Short URL for this page:
bit.ly/Cullum1716


[image ALT: Much of my site will be useless to you if you've got the images turned off!]
mail:
Bill Thayer

[image ALT: Cliccare qui per una pagina di aiuto in Italiano.]
Italiano

[Link to a series of help pages]
Help
[Link to the next level up]
Up
[Link to my homepage]
Home
This site is not affiliated with the US Military Academy.
[decorative delimiter]
USMA
Home

 [decorative delimiter] Class of 1856

Vol. II
p643
1716

(Born O.)

Orlando Metcalfº Poe

(Ap'd O.)

6

Born Mar. 7, 1832, Navarre, OH.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, Sep. 1, 1852, to July 1, 1856, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Bvt. Second Lieut., Top. Engineers, July 1, 1856.

Served as Asst. Top. Engineer on the Survey of the Northern Lakes, Oct. 1, 1856, to May 1, 1861.

Second Lieut., Top. Engineers, Oct. 7, 1856.

First Lieut., Top. Engineers, July 1, 1860.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66: in organizing Ohio Volunteers, Apr. 12‑19, 1861; as Chief Top. Engineer of the Department of the Ohio, May 13 to July 15, 1861, being engaged in several reconnoissances in Northern Kentucky and Western Virginia, — and Action of Rich Mountain, W. Va., July 11, 1861; on the Staff of Major-general Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.McClellan, at Washington, D. C., July 27 to Sep. 26,

(Colonel, 2d Michigan Volunteers, Sep. 16, 1861)

1861; in command of Regiment in the Defenses of Washington, D. C., Sep. 16, 1861, to Mar. 17, 1862; in the Virginia Peninsular Campaign (Army of the Potomac), Mar. to June, 1862, being engaged in the Siege of Yorktown, Apr. 5 to May 4, 1862, — Battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862, — and Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862; on leave of absence, June 8 to July 31, 1862; in the Northern Virginia Campaign, Aug. to Sep., 1862, being engaged in command of Brigade, in the Battle of Manassas, Aug. 29‑30, 1862; in the Defenses of Washington, D. C., Sep. 3 to Oct. 11, 1862; in the Maryland Campaign (Army of the Potomac), Oct. to Nov., 1862, being engaged on March up the Potomac to Leesburg, and thence to Falmouth, Va., Oct. to Nov., 1862; in the Rappahannock

(Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers, Nov. 29, 1862, to Mar. 4, 1863)

Campaign (Army of the Potomac), Dec., 1862, being engaged in the Battle of Fredericksburg (in reserve), Dec. 13, 1862; on sick leave of absence, Dec. 23, 1862, to Feb. 11, 1863; in command of Division, 9th Army Corps, Feb. 16 to Apr. 11, 1863, being engaged in the Movement

(Captain, Corps of Engineers, Mar. 3, 1863)

to the Department of the Ohio, Mar. 17‑23, 1863; as Chief Engineer of the Central District of Kentucky, Apr. 15 to June 1, 1863, — of 23d Army Corps, June 1 to Sep. 27, 1863, — participating in the March to East Tennessee, and Occupation of Knoxville, — and of the Army of the Ohio, Sep. 27 to Dec. 15, 1863, participating in the Action of Blue Springs, Ten., Oct. 10, 1863, and Defense of Knoxville, Ten., Nov. 18 to Dec. 4, 1863; as Asst. Engineer, Dec. 15, 1863, to Apr. 3, 1864, and Chief Engineer, Apr. 3, 1864, to June 29, 1865, of the Military Division of the Mississippi; in the Invasion of Georgia, May 2 to Dec. 21, 1864, being engaged in Demonstrations against Dalton, May 7‑14, 1864, — Battle of Resaca, May 15, 1864, — Action of Adairsville, May 17, and of Kingston, May 19, 1864, — Battle of New Hope Church, May 20, 1864, — Battle of Dallas, May 25‑28, 1864, — Movement on Kenesaw, May 28, to June 20, 1864, — Battles of Kenesaw Mountain, June 20 to July 2, 1864, — Assault at Ruff's Station, July 4, 1864, — Movement upon Atlanta, July 5‑21, 1864, — Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, — Siege of

(Bvt. Major, July 6, 1864, for Gallant Services in the Siege of Knoxville)

 p644  Atlanta, July 22 to Aug. 25, 1864, — Battle of Jonesborough, Aug. 31, 1864, — erecting new Defenses at Atlanta, Sep. 4 to Nov. 16, 1864, —

(Bvt. Lieut.‑Colonel, Sep. 1, 1864, for Gallant Services in the Capture of Atlanta)

March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah, Nov. 16 to Dec. 9, 1864, participating in the Skirmish at Sandersville, Nov. 26, 1864, — and Siege of Savannah, Dec. 9‑21, 1864; in constructing a new line of Defenses

(Bvt. Colonel, Dec. 21, 1864, for Gallant Services in the Capture of Savannah)

at Savannah, Dec. 21, 1864, to Jan. 23, 1865; and in the Invasion of the Carolinas, Jan. 23 to Apr. 26, 1865, being engaged in the Battle of Averysborough, Mar. 16, 1865, — Battle of Bentonville, Mar. 20‑21, 1865, — Capture of Raleigh, Apr. 13, 1865, — and Surrender of the

(Bvt. Brigadier-general, U. S. Army, Mar. 13, 1865,
for Gallant and Meritorious Services in the Campaign Terminating with the Surrender of the Insurgent Army under General Indicates a West Point graduate and gives his Class.J. E. Johnston)

Rebel Army under General J. E. Johnston at Durham Station, N. C., Apr. 26, 1865.

Major, Corps of Engineers, Mar. 7, 1867.

Served: as Engineer Secretary of Lighthouse Board, July 3, 1865, to Apr. 12, 1870, and temporarily, May 1 to Sep. 10, 1873, — as Engineer of Eleventh Lighthouse District (Upper Lakes), Apr. 14, 1870, to May 1, 1873; as Superintending Engineer of Surveys and Improvements of various Rivers and Harbors in Eastern Michigan, and of the St. Mary's River, Apr. 14, 1870, to May 1, 1873; as Member of the Lighthouse

(Colonel, Staff — Aide-de‑Camp to the General-in‑Chief, Jan. 1, 1873)

Board, Jan. 19, 1874, to Apr. 10, 1884; on duty at Headquarters of the Army, Jan. 19, 1874, to Feb. 8, 1884, being on detached service in Texas and New Mexico, Dec. 9, 1880, to Feb. 21, 1881, and in connection with Ft. Gratiot Military Reservation, Mich., Feb. 25, 1881, to Feb., 1882; and as Member of Board of Engineers on site for Harbor of Refuge on Lake Ontario, Oct. 19, 1871, to July 18, 1872, — on Locks of the Louisville and Portland Canal, Dec., 1871, — to examine condition of Toledo Harbor, Dec. 27, 1872, — on the preservation of the Falls of St. Anthony, Apr. 14‑20, 1874, — to select site for Movable Dam on the Ohio, Apr. 14‑24, 1875, — on Improvement of Great Kanawha River, May 7‑25, 1875, — and to retire disabled Officers, Mar., 1877; as Superintending

(Lieut.‑Colonel, Corps of Engineers, June 30, 1882)

Engineer of Improvement of Rivers and Harbors on Lakes Superior and Huron in Michigan and St. Mary's Falls Canal, and in charge of St. Clair Flats and St. Mary's Falls Canals, since Aug. 10, 1883; in charge of water level observations on Lake Huron, since Aug. 29, 1883, and of Ft. Wayne, Mich., since Dec. 19, 1883; as President of the Board of Visitors to the U. S. Naval Academy, June, 1885; as Supervising Engineer of Bridge across west channel of Detroit River, since June 23, 1887, — and of Bridge across St. Mary's River, Mich., July 2, 1887, to June, 1888; in charge of Survey of certain Historic Grounds, June 25 to Nov. 14, 1888; as Division Engineer for inspection

(Colonel, Corps of Engineers, July 23, 1888)

of the engineer works in the Northwestern Territory of the United States, since Dec. 3, 1888; as Supervising Engineer of construction of Embankment Dam on Rapids of St. Mary's River, since Apr. 1, 1889; as  p645 Member of various Engineer Boards on River and Harbor Improvements, Bridge Construction, etc., 1879‑90.

Vol. IV
p101
[Supplement, Vol. IV: 1890‑1900]

Military History. — Supervising Engineer of construction of embankment dam on rapids of St. Mary's River and Division Engineer of the Northwestern Division, April 1, 1889 to Oct. 2, 1895. — Member of various Engineer Boards on river and harbor improvements, 1879 to 1895. — Engineer officer of the 9th and 11th Light House Districts, June to Dec., 1892. — President Board of Engineers to make surveys relative to a continuous canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, Aug., 1894 to Oct., 1895. — Member of Board to consider and report upon Chicago drainage canal and upon lake and harbor levels, May to Oct., 1895.

Died Oct. 2, 1895, at Detroit, Mich.: Aged 63.

Buried, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.

See Annual Association of Graduates, U. S. M. A., 1896, for an obituary notice, with a portrait.


[image ALT: Valid HTML 4.01.]

Page updated: 9 Mar 13