Background
John Carver Palfrey was born on December 25, 1833 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of John Gorham Palfrey and Mary Ann (Hammond) Palfrey.
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John Carver Palfrey
Edit ProfileEducation
John Carver Palfrey attended the Boston Latin School. He graduated from Harvard in 1853, and from West Point, first in his class, in 1857.
Career
In 1857 John Carver Palfrey was appointed brevet second lieutenant and, later in the same year, second lieutenant in the corps of engineers. Up to the time of the Civil War he served as assistant to the board of engineers for Atlantic seacoast defenses, and was connected with the construction and repair of the fortifications of Portland Harbor, Maine, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
On the outbreak of war he was ordered to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, as assistant engineer. From December 1861 to January 1863 he was engaged as superintending engineer in the construction of the fort at Ship Island, Mississippi, and later was in charge of the construction and repair of the fortifications about New Orleans, the field works of the Department of the Gulf, and the defenses of Pensacola, Florida. He participated in the Red River campaign in 1864 and in the operations against Port Hudson, Louisiana, Fort Gaines, Fort Morgan and Mobile, Alabama, and in the storming of Blakely.
Towards the close of the Red River campaign, when the withdrawal of the supporting gunboats was blocked by the rapid fall of water in the river, Palfrey, then a captain of engineers, surveyed the stream and determined the practicability of engineering expedients by which the water level was raised, allowing the vessels to pass over the rapids and escape capture. Immediately after the war, he took part in the reconstruction of the San Antonio and Mexican Gulf Railroad of Texas.
On May 1, 1866, he resigned from the army and became agent of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, Lowell, Massachussets. From July 1, 1874, until he retired from active business in 1891, he was treasurer of the Manchester Mills of Manchester, New Hampshire. For many years he was an overseer of the Thayer School of Civil Engineering of Dartmouth College.
Achievements
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John Carver Palfrey became famous for his service with the Corps of Engineers during the American Civil War. For his gallant and Meritorious Services in the military campaigns, he received the rank of Brevet Brigadier‑General, United States Army in 1865. He also contributed a number of narratives of military operations in which he had participated. Among these was The Siege of Yorktown, Port Hudson.
Membership
John Carver Palfrey was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society and secretary of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts.
Personality
From his father, John Carver Palfrey inherited an active mind and a puritanical sense of obligation and integrity.
Connections
On October 21, 1874, John Carver Palfrey married Adelaide Eliza Payson of Belmont, Massachussets They had three children, two sons and a daughter.
References
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Born
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Died
January 29, 1906 (aged 72) -
Resting place
Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States -
Nationality
American