Henry Larcom Abbot

Abbot (Henry Larcom)., (1831—). An American soldier and engineer. He was born at Beverly, Mass., and graduated at the United States Military Academy, West Point, in 1854, entering the corps of engineers, in which he served with distinction until his retirement in 1895. He was engaged in the survey for the Pacific Railroad and the hydrographic survey of the Mississippi River delta. During the Civil War he was engaged in engineering and artillery operations. He was wounded at the battle of Bull Run in 1861. In the operations around Richmond he commanded the siege artillery. At the close of the war he was brevetted Brigadier-General of United States Volunteers, and Major-General of the United States Army. For many years he was in command of the garrison of engineers at Willetts Point, N. Y., and while there developed the torpedo and submarine defense of the Long Island Sound approach to New York City and founded the school for engineers. In this connection he did much important work in military science, devoting himself to the design and construction of submarine mines and mortar batteries, as well as to the development of military engineering equipment and drill, and serving on the Gun Foundry Board, the Board on Fortifications and Defenses, and numerous other military commissions. He was a member of the board to devise a plan for the protection and reclamation of the Mississippi basin. In 1872 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He served as president of a board of consulting engineers to consider the question of a proposed ship canal from Pittsburg to Lake Erie, and designed the harbor at Manitowoc, Wis. In May, 1897, he was appointed a member of the Technical Committee of the New Panama Canal Company. He is the author of Siege Artillery in the Campaign Against Richmond (1867); Experiments and Investigations to Develop a System of Submarine Mines for Defending Harbors of the United States (1881), and with General A. A. Humphreys, Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi, in addition to a large number of reports of military and engineering commissions and boards.