Henry Larcom Abbot (August 13, 1831 – October 1, 1927) was a

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

and career officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

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 ...

and was appointed

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

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 for his contributions in engineering and artillery. In 1866 he received additional brevet appointments as major general of volunteers and brigadier general in the

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

. He conducted several scientific studies of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

with

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 ...

, later

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Andrew A. Humphreys. After his retirement, Abbot served as a consultant for the locks on the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1863.

Military life

Abbot attended

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

and graduated second in his class, which included

Jeb Stuart James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart (February 6, 1833May 12, 1864) was a United States Army officer from Virginia who became a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb,” from the initials of ...

and G. W. Custis Lee) with a degree in military engineering in 1854. He initially wanted to join the Artillery, but shortly after graduation, a classmate convinced him to choose the Engineers. He was commissioned as a

second lieutenant in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

on July 1, 1854, second lieutenant on October 2, 1855 and first lieutenant on July 1, 1857.Eicher, John H., and

David J. Eicher David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . p. 97. In 1855, Abbot was assigned to work with Lieutenant Robert Williamson's

Pacific Railroad Survey The Pacific Railroad Surveys (1853–1855) were of a series of explorations of the American West designed to find and document possible routes for a transcontinental railroad across North America. The expeditions included surveyors, scientists, and ...

in California and

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 ...

. While serving in the Army, Abbot and Captain Andrew Humphreys conducted several scientific studies of the

. They most notably studied the Mississippi river's flow starting at the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

and going southward down to its

base level In geology and geomorphology a base level is the lower limit for an erosion process. The modern term was introduced by John Wesley Powell in 1875. The term was subsequently appropriated by William Morris Davis who used it in his cycle of erosion ...

at the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. They attempted to use several European formulas for stream discharge they had learned at West Point, but came to discover that they were all flawed. They then developed their own formula which ultimately also proved to be faulty as they forgot to account for the roughness of slopes in river canals. Regardless, it influenced the evolution of

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

and was instrumental in the establishment of a

United States Army Engineer School The United States Army Engineer School (USAES) is located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. It was founded as a School of Engineering by General Headquarters Orders, Valley Forge on 9 June 1778. The U.S. Army Engineer School provides training that de ...

at Fort Totten in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Civil War

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Abbot was assigned to

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 ...

Irvin McDowell's forces and was wounded at the

First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassas

. He later became a topographical engineer in the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

during the Peninsula Campaign and aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. Andrew Humphreys. During this campaign he was brevetted major for his service at the

siege of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

. On July 18, 1862, Abbot was promoted to captain in the

and was assigned to the staff of Brig. Gen.

John G. Barnard John Gross Barnard (May 19, 1815 – May 14, 1882) was a career engineer officer in the U.S. Army, serving in the Mexican–American War, as the superintendent of the United States Military Academy and as a general in the Union Army during the Am ...

until November 11, 1862. He was then briefly assigned as a Topographical Engineer in the Department of the Gulf. On January 19, 1863 he was appointed colonel of the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery but on March 3, 1863 was transferred to the Washington Defenses, where he commanded a brigade. In May 1864, he was transferred to command the Artillery during the

siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

. On December 12, 1864, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

nominated Abbot for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from August 1, 1864 and the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

confirmed the appointment on February 20, 1865. In December 1864 he was placed in command of all siege artillery in the Army of the Potomac and

Army of the James The Army of the James was a Union Army that was composed of units from the Department of Virginia and North Carolina and served along the James River (Virginia), James River during the final operations of the American Civil War in Virginia. Histor ...

, which were besieging Petersburg. In January 1865, General

Alfred H. Terry Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) was a Union army, Union Major general (United States), general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 18 ...

requested General Abbot accompany his expeditionary force to

Fort Fisher Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the American Civil War. It protected the vital trading routes of the port at Wilmington, North Carolina, from 1861 until its capture by the Union in 1865. The fort was located on one of Cape Fear River' ...

. Abbot commanded a provisional brigade of siege artillery during the successful

Second Battle of Fort Fisher The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a successful assault by the Union Army, Navy and Marine Corps against Fort Fisher, south of Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War in January 1865. Sometimes referred to as the "Gib ...

. Abbot was mustered out of the volunteer service on September 25, 1865. On January 13, 1866, President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

nominated Abbot for appointment to the grade of brevet major general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865 and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1865. On July 17, 1866, President Johnson nominated Abbot for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general in the Regular Army to rank from March 13, 1865 and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on July 23, 1865.

Post-Civil War

In the post-war years, Abbot continued to serve in the U.S. Army Engineers. He was promoted to major on November 11, 1865. He was assigned to the command of the engineer battalion at Willet's Point, New York. He created the army's Engineer School of Application there, and served on numerous boards, including the Board on the Use of Iron in Permanent Defenses, the Board of Engineers for Fortifications, the Gun Foundry Board, the Board on Fortifications and Other Defenses, and the Board of Ordnance and Fortifications. Abbot's influence can be seen in many facets of the coast defense systems of the United States of that period, particularly in the submarine mine system, and in the use of seacoast mortars. Abbot advocated the massing of 16 mortars in 4 sets of 4, which would fire simultaneously at the enemy warships. The plan became known as the "Abbot Quad". After his retirement from the Army, Abbot continued to work as a civil engineer and was employed as a consultant to Comité Technique and Comité Statutaire for the locks on the

between 1897 and 1900. He was appointed to the Board of Consulting Engineers by

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and served between 1905 and 1906 after the Americans took control of building the canal. He was given the task to prepare plans for canal construction and was able to convince Roosevelt and Secretary of War

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

to approve a lock canal rather than a sea-level canal. In 1915, he was part of the Panama Canal Slide Committee.Brodhead, Michael J. 2012
"The Panama Canal: Writings of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Officers Who Conceived and Built It."
Page 3.

Retirement

Abbot retired as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

on August 13, 1895. On April 23, 1904, he was appointed Brigadier General, U.S.A., retired. He died on October 1, 1927 at Cambridge, Massachusetts and is buried in

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

, Cambridge.

Honors

Abbot was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

and

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, received an honorary law degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and became a Fellow of the

in 1863.'Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A'
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 18, 2011. The Oregon military training center Camp Abbot,

Abbot Pass Abbot Pass lies between Mount Lefroy and Mount Victoria, in the divide between the valleys of Lake O'Hara and Lake Louise. It was named for Philip Stanley Abbot who died in 1896 in an attempt to climb Mount Lefroy with Charles Fay, Charles ...

Clackamas County, Oregon Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the Native ...

, and Mount Abbot are all his namesake. He is also one of the 158 names of people important to Oregon's history that are painted in the House and Senate chambers of the

Oregon State Capitol The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capitol, Salem. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 ...

. His name is in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

chamber.

Publications

* * Abbot, Henry L. "The Present Status of the Panama Canal." Engineering News 40 (October 6, 1898):210-213. An optimistic view of the progress made by the new French canal company and its plans for future construction. Emphasizes the disadvantages of the proposed Nicaragua route. Published separately by the New York Evening Post Printing House, 1898. * Abbot, Henry L. "The New Panama Canal." Forum 26 (November 1898):343-53. Argues in favor of a Panama canal even though it would be in French hands, and urges Americans to abandon further consideration of a Nicaragua canal. Also printed separately by the Forum Publishing Company, 1898. Reprinted as Senate Document No. 41, 55th Congress, 3d Session, December 21, 1898, and as "General Abbot on the Panama Canal," Engineering Record 39 (January 14, 1899):137-40. * Abbot, Henry L. (?) "The New Panama Canal." Scientific American 80 (February 4, 1899):73-75. Possibly by Abbot. "The present article is written for the purpose of putting the public in possession of the facts regarding the present status and future prospects of this undertaking." (p. 73) Discusses the French canal company's international Comité Technique, of which Abbot was a member; the

Culebra Cut The Culebra Cut, formerly called Gaillard Cut, is an artificial valley that cuts through the Continental Divide in Panama. The cut forms part of the Panama Canal, linking Gatun Lake, and thereby the Atlantic Ocean, to the Gulf of Panama and henc ...

; control of the

Chagres Chagres (), once the chief Atlantic port on the isthmus of Panama, is now an abandoned village at the historical site of Fort San Lorenzo ( es, Fuerte de San Lorenzo). The fort's ruins and the village site are located about west of Colón, on ...

River; health concerns; and relationship of the new canal company to the old company. * Abbot, Henry L. "Climatology of the Isthmus of Panama, Including the Temperature, Winds, Barometric Pressure, and Precipitation." Monthly Weather Review 27 (May 1899):198-203. Temperature, barometric pressure, and precipitation tables compiled by the old and new French canal companies. "In tropical regions it is not the excessively high temperatures which increase the difficulties of out-door labor and construction, but those which remain permanently high and are accompanied by great humidity of the air and heavy rainfall . . . . " (p. 201) Rainfall comparable to areas of the United States near the Gulf of Mexico. The

Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the p ...

issued, as a separate designated W. B. No. 201, a "slightly modified" (p. 3) version of this article. * Abbot, Henry L. "Climatology of the Isthmus of Panama." Monthly Weather Review 27 (July 1899):302-03. Supplemental to May 1899 article. Updates rainfall figures to 1899. * Abbot, Henry L. "Meteorology of Panama." Monthly Weather Review 27 (October 1899):463. More rainfall and temperature data for 1899. * Abbot, Henry L. "Contributions to the Meteorology of Panama." Monthly Weather Review 28 January 1900:7. Hourly temperatures and barometric pressure at Alhajuela and La Boca, observed by personnel of the New Panama Canal Company, autumn of 1899. * Abbot, Henry L. "Rainfall and Drainage in the Upper Chagres River." Monthly Weather Review 28 (June 1900):243-44. Figures showing that "no fear of a lack of water in the dry season need be entertained with the reserves contemplated by the new French anama Canalcompany." (p. 244) * Abbot, Henry L. "The Best Isthmian Canal." Atlantic Monthly 86 (December 1900):844-48. " is claim of gain of time by Nicaragua must be relegated to the class of visionary arguments so often advanced to offset the solid merits of the Panama route." (p. 848). * Abbot, Henry L. (Communication on "The Present Condition and Prospects of the Panama Canal Works," by James Thomas Ford, pp. 150–70.) Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (London) 144 (February 1901):199-202. Regulation of the Chagres River is essential for a canal with locks and dams. Data on the discharge of the river at various locations; estimates of time needed for lockages. * Abbot, Henry L. "Present Condition of the Panama Canal." Engineering Magazine 22 (January 1902):487-92. (Editor's introduction to Abbot's article "International Aspects of the Isthmian Canal," pp. 485–87.) Abbot: there are "only three formidable difficulties": "the cut at the continental divide, regulation of the Chagres River, and the tropical climate." Despite these problems, "Nature has placed on the Isthmus of Panama far fewer obstructions to the construction of a ship canal than on any other possible route between the oceans." (p. 488). Abbot favors use of black laborers and suggests that American capital, not the government, should buy out the French company. * Abbot, Henry L. "Why The Panama Canal Should Be Selected." Collier's Weekly 28 (February 8, 1902):5. Panama route is preferable to one in Nicaragua because it would be shorter; no active volcanoes within ca.200 miles of Panama; lower annual rainfall; Colón a better port than Greytown; cheaper to operate and maintain a canal in Panama; rates for insurance and shipping from United States ports would be lower. "Whatever 'sentimental feeling' may exist in favor of the Nicaragua route, it would appear that if those interested in commercial expansion appreciated these facts there would be little doubt which canal would be demanded." * Abbot, Henry L. "Mean Barometric Pressure at Sea Level on the American Isthmus." Monthly Weather Review 31 (March 1902):124-25. "These figures certainly indicate a remarkable uniformity of barometric pressure in this tropical region throughout the year." (p. 125). * Abbot, Henry L. "The Panama Canal Question." Medical News (April 12, 1902):707. Communicates translation of health information, 1898-1901, submitted by Dr. (Elie?) Lacroisade, medical director of the New Panama Canal Company. Abbot: "The marked improvement in health since the early days of the enterprise is forcibly presented by these official hospital records." * Abbot, Henry L. "Earthquakes and the Isthmian Canal." Collier's Weekly 29 (July 12, 1902):7. " he commercial interestsof the world will protect us against placing a canal in the region of greatest danger from earthquakes to be found anywhere on the continent .e., Nicaragua where we can have a safer, shorter and cheaper and in every respect better route elsewhere .e., Panama" * Abbot, Henry L. "The Panama Canal and the Regulation of the Chagres River." Engineering Magazine 24 (December 1902):329-68. Abbot had carefully studied the river and the data amassed by the two French canal companies and concluded that "Far from being a menace, the Chagres is a most useful friend." (p. 366) Topics include: "Topography of the Basin above Bohio"; "Regimen of the Chagres"; "Discharge of the Chagres"; "Great Floods of the Chagres"; "Regulation of the Floods"; "Ratio between Downfall and Drainage"; "Water Supply in the Dry Season." * Abbot, Henry L. "Climatology of the Isthmus of Panama." Monthly Weather Review 31 (March 1903):117-24. Because it appeared likely that the United States would build the Panama Canal "it has seemed to me desirable to prepare a summary bringing these records ompiled by the New Panama Canal Companyup to date, with an analysis designed to develop the information they convey." (p. 117) Data on temperatures, rainfall, barometric pressure, winds, and health on the isthmus. Cites medical director Dr. Lacroisade as authority for asserting that health conditions had improved and that mortality and disease rates had declined in the last years of French activity. * Abbot, Henry L. "Note on the Barometric Pressure at Colon." Monthly Weather Review 31 (April 1903):188. Update of his March 1903 article. * Abbot, Henry L. "The Panama Canal: The Dual versus the Single-Lake Project." Engineering Magazine 25 (June 1903):321-26. Followed by a reply by George S. Morison, "The Advantages of Lake Bohio at the Higher Level," pp. 326–28. Abbot favors a dual lake system. Early planning called for a lake at Bohio. * Abbot, Henry L. "The Solution of the Isthmian-Canal Problem." Engineering Magazine 26 (January 1904):481-87. A Nicaragua canal would be "ill suited to the transit of ocean shipping." (p. 483). Answers objections to the Panama route. " w that the problem has been thoroughly studied, and that the facts are known, and that fortune has enabled us to secure the better route, we have good reason to rejoice that hasty action was delayed, and that no mistake has been made in the selection." (p. 487) * Abbot, Henry L. "Disposition of Rainfall in the Basin of the Chagres." Monthly Weather Review 32 (February 1904):57-65. "In connection with their other technical investigations the New Panama Canal Company found it obligatory to study some of these questions elating to rainfall, evaporation, absorption by plants, and ground waterwith considerable attention, and this paper is written in the hope that the resulting facts and figures may prove useful in throwing light upon the more general problem of the ultimate disposition of rainfall." (p. 57) Article covers the basin of the Chagres above Bohio. See Abbot's 1907 article "Rainfall and Outflow Above Bohio." * Abbot, Henry L. "Hourly Climatic Records of the Isthmus of Panama." Monthly Weather Review 32 (June 1904):267-72. Mostly tables of temperature, rainfall, and barometric pressure data collected by engineers of the New Panama Canal Company at Alhajuela and Bohio. Abbot notes that the company's rights and property had been transferred to the United States in April. * Abbot, Henry L. "The Regimen of the Chagres." Harvard Engineering Journal 3 (June 1904):153-62. Knowledge of the regimen of the river "has been secured by the elaborate and long continued investigations of the New French Company." (p. 153) "The old popular belief that the regulation of the floods of the Chagres presents unprecedented difficulties . . . is erroneous." (p. 154) * Abbot, Henry L. "Natural Conditions Affecting the Construction of the Panama Canal." Engineering Magazine 27 (August 1904):721-30. "While no one will claim that the climate of the Isthmus is salubrious, it is certain that much wild exaggeration has been circulated . . . ." (p. 727) No danger of earthquakes. The Chagres River "is marvelously adapted to the needs of the canal." (p. 729) * Abbot, Henry L. Problems of the Panama Canal, Including Climatology of the Isthmus, Physics and Hydraulics of the River Chagres, Cut at the Continental Divide and Discussions of Plans for the Waterway. New York: Macmillan, 1905. " unbiased and truthful statement of how the work appears to a retired officer of the Corps of Engineers . . . who has spent his life in the prosecution of public works confided to that Corps . . . ." (p. vi) Written before the United States took over the project from the French. The author believes that Americans could have a voice in the operation of the canal by purchasing stocks and bonds of the French company, and that the United States could control transits across the canal by its domination of the surrounding seas. The appendix presents a strong case for a canal through Panama rather than Nicaragua. Some of the content is based on Abbot's periodical articles, but much of it is new. See also the second (1907) edition. * Abbot, Henry L. "The Revival of De Lesseps' Sea-Level Plan for the Panama Canal." Engineering Magazine 28 (February 1905):721-26. "Why . . . waste an extra ten or a dozen years and untold millions of dollars to execute a scheme which the investigations of thirty-five years have demonstrated to possess only a sentimental merit due to the imagination of M. de Lesseps?" (p. 726) Cites advances in lock canal technology in recent years. * Abbot, Henry L. "The Panama Canal Under Control of the United States." Harvard Engineering Journal 5 (April 1906):1-13. Discusses the government of the Canal Zone; duties of the Isthmian Canal Commission; administration of the Panama Railroad; the work of Chief Engineer John F. Stevens, especially on the Culebra Cut; appointment of the Board of Consulting Engineers; the majority and minority reports of the board. Abbot responds to criticism that little had been accomplished in the building of the canal, pointing out that needed preliminary work was being done. * Abbot, Henry L. "The Panama Canal. Projects of the Board of Consulting Engineers." Engineering Magazine 31 (July 1906):481-91. The board, of which Abbot was a member, was unable to agree whether to recommend a sea-level or lock canal. Abbot, who had studied both types throughout the world, likens the Panama Canal to the Sault Ste. Marie Canal. * Abbot, Henry L. "Hydrology of the Chagres River." George Washington University Bulletin 5 (December 1906):48-54. The Panama Canal would follow the valley of the Chagres for much of the way and the river would provide water for the operation of the locks. " may be said that the dominating element in deciding what type of canal should be adopted at the Isthmus of Panama is neither more nor less than this eccentric little river; and that the long years that have been devoted to its study have been well expended. They have made certainly known that all which is required is a judicious system of regulation by well understood engineering methods." (p. 54) Abbot was then professor of hydraulic engineering at George Washington University. * Abbot, Henry L. Problems of the Panama Canal, Including Climatology of the Isthmus, Physics and Hydraulics of the River Chagres, Cut at the Continental Divide, and Discussion of Plants for the Waterway, with History from 1890 to Date. 2d ed. New York: Macmillan, 1907. "It has seemed desirable to extend this new edition f the 1905 workto cover the progress of events since the transfer of the work to the United States . . . . This has been accomplished by adding a new chapter to the historical portion of the book; by explaining and discussing . . . the new projects resulting from the studies of the Board of Consulting Engineers . . . and by introducing recent and valuable climatological and hydraulic data . . . ." (p. vii) * Abbot, Henry L. "Rainfall and Outflow Above Bohio, in the Valley of the Chagres." Monthly Weather Review 35 (February 1907):74-75. Update of Abbot's articles of June 1900 and February 1904. * Abbot, Henry L. "The Preparatory Period, Panama Canal." Harvard Engineering Journal 6 (June 1907):1-10. Much preliminary work needed before "making the dirt fly," as demanded by the impatient American public. Discusses the Isthmian Canal Commission, Panama Railroad, Board of Consulting Engineers, congressional legislation, reorganization of the canal's administrative system, accomplishments of Dr. William C. Gorgas, flooding, rainfall, and work at Gatun and the Culebra Cut. * Abbot, Henry L. "Present Status of the Panama Project." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 31 (January 1908):12-35. Discusses lack of danger from earthquakes, the need to study the Chagres River, climate, Gorgas' success in improving health conditions, lock construction, water supply, and the government of the Canal Zone. "In fine, an era of rapid progress has been inaugurated under an efficient organization, with every promise of success, and the expenditures have been kept within reasonable limits." (p. 35). * Abbot, Henry L. Hydraulics of the Chagres River." Engineering Magazine 39 (June 1910):377-84. "In projecting a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, the dominating element is not the volume of excavation at the Continental Divide, but rather the hydraulics of the Chagres River whose valley must be traversed throughout the greater part of the route." (p. 377) * Abbot, Henry L. "Hydrology of the Isthmus of Panama." In Professional Memoirs, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, and Engineer Department at Large 7 (November–December 1915):657-62. "The Panama Canal being now opened to traffic, there remains for study only one important hydraulic problem—the sufficiency of the available water supply to meet the needs for lockage, for mechanical power to operate the canal and railroad, and for the electric lighting of the Canal Zone." (p. 657). See also Caleb Mills Saville, "Hydrology of the Panama Canal." Transactions of the Society of Civil Engineers 76 (1913):985-987, "With Discussions by Henry L. Abbot and W. E. Fuller."

Notes

References

* Abbot, Charles Greele
'Biographical Memoir of Henry Larcom Abbot, 1831–1927'
National Academy of Sciences, 1929. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
'Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A'
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 18, 2011. * Eicher, John H., and

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * Farquhar, Francis P
Place Names of the High Sierra'
San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1926. Retrieved February 15, 2009. *

External links

Henry Larcom Abbot Papers
a
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Article on Abbot and Humphreys
*
National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbot, Henry Larcom 1831 births 1927 deaths Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery United States Military Academy alumni United States Army officers American civil engineers Union Army colonels Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Union Army generals People from Beverly, Massachusetts People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War