the Civil War. Great expansion after the war, 1866 to 1880 . Continued growth, 1881 to 1901 Growth and changes, 1902 to 1920 River and harbors bills. Branches of river and harbor work. The Mississippi River Commission THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS OF THE ARMY ITS NON-MILITARY HISTORY, ACTIVITIES, AND ORGANIZATION CHAPTER I HISTORY The Office of the Chief of Engineers is a division of the War Department having as its military personnel the Corps of Engineers. The officers of the Corps of Engineers play an important part in the non-military activities with which the Office of the Chief of Engineers is charged in addition to its purely military activities. These non-military activities are of varied character, but are composed principally of what are usually termed "public works." An attempt will be made here to limit the discussion to the non-military activities. But it must always be remembered that the officers of the Corps of Engineers are part of the Army, that they are often engaged in both military and civilian operations at the same time, and that the Office of the Chief of Engineers as part of the War Department is primarily interested in military affairs. Origin of the Corps of Engineers. Few of the government services have a longer history than the Corps of Engineers. On June 16, 1775, the day before the battle of Bunker Hill, the Continental Congress provided for one chief engineer and two assistants "at the Grand Army " and one chief engineer and two assistants" in a separate department." Later in the same year General Washington was authorized to raise and organize a corps of engineers for a period of six months. Prominent among the higher 'Journals of the Continental Congress, December 27, 1776. officers were du Partail, de la Radier, and du Gouvion, all of whom had been officers in the Royal Corps of Engineers in the French Army. The scarcity of trained engineers in the Continental army made their assistance of great value. For the same reason this foreign influence in the Corps of Engineers continued for many years after the war was over." The engineering forces must have been scattered throughout the Army and loosely organized, because Congress took steps to perfect their organization by formally establishing a Corps of Engineers by a resolution dated March 11, 1779. Among other provisions are the following: "That the engineers in the service of the United States shall be formed in a corps and styled the Corps of Engineers, and shall take rank and enjoy the same rights, honors, and privileges with the other troops in the Continental establishment. That a Commandant of the Corps of Engineers shall be appointed by Congress, to whom their orders or those of the Commander-in-chief shall be addressed and such commandant shall render to the Commander-in-chief, and to the Board of War an account of every matter relative to his department." In November 1783, the corps was disbanded. Threatened European complications in 1794 and again in 1798 caused a revival of engineer activities in the Army, but these were only temporary. The present Corps of Engineers originated in the act of March 16, 1802, fixing the new military establishment.* This act authorized the President to organize and establish a corps of engineers consisting of sixteen officers and four cadets, and provided that the corps "shall be stationed at West Point, in the State of New York, and shall constitute a Military Academy; and at all times to do duty in such places and on such service as the President of the United States shall direct." Since then the Corps of Engineers has been a permanent part of the military establishment, varying from time to time in numbers and in activities, although both have had a natural tendency to increase with the growth of the country. 'Historical sketch of the Corps of Engineers by General H. L. Abbott, in the Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States, Vol. 15, P. 413. "Journals of the Continental Congress, March 11, 1779. 2 Stat. L., 137. The act of 1802 not only marked the beginning of the existing Corps of Engineers but also created the Military Academy at West Point. It was intended that the officers of the corps should act as the faculty of the Academy, but from its inception some of the officers were engaged upon the fortifications of the coast, and by 1808 only one officer of the corps, who served in the capacity of superintendent, remained at the Academy. The others of the corps who had been teachers during the first few years were replaced by teachers and professors to instruct in special subjects. Within a few years the headquarters of the corps was removed to Washington, where it has been ever since. The Military Academy remained under the charge of the Corps of Engineers until 1866, when Congress transferred the institution to the Army at large under the direction of the Secretary of War. Many of the duties, both military and non-military, now performed by the Corps. of Engineers were formerly done by the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Although there had been a somewhat similar organization during the Revolutionary War, the Corps of Topographical Engineers was created by the act of March 5, 1813, which authorized as part of the General Staff, eight topographic engineers with the brevet rank, pay, and emoluments of majors of cavalry, and eight assistants with the brevet rank, pay, and emoluments of captains of infantry. In 1818, when a separate topographical bureau was established, the officers were "arranged to the Engineer's Department, and . . . made subject to the orders of the chief and commanding engineers." This arrangement was terminated thirteen years later when the Corps of Topographical Engineers was made a distinct and independent bureau of the War Department. For over thirty years it remained a separate service, but its activities, especially those which were non-military, were closely related to those of the Corps of Engineers and often were identical. On March 3, 1863, Congress abolished the Corps of Topographical Engineers and merged its personnel and duties into the Corps of Engineers. From early times the military forces of the United States have been divided into geographical units as the Department of the East "During the Revolutionary War two officers were styled "Geographers to the United States of America." |