Early Life and Background
Sill was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. His early education was obtained largely from his father, who was a lawyer. Sill was appointed in 1849 to the United States Military Academy. During his four years at West Point he ranked among the best scholars and graduated third in his class of 52 cadets. Upon graduation he was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in Ordnance and his first assignment was at the Watervliet Arsenal in Troy, New York. In 1855 he was assigned to West Point as an instructor. After two years there he was assigned to Pittsburgh Arsenal as an ordnance officer.
In May 1858, Sill was sent to Vancouver in Washington Territory to superintend the building of an arsenal. Difficulties with the British Government prevented the construction of this arsenal and he was reassigned to Watervleit Arsenal. A few months later he was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, but resigned his commission in January 1861. He then taught mathematics and civil engineering in the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute.
Read more about this topic: Joshua W. Sill
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or background:
“[My early stories] are the work of a living writer whom I know in a sense, but can never meet.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“There’s something tragic in the fate of almost every person—it’s just that the tragic is often concealed from a person by the banal surface of life.... A woman will complain of indigestion and not even know that what she means is that her whole life has been shattered.”
—Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818–1883)
“... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)