Richard Delafield

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Richard Delafield
Richard Delafield.jpg
Richard Delafield
Born (1798-09-01)September 1, 1798
New York City, New York
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Washington, D.C
Place of burial
Allegiance United States of America
Union
Service/branch United States Army
Union Army
Years of service 1818 - 1866
Rank Union army brig gen rank insignia.jpg Brigadier General
Union army maj gen rank insignia.jpg Brevet Major General
Commands held United States Army Corps of Engineers
Battles/wars American Civil War

Richard Delafield (September 1, 1798 – November 5, 1873) served as superintendent of the United States Military Academy, was Chief of Engineers, and was a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Delafield Family Mausoleum Inscriptions
Delafield Family Mausoleum(close)
Delafield Family Mausoleum

Biography

Delafield, born in New York City, New York, was the first graduate of the United States Military Academy to receive a merit class standing, ranking first in the class of 1818. Commissioned in the Corps of Engineers, he was a topographical engineer with the American commission to establish the northern boundary under the Treaty of Ghent.

He served as assistant engineer in the construction of Hampton Roads defenses from 1819–1824 and was in charge of fortifications and surveys in the Mississippi River delta area from 1824-1832. While superintendent of repair work on the Cumberland Road east of the Ohio River, he designed and built Dunlap's Creek Bridge in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, the first cast-iron tubular-arch bridge in the United States. Appointed superintendent of the Military Academy after the fire in 1838, he designed the new buildings and the new cadet uniform that first displayed the castle insignia. He superintended the construction of coast defenses for New York Harbor from 1846-1855.

In 1855, Delafield formed the Delafield Commission, and was sent by the Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, to Europe, including the Crimea, to observe the European military. The commission also included officers George B. McClellan and Alfred Mordecai. They served as military observers at the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War.

Delafield served as superintendent of the Military Academy again from 1856-1861. He was in charge of New York Harbor defenses (1861–64) and Chief Engineer from 1864 until his retirement in 1866.

Delafield died in Washington, D.C. The Secretary of War ordered that 13 guns be fired in his memory at West Point. He is buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

See also

References

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External links

Military offices
Preceded by Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy
1838–1845
Succeeded by
Henry Brewerton
Preceded by Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy
1856–1861
Succeeded by
P.G.T. Beauregard
Preceded by Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy
1861–1861
Succeeded by
Alexander Hamilton Bowman
Preceded by Chief of Engineers
1864–1866
Succeeded by
Andrew A. Humphreys