Orlando Poe

Infobox Military Person
name=Orlando Metcalf Poe
born= birth date|1832|3|7
died= death date and age|1895|10|2|1832|3|7
placeofbirth= Navarre, Ohio
placeofdeath= Detroit, Michigan
placeofburial= Arlington National Cemetery


caption= Orlando M. Poe, taken at the end of the Civil War.
nickname=
allegiance=United States of America Union
branch= United States Army Union Army
serviceyears=
rank= Brevet Brigadier General
commands=
unit=
battles=American Civil War
awards=
laterwork=

Orlando Metcalfe Poe (March 7, 1832 – October 2, 1895) was an United States Army officer and engineer. After helping General William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War March to the Sea, he was responsible for much of the early lighthouse construction on the Great Lakes.

Early life

Poe was born in Navarre, Ohio. He attended the United States Military Academy, graduating sixth in his class in 1856. From then until 1861 he served as assistant topographical engineer on the survey of the northern Great Lakes; during this time he was promoted to first lieutenant.

Civil War service

At the start of the American Civil War, Poe assisted in organizing the volunteers from Ohio; later, he was made a member of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's staff. He assisted by organizing the defense of Washington, D.C., and was promoted to colonel that September, when he was placed in charge of the 2nd Michigan Volunteers. He commanded them successfully from Yorktown through the Battle of Seven Pines during the Peninsula Campaign and was then given field command of a brigade prior to Second Bull Run. He and his men participated in the Battle of Chantilly in late August.

Poe was appointed brigadier general of volunteers effective November 29, 1862, however the appointment was not confirmed by Congress in the spring of 1863. Poe reverted to his old rank of captain in the regular army and was soon transferred to the Western Theater, where, in his capacity as chief engineer of the XXIII Corps, he aided in the capture of Knoxville, Tennessee. This city he successfully defended against a siege led by Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, which culminated in the November 29, 1863, Battle of Fort Sanders. For essentially this action, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman selected Poe as his chief engineer in 1864. Poe oversaw the burning of Atlanta, for which action he was honored by Sherman. He continued to serve as chief engineer during Sherman's March to the Sea as well as in the war's concluding Carolinas Campaign. [Pepper, Terry, [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/closeups/ompoe/ompoe.htm "Seeing the Light, Orlando Metcalfe Poe: The Great Engineer of the Western Great Lakes"] biography.]

Postbellum

In summer 1865 Poe became the Lighthouse Board's chief engineer; in 1870 he was promoted to the position of Chief Engineer of the Upper Great Lakes 11th Lighthouse District. In this capacity he designed eight "Poe style lighthouses" and oversaw construction of several. Poe was named District Engineer for the Eleventh Lighthouse District, They are New Presque Isle Light (1870) on Lake Huron, Lake Michigan's South Manitou Island Light (1872), Grosse Point Light (1873) in Evanston, Illinois, Lake Superior's Au Sable Light (1874), Racine, Wisconsin's Wind Point Light (1880); Outer Island Light (1874) in the Apostle Islands, Little Sable Point Light (1874) on Lake Michigan, and Manistique, Michigan's Seul Choix Light (1895). [ [http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Huron/poereef.htm Wobser, David, Boatnerd.com, Orlando Poe.] ] As Superintending Engineer, he designed a unique lighthouse, both in terms of location and construction materials and methods, at the Spectacle Reef Light on Lake Huron. [ [http://www.michiganlights.com/spectaclereeflh.htm Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, Spectacle Reef Light.] ]

From 1873 through 1883 Poe served as engineering Aide-de-camp on the staff of William T. Sherman, who was then commanding general of the U.S. Army. In 1883 he was made Superintending Engineer of improvement of rivers and harbors on Lakes Superior and Huron, where he helped to develop the St. Mary's Falls Canal. Many consider his crowning achievement to be the design and implementation of the Poe Lock in the American Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, as it was instrumental in making possible the shipping industry (including steel craft freighters in the upper Great Lakes. Consequently, it was pivotal to the creation of the basic steel industry in the United States. [ [http://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/nhl/grossept.htm Terras, Donald J., "Grosse Point Light Station Study", National Historic Landmark, 1999.] ]

Poe died in Detroit, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. [ [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ompoe.htm Orlando Metcalfe Poe, Arlington National Cemetery] ] Poe Reef and the light in Lake Huron bear his name.

On March 24, 2008, it was announced that Kent State University would be publishing an as yet untitled biography. [ [http://swordandpen-prt.blogspot.com/2008/03/huzzah-home-for-poe.html With Sword and Pen, Biography of Poe.] ]

General Poe's personal "Carte de visite" was recently auctioned off, and contained many unique civil war pictures and memorabilia. [ [http://www.artfact.com/catalog/viewLot.cfm?sample=3405 Lot 189 : PROPERTY ORIGINALLY FROM THE COLLECTION OF CAPTAIN ORLANDO METCALFE POE CIVIL WAR. CARTE-DE-VISITE Sotheby's catalog #136, Orland Poe's "Carte de Visite".] ]

ee also

*List of American Civil War generals

References

* Taylor, Paul, "Orlando M. Poe: General William T. Sherman's Right Hand Man" in "North & South", vol. 10, no. 6 (May 2008).

Further reading

*Evans, David, "Sherman's Horsemen: Union Cavalry Operations in the Atlanta Campaign" (Indiana University Press, 1996). ISBN 0253213193; ISBN 9780253213198.
*The New York Times, Thursday, October 3, 1895 Obituary of Orlando M. Poe.
*Taylor, Paul, "Orlando Metcalfe Poe: General William T. Sherman’s Right Hand Man", "North and South" magazine (Keith Pouter, ed.). Vol X, No. 6), October, 2008. [ [http://www.northandsouthmagazine.com/next_issue.htm "North South" magazine, upcoming issues.] ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.bryansbush.com/hub.php?page=articles&layer=a0801 Bush, Bryan S. (Civil War historian/author), "Brevet Brig. General Orlando Metcalfe Poe".]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6528 Find a Grave, Orlando M. Poe.]
* [http://www.lhdigest.com/Digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=2347 Lighthouse Digest, "The Lighthouse Man Who Was Ordered to Burn Atlanta", November, 2005.]
* [http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps519.html "Map Illustrating the Siege of Atlanta, 1864 by General Orlando M. Poe", David Rumsey Map collection.]
*National Park Service [http://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/keep/architect.htm Maritime Heritage Project, "Architects, Engineers and Contractors".]
* [http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/closeups/ompoe/ompoe.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, "Orlando Metcalfe Poe: The Great Engineer of the Western Great Lakes" biography.]
* [http://letstalklighthouses.blogspot.com/2008/01/biography-orlando-metcalfe-poe.html Rabineau, Roland, Let's Talk Lighthouses, Poe biography.]
* [http://www.topogs.org/b_poe.htm U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers, Orlando M. Poe.]
* [http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Huron/poereef.htm Wobser, David, Boatnerd.com, Orlando Poe.]

Persondata
NAME= Poe, Orlando
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Union Army general
DATE OF BIRTH= March 7, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH= Navarre, Ohio
DATE OF DEATH= October 2, 1895
PLACE OF DEATH= Detroit, Michigan