Edward W. Serrell
Encyclopedia
Edward Wellman Serrell was a prominent American civil engineer
during the mid 19th century. In 1861, during the American Civil War
he helped raise a regiment of engineers from New York
state, the 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment
for the Union Army
and was appointed colonel
of the regiment. Later he was promoted to general
. One of his more notable achievements during the war was his work on the "Marsh Battery" during the Second Battle of Charleston Harbor
.
, England
on November 5, 1826. He was the tenth of eleven children of William and Ann Serrell. The family immigrated to New York in 1831, and as a result, Edward received his early education in the schools of New York City
. He later took up civil engineering under the direction of his father and an older brother. On April 6, 1848, he married Jane Pound, an English girl two years his senior. They had four children.
From 1845 up to the time of the Civil War, Serrell was engaged in railroad and bridge
design and construction. He was, successively, assistant engineer to the commissioners of the Erie Railroad
, and assistant to the chief of the US Army Corps of Topographical Engineers
. He was the assistant engineer of the 1848 Panama Survey, where he located the route of the railroad between Aspinwall
and Panama
. He later had charge of the surveys for the Northern Railroad of New Hampshire
, and was, for a time, the engineer of the Central Railroad of New Jersey
. He prepared plans and supervised the construction of the suspension bridge across the Niagara River
at Lewiston
in 1850; superintended the construction of the bridge at St. John, New Brunswick; and planned the bridge over the St. Lawrence River at Quebec
. He was later concerned with the building of the Hoosac Tunnel
(1858), the Bristol Bridge
over the Avon River in England, which had one of the longest spans in that country at that time, and with the Union Pacific Railroad
.
During the Civil War, Colonel Serrell was in 126 actions. He was the chief engineer of the Department of the South until the 10th Corps moved to the Army of the James
. He was the chief engineer of the 10th Corps and the Army of the James, and became chief of staff for that army, being brevetted a brigadier general. He contributed many useful inventions including long wire, armor plate, impromptu gun carriages, and iron viaduct
s. After the war, he published many reports on railroads and canal
s, was consulting engineer to many corporations, president of the Washington County Railroad
, projected an interocean canal from San Blas to Pearl Island Harbor, and was the consulting engineer to the American Isthmus Ship Canal Company. He was listed as an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of Ulysses S. Grant
. He even sketched his idea for a flying machine.
One daughter, Josephine, married Robert Powell Page Wainwright
, a career U.S. Army cavalry
officer. Together they had three children including Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV
of World War II fame and the namesake of Fort Wainwright
in Alaska. Another daughter, Harriette, married Clarence Deems, an 1874 West Point graduate, in 1876 at General Serrell’s home near the Academy. She died in 1885, but their son, Clarence, Jr. graduated from West Point
in 1900.
His wife, Jane, died on August 29, 1896. They had four children, Edward William, Josephine Eva, Jesse Pound, and Harriette Marshall Serrell. Serrell married a long time family friend, Marion Seaton Roorbach, on September 3, 1900. The newspaper reported at the time that he was “Lying on a sick bed, from which he may never arise”, ill from an attack of gastritis, “too weak even to sit up.” He did recover sufficiently to be moved to his wife’s home on Staten Island
. She died in 1904. He died on April 25, 1906, at Rossville, New York.
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
during the mid 19th century. In 1861, during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
he helped raise a regiment of engineers from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
state, the 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment
1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment
The 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment was an engineer regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as Serrell's Engineers, New York Volunteer Corps of Engineers, or Engineer's and Artizans...
for the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
and was appointed colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
of the regiment. Later he was promoted to general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
. One of his more notable achievements during the war was his work on the "Marsh Battery" during the Second Battle of Charleston Harbor
Second Battle of Charleston Harbor
The Second Battle of Charleston Harbor, also known as the Siege of Charleston Harbor, Siege of Fort Wagner, or Battle of Morris Island, took place during the American Civil War in the late summer of 1863 between a combined Union Army/Navy force and the Confederate defenses of Charleston, South...
.
Biography
Serrell was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on November 5, 1826. He was the tenth of eleven children of William and Ann Serrell. The family immigrated to New York in 1831, and as a result, Edward received his early education in the schools of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He later took up civil engineering under the direction of his father and an older brother. On April 6, 1848, he married Jane Pound, an English girl two years his senior. They had four children.
From 1845 up to the time of the Civil War, Serrell was engaged in railroad and bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
design and construction. He was, successively, assistant engineer to the commissioners of the Erie Railroad
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
, and assistant to the chief of the US Army Corps of Topographical Engineers
Corps of Topographical Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, was separately authorized on 4 July 1838, consisted only of officers, and was used for mapping and the design and construction of federal civil works such as lighthouses and other coastal fortifications and navigational routes. It included such...
. He was the assistant engineer of the 1848 Panama Survey, where he located the route of the railroad between Aspinwall
Aspinwall
-Places:* Aspinwall, Iowa, United States* Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, United States* Alternative name of Colón, Panama-Persons:*Edward Aspinwall* Lloyd Aspinwall , American general* William Aspinwall Englishman emigrant to Boston...
and Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. He later had charge of the surveys for the Northern Railroad of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, and was, for a time, the engineer of the Central Railroad of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. He prepared plans and supervised the construction of the suspension bridge across the Niagara River
Niagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
at Lewiston
Lewiston, New York
Lewiston is a village in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 2,781 at the 2000 census. The village is named after Morgan Lewis, an early 19th-century governor of New York. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.The Village of Lewiston,...
in 1850; superintended the construction of the bridge at St. John, New Brunswick; and planned the bridge over the St. Lawrence River at Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. He was later concerned with the building of the Hoosac Tunnel
Hoosac Tunnel
The Hoosac Tunnel is a 4.75-mile-long railroad tunnel in western Massachusetts which passes through the Hoosac Range, an extension of Vermont's Green Mountains. Work began in 1848 and was finally completed in 1875...
(1858), the Bristol Bridge
Bristol Bridge
Bristol Bridge is an old bridge over the floating harbour in Bristol, England, the original course of the River Avon.-History:Bristol's name is derived from the Saxon 'Brigstowe' or 'place of the bridge', but it is unclear when the first bridge over the Avon was built. The Avon has the 2nd highest...
over the Avon River in England, which had one of the longest spans in that country at that time, and with the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
.
During the Civil War, Colonel Serrell was in 126 actions. He was the chief engineer of the Department of the South until the 10th Corps moved to the Army of the James
Army of the James
The Army of the James was a Union Army that was composed of units from the Department of Virginia and North Carolina and served along the James River during the final operations of the American Civil War in Virginia.-History:...
. He was the chief engineer of the 10th Corps and the Army of the James, and became chief of staff for that army, being brevetted a brigadier general. He contributed many useful inventions including long wire, armor plate, impromptu gun carriages, and iron viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
s. After the war, he published many reports on railroads and canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s, was consulting engineer to many corporations, president of the Washington County Railroad
Washington County Railroad
The Washington County Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in Vermont, forming part of the Vermont Rail System. The WACR began operating in 1980 over the old Montpelier and Barre Railroad in Washington County, which the state acquired to ensure the continuance of rail service, and ceased...
, projected an interocean canal from San Blas to Pearl Island Harbor, and was the consulting engineer to the American Isthmus Ship Canal Company. He was listed as an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
. He even sketched his idea for a flying machine.
One daughter, Josephine, married Robert Powell Page Wainwright
Robert Powell Page Wainwright
Robert Powell Page Wainwright was a U.S. Army officer and West Point graduate, class of 1875, who served in the cavalry for most of his military career. He began his career as a second lieutenant in the US 1st Cavalry in 1875...
, a career U.S. Army cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
officer. Together they had three children including Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV
Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV
Jonathan Mayhew "Skinny" Wainwright IV was a career American army officer and the commander of Allied forces in the Philippines at the time of their surrender to the Empire of Japan during World War II...
of World War II fame and the namesake of Fort Wainwright
Fort Wainwright
Fort Wainwright is a United States Army post adjacent to Fairbanks in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
in Alaska. Another daughter, Harriette, married Clarence Deems, an 1874 West Point graduate, in 1876 at General Serrell’s home near the Academy. She died in 1885, but their son, Clarence, Jr. graduated from West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
in 1900.
His wife, Jane, died on August 29, 1896. They had four children, Edward William, Josephine Eva, Jesse Pound, and Harriette Marshall Serrell. Serrell married a long time family friend, Marion Seaton Roorbach, on September 3, 1900. The newspaper reported at the time that he was “Lying on a sick bed, from which he may never arise”, ill from an attack of gastritis, “too weak even to sit up.” He did recover sufficiently to be moved to his wife’s home on Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. She died in 1904. He died on April 25, 1906, at Rossville, New York.
External links
- http://www.civilwar-photos.com/1nyve.html