âThe lively story of the Civil Warâs most unlikelyâand most uncelebratedâgeniusâ (The Wall Street Journal)âGeneral Montgomery C. Meigs, who built the Union Army and was judged by Abraham Lincoln, William Seward, and Edwin Stanton to be the indispensable architect of the Union victory.
Born to a well-to-do, connected family in 1816, Montgomery C. Meigs graduated from West Point as an engineer. He helped build Americaâs forts and served under Lt. Robert E. Lee to make navigation improvements on the Mississippi River. As a young man, he designed the Washington aqueducts in a city where people were dying from contaminated water. He built the spectacular wings and the massive dome of the brand new US Capitol.
Introduced to President Lincoln by Secretary of State William Seward, Meigs became Lincolnâs Quartermaster, in charge of supplies. It was during the Civil War that Meigs became a national hero. He commanded Ulysses S. Grantâs base of supplies that made Union victories, including Gettysburg, possible. He sustained Shermanâs army in Georgia, and the March to the Sea. After the war, Meigs built Arlington Cemetery (on land that had been Robert E. Leeâs home).
Civil War historian James McPherson calls Meigs âthe unsung hero of northern victory,â and Robert OâHarrow Jr.âs biography of the victorious general who was never on the battlefield tells the full dramatic story of this fierce, strong, honest, loyal, forward-thinking figure. âAn excellent biographyâŠOâHarrowâs thorough, masterfully crafted, and impeccable researched biography is destined to become the authoritative volume on Meigsâ (The Civil War Monitor).