118 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
Entering the Academy in 1829, probably the youngest pupil 
ever admitted there, Barnard was graduated second in a class 
of 43. Passing from brevet second lieutenant through all the 
grades, he became colonel on December 28, 1865, and later 
major-general in both the regular army and the volunteers. 
As a civil engineer General Barnard’s activities extended 
over all the United States, and also included surveys around 
the city of Mexico and on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. ‘Twice 
he was sent to Europe to collect information desired by the 
Government. During the Civil War, General Barnard took 
an active part in many battles, but his most important work was 
as chief engineer of the defences of Washington, where he 
built field-works which, while having some elements of perma- 
nency, did not require so long a time for construction as to 
defeat the purposes for which they were erected, and were of 
great value to the Government in more than one emergency. 
At the close of the war, General Barnard became president of 
the permanent Board of Engineers for Fortifications and River 
and Harbor Improvements. ‘This position he held until his 
retirement in January, 1881. The increased size of heavy guns 
and the advances in naval construction having rendered the coast 
defences inadequate, a series of new experiments in fortification 
was commenced at Fortress Monroe and Fort Delaware by the 
engineer department. General Barnard, with a corps of 
assistants, visited Europe and by the study of the latest develop- 
ments in the art was enabled to make most satisfactory recom- 
mendations to the board of which he was so long the president. 
His writings on technical engineering were numerous. He 
wrote also on mathematical and other subjects, and was one of the 
associate editors of Johnson’s Universal Cyclopedia, to which 
he contributed more than go articles. General Barnard had many 
intellectual interests besides his profession, among them a fond- 
ness for music. He was the author of a number of compositions, 
including a Te Deum. His death occurred on May 14, 1882, at 
Detroit, Michigan. 
(From Henry L. Assot, in Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy 
of Sciences, vol. 5, 1905, pp. 219-229.) 
