Background
Barlow was born on June 26, 1838, in Wyoming County, New York, the son of Nehemiah and Orinda (Steel) Barlow.
Barlow was born on June 26, 1838, in Wyoming County, New York, the son of Nehemiah and Orinda (Steel) Barlow.
After attending the public schools and an academy in Wisconsin, he entered the United States Military Academy, from which he was graduated May 6, 1861, as a second-lieutenant of artillery.
He fought at Bull Run and throughout the Peninsular campaign, and on May 27, 1862, was brevetted a captain. In July he was transferred to the topographical engineers and in March of the following year to the engineers, four months later reaching the full rank of captain. In 1864 he was transferred to Sherman's army operating against Atlanta, serving temporarily as chief engineer of the 17th army corps. In November he was sent to Nashville, where Thomas placed him in charge of the defenses of the city, and where, for his conduct in the decisive battles of December 15-16, he was brevetted a lieutenant-colonel.
During the first five years after the war he was in charge of various engineering works. In July and August 1871, he commanded the detachment of engineers which, with a party from the Geological Survey under Dr. F. V. Hayden, made the first Government exploration of Yellowstone Park. With the close of this expedition, says Chittenden (The Yellowstone National Park), the discovery of the Yellowstone wonderland was made complete; and a result closely following it was the passage of the bill establishing Yellowstone Park, approved March 1, 1872. Though the greater part of his valuable collection of data and photographs was destroyed in the great Chicago fire, Barlow succeeded in finishing an admirable report on the exploration, which was published by the Government in April.
In 1879 he was made a major and in 1884 a lieutenant-colonel. In 1886 he was placed in charge of the engineering project at Muscle Shoals, which on November 10, 1890, he completed by the opening of the canal to navigation. In 1892-96 he commanded the party of government engineers which, in co"peration with a similar party from the Mexican Government, placed permanent markers along the whole of the international boundary from El Paso to the Pacific. On May 10, 1895, he was made a colonel, and on May 2, 1901, a brigadier-general and chief of engineers. On the following day, at his own request, he was retired. After his retirement he lived in New London. While on a trip with his wife to the Holy Land he fell ill at Jerusalem and died there. The remains were brought to America and after a funeral at Fort Myer, April 20, 1914, were interred at Arlington. Barlow was highly esteemed by those who knew him. Tributes to his memory stressed not merely his gallant record in battle, his many triumphs as an engineer and his exploratory work in Yellowstone Park, but also the modesty and courtesy of his demeanor and the charm of his personality.
He made scientific explorations of the headwaters of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. His detailed reports became guides for settlers. Barlow improved the harbors and defenses of Long Island Sound from 1875 to 1883, executed harbor improvements in northern Wisconsin and Michigan, and worked on the construction of a canal around Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River. Battery Barlow-Saxton at Fort MacArthur was named in his honor. Barlow Peak in Yellowstone National Park is named for John W. Barlow.
In 1892-96 he commanded the party of government engineers which, in co"peration with a similar party from the Mexican Government, placed permanent markers along the whole of the international boundary from El Paso to the Pacific.
Barlow was twice married--on December 26, 1861, to Hessie McNaughton Birnie, of Washington, who died, and on September 17, 1902, to Alice Stanton Turner, of New London.
