Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/688

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GILLMORE
GILMAN

that he read at a public exhibition attracted the attention of a member of congress, who offered him the nomination as a cadet at the U. S. mili- tary academy. He was graduated in 1849, at the head of his class, assigned to the engineers, and after serving three years at Hampton Roads was appointed instructor in practical military engi- neering at West Point, and subsequently treas- urer and quartermaster at the academy. He was promoted 1st lieutenant in the engineer corps in 1856, and was on duty in New York city when the civil war opened. In August, 1861, he was appointed captain in his own corps, and engineer - in- chief of the Port Royal expedition under Gen.Thomas W. Sherman. The reduction of Fort Pulaski, defend- ing the water ap- proach to Savan- nah, a strong forti- fication, isolated in the centre of a marsh island that was entirely sur-

rounded by deep

water, was very essential to the success of this expedition, but was regarded by the ablest engineers of both armies as impracticable. Capt. Gillmore, then acting briga- dier-general, planned the establishment of eleven liatteries of mortars and rifled guns on Tybee island, a mile distant, which occupied two months of incessant day and night labor. The bombard- ment, which opened at" 8 A. m., 10 April, 1862, and which was conducted under his very minute, detailed instructions as to elevation, charge, direc- tion, intervals between shots, etc., for each piece, resulted by 3 p. m. of the following day in the surren- der of the fort, which had been so shattei-ed as to be untenable. This exploit, for which he was bre- vetted lieutenant-colonel, U. S. army, 1 April, 1862, placed Capt. Gillmore in the front rank of Ameri- can engineers and artillerists. He was assigned to important commands in Kentucky in August, 1862, defeated Gen. Pegi'am at Somerset in March, 1863, for which he was brevetted colonel, and in June, 1863, was given command of the Depart- ment of the South, comprising all territory occu- pied by Union troops on the coasts of South Caro- lina, Georgia, and Florida. In July he was placed in command of the 10th army corps, and in the autumn of the same year he won new laurels by his operations on Morris island, for which he was bre- vetted brigadier-general ; the reduction of Fort Sumter, and the taking of P'ort Wagner and Bat- tery Gregg, which operations were characterized by great professional skill and boldness, and which constituted a new era in the science of engineer- ing and gunnery. For these services he was made major-general of volunteers. In 1804 he com- manded the 10th army corps at James river, was engaged in the landing at Bermuda Hundred and the action at Swift's creek, commanded the col- umn that turned and captured the line in front of Drury's Bluff, and covered Gen. Butlers retreat into intrenchments at Bermuda Hundred. In July of the same year he commanded two divis- ions of the 19th army corps in the defence of Washington, and in 1865 was again in charge of the Department of the South. Resigning his com- mission as major-general of volunteers, in Decem- ber, 1865, he returned to service in the engineer bureau at Washington, and was subsequently ap- pointed engineer-in-chief of all the fortifications and harbor and river improvements on the Atlan- tic coast south of New York. He was promoted major in June, 1863, lieutenant-colonel in 1874, and colonel, 20 Feb., 1883. He was president of the Mississippi river commission, which was cre- ated by congress in 1879, of the boards of en- gineers for the improvement of Cape Fear river, N. C, and the Potomac river and flats ; as well as of several boards for important harbor improve- ments in process of construction according to his plans. As one of the judges at the Centennial ex- hibition of 1876 he made special and voluminous reports on " Portland, Roman, and Other Ce- ments and Artificial Stones," and on " Brickmak- ing Machinery, Brick-Kilns, Perforated and En- amelled Bricks and Pavements." Rutgers college gave him the degree of Ph. D. Gen. Gillmore's works upon professional subjects are esteemed among the highest authorities in their class. They include *' Siege and Reduction of Fort Pulaski " (New York, 1862); "Limes, Hydraulic Cements, and Mortars " (1863) ; '• Engineering and Artillery Operations against Charleston in 1863 " (1865 ; supplement, 1868) ; " Beton, Coignet, and Other Artificial Stones " (1871) ; " The Strength of the Building Stone of the United States " (1874) ; and " Roads, Streets, and Pavements " (1876).


GILLON, Alexander, naval officer, b. in Rot- terdam, Holland, in 1741 ; d. at Gillon's Retreat, on the Congaree river, S. C, 6 Oct., 1794. He was a member of a wealthy commercial family, and re- sided in London for some time. In 1766 he came to Charleston, S. C, and became a prosperous mer- chant. In May, 1777, in an armed ship, he cap- tured three British cruisers, boarding them one after the other. He was appointed a commodore in the navy of South Carolina in 1778, and sent to France to procure vessels. He finally succeeded in hiring a frigate, named it the " South Carolina," and in it took many valuable prizes. With a large fleet, partly Spanish, he commanded the expedition which in May, 1782, captured the Bahama islands. He was a representative of congress, 1793-'4, was often in the state legislature, and was a member of the South Carolina constitutional convention. He was the founder and first president of the Charles- ton chamber of commerce.


GILMAN, Arthur, architect, b. in Newburyport, Mass., 5 Nov., 1821; d. in Syracuse, N. Y., 11 July, 1882. He was educated at Trinity college, Hartford. In 1844 he published a paper on “American Architecture” in the “North American Review,” which was translated into several foreign languages. He was then invited to deliver twelve lectures before the Lowell institute, Boston, after which he went to Europe on a tour of professional observation. On his return to Boston, he advocated the filling in and improvement of the “Back bay” district, then lying waste. He urged this plan upon the city government and the public for years, before the legislature and elsewhere, and finally his views were carried out by the state. The width and extent of Commonwealth avenue, now one of the finest streets in the world, is due almost entirely to his persistent efforts. Mr. Gilman designed and built the Boston city hall, which is regarded as his best work. In 1865 he removed to New York. The Equitable insurance company's building, in New York city, was designed by him. St. John's church and parsonage, at Clifton, Staten