Hartman Bache (September 3, 1798 – October 8, 1872) was an American
military engineer who participated in the construction of many of the earliest
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
s on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
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Canada
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. He made a number of sketches of these lighthouses and light stations which have since become an important resource in the study of American lighthouses. He was also involved in the construction of
railroads,
canals, and
defenses.
Hartman Bache was the youngest son of journalist
Benjamin Franklin Bache (who died a week after his birth) and the great grandson of
Benjamin Franklin. He graduated from the
United States Military Academy in 1818. Despite his low class rank (19th out of 23), he was immediately commissioned as a Captain in the
Corps of Topographical Engineers. In 1829 he married Maria del Carmen Meade, the daughter of merchant
Richard W. Meade and sister of
Civil War general
George Meade.
In 1831, Bache was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.
At the start of the
Civil War in 1861, Bache was a lighthouse engineer with the rank of major. Shortly afterwards, he succeeded
John James Abert
John James Abert (17 September 1788 – 27 January 1863) was a United States soldier. He headed the Corps of Topographical Engineers for 32 years, during which time he organized the mapping of the American West.
Abert was born in Shepherdstown ...
as Chief of Topographical Engineers, spending much of the war serving on the
East Coast
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. He was brevetted to
brigadier general in March 1865, and retired in March 1867. Bache died in his hometown of
Philadelphia, and was buried in
Woodlands Cemetery.
See also
*
List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union)
Notes
External links
Brief biography with picture*
F. Ross Holland, Jr.
Francis Ross Holland Jr. (August 24, 1927 – September 16, 2005) was an American historian. He is best known for his books about American lighthouses.
Holland was born in Savannah, Georgia, Savannah, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. He graduat ...
''America's Lighthouses: Their Illustrated History Since 1716''.
*
Career Profile
1798 births
1872 deaths
19th-century American engineers
Union Army colonels
United States Army colonels
Franklin family
Burials at The Woodlands Cemetery
Lighthouse builders
Military personnel from Pennsylvania
Engineers from Pennsylvania
United States Military Academy alumni
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