Abbot, Henry Larcom, 1831-1927

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1831-08-13
Death 1927-10-01
Gender:
Male
Americans
English

Biographical notes:

Henry Larcom Abbot (born August 13, 1831, Beverly, Massachusetts - died October 1, 1927, Cambridge, Massachusetts), army officer and engineer, was born in Beverly, Massachusetts. He was the older brother of Francis Ellingwood Abbot, an influential religious radical. Upon his graduation from West Point in 1854, Abbot was commissioned in the engineers and assigned to duty with the Pacific Coast Railway. For several years from 1857, he was associated with Captain Andrew A. Humphreys in a study of flood control and navigation improvement of the Mississippi River.

During the Civil War Abbot saw varied service. He was wounded at the first battle of Bull Run, served as an engineer with General George G. McClellan on the Peninsula and as chief topographical engineer with the New Orleans expedition under General Nathaniel P. Banks, and commanded the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery of which he had been appointed colonel in the Spring of 1863, and the siege artillery before Richmond, Virginia. Placed in command of the engineer battalion at Willett's Point, New York, he organized there the Engineer School of Application, a combined advanced training and research facility for military engineers. He devoted much of his time to the improvement of coastal defenses by means of submarine mines and of other forms of ordnance and equipment, serving as well on numerous engineering boards. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in March 1880 and to colonel in October 1886, and he retired at that rank in 1895. In 1904, Congress voted him rank of brigadier general, retired. As a civilian engineer, Abbot drew plans for the harbor at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and served on the technical committee of the New French Panama Canal Company. He later was a member of the board of engineers appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to plan the American canal in Panama. He served on the graduate engineering faculty of George Washington University from 1905 to 1910. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Henry L. Abbot

1831, Aug. 13 Born, Beverly, Mass. 1854 Graduated second in his class, United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y. 1854 1855 Second lieutenant, United States Corps of Topographical Engineers, Office of Pacific Railroad Explorations, Washington, D.C. 1855 Assisted in railroad survey in California and Oregon 1856 Married Mary Susan Everett (died 1871) 1857 First lieutenant, United States Corps of Topographical Engineers 1857 1861 Assisted Captain Andrew A. Humphreys on survey of the Mississippi River delta and coauthored their Report upon the Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River (1861) 1861 1862 Assistant topographical engineer, staff of General Irvin McDowell, United States Army Wounded at the First Battle of Bull Run, Va. Assisted General John G. Barnard, chief engineer for the Department of Washington, in constructing forts south of the Potomac River Aide-de-camp to General Barnard in the Peninsular Campaign, Va. Chief topographical engineer for Major General Nathaniel Banks’s expedition to New Orleans, La. 1863 1865 Colonel, First Connecticut Artillery, United States Volunteers, in defense of Washington, D.C. Captain, Corps of Engineers, United States Army Commanded siege artillery for United States armies operating against Petersburg and Richmond, Va. 1865 Mustered out of the volunteer service with brevet rank of major general and returned to regular duty in the Corps of Engineers with rank of major 1866 1886 Colonel, Corps of Engineers, United States Army 1888 1895 Member, Board of Ordnance and Fortifications, United States Department of War 1895 Retired from active service 1897 1904 Member, technical committee, and consulting engineer, La Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama (New Panama Canal Co.) 1904 Brigadier general, United States Army, retired, by Act of Congress 1905 1906 Member, board of consulting engineers appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to prepare plans for the Panama Canal 1905 1910 Professor of hydraulic engineering, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 1927, Oct. 1 Died, Cambridge, Mass.

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Subjects:

  • Bull Run, 1st Battle of, Va., 1861
  • Canals
  • Christianity
  • Coast defenses
  • Fortification
  • Fortification
  • Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863
  • Military engineering
  • Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815
  • Pacific railroads
  • Peninsular Campaign, 1862
  • Recommendations For Positions
  • Submarine mines
  • Surveys
  • Torpedoes
  • Unitarian churches
  • Whitehead torpedoes
  • Fortification

Occupations:

  • Army officers
  • Clergy
  • Engineer
  • Military engineers

Places:

  • MA, US
  • MA, US
  • Richmond, VA, US
  • Oregon, OR, US
  • Petersburg, VA, US
  • Charles City County, VA, US
  • Hanover County, VA, US
  • Republic of Nicaragua, 00, NI
  • Mississippi River, 00, US
  • Washington, D. C., DC, US
  • Petersburg, VA, US
  • California, CA, US
  • Panama Canal, 00, PA
  • Henrico County, VA, US
  • MA, US
  • MA, US

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