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CLASS OF 1836
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As a young engineer officer after West Point, Meigs worked mainly on fortifications. In 1841 he married Louisa Rodgers. One of
their four children, John, also graduated from West Point (1863), only to die in action a year later.
Meigs’s career took a decisive turn when he came to Washington in 1852. Still a first lieutenant, he received two remarkable
assignments: building the Washington Aqueduct and overseeing the addition of wings and a new dome to the U.S. Capitol, both
accomplished in fine style.
But his greatest achievements came during the Civil War. Named the army’s quartermaster general, he took charge of acquiring
and supplying to the Union Army the food, fuel, clothing, and all the other needs of a fighting force. Largely thanks to him, the
Union ultimately fielded the best-supplied army in history to that date.
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