528 ANDREW ATKINSON HUMPHREYS. 



tion to the INIississippi investigations, he was placed in charge of 

 the explorations and surveys for determining the most practica- 

 ble route for a railroad from the JMississippi River to the Pacific 

 Ocean. From this date until the breaking out of the war, he 

 performed an amount of professional labor which will be ap- 

 preciated only by those who had personal knowledge of it at 

 the time. Burdened with these two great national works and 

 with the direction of subsequent explorations in the West, he was 

 also an active member of the Light House Board, and served ou 

 two different commissions charged with important duties connected 

 with the Military Academy, beside making special reports upon 

 various works of internal improvement, which exhibit profound 

 study and great ability. His mind seemed to work like a ma- 

 chine which required neither rest nor repairs ; but his bodily health 

 suffered from his intense application. 



Of General llum|)hreys's war record this is not the place to speak. 

 He served with the Army of the Potomac during the whole of its 

 checkered history, and won a reputation which places him confessedly 

 among the greatest soldiers the country has produced. 



His last mental labor (1882-8'i) was the preparation of two 

 volumes of the Scribner series, ti-eating of the operations subse- 

 quent to the battle of Gettysburg, which have recently been 

 compared to Ca>sar's Commentaries by one of our best read 

 military critics. During this period, Major-General Humphreys 

 was either performing the duties of Chief of Staff of the Army 

 or commanding the Second Corps ; and it is fortunate indeed that 

 he found time to write what will always be regarded as a military 

 classic covering the most important operations of the war. 



After the termination of hostilities General Humphreys was charged 

 with an examination of the condition of the Mississippi levees, with 

 a view to deciding what could best be done by the government to 

 repair the damages and neglects caused by the war. On August 8, 

 18G6, he was appointed Chief of Engineers with the rank of Briga- 

 dier-General in the regular service. 



He held this office for thirteen years, serving also as a member 

 of several boards and commissions charged with highly important 

 duties. This period was one of transition in the history of the 

 Corps of Engineers. The two corps which had existed before the 

 war had been consolidated "in 1863. Many of the most distinguished 

 officers had been killed during the war, and their places were supplied 

 by recent graduates of the Military Academy, whose period of service 



