Background
Simon Bernard was born on April 22, 1779, at Dole, the Department of Jura, France. His boyhood was spent in extreme poverty.
Simon Bernard was born on April 22, 1779, at Dole, the Department of Jura, France. His boyhood was spent in extreme poverty.
Simon Bernard was educated at the École polytechnique.
Simon Bernard was appointed lieutenant of engineers in 1797, served in the Army of the Rhine and then in Northern Italy, and was made captain in 1800. He was brought to the personal attention of Napoleon through his success in a secret mission through South Germany and Austria in 1805, collecting information for the campaign which culminated in the battle of Austerlitz. From 1810 to 1812, having acquired a high reputation as a military engineer, he was charged with the design and construction of the fortifications of Antwerp. In 1813 he was appointed colonel and aide-de-camp to the Emperor, with whom he served the greater part of the time until the abdication. Remaining in the army of the Restoration, he was appointed maréchal de camp (brigadier-general) in 1814, but rejoined Napoleon on his return from Elba and remained with him till the end. According to Barras, he was the "last officer whom Napoleon had seen by his side at Waterloo. "
Bernard then sought and received employment in the United States, on Lafayette's recommendation, a resolution of Congress authorizing the President "to employ a skillful assistant" for the corps of engineers. Bernard was given the pay and the courtesy title of brigadier-general, and placed on the board for planning the coast defenses. Although nominally only an assistant, he was actually allowed such independence that the chief of engineers, Colonel Joseph G. Swift, finally found his situation intolerable and resigned from the army in 1818, and was followed a few months later by the senior officer of the board, Lieutenant-Colonel William McRee. Thereafter the board consisted of General Bernard and Major Joseph G. Totten, with other officers temporarily assigned.
The two permanent members, both great engineers, preserved harmony by working independently of each other as a rule, and gradually worked out a complete system of defense, including not only plans for modern forts on the coast, but also a project for extensive development of interior communication by roads and canals. The fortifications were largely completed sooner or later. The work of the board also served as the basis on which several canals were constructed, before the railroad era rendered the comprehensive plan of communications obsolete. Upon the accession of Louis Philippe, Bernard gave up his position and returned to France.
Bernard’s work in the United States had been of incalculable value, though it is unfortunate that he was employed in such a way as to force out of the army two of its ablest engineers. His chief monument is Fort Monroe, in Virginia - the greatest fortress in the country when planned, and still preserved in all its perfection. Restored to the army in France, he was appointed lieutenant-general in 1831, and served as aide-de-camp to the King and then as inspector-general of engineers. He was minister of war for a short time in 1834, and again from 1836 to 1839. Bernard died in November 1839.
Simon Bernard is remembered for his service in the French army. Bernard was distinguished by his defense of Torgau during the siege of 1813. He was also a skillful engineer who designed a number of extensive forts for the US Army, notably Fort Monroe and Fort Wool in Virginia, Fort Adams in Newport, Fort Morgan in Alabama, and did a large amount of the civil engineering connected with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Delaware Breakwater.
On March 10, 1809, Simon Bernard was married to Marie de Lerchenfeld.
