The Quartermaster

Archival Summary & Scope

Montgomery C. Meigs, "the unsung hero of northern victory" (James McPherson), was the indispensable architect behind the Union's Civil War triumph. A West Point engineer, Meigs designed the Washington aqueducts and oversaw the construction of the US Capitol dome before the war. Appointed Quartermaster General by Abraham Lincoln, he masterminded the logistics that supplied Grant's forces at Gettysburg and sustained Sherman's March to the Sea. Lincoln, William Seward, and Edwin Stanton considered Meigs crucial to the Union victory. After the war, he established Arlington National Cemetery. Robert O’Harrow Jr.’s authoritative biography finally reveals the dramatic story of this fierce, forward-thinking general who won the war without ever stepping onto a battlefield.