William Emery Merrill (11 October 1837 – 14 December 1891) was an American soldier and military engineer. He was born at Fort Howard,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

to Captain Moses Merrill, who was killed in the

Battle of Molino del Rey The Battle of Molino del Rey (8 September 1847) was one of the bloodiest engagements of the Mexican–American War as part of the Battle for Mexico City. It was fought in September 1847 between Mexican forces under General Antonio León against ...

. He graduated first in his class at

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 ...

in 1859, and from September, 1860, to July, 1861, was assistant professor of engineering there. In the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, he served as assistant 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 Confede ...

during the Peninsular campaign and in the northern Virginia campaign, and from July, 1864, to September, 1865, commanded as colonel, the 1st U.S. Veteran Volunteer Engineer Regiment. During the war he received the successive brevets of captain, major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel for gallant services. In March, 1867, he was raised to the regular rank of major and in February, 1883, to that of lieutenant colonel. From 1867 to 1870, he was chief engineer on the staff of

General Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

, then commanding the Military Division of the Missouri, and thereafter until his death he was engaged on

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

work for the government. One of the most notable engineering works of its kind in America was the Chanoine wicket movable dam constructed by him at Davis's Island, 5½ miles below

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. In 1889, he represented the United States Engineering Corps at the International Congress of Engineers in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. He published ''Iron Truss Bridges for Railroads'' (1870) and ''Improvement of Non-Tidal Rivers'' (1881). He died of heart failure near Enfield, Illinois on a train while en route to a government project in

Shawneetown, Illinois Shawneetown is a city in Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2010 census, down from 1,410 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Gallatin County. Geography Shawneetown is located southeast of the cent ...

Notes

References

External links

Davis Island Movable Wicket DamCaptain William E. Merrill's Rail Road Bridges and Tunnels Document
This is a lithograph broadside listing of railroad bridges and tunnels in Georgia and Tennessee compiled by Merrill for the Army of the Cumberland in 1864. Writers from Green Bay, Wisconsin Union Army colonels American non-fiction writers United States Military Academy alumni United States Army officers 1837 births 1891 deaths Military personnel from Wisconsin {{AmericanCivilWar-bio-stub