Benjamin Alvord (August 18, 1813 – October 16, 1884) was an American soldier, mathematician, and botanist.

Early life and career

Alvord was born in

Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont * Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...

, where he developed an interest in nature. He attended the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

and displayed a talent in mathematics. He graduated in 1833.Marquis Who's Who, Inc. ''Who Was Who in American History, the Military''. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1975. P. 9 He was assigned to the 4th U.S. Infantry and participated in the

Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Geography of Florida, Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native Americans in the United States, Native American nation whi ...

. He returned to West Point as an assistant professor of mathematics until 1839, when he was again assigned to the 4th Infantry. He spent 21 years of his military career with that regiment. He was on frontier, garrison, and engineer duty until 1846, when he participated in the military occupation of the new state of Texas. Subsequently, he served during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, being

brevetted In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

successively to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

for gallantry in a number of important battles, including the

Battle of Palo Alto The Battle of Palo Alto ( es, Batalla de Palo Alto) was the first major battle of the Mexican–American War and was fought on May 8, 1846, on disputed ground five miles (8 km) from the modern-day city of Brownsville, Texas. A force of som ...

and the

Battle of Resaca de la Palma The Battle of Resaca de la Palma was one of the early engagements of the Mexican–American War, where the United States Army under General Zachary Taylor engaged the retreating forces of the Mexican ''Ejército del Norte'' ("Army of the North ...

. He served as General Riley's chief of staff to Major Folliott T. Lally's column on the march from Vera Cruz to Mexico City in 1847. He joined the

Aztec Club of 1847 The Aztec Club of 1847 is a military society founded in 1847 by United States Army officers of the Mexican–American War. It exists as a hereditary organization including members who can trace a direct lineal connection to those originally eligib ...

in 1871. After the Mexican–American War, he went from line to staff when he was named paymaster and promoted to major. He was assigned to various posts and was sent with the 4th Infantry to the West Coast. He was the engineer in charge of building the military road in southern Oregon. He was then chief paymaster in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

from 1854 until 1862.

Civil War service

From 1862 to 1865, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Alvord was at

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of the ...

as the commander of the District of Oregon with the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

of volunteers. He was named to that post by

George Wright George Wright may refer to: Politics, law and government * George Wright (MP) (died 1557), MP for Bedford and Wallingford * George Wright (governor) (1779–1842), Canadian politician, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island * George Wright ...

, the commanding officer of the

Department of the Pacific The Department of the Pacific or Pacific Department was a major command ( Department) of the United States Army from 1853 to 1858. It replaced the Pacific Division, and was itself replaced by the Department of California and the Department of O ...

. Wright wanted an experienced Regular Army (United States), Regular Army officer in that post, rather than a volunteer, since the District was large (encompassing the present-day states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho), underdeveloped, and had a history of friction between the native peoples and settlers. As commander of the District, Alvord built up the defenses around the mouth of the Columbia River, but was unable to do the same for Puget Sound. Because of low enlistments from Oregon and Washington, he supported the military draft, and failing that, supported the payment of bounties. He was removed from command in March 1865. He was ordered to the East Coast, where he resigned his volunteer commission and became paymaster in New York City.

Circles and spheres

Alvord was interested in the classical problem of Apollonius, to find a circle tangent to three given circles, and the special cases of Apollonius' problem, as well as the generalization to spheres. In 1855, he published in ''Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge''. Posted to the remote Fort Vancouver, he continued his investigations and submitted his findings in 1860, but was frustrated by a fire. In 1882, when he found that there are 96 circles which cut four given circles at a fixed angle and there are 640 spheres which cut five given spheres at a fixed angle, he assembled all his results for an article in ''American Journal of Mathematics'', where he explained the delay: :All of this memoir, except the last two problems, were completed and sent to the Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Institute in January 1860, from Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, but the manuscript was burned in January 1865 when the upper story of the Smithsonian building was on fire. The article is graced with annotations by Arthur Cayley and the concession that Darboux had preceded Alvord in print.

Postbellum

After the war, he subsequently became paymaster of the District of Omaha and paymaster of the Department of the Platte. He became Paymaster-General of the United States Army, Paymaster General of the Army in 1872 and served in that capacity until his retirement from active service in 1880. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1876. He also wrote on natural history, writing the first scientific description of the ability of the compass plant (''Silphium laciniatum'') to orient itself in a north-south direction, as well as writing about winter grazing in the Rocky Mountains. Alvord was a contributor to ''Harper's Magazine'', and a member of the Literary Society of Washington.Alvord is listed in the directory of members of the Society in Helen Nicolay's
Sixty Years of the Literary Society
', Washington, D.C., 1934. Library of Congress call number PN22.L53 N5. Google Book

Personal life and family

He married Emily Louise Mussey in 1846, and they had six children. His son, Benjamin Alvord, Jr., became a soldier and was a general in World War I. His daughter Louise married Thomas Craig (mathematician), Thomas Craig, one of the main professors of mathematics at Johns Hopkins University during its first two decades.

Death and legacy

He died on October 16, 1884 in Washington, D.C. He and his wife Emily Louise Mussey (1826–1885) are buried at Evergreen Cemetery (Rutland, Vermont), Evergreen Cemetery, Rutland, Vermont, Section 4, Lot 4. Alvord Valley and the Alvord Desert in Oregon were named in his honor.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.

Notes

References

*Hubbell, John T., and James W. Geary (editors). ''Biographical Dictionary of the Union: Northern Leaders of the Civil War''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995. . *Johnson, Allen (editor). ''Dictionary of American Biography''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1946. *Johnson, Rossiter (editor). ''The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans''. Boston: The Biographical Society, 1904. *Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders''. Louisiana State University Press, 1964. Reissued in 2006 by Easton Press. Attribution *

External links

* * George Washington Cullum (1891
Cullum's Register #728
from Bill Thayer at University of Chicago. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvord, Benjamin 1813 births 1884 deaths People from Rutland (town), Vermont United States Military Academy alumni 19th-century American mathematicians American botanists American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Members of the Aztec Club of 1847 Union Army generals People of Vermont in the American Civil War United States Army paymasters People of Oregon in the American Civil War Snake War Scientists from Vermont Mathematicians from Vermont Paymaster-General of the United States Army Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Rutland, Vermont)