Interesting, Lyle. I had not considered them. I believe that VMI was put
there primarily to guard the arsenal, althoug now that you mention it
Claudias Crozet was one of the founders or certainly one of the early staff
members. I am sure he would have taught Engineering. But I cannot recall
any mention of VMI graduates who had a major part in early engineering
projects.
I think that the Citadle was established primarily to provide an armed force
which could be called out fast to suppress slave uprisings. But perhaps
following the lead of West Point as an Engineering school, engineering
subjects might have been taught there too.
Thanks for the info.
Randy Cabell
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lyle E. Browning" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Randy Cabell" <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2006 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: Engineers in the antebellum south
> I'd have to say that the primary school for engineers in the South was
> VMI, although perhaps the folks at the Citadel might argue with that.
>
> Lyle Browning
>
>
> On Dec 11, 2006, at 3:15 PM, Randy Cabell wrote:
>
>> As you see, I am not totally engrossed in Jamestown, but my question did
>> grow out of our trip to Lehigh University a weekend or so ago. I did
>> not realize it is primarily an Engineering School, and a private one at
>> that. That caused me to think about MIT and RPI and I think there was
>> one at Norwalk or Norwich CT which were also a private Engineering
>> School, formed in the decades before the Civil War. All this was
>> obviously response to a need for trained engineers in some industry or
>> other.
>>
>> I am not aware of ANY engineering schools in the South prior to the
>> advent of the Land-Grant colleges in the 1880's -- Georgia Tech,
>> Virginia Tech, etc. My question is WHERE did southern enterprises like
>> Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, the Gosport Shipyard in Norfolk, the
>> powder factory in Augusta, GA, the iron and steel complex in Alabama,
>> etc. get engineers, or whatever they called the people who passed for
>> such at the time? The US Military Academy? imported from Europe? from
>> the North? Self Taught? A formal or informal guild of engineers? All
>> of the above?
>>
>> I note that Charles Ellet, Jr., builder of many bridges and I think of a
>> Union ironclad fleet in the Civil War (so therefore no doubt a
>> Northerner) took it upon himself to go to Paris to study at the Ecole
>> des Ponts et Chausses where he joined French Engineering students.
>>
>> Just wondering.
>>
>> Randy Cabell
>> Ga Tech '54
>>
>>
>> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the
>> instructions
>> at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
>
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
