Carson. 40 [Dec. 5, 



Andreio Atlinson Humphreys, Brigadier -General TJ. S. Army, Brevet Major- 

 General U. S. Army, Chief of Engineers. By Hampton L. Carson. 



{Read before the American Philosophical Society, Dec. 5, ISS4..) 



The life of Andrew Atkinson Humphreys was one of reflection and 

 action, of incident and character. A man of science, a brilliant soldier, an 

 accomplished scholar, a polished gentleman, the lineal descendant of dis- 

 tinguished men, and the inheritor of their talents and virtues, he displayed 

 in every walk of life the highest qualities, and combined the most oppo- 

 site characteristics. Born to command, he easily attained the front rank 

 in every species of labor which he undertook, yet his modesty was as great 

 as it was rare. His intercourse with men was graced by a charm of man- 

 ner, a simplicity of diction, a purity of sentiment, a gentle resistlessness of 

 will that armed him with a power which few could oppose with success ; 

 or if, misled by these, they had dared to stir the half-hidden fire of his 

 nature, they would have found him as terrible as Saul. Whether we view 

 him as an engineer, investigating the destructive dynamics of our floods, 

 aud demonstrating the laws by whicli»they are governed ; or as a division 

 commander leading his troops to the fierce assault, and animating them by 

 his personal example ; or as the chief of staff of the commander of a great 

 army, sagacious, practical and fertile in resources ; or as a corps comman- 

 der, skillful and intrepid ; or as the chief of engineers, broad-minded and 

 profound ; or as a military writer, luminous yet terse, we find his career 

 marked with capacity, energy, and success. As Sallust said of Jugurtha, 

 he was, indeed, both brave in action and wise in council ; qualities very 

 seldom united in the same person, precaution being generally accompan- 

 ied with timidity, and courage with rashness. The most conspicuous of 

 his virtues were truth, integrity and honor. A devoted husband, a tender 

 father, an affectionate brother, a generoui and unflinching friend, with 

 a chivalrous regard for woman worthy of the best days of heraldry, he 

 was in public and in private, a man to be feared, to be trusted, to be ad- 

 mired, to be loved ; a man with whom no one could trifle, and whom no 

 one would care to offend. 



The name of Humphreys is of Norman origin, and can be traced for a 

 thousand years. It occurs in Doomsday book as Humfridus — subsequently 

 spelled as Humfrey or Humphry — and six coats-of-arms, all very ancient, 

 appear to have been brought into the Herald's office in 1340, upon its first 

 establishment.* The crest of one branch of the fixmily — a lion with his 

 dexter paw upon a nag's head — refers most probably to the conquest of 

 Wales, where the sturdy victors dwelt upon the lands of which they gat 

 possession through their swords. Here they remained for seven hundred 



*See Marshaling and coat-ofarms presented to Gen. David Humphreys, 

 LL.D., by Oztas Humphreys, artist, of London, about 179U; preserved among his 

 papers and presented by the widow of William Humphreys, nephew of Gen. 

 David Humphreys, to Dr. Frederick Humphreys in 186S. Illuminated copy of 

 the coats-of-arms ot the Humphreys family in possession of the writer. 



