A Tradition of Service Since 1775

   The Army Corps of Engineers traces its beginnings to the opening days
of the Revolutionary War when Boston native Colonel Richard Gridley
was named chief engineer of the Massachusetts Volunteers and,
shortly thereafter, chief engineer of the newly-formed Continental
Army by Commander-in-Chief General George Washington.

   The first Army engineering action
occurred on the night of June 16, 1775,
when Gridley designed and supervised
the construction of an earthwork on
Breed's Hill overlooking Boston Harbor
that would prove impregnable against British
bombardment during a fierce battle the following day.
Although the patriots lost the position after running out
of ammunition, the Battle of Bunker Hill (as it was later called)
marked the beginning of the long tradition of service to
New England that the Corps continues today.

       After the Revolutionary War, the Army's engineer corps was dissolved   until it became apparent that the growing nation had a continuing need for       military engineers. In 1802 the Congress established a Corps-operated                                         military engineering school at West Point, New                                           York. West Point served in that capacity until                                         1866 when it became the US Military Academy.                                                Graduates of West Point, the nation's only                                                                     engineering school for many                                                            decades, provided the engineering
                                                                 skills that built the nation from
                                                          eastern seaboard to western shore.
                          
                                                        In 1824, the Congress expanded the                                                                Corps responsibility by passing
                                                                  the General Survey Act which                                                                        authorized it to survey and
                                                                        build a network of internal                                                                  improvements, including roads,                                                  canals, and railroads. The same year saw
                                   passage of the Rivers and Harbors Act that charged
                      the Corps with improving navigable waterways, especially the   Mississippi and Ohio rivers, the fledgling nation's main commercial arteries.   

     From these historic acts, the civil works mission of the Corps of Engineers grew with the  expanding nation so that today the Corps maintains an indispensable network of improvements that supports the infrastructure essential for commerce, transportation, and protection from natural disasters. These improvements include over 12,000 miles of inland and intracoastal waterways, 235 locks, and over 600 dams and reservoirs. Other evidence of the Corps military and civil works achievements abound, both at home and abroad.