Table Of ContentOOPYhlOHTED
by
FORKST PARRETT HILL
1950
THE ROLE OF THE ARMY ENGINEERS
IN THE PLANNING AND ENCOURAGEMENT
OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
by
Forest G arrett K ill
DISSERTATION
Submitted in. p a rtia l fulfillm en t of the
requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
the Faculty of P o litic a l Science,
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
PREPACE
Government p artic ip a tio n in economic a c tiv ity and
in long-run economic development is progressively receiving
g reater atten tio n from economic h isto rian s. Before the
C ivil War the government attempted national planning and
stim ulation of economic progress, p a rtic u la rly in the fie ld
of transportation, A notable instance of th is public promo
tion was the national movement fo r in tern a l improvements, in
which the federal government p articip ated through the a c tiv i
tie s of i ts army engineers. Using these engineers, the
government was able to fo ste r engineering science and plan
and encourage many in tern al improvements.
This study represents an attempt to determine how
and why the government employed i ts army engineers to pro
mote transportation and science. This analysis of the role
of the army engineers in planning and encouraging in tern al
improvements should throw more lig h t on the way in which the
government has shared in national economic development.
M aterial on the detailed a c tiv itie s of the army engineers
was secured prim arily from manuscript records of the
Engineer Department found in the N ational Archives and from
p rinted government rep o rts.
Professor C arter Goodrich has provided much stimu
la tio n and assistance, and his research in the fie ld of
i i
in tern al improvements has added to the scope and in tere st
of this study# The w riter is highly indebted to him and
also Professors Dudley D illard and Joseph Dorfman for many
valuable suggestions. Dr. Elizabeth B. Drewry and Mr.
Raymond p. Flynn in the War Records Division of the
National Archives greatly fa c ilita te d the w rite r's research.
Mr. T. S. Bland, Mr. Raleigh B. Buzzaird, and Dr. Harold
Kelso of the O ffice of the Chief of Engineers also gave
many helpful leads. F inally, the w riter must warmly acknow
ledge the indispensable support and assistance of his wife.
Forest G. H ill
Berkeley, C alifornia
i i i
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
I I , ORIGIN OP THE ARMY ENGINEERS AND THEIR CIVIL
FUNCTIONS ..................................................................................................... 7
Origin and Growth of the M ilitary Engineers • . 7
Rise of the U. S. M ilitary Academy...........................16
Early C ivil Functions of the M ilitary Engineers, 3£
I I I . APPLICATION OP THE GENERAL SURVEY ACT............................60
Roots of the General Survey A c t ................................... 6l
Passage of the General Survey A c t ............................72
Board of Engineers fo r Internal Improvements . . 79
Work of the Board of Engineers fo r Internal
Im p ro v em en ts.............................. 00
Decline of the General Survey A c t ..........................123
IV. RAILROAD WORK OP THE ARMY ENGINEERS................................ll|.8
I n itia l Railroad Surveys .............................1I4.9
Railroad Aid Between 1831 and 1 8 3 8 ..........................173
P acific Railroad Surveys ........................................................ 202
West Point and Early Railroad Development . • • 215
Government Engineering and Railroad Progress . . 22o
V. RIVER AND HARBOR WORK OP THE ARMY ENGINEERS . . . .2 3 7
Origin of River and Harbor Improvement . . . . . 238
River and Harbor Work Between I 82I4. and 1838 • • 251
River and Harbor Work a fte r 1 8 3 8 ............................................277
S um m ary................................................................................................ 301
VI. OTHER CIVIL FUNCTIONS OP THEA RMYE NGINEERS . . . . 310
S cien tific E d u c a tio n ................................... 310
Surveying and E x p lo r a tio n ......................................................328
Other C ivil W o r k s .......................................................................31\2
VII. CONCLUSION.....................................................................................3I4.6
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................... 366
iv
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A major instance of government p articip atio n in econo
mic ac tiv ity was the e ffo rt of the federal government to pro
mote the national movement for in tern al improvements before
the C ivil War. One of the primary methods by which the
government sought to guide and stim ulate economic development
was by fostering the more rapid growth of transportation.
That there was a sig n ifican t degree of national planning of
in tern al improvements in th is period is now recognized.^ The
present study is designed to help explain the way in which the
federal government attempted to plan and encourage the growth
of in tern al improvements through the instrum entality of the
army engineers.
An analysis of the operations of the army engineers
in the fie ld of in tern al improvements should contribute to an
understanding of early government planning. One of the chief
purposes of th is study is thus to analyze the character and
extent of the planning a c tiv ity carried on by the army
^Cf. Carter Goodrich, ''National Planning of Internal
Improvements," P o litic a l Science Q uarterly. LXIII (19lf8)» l 6—Iflf.
1
2
engineers. Much of th e ir work may be designated as "planning"
in the general sense of this term. Their work was national
in objective and scope, positive in design and policy, and co
ordinated in purpose and procedure. I t was carefully aimed at
directing and promoting national welfare and development in
terms of m ilitary defense, commercial expansion, and p o litic a l
unity. As one investigator suggests, the term "economic plan
ning" as applied to American experience may be taken to mean
....t h e adoption by government or community of .
deliberate and concerted policies which are
designed to promote economic expansion or pros
perity and in which positive action to provide
favorable conditions for economic a ctiv ity is
emphasized more strongly than negative regulation
or the correction of a b u se s,^
By the time of the War of 1312, national leaders had
realized the m ilitary, commercial, and p o litic a l importance
of " in te rio r communications" and the necessity of comprehensive
governmental action to develop them* Presidents Jefferson,
Madison, and Monroe continually asked for a national system of
roads and canals and a national university, as well as a con
s titu tio n a l amendment sp ecifically delegating these powers to
Congress. In 1808 Albert G allatin, Jefferso n ’s Secretary of
Treasury, presented a general plan of federal aid for the con
struction of roads and canals. In 1819 John C. Calhoun,
Monroe's Secretary of War, submitted a sweeping plan for
federal execution and financing of projected works of in tern al
2
Ib id .. 16.
improvement.
Then in I82I4. at the beginning of the most intense
period of the in tern al improvements movement the General Survey
Act was passed. This important measure authorized the P resi
dent " . . . . t o cause the necessary surveys, plans, and estim ates,
to be made of the routes of such roads and canals as he may
deem of national importance, in a commercial or m ilitary point
of view, or necessary for the transportation of the public mail.
to present the resu lts to Congress, and to employ m ilitary
and c iv il engineers in adm inistering the a c t .^ in order to
execute th is measure, the President was confronted with the
task of in stitu tin g the comprehensive planning of works of
public improvement; and the army engineers were given the func
tion of shaping and sharing in the execution of projects in the
federally sponsored movement fo r improving transportation.
I t may therefore be in stru ctiv e to study the manner
in which the army engineers particip ated in this planning a c ti
vity. S ignificant questions arise concerning the nature and
scope of th is planning function and the importance of the
General Survey Act as the in stitu tio n of a planning scheme.
Among these questions are: why was the act passed, why were
the army engineers assigned to adm inister it, what major policy
c rite ria did they employ, how extensive and successful were
th e ir a c tiv itie s, and what factors contributed to the eventual
Acts of the Eighteenth Congress, Chap. I4.6, page 35*
repeal of the act? The most pertinent issues relate to the
reasons why, the methods by which, and the extent to which
the federal i-overnment u tiliz e d the army engineers in the plan
ning of internal improvements.
Much of the work of the army engineers in promoting
public improvement extended beyond what may be appropriately
described as planning. As a m atter of fact, this became in
creasingly the case as th e ir planning function declined. The
continuing stimulus and aid to projects of great public u tility
may be conveniently termed the Mencouragement" of in tern al im
provements in order to distinguish i t from what may be more
properly described as planning. These a c tiv itie s of encourage
ment were numerous and varied; and they m erit careful analysis
as to th e ir purpose and character, the manner and s p ir it in
which the army engineers executed them, and th eir importance
to tho growth of internal improvements.
Since most of th i3 stim ulating encouragement took the
form of technical assistance, questions of the value and volume
of th is engineering aid are of great in te re st. Moreover, since
the government contrived to fo ster in tern al improvements through
developing and dissem inating the science of c iv il engineering,
the larger issue of the relatio n of government to the advance
ment of technology is raised. I t is in stru ctiv e to study the
objectives with which and methods by which the government
engineers applied th e ir technical s k ills to stim ulate national
progress in such v ita l areas as road, canal, and railro ad sur
veying under the General Survey Act, riv e r and harbor improve-
ment, development of scie n tific education, and exploration of
the West. There are also in terestin g questions concerning the
reasons why the government intervened in the area of engi
neering, the relatio n between technical encouragement and
national planning of internal improvements, and the strategic
value of government ..engineering to early transportation.
In th is study there is ju stific a tio n for a reasonably
broad in terp retatio n of the concept " in ternal improvements."
The c iv il functions of the army engineers ranged from explora
tion, surveying, and provision of technical information and
advice to the construction and operation of public works.
Their work extended to roads, canals, railroads, riv e r and
harbor improvements, westward expansion, location of natural
resources, and advancement of engineering science and scie n tific
education. Inquiry into the range of these a c tiv itie s helps
to indicate the nature and significance of the planning and
encouragement functions of the army engineers.
The category "army engineers" is used to include a ll
engineer o fficers of the United States Army and the c iv il
engineers employed by the War Department for civil-w orks
a c tiv itie s. In the period under study, c iv il engineers were
often employed by the Engineer Department and Topographical
Bureau; and o fficers of the lin e of the Army were frequently
assigned to engineering duties. S tric tly speaking, the m ili
tary engineers consisted only of the topographical engineers
and the officers of the Corps of Engineers; but other Arroy
