Excerpt from The American Engineers in France This book is not intended to be a history or detailed account of the work done by American Engineers in France. Their work was so extensive and so varied as to put the writing of its record beyond the powers of one man, for none could know it all. It is hoped that some day the record will be properly set forth in justice to the men and for the honor of the profession, but it will be of necessity the joint product of several collaborating authors. The first contribution that America made to the Allied cause was the raising of nine regiments of engineers, with one of which the author served. It is their work that is the motif of this book. In the writing, it has been necessary to touch on all the fields of engineer activity, because these regiments came in contact with every field, even if they did not invade each one, from constructing ports to digging and holding trenches, in all parts of France from the Atlantic to the Vosges, from the Mediterranean to Flanders. Consequently there results a brief outline of what all engineers did. Perhaps, it may serve to give those who did not go overseas a picture of what is meant by engineering in modern war. There will not be found any description of spectacular or dazzling pieces of construction like so many structures in civil works that arouse admiration. There was none such. Military engineering consists in doing things in the simplest and quickest way, where permanency in character and accuracy in execution yield to the imperious demands for results that are immediately available regardless of all other considerations. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This collection of documents, including many previously unpublished, details the role of the Army engineers in the American Revolution. Lacking trained military engineers, the Americans relied heavily on foreign officers, mostly from France, for sorely needed technical assistance. Native Americans joined the foreign engineer officers to plan and carry out offensive and defensive operations, direct the erection of fortifications, map vital terrain, and lay out encampments. During the war Congress created the Corps of Engineers with three companies of engineer troops as well as a separate geographer's department to assist the engineers with mapping. Both General George Washington and Major General Louis Lebéque Duportail, his third and longest serving Chief Engineer, recognized the disadvantages of relying on foreign powers to fill the Army's crucial need for engineers. America, they contended, must train its own engineers for the future. Accordingly, at the war's end, they suggested maintaining a peacetime engineering establishment and creating a military academy. However, Congress rejected the proposals, and the Corps of Engineers and its companies of sappers and miners mustered out of service. Eleven years passed before Congress authorized a new establishment, the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers.

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