8 3 6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



made chief engineer of the Utah Expedition in 1858, and afterward 

 superintending engineer of the construction of Fort Delaware, and of 

 repairs of Fort Mifflin, Delaware Bay ; and of the special board of 

 engineers for modifying the plans of the fort at Sandy Hook, and for 

 selecting sites for additional batteries at Fort Hamilton. 



These occupations engaged his attention down to the time of the 

 outbreak of the rebellion in 1861, when he entered the active service 

 as chief engineer of the Department of Pennsylvania, in which capacity 

 he accompanied General Paterson's column in the Valley of Virginia, 

 and was engaged in the action of Falling Waters. He was also, in 

 this year, chief engineer of the Department of the Shenandoah, assist- 

 ant engineer in the construction of the defenses of Washington, and 

 commander of a brigade in the defense of the capital, till March 10, 

 1862 ; and was appointed major of the Corps of Engineers and briga- 

 dier-general in the volunteer service. In 1862 General Newton 

 served in the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsular and Maryland 

 campaigns, and was engaged in the actions at W^est Point, Gaines 

 Mill, and Glen dale ; in the retreat from the second battle of Bull 

 Run ; and in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. At West 

 Point, when it was found that the Union army was threatened by the 

 interposition of the forces of Gustavus W. Smith, at Barhamsville, 

 with their retreat cut off by the river in their rear, Newton went out 

 at dawn to reconnoitre. He found that marshes covered all their 

 position except a space sufficient for the movements of one brigade. 

 He planted his own brigade there, and with it held the post against 

 attack. At South Mountain General Newton's brigade, attached to 

 General Franklin's corps, was one of the three brigades composing the 

 division of General Slocum, which advanced up the side of the mount- 

 ain, and repulsed the enemy's force. The same brigade won formal 

 commendation for its behavior at Gaines Mill and at Glendale; and its 

 commander was brevetted lieutenant-colonel (regular army) September 

 17, 1862, for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Antietam. 



General Newton was given the command of a division in the Rap- 

 pahannock campaign, in which he was engaged in the battle of Fred- 

 ericksburg. In the Chancellorsville campaign, having been in the 

 mean time made a major-general of volunteers, he was attached to 

 General Sedgwick's corps, counseled and participated in the storming 

 of Marye Heights, and took part in the battle of Salem. In the Penn- 

 sylvania campaign he participated in the eventful battle of Gettys- 

 burg, and took the temporary command of the First Corps after the 

 death of General Reynolds, and in that capacity followed in pursuit 

 of the enemy to Warrenton, Virginia. For his gallant and meritorious 

 services at Gettysburg he was, July 3, 1863, brevetted colonel. He 

 still commanded the First Corps in the Rapidan campaign ; but, when 

 the "march through Georgia" was about to be entered upon, he was 

 transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, and put in command of 



