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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > N > John Newton


JOHN NEWTON

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A soldier and engineer, born at Norfolk, Virginia, 24 August, 1823; died in New
York City, 1 May, 1895. He was the son of General Thomas Newton and Margaret
Jordan. In 1838 he was appointed from Virginia a cadet in the U. S. Military
Academy, and graduated in 1842, standing second in a class that included
Rosencrans, Pope, and Longstreet. Commissioned second lieutenant of engineers,
he was engaged as assistant professor of engineering at West Point, and later in
the construction of fortifications and other engineering projects along the
coasts of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Commissioned first lieutenant in
1852 and promoted captain in 1856, he was appointed chief engineer of the Utah
Expedition in 1858. At the opening of the Civil War he was chief engineer of the
Department of Pennsylvania, and afterwards held a similar position in the
Department of the Shenandoah. Commissioned major on 6 August, 1861, he worked on
the construction of the defences of Washington until March, 1862. He was
commissioned on 23 Sept., 1861, brigadier-general of volunteers, and received
command of a brigade engaged in the defence of the city. He served in the army
of the Potomac under McClellan during the Peninsular Campaign, and distinguished
himself by his heroic conduct in the actions of West Point, Gaines Mills, and
Glendale. He led his brigade in the Maryland campaign, taking part in the
forcing of Crampton Gap and in the battle of Antietam, and was for his gallant
services brevetted lieutenant-colonel of regulars. He led a division at
Fredericksburg in the storming of Marye Heights, and was rewarded on 20 March,
1863, with the rank of major-general of volunteers. He commanded divisions at
Chancellorsville and Salem Heights, and, at the death of Reynolds on 2 July,
1863, was given command of the First Army Corps, which he led on the last two
days of the battle of Gettysburg. On 3 July, 1863, for gallant service at
Gettysburg, he was brevetted colonel of regulars. He engaged in the pursuit of
the Confederate forces to Warrenton, Virginia, and towards the end of 1863 was
active in the Rapidan Campaign. In May, 1864, he was transferred to the Army of
the Cumberland, and commanded under General Thomas the Second Division, Fourth
Corps. He fought in all the actions during the invasion of Georgia up to the
capture of Atlanta. For his gallantry in this campaign, especially in the battle
of Peach Tree Creek, he was brevetted on 13 March, 1865, major-general of
volunteers and brigadier-general and major-general of regulars. He then took
command of various districts in Florida until, in January, 1866, he was mustered
out of the volunteer service.



Commissioned lieutenant-colonel of engineers in the regular service on 28
December, 1865, Newton was ordered in April, 1866, to New York City, where he
thenceforth resided, engaged on the engineering labours that made his name
famous. He was superintendent engineer of the construction of the defences on
the Long Island side of the Narrows, of the improvements of the Hudson River,
and of the fortifications at Sandy Hook. He was also one of the board of
engineers deputed to carry out the modifications of the defences around New York
City. The proposed enlargement of the Harlem River, and the improvements of the
Hudson from Troy to New York, of the channel between New Jersey and Staten
Island, and of the harbours on Lake Champlain were put under his charge. On 30
June, 1879, he was named colonel, and on 6 March, 1884, chief of engineers in
the regular service with the rank of brigadier-general. Among Newton's
achievements, the most notable was the removal of the dangerous rocks in Hell
Gate, the principal water-way between Long Island Sound and the East River. To
accomplish this task successfully, required the solution of difficult
engineering problems never before attempted, and the invention of new apparatus,
notably a steam drilling machine, which has since been in general use. Newton
carefully studied the problem, and the accuracy of his conclusions was shown by
the exact correspondence of the results with the objects sought. Hallett's Reef
and Flood Rock, having been carefully mined under his directions, were destroyed
by two great explosions (24 September, 1876; 10 October, 1885). This engineering
feat excited the universal admiration of engineers, and many honours were
conferred upon him. On Newton's voluntary retirement from the service in 1886,
Mayor Grace of New York, recognizing his superior skill, appointed him
commissioner of public works on 28 Aug. This post he voluntarily resigned on 24
Nov., 1888. On 2 April, 1888, he accepted the presidency of the Panama Railroad
Company, which position he filled until his death. In 1848 General Newton
married Anna M. Starr of New London, Connecticut. In his early manhood he
became, and until his death remained, an earnest and devout member of the
Catholic Church.




SOURCES

POWELL, List of Officers of the U. S. Army, 1776-1900; CULLUM, Biographical
Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy; Appleton's
Encycl. Amer. Biog., s.v.; SMITH, In Memoriam of General John Newton (New York,
1895).


ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Ewing, J. (1911). John Newton. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New
York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11018b.htm

MLA citation. Ewing, John. "John Newton." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11018b.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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