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Herman Haupt

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For the Austrian astronomer, seeHermann Haupt.

Herman Haupt
Gen. Herman Haupt
Born(1817-03-26)March 26, 1817
Philadelphia,Pennsylvania
DiedDecember 14, 1905(1905-12-14)(aged 88)
Jersey City, New Jersey
Place of burial
West Laurel Hill Cemetery
Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1835; 1862–1863
RankBrigadier General
Commands heldU.S. Military Railroads
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
Signature

Herman Haupt(March 26, 1817 – December 14, 1905) was an Americancivil engineerandrailroadconstruction engineer and executive. As aUnion ArmyGeneralduring theAmerican Civil War,he revolutionized U.S. military transportation, particularly the use of railroads.[1]

Early and family life

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Haupt (whose first name was sometimes spelled Hermann) was born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania,on March 26, 1817, the son of Jacob and Anna Margaretta Wiall Haupt. Jacob, a merchant, died when Herman was 12 years old, leaving Anna to support three sons and two daughters. Herman worked part-time to pay his school tuition, then in 1831 was appointed to theUnited States Military Academyat the age of 14 byPresidentAndrew Jackson.He graduated in 1835 and was commissioned asecond lieutenantin the 3rd U.S. Infantry that July.

On August 30, 1838, inGettysburg, Pennsylvania,he married Ann Cecelia (Celia) Keller, with whom he would have seven sons and four daughters. In the 1870 census, Louis, Herman, Charles, Frank and Alex were living at home with their parents in Philadelphia's Ward 10, as were their sisters Mary and Ella.[2]

Early career

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Haupt resigned his Army commission on September 30, 1835, to accept a job underHenry R Campbellas Assistant Engineer engaged in the surveys of theNorristown and Allentown Railroadand of theNorristown & Valley Railroad,15 years later merged into theChester Valley Railroad.[3]At 19, he was appointed Assistant Engineer in the state service and surveyed the line from Gettysburg to the Potomac across theSouth Mountain,a right-of-way that became part of theWestern Maryland Railroad.[4]

In 1839, Haupt patented a bridge construction technique called the HauptTruss.[5]Two of his Haupt truss bridges, both built in 1854, still stand inAltoonaandArdmore, Pennsylvania.

In 1840, Haupt was appointed aprofessorofmathematicsandengineeringatPennsylvania College(now Gettysburg College). He drew the attention ofJ. Edgar Thomsonwho became chief engineer of thePennsylvania Railroad.[6]Haupt returned to the railroad business in 1847, accepting a position as construction engineer on thePennsylvania Railroad,then becoming its general superintendent from 1849 to 1851. Haupt and Thomson designed theHorseshoe Curve(now aNational Historic Landmark) which enabled the Pennsylvania Railroad to cross theAllegheny Mountainsand reachPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

From 1851 until 1853, Haupt was the chief engineer of the Southern Railroad ofMississippi,then became the Pennsylvania Railroad's chief engineer until 1856; in the latter position he completed the Mountain Division with theAllegheny Tunnel,opening the line through toPittsburgh.He was the chief engineer on the five-mile (8 km)Hoosac Tunnelproject through the Berkshires in WesternMassachusettsfrom 1856 to 1861.

He was elected as a member to theAmerican Philosophical Societyin 1871.[7]

Civil War

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The locomotive "General Haupt" being used for work detail while its namesake, Herman Haupt, stands on the hill to the right inspecting railway work near Bull Run in 1863

In the spring of 1862, a year after the start of the Civil War, theU.S. War Departmentorganized a new bureau responsible for constructing and operating military railroads in the United States. On April 27, Haupt was appointed chief of the bureau bySecretary of WarEdwin M. Stanton,as acolonelandaide-de-camptomajor generalIrvin McDowell,then in command of the defenses ofWashington, D.C.Haupt repaired and fortified war-damaged railroad lines in the vicinity of Washington, armed and trained railroad staff, and improvedtelegraphcommunications along the railroad lines. Among his most challenging assignments was restoring the strategicRichmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroadline, including thePotomac Creek Bridge,after its partial destruction by Confederate forces. Despite an inexperienced workforce and other serious impediments, Haupt had the line back in use in under two weeks. PresidentAbraham Lincolnwas impressed with Haupt's work there. In a visit on May 28, 1862, he observed: "That man Haupt has built a bridge four hundred feet long and one hundred feet high, across Potomac Creek, on which loaded trains are passing every hour, and upon my word, gentlemen, there is nothing in it but cornstalks and beanpoles."[1]

Military railroad bridge restored overPotomac Creek
General Haupt and W. Wright, Superintendent of the Military Railroad, surveying a Confederate artillery battery on Maryes Heights, Fredericksburg Va., which was wrecked by Union artillery fire, May 5, 1863

Haupt was promoted tobrigadier generalofvolunteerson September 5, 1862, but he initially refused the appointment, explaining that he would be happy to serve without official rank or pay, but he did not want to limit his freedom to work in private business – and he privately bridled at the protocols and discipline of Army service. He worked with Gen.Daniel McCallum,a fellow railroad man and later became good friends withJohn H. Devereux,the Superintendent of theUnited States Military Railroadat Alexandria, Virginia and later General Superintendent of theCleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad.However, he chafed at dealing with other Union army commanders. He also preferred civilian crews, including those consisting of former slaves ( "contraband negroes" ), to military ones. His Construction Corps had 300 men divided into 10-man squads by June 1862, and was later enlarged to include bridge-builders, then construction of freight cars, barracks, wharves, warehouses, etcetera. Its range of operation was extended to Tennessee and it accompanied Sherman's thrust through Georgia under the direction of ColonelWilliam Wierman Wrightand division engineerEben C. Smeed.[8]

Haupt also experimented with bridge demolition using "torpedoes", asmineswere called at the time, inserted in holes drilled in trusses. He also discussed in a November 1862 report various methods of destroying locomotives, determining that firing a cannon ball through the boiler rendered it irreparable, while locomotives with fireboxes drained then fired could be repaired. He also tested a lightweight 2-clamp "rail-twister" invented by his subordinateEben C. Smeed,[9]for use in raids behind enemy lines.[10]

Offered promotion again in early autumn 1863, Haupt hinged his acceptance on three conditions: that a central Bureau of U.S. Military Railroads be established to inspect, direct, and receive reports concerning construction and operation of all military railroads; difficulties with commanding generals be avoided through consultation and cooperation within their departments; the chief of the bureau should be free to move wherever his personal presence was necessary or to attend to whatever public or private business required his attention.[11]The War Department declined to accept his terms. Haupt's appointment was eventually rescinded on September 5, 1863, and he left the service on September 14.

During his year as a general, however, he made an enormous impact on theUnionwar effort. The Civil War was one of the first wars in which large-scale railroad transportation was used to move and supply armies rapidly over long distances. Haupt assisted the UnionArmy of VirginiaandArmy of the Potomacin theNorthern Virginia Campaign,theMaryland Campaign,and was particularly effective in supporting theGettysburg Campaign,conducted in an area he knew well from his youth. His hastily organized trains kept the Union Army well supplied, and he organized the returning trains to carry thousands of Union wounded to hospitals. After theBattle of Gettysburg,Haupt boarded one of his trains and arrived at theWhite Houseon July 6, 1863, becoming the first to inform President Lincoln that GeneralRobert E. Lee's defeatedConfederatearmy was not being pursued vigorously by Union Major GeneralGeorge G. Meade.

During his service, Haupt developed and implemented "general principles of railroad supply operation" and "also detailed methods of construction and destruction of railroad equipment". His two main principles were that the military should never interfere with the efficient running of the railroad and thatrolling stockshould be emptied and returned promptly to enable their re-use as transport.[1][12]

Postbellum

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Haupt in his older years

After his war service, Haupt returned to railroad, bridge, pipeline, and tunnel construction. He worked with theRichmond and Danville Railroadthen was the general manager ofPiedmont Air-Line Railway(fromRichmond, Virginia,toAtlanta, Georgia), 1872 to 1876; Tide Water Pipe Line Company, 1875-; general manager of the transcontinentalNorthern Pacific Railroad,1881 to 1885; president of theDakota and Great Southern Railroad,1885 to 1886.

Haupt became wealthy from investments in railroads, mining, and Pennsylvania real estate, but eventually lost most of his fortune, in part due to political complications involving the completion of theHoosac Tunnel.He and his wife purchased a small resort hotel atMountain LakeinGiles County, Virginia.He invented a drilling machine that won the highest prize of theRoyal Polytechnic Societyof Great Britain and was the first to prove the practicability of transporting oil in pipes.

Haupt also authored several papers and books:Hints on Bridge Building(1840),The General Theory of Bridge Construction(1851),Plan for the Improvement of the Ohio River(1855),Military Bridges(1864) andReminiscences(1901).[13][14]

Death and legacy

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Haupt died of a heart attack at age 88 inJersey City, New Jersey,stricken while traveling on the Pennsylvania Railroad in aPullman carnamed "Irma" on a journey from New York to Philadelphia. He is buried inWest Laurel Hill CemeteryinBala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.[15]His sonLewis M. Hauptwas a noted civil engineer and professor. In 1974, theThetford Center Covered Bridgewas added to the National Register of Historic Places as a prime surviving example of a Haupt truss bridge.[16]

Selected works

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See also

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References

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Notes

  1. ^abcWolmar, Christian (2010).Engines of War.London: Atlantic Books. pp.42–43.ISBN978-1-84887-172-4.
  2. ^1870 U.S. Federal census for District 28, Ward 10, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, family 119
  3. ^Wilson, Wiliam Bender (1900).General Superintendents of the Pennsylvania Railroad Division, Pennsylvania Railroad Co (Google eBook).Philadelphia Penn: Kensington Press.
  4. ^"Haupt Obituary".Railroad Gazette, Volume 39 (Google eBook).December 22, 1905.RetrievedMay 7,2013.
  5. ^In a letter to the U. S. Patent Office ( "Specification of Letters Patent No. 1,445, dated December 27, 1839" ) Haupt explained his new construction method: "The construction of a lattice bridge without counterbraces, but consisting simply of braces inclined at any proposed angle and ties which are perpendicular to the lower chord, the chords being either straight or curved."
    Sourced fromNorth Carolina articleon Bunker Hill Covered Bridge
  6. ^Abdill (1961), p. 10
  7. ^"APS Member History".search.amphilsoc.org.RetrievedApril 28,2021.
  8. ^Abdill (1961), pp.10-11, 53, 82
  9. ^Reminiscences of General Herman Haupt Wright & Joys, 1901 pp. 198
  10. ^Abdill pp.45, 56
  11. ^National Archives, RG 108, Entry 22, M1635, Herman Haupt to Edwin M. Stanton, September 11, 1863; Herman Haupt to Henry W. Halleck, September 11, 1863
  12. ^Wolmar, Christian (2010).Engines of War.London: Atlantic Books. p.48.ISBN978-1-84887-172-4.
  13. ^Appleton's Cyclopediavol 3, p. 116
  14. ^Abdill (1961), p.10
  15. ^Civil War High Commands
  16. ^Hugh Henry (1974)."NRHP nomination for Thetford Center Covered Bridge".National Park Service.RetrievedJune 11,2024.withphotos from 1974
  17. ^Hopkins, Jonathan."The Blue and the Gray".IMDB.

Bibliography

  • Abdill, George B. (1961)Civil War Railroads: A Pictorial Story of the War Between the States, 1861-1865Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
  • Eicher, John H., andEicher, David J.(2001)Civil War High Commands.Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.ISBN0-8047-3641-3
  • Haupt online biography

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toHerman Haupt.
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