OBITUARY NOTICES. 
411 
tary record. It will suffice to say that he was made colonel 
of the Second Michigan volunteers in September, 1861, and 
brigadier general of volunteers in November, 1862. He 
served with great distinction, taking part in more than a 
score of battles. From time to time he received promotion 
in the regular army, each time for gallant and meritorious 
services, culminating in the rank of brevet brigadier general 
in 1865. That he was closely associated with General Sher¬ 
man for a period of twenty years is alone evidence of the 
regard in which he was held by that great soldier, on whose 
staff he served; but the letter, since published, which the 
retiring General of the Army addressed to him at the close 
of his military career shows clearly the deep friendship and 
esteem in which Poe was held by his chief. 
Distinguished as General Poe was as a soldier in war, he 
was no less distinguished as an engineer in time of peace. 
Of his works as engineer, the construction of Spectacle Reef 
light-house, in Lake Huron, and the design and construction 
of the great locks at Sault Ste. Marie are the most note¬ 
worthy. It was while he was inspecting a break in the lock 
just mentioned that he slipped and fell, abrading the skin of 
his leg. He paid but little attention to the injury, but ery¬ 
sipelas developed, from which he died on Wednesday, Octo¬ 
ber 2, 1895. 
To this barren outline of a life of ceaseless activity but 
little can be added in the allotted space to describe the man 
and his relation to his family. 
In person he w T as of soldierly bearing, tall and straight, 
broad-shouldered, and of massive mien. His appearance 
showed his great physical power, his conversation his wide 
range of knowledge and sympathetic nature, and the direct¬ 
ness of his speech his open heart. Early in his career he won 
the hand of a worthy helpmate in the person of Eleanor 
Carroll Brent, daughter of Thomas Lee Brent, of Virginia, 
a captain in the army. He was married to Miss Brent in 
Detroit, June 17, 1861. Four children were born to them, 
but, of these, three died within the last six years of his life, 
