List of engineers educated at the United States Military Academy

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The United States Military Academy (USMA) is an undergraduate college in West Point, New York that educates and commissions officers for the United States Army. This list is drawn from alumni of the Military Academy who are engineers. Most of the U.S. Army's Chiefs of Engineers were Academy alumni; beginning with Joseph Gardner Swift (class of 1802) and most recently the current Chief of Engineers, Robert L. Van Antwerp, Jr. (class of 1972). Other notable engineers include Orlando Metcalfe Poe (class of 1856), a lighthouse engineer, and George Washington Goethals (class of 1880), chief engineer of the Panama Canal.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Engineers[edit]

Note: "Class year" refers to the class year of each alumnus, which usually is the same year the person graduated. However, in times of war, classes often graduate early.
Name Class year Notability References
Joseph Gardner Swift 1802 Brigadier general; first graduate of the Academy; War of 1812; Superintendent of the Academy (1812–1814); Chief of Engineers (1812–1818) [1]
Walker Keith Armistead 1803 Brigadier general; War of 1812; Chief of Engineers (1818–1821) [1]
Joseph Gilbert Totten 1805 Major general; War of 1812, Mexican–American War, American Civil War; military and lighthouse engineer; Chief of Engineers (1838–1864) [1]
Charles Gratiot 1806 Brigadier general; War of 1812; Chief of Engineers (1828–1838) [1]
Richard Delafield 1818 Major general; 7th, 11th, and 13th Superintendent of the Academy (1838–1845), (1856–1861), (1861); American Civil War; Chief of Engineers (1864–1866) [1]
George Washington Whistler 1819 Major (United States); Chief Engineer that constructed the railroad between St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia (1842); Received the Order of St. Anne from the Czar Nicholas (1847); father of the painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834) [1]
Isaac R. Trimble 1822 Major General CSA; civil and railroad engineer; wounded and captured at the Battle of Gettysburg [a][b][2]
George S. Greene 1823 Brigadier general; second cousin of General Nathanael Greene of the American Revolutionary War; railroad and aqueduct engineer, founder of American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects; defender of Culp's Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg [b][3][self-published source]
Andrew A. Humphreys 1831 Major general; American Civil War; topographical and hydrological surveyor of the Mississippi River Delta; Chief of Engineers (1866–1875); an incorporator of the United States National Academy of Sciences [1]
Herman Haupt 1835 Brigadier general; railroad engineer and head of the United States Military Railroad during the American Civil War [4]
John Williams Gunnison 1837 Captain; topographical engineer; supervised one of the Pacific Railroad surveys in 1853; Gunnison, Colorado and Gunnison, Utah are named in his honor [5][6]
Horatio Wright 1841 Major general; American Civil War; Chief of Engineers (1879–1884) [1]
John Newton 1842 Brigadier general; American Civil War; coastal fortifications engineer; Chief of Engineers (1884–1886) [1]
John Pope 1842 Major general; topographic engineer and surveyor; Dakota War of 1862, Apache Wars; defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run, commander of Army of the Mississippi and Army of Virginia [b][7]
William F. Raynolds 1843 Colonel; topographic engineer; Mexican–American War; American Civil War; lighthouse construction, led 1859–1860 Raynolds Expedition in Yellowstone region.
James Chatham Duane 1848 Brigadier general; leader of engineers in the Utah War of 1858; American Civil War; coastal fortifications and pontoon engineer; Chief of Engineers (1886–1888) [1]
Robert S. Williamson 1848 Lieutenant colonel; American Civil War; topographical engineer; participated in the Pacific Railroad Surveys [6]
John Parke 1849 Major general; American Civil War; participated in the Pacific Railroad surveys in 1853; chief surveyor who delineated the boundary between northwestern United States and British North America; Superintendent of the Academy (1887–1889) [8]
Rufus Saxton 1849 Brigadier general; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his defense at the Battle of Harpers Ferry; participated in the Pacific Railroad surveys in 1853; early abolitionist [9][10]
Gouverneur K. Warren 1850 Major general; commended at the battle of Little Round Top, Chief of Engineers of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War; participated in topographical and railroad explorations of the Mississippi River and trans-Mississippi West [11]
Thomas Lincoln Casey 1852 Brigadier general; American Civil War; fortifications engineer; construction engineer of the Washington Monument and Old Executive Office Building; Chief of Engineers (1888–1895) [1]
William Price Craighill 1853 Brigadier general; American Civil War; fortifications, river, harbor, and coastal engineer; author; Chief of Engineers (1895–1897) [1]
Orlando Metcalfe Poe 1856 Brigadier general; American Civil War; lighthouse, harbor, and river engineer; responsible for much of the early lighthouse construction on the Great Lakes; built the Poe Lock of the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; Poe Reef Light in Lake Huron is named in his honor [12]
Henry Martyn Robert 1857 Brigadier general; Pig War; American Civil War; fortifications, river, and harbor engineer; wrote Robert's Rules of Order; Chief of Engineers (1901) [1]
John Moulder Wilson 1860 Brigadier general; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Malvern Hill despite acute illness; Superintendent of the Academy (1889–1893); Chief of Engineers (1897–1901) [1][9]
John W. Barlow 1861 Brigadier general; American Civil War; participated in topographical explorations of the headwaters of the Missouri River and Yellowstone River; Chief of Engineers (1901) [1]
George Lewis Gillespie, Jr. 1862 Brigadier general; recipient of the Medal of Honor for carrying dispatches under withering fire at the Battle of Cold Harbor; fortification and pontoon engineer; Chief of Engineers (1901–1904) [1][13]
David Porter Heap 1864 Brigadier general; engineer and author; harbor and lighthouse engineer [14]
Alexander Mackenzie 1864 Major general; American Civil War; torpedo, river, and harbor engineer; Chief of Engineers (1904–1908) [1]
William Louis Marshall 1868 Brigadier general; topographic and river engineer; Chief of Engineers (1908–1910) [1]
William Herbert Bixby 1873 Brigadier general; coastal and river engineer; Chief of Engineers (1910–1913) [1]
William Trent Rossell 1873 Brigadier general; fortification, harbor and river engineer; Chief of Engineers (1913) [1]
Dan Christie Kingman 1875 Brigadier general; fortification, harbor and river engineer; Chief of Engineers (1913–1916) [1]
William Murray Black 1877 Major general; Spanish–American War; civil engineer; Chief of Engineers (1917–1919) [1]
George Washington Goethals 1880 Major general; chief engineer of the Panama Canal; Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (1914–1917) [15]
Lansing Hoskins Beach 1882 Major general; river, harbor, and coastal engineer; Chief of Engineers (1920–1924) [1]
Harry Taylor 1884 Major general; World War I; fortification, river, and harbor engineer; Chief of Engineers (1924–1926) [1]
Edgar Jadwin 1890 Major general; Spanish–American War; World War I; river, bridge, and road engineer; Chief of Engineers (1926–1929) [1]
Lytle Brown 1898 Major general; Spanish–American War; Pancho Villa Expedition; World War I; civil engineer; Chief of Engineers (1929–1933) [1]
Edward Murphy Markham 1899 Major general; World War I; topographic and civil engineer; Chief of Engineers (1933–1937) [1]
Julian Larcombe Schley 1903 Major general; World War I; topographic and civil engineer; Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (1932–1926); Chief of Engineers (1937–1941) [1]
Raymond Albert Wheeler 1911 Lieutenant general; World War II; railroad and highway engineer; Chief of Engineers (1945–1949); directed the clearing of the Suez Canal following the 1956 Suez Crisis [1][16]
Lunsford E. Oliver 1913 Major general; initiated the research that led to the development of the steel treadway bridge; Commander of 5th Armored Division during World War II [17]
Hugh John Casey 1918 Major general; instructor and engineer company commander during World War I; Chief Engineer for General of the Army Douglas MacArthur for the South West Pacific theatre of World War II; initial designer of The Pentagon; father of Major Hugh Boyd Casey; father-in-law of Major General Frank Butner Clay [18]
Samuel D. Sturgis, Jr. 1918 Lieutenant general; World War II; railroad and highway engineer; Chief of Engineers (1953–1956) [1]
Emerson C. Itschner 1924 Lieutenant general; World War II; Korean War; civil engineer; Chief of Engineers (1956–1961) [1]
Walter K. Wilson, Jr. 1929 Lieutenant general; World War II; Chief of Engineers (1961–1965) [1]
William F. Cassidy 1931 Lieutenant general; World War II; airfield engineer and engineer logistician; Chief of Engineers (1965–1969) [1]
Frederick J. Clarke 1937 Lieutenant general; World War II; airfield engineer, engineer logistician, and early developer of the Red Ball Express; worked on the Manhattan Project; Chief of Engineers (1969–1973) [1]
William C. Gribble, Jr. 1941 Lieutenant general; World War II; civil and nuclear engineer; worked on the Alaska Highway; Chief of Engineers (1973–1976) [1]
John W. Morris 1943 Lieutenant general; World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War; airfield and river engineer; Chief of Engineers (1976–1980) [1]
Joseph K. Bratton 1948 Lieutenant general; Korean War, Vietnam War; Chief of Engineers (1980–1984) [1]
Fidel V. Ramos 1950 General; Korean War, Vietnam War; master's degree in civil engineering at the University of Illinois (1951); Chief of Staff of the United Nations engineering contingent during the Vietnam War [19]
Elvin R. Heiberg III 1953 Lieutenant general; Vietnam War; held three Master's degrees; Chief of Engineers (1984–1988) [1]
Henry J. Hatch 1957 Lieutenant general; Vietnam War; Paratrooper and Army Ranger; Chief of Engineers (1988–1992) [1]
Robert L. Van Antwerp, Jr. 1972 Lieutenant general; Gulf War; Paratrooper and Army ranger; Chief of Engineers (2007–present) [1]
Joseph Gardner Swift
Andrew Humphreys
William F. Raynolds
Orlando Metcalfe Poe
John Moulder Wilson
Lansing Hoskins Beach
Lunsford E. Oliver
Hugh John Casey
Robert Van Antwerp

References[edit]

General references

^ a: Special Collections: Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy. West Point, NY: United States Military Academy Library. 1950.

Inline citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an "Commanders of the Corps of Engineers". United States Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  2. ^ Tagg, Larry (2003). The Generals of Gettysburg. New York: Da Capo Press. pp. 31, 208, 200, 293. ISBN 0-306-81242-8.
  3. ^ Palmer, David W. (2004). The Forgotten Hero of Gettysburg. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris. pp. 21–55, 80–107, 234–235. ISBN 1-4134-6633-8.
  4. ^ "Herman Haupt (1817–1905)". Mr. Lincoln's White House. Archived from the original on 2006-10-12. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  5. ^ "John W. Gunnison Expedition". National Park Service. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  6. ^ a b "West Point in the Making of America". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  7. ^ Foote, Shelby (1958). The Civil War, A Narrative: Fort Sumter to Perryville. New York: Random House. p. 529. ISBN 0-394-49517-9.
  8. ^ "Col. John G. Parke" (PDF). The New York Times. 1900-12-18. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  9. ^ a b "Medal of Honor Recipients Civil War (M–Z)". Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  10. ^ "Civil War Medal of Honor Citations Last names starting with "S" through "Z"". American Civil War. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  11. ^ Eicher, John H.; Eicher, David J. (2001). Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. pp. 554–555. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
  12. ^ "Orlando Metcalfe Poe". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  13. ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients, Civil War (A–L)". Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  14. ^ "David Porter Heap". National Park Service. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  15. ^ "George Washington Goethals". Panama Canal Authority. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  16. ^ "Raymond Albert Wheeler". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  17. ^ Paths of Armor: The Fifth Armored Division in World War II. Nashville: The Battery Press. 1950. p. 15. ISBN 0-89839-084-2.
  18. ^ "Hugh John Casey". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  19. ^ "Westpoint Distinguished Graduate Award: DGA Fidel Ramos". Archived from the original on 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2009-07-01.

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