Washington's Engineer

by Norman Desmarais

  Tomorrow being the day set apart by the Honorable Congress for public Thanksgiving and Praise; and duty calling us to devoutly express our grateful acknowledgements to God for the manifold blessings he has granted us—the General directs that the army remain in its present quarters, and that the Chaplains perform divine service with their several corps and brigades—and earnestly exhorts all officers and soldiers, whose absence is not indispensably necessary, to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day.11

  VALLEY FORGE

  Valley Forge was selected, and the army set up headquarters there on December 20, 1777. Before leaving the Gulph, orders were issued regarding the building of huts, which the soldiers were immediately to construct for themselves. Thomas Paine, who was at Lancaster and York during the winter of 1777–1778, wrote a letter to Benjamin Franklin regarding the encampment at Valley Forge: “I was there when the army first began to build huts; they appeared to me like a family of beavers; every one busy; some carrying logs, others mud and the rest fastening them together. The whole was raised in a few days.”12

  Immediately after erecting shelters for the men, the work of providing defenses began. Duportail was assigned the task of bolstering those defenses to prepare against an enemy attack because the army was encamped in a place easily accessible from the enemy’s headquarters in Philadelphia. Washington expected an attack the following spring, but it never happened. This was among the most significant of all of Duportail’s services and established his reputation.

  General Washington’s order book for January 15, 1778, specified,

  The works marked out by the Engineers for the defense of the camp are to be erected with all possible dispatch and the Commander-in-Chief requests the favor of General Greene, Lord Stirling and the Marquis de la Fayette (General Sullivan being upon other duty) to consult with Genl. Portail on the proper means and number of men necessary to execute the works in the different Wings & second line and gives orders accordingly—and that each of them appoint proper officers to superintend and push forward the defences.13

  The soldiers built two thousand huts similar to these to house 20,000 men and officers. Each hut sheltered nine to twelve men. Construction was completed in a month, and the encampment became the fourth-largest city in America after Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Photo courtesy of the author.

  Later, when General William Howe returned to England, he came under severe criticism for not having driven Washington from his entrenchments before his departure from Philadelphia. His excuse was that the place was naturally strong and had been so strengthened by “artificial works” that he did not judge it prudent to attempt an attack “during the severe season”; later, it would have been impossible. He said, “[H]aving good information in the spring that the enemy had strengthened his camp by additional works and being certain of moving him from thence when the campaign opened, I dropped all thought of attack.”14 This gives “indirect but decisive testimony to the wisdom of the selection of this site” and to the “deterrent effects” of the entrenchments so laboriously constructed and constantly strengthened by additional works of a defensive character carried on during the winter.15

  The Duportail House (297 Adams Drive, Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania), is now a venue for weddings. The plaque on the left of the door reads, “Headquarters of Brigadier General Louis Lebègue Duportail, chief of engineers of the American Army who planned the defenses at Valley Forge 1777–1778.” Photo courtesy of the author.

  Duportail’s sketch of the defenses of Valley Forge. Courtesy Cornell University Library, https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:545278.

  Duportail was staying on the farm of a Welsh Quaker named John Havard Jr. at Chesterbrook at the time. The house came to be known as the Duportail House. General Duportail’s original map of the Valley Forge defenses was found in the attic rafters during renovations in 1903 and has been in the collections of the Pennsylvania Historical Society since 1908.

  SAPPERS AND MINERS

  Duportail also proposed to supplement the engineer officers with companies of combat engineers and called them companies of sappers and miners, according to European custom. The sappers dug the entrenchments (saps) for a formal siege; the miners constructed underground tunnels. These companies, which would become a permanent part of the Continental Army, could execute small projects or supervise infantry details in more extensive undertakings. Duportail submitted the paper to the commander in chief about January 18, 1778:

  If fortification is necessary in any Armies, it is peculiarly so in those, which like ours, from a deficiency in the practice of manoeuvres cannot oppose any to those of the enemy being necessitated therefore to receive him on their own ground, they ought always to be protected either by a natural or artificial Fortification, if it were only to have (under favor of the resistance of this fortification) sufficient time to ascertain the Result of the Enemy’s movements—where his principal force is directed—and where his greatest effort is to be made. With respect to natural fortification, all Situations do not afford it—and to rely entirely upon it, would involve prodigious restraint in the choice of Positions and exclude many excellent ones considered relatively to the operations of War—it is therefore much more advantageous to have recourse to artificial Fortification which is applicable in all Situations.

  The very great difficulties which I experienced in the last Campaign, both in setting on foot the most simple work and having it executed with the necessary Conditions, induce me to propose to His Excellency an establishment which is absolutely indispensable, if he chooses to derive hereafter those succours from Fortification which it holds out to him.

  I would desire to have three Companies of Sappers formed—they should be instructed in every thing that relates to the construction of Field works—how to dispose of the Earth to cut the Slopes—face with Turf or Sods—make fascines—arrange them properly—cut and fix Palisades &ct.

  The Sappers should be distributed in the different works, and a sufficient number of fatigue men drawn from the line should be joined to them to work under their direction, by which means the work would be executed with a perfection and celerity which otherwise will ever be unknown in this army—it is, I believe, altogether useless to enlarge upon a matter so obvious—I proceed therefore immediately to the principal Conditions on which the Corps should be formed.

  1st. The pay ought to be greater than that of ordinary foot soldiers because the Service is exceedingly hard—this is the practice in Europe, and they receive besides extraordinary pay when they work.—Choice ought to be made of vigorous Soldiers and the preference should be given to Carpenters and Masons.

  2. The Non-commissioned officers ought all to read and write, and be intelligent persons of good Characters.

  3. The Companies of Sappers ought to be altogether under the Command of the Head Engineer—for if the Major Generals had a right to employ them as they pleased, each, from a desire of fortifying his Camp in his own way, would ask for Sappers and they would all be taken from the Engineers.

  Besides as such partial works do not enter into the general plan of the position they are for the most part useless, ill concerted, and sometimes even dangerous.

  4. The Captains of Sappers will be charged with the detail of their Companies, and each of them will be accountable to the Commanding officer of the Engineers in order that he may always know the State of the Companies, their Strength etc.

  5. Each Company should always have its Tools with it, carried on a Waggon provided for the purpose—The Company should be answerable for all Tools lost—and in case any should be broke, the pieces are to be produced to the Officer to whom the detail of the Company is to be committed.

  The Camp of the Sappers to be assigned by the Commanding officer of Engineers adjacent to the place where they are to be employed.

  Of the Officers.

  If it be important to choose the Privates in these Companies—it is much more so to choose the Officers—The Congres
s ought, in my opinion, to think of forming Engineers in this Country to replace us when we shall be called home—The Companies of Sappers now proposed might serve as a School to them—they might there acquire at once the practical part of the Construction of Works, and if choice be made of young men, well bred, intelligent and fond of Instruction, we shall take pleasure in giving them principles upon the choice of Situations, and the methods of adapting works to the ground.

  If His Excellency approves my Plan—I would advise the speedy execution of it—in order that the Companies may have served their Apprenticeship before the opening of the Campaign.

  These Companies ought not to be composed of Recruits—but Soldiers answering the description above should be taken from the Line for the purpose.

  While I am employed in representing the defects of my branch of the Army—I entreat His Excellency to observe that four Engineers are not sufficient—of the four, one is always detached and sometimes two, which is the case at present—and I am left with only one Officer—it is impossible for us to do the Service of the Army. There is at York Town a French officer who was brought by Mr. Du Coudray and introduced by him as an Engineer—for my part I do not give him out as such, because he was not in that character in France and has no such pretensions himself—but he studies with a view to become a Member of the Corps—he has studied Geometry, understands surveying and Drawing and therefore might be very useful to us.

  I entreat His Excellency to ask the Congress for this Gentleman—he has on his part made applications which have hitherto proved fruitless. His name is Ville franche and he brought a particular recommendation from General R. How to the President of Congress.

  Signed Chevr. du Portail16

  Duportail did not await a response to this memorial, as he was aware of the responsibilities that would be required of the engineers in future combat. He created a school of engineering to start the next campaign off on good footing. Gouvion undertook the administration and could instruct the corps in a rigorous and homogeneous manner, faithful to the principles of conformity of action instructed at Mézières.

  CORPS OF ENGINEERS

  Washington, keenly aware of the need for an effective Corps of Engineers in the army, particularly liked Duportail’s plan to train officers as apprentice engineers, thus ensuring a steady supply of native-born engineers. He readily accepted Duportail’s plan and urged Congress to consider its importance, but that body was too busy with the many demands made upon it to give the matter immediate attention. In the meantime, Mr. Villefranche, in response to a demand made to Congress some time previously, received his appointment as major of engineers. But more officers were needed.

  Congress approved the formation of three companies on May 27, 1778, but the army moved slowly, and Washington appointed officers only on August 2, 1779, after Duportail had personally interviewed the candidates. Washington transferred the carefully selected enlisted men from infantry regiments a year later.

  Each company was authorized a captain, three lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, and sixty privates. Congress took the final step to regularize the “corps of engineers” on March 11, 1779. In response to Washington’s continuing pressure, it resolved “that the engineers in the service of the United States shall be formed into a corps, styled the ‘corps of engineers,’ and shall take rank and enjoy the same rights, honours, and privileges, with the other troops on continental establishment.”17 This legislation gave the engineers the status of a branch of the Continental Army, with the same pay and prerogatives as artillerymen to prevent any jealousy between the technical branches. As commandant of the Corps of Engineers, Duportail supervised the engineer officers and the companies of sappers and miners, functioned as a special adviser to the commander in chief, and assigned individual officers to specific posts before the start of each campaign.18

  Reenactors, portraying the Department of Geographers, survey a redoubt. Photo courtesy of the author.

  France began rigorously training a small corps of topographical engineers, the Ingénieurs Géographes (distinct from the Corps Royal du Génie), after the Seven Years’ War, setting a precedent for a separate topo-graphical section. These topographical engineers prepared a systematic map reference library for planning operations. Washington, a former surveyor, particularly understood the value of accurate maps. He asked for a topo-graphical staff on July 19, 1777, and Congress authorized him to appoint a “geographer and surveyor of the roads, to take sketches of the country, the seat of war,” as well as necessary subordinates six days later. Robert Erskine, a civil engineer and inventor, accepted the job but did not report to headquarters until June 1778. His maps were as accurate as those of the French and vastly superior to anything available to British commanders.

  JEAN-BERNARD GAUTHIER DE MURNAN

  Duportail discovered another young Frenchman who had come over independently as a volunteer and who possessed all the necessary qualifications for an officer of engineers. Duportail wrote a letter on February 23, 1778, strongly recommending him to the commander in chief:

  M. de murnan, in whose favor I take the liberty of soliciting your kindness, has gone through the necessary studies for entering into the Corps of Engineers in France—he even obtained his license for examination, which is never granted until satisfactory papers are delivered at the War office setting forth that the person is of noble family. France does not receive into the Corps which is charged with the precious Trust of her fortified places and every thing that relates to the defense of her frontiers, any other subjects than those whose birth and education are pledges of their Sentiments and Conduct. This license is at the same time a proof of his studies, because it can only be had in consequence of certificates given by professors who are liable to be called upon—The reason why this gentleman was not admitted was because the arrangement of the Minister underwent a considerable change at that time—and that after having intended to make a considerable promotion in the Corps of Engineers, he confined himself to making a very small one.—This officer then entered into the King’s household Troops, but this Service not suiting his tastes which inclined him to engineering, he went to Russia which was then at war with the Turks. He there served in the capacity which he liked—he was Captain Engineer, but peace being made he returned to France where he was preparing to reenter the Service when called by some business to one of the Sea port Towns. The Enthusiasm which prevailed there in favor of this country took possession of him and he was persuaded to come here; a Vessel was ready, he embarked, contenting himself with barely writing to his friends to recommend him to Messrs. Franklin and Deane, as well as to the principal officers of his own Country here, among others, to the Mquis. de la Fayette, but none of these letters are arrived.

  This officer may be very useful here, he possesses sufficient theoretical knowledge to make him an exceedingly good Engineer, and he acquired some practice in Russia. He asks for the rank of Major, which appears reasonable. In all the States of Europe, a grade is readily given to an officer and especially to an Engineer whose service is wanted, and it is easily conceived that this is necessary, as no one would expatriate himself and go into a new service without reaping a benefit from it.

  I am with great Respect

  Your Excellency’s etc.

  DUPORTAIL.19

  Washington passed the application on to Congress. As he received no answer, Washington added the following postscript to his March 1 letter to Congress: “As Genl. Portail is pressing to know the Comee. Decision relative to Engineer recom. by him and a real want of these people appear I should also be glad to know what to expect & say to him.”20

  Congress still paid no heed, but Mr. Murnan, the Frenchman in question, was willing to enter into the service immediately, expecting Congress would give him his commission later. Congress did not consider his case until January 13, 1778, and passed the following resolution: “That M. John Bernard de Murnan be appointed major in the corps of engineers, to take rank as such from th
e first day of March last, and to receive pay and subsistence from the 1st day of February last, the latter being the time he was directed by the Commander-in-Chief to act as major.”21