INFLUENCE OF SELECTED GEOLOGISTS IN THE CIVIL WAR

Federal and Confederate forces in the American Civil War had access to maps and reports of the state and federal surveys. The publications included geologic as well as topographic maps. In the late 1850’s, the knowledge of science carried to the field of battle by the university students included geology. The applicability of student geologic/topographic knowledge was undoubtedly limited by rank. In 1860 students of the University of Mississippi formed the 11th Mississippi Infantry, also known as the “University Grays.” The unit took a lead in Picketts Charge (Battle of Gettysburg) and all of the members were casualties, including many fatally wounded. A four-member faculty at the university taught the Grays. At the time of the Civil War, the state geological survey office in Mississippi was at the university and the Chief Geologist of the survey was a university faculty member. At the time of the university closing due to the war, Chief Geologist Dr. Eugene W. Hilgard was that faculty member. Besides teaching, one of Dr. Hilgard’s accomplishments was preventing the destruction of the university when Federal troops, arrived with orders to burn the campus. Also during the war Dr. Hilgard designed a system of floodlights to be used in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The lights were to illuminate Federal Navy vessels attempting to run the gun batteries of Vicksburg. The career of Dr. Hilgard evolved into the field of soil science. His research and teaching continued at the University of California, Berkeley, and he is regarded today at the Father of Soil Science. He recognized the significance of soil profiles and defined the horizon classification system (A, B, and C) used today. A noted Federal Army geologist participating in the Vicksburg Campaign was John Wesley Powell. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Powell enlisted in the 20th Illinois volunteers. As the Captain of battery F (2nd Illinois artillery) he lost his right arm in the battle of Shiloh. He returned to service and fought battles of Champion Hill, Black River Bridge, and the Siege of Vicksburg. He excavated fossils from the loess walls of the Federal trenches he occupied during the siege of Vicksburg. His postwar mark on history is for leading the first expedition down the Colorado River (1869) of the Grand Canyon.