Civil War Service
From April 1861 Cullum was a lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp to General Winfield Scott, before becoming chief engineer of the Department of the Missouri in November 1861. He was appointed brigadier general of volunteers to rank from November 1, 1862 on November 10, 1862 but President Lincoln had to submit the nomination four times before the U.S. Senate finally confirmed it on March 11, 1863. He later superintended engineering works on the Western rivers and was chief engineer at the Siege of Corinth. He was superintendent of the military academy from 1864 to 1866. On March 8, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Cullum to be appointed to the grade of brevet major general, USA, to rank from March 1866, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on May 4, 1866 and reconfirmed it July 14, 1866 after the dates of rank of staff officers were adjusted to follow those of field officers. He was mustered out of the volunteers on September 1, 1866.
After the war, Cullum remained in the Regular Army at a variety of engineering posts, supervising several projects to strengthen America's coastal defenses. He retired from active service January 13, 1874 with the rank of colonel and returned to New York City. Following his retirement, he married Elizabeth Hamilton, sister of Major General Schuyler Hamilton and widow of Major General Henry W. Halleck.
He published:
- Systems of Military Bridges (1863)
- Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy (1868; third edition, 1891–1910)
- Campaigns and Engineers of the War of 1812-15 (1879)
On his death in New York City in 1892, he left part of his fortune to be used for the erection of the Memorial Hall at West Point, for the continuance of his Biographical Register and for an award of the American Geographical Society (of which he was vice-president) “to those who distinguish themselves by geographical discoveries or in the advancement of geographical science”, known as the Cullum Geographical Medal.
Read more about this topic: George Washington Cullum
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