Early Life
Pope was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Nathaniel Pope, a prominent Federal judge in early Illinois Territory and a friend of lawyer Abraham Lincoln. He was the brother-in-law of Manning Force, and a distant cousin married the sister of Mary Todd Lincoln. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1842, and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the Topographical Engineers. He served in Florida and then helped survey the northeastern border between the United States and Canada. He fought under Zachary Taylor in the Battle of Monterrey and Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War, for which he was appointed a brevet first lieutenant and captain, respectively. After the war Pope worked as a surveyor in Minnesota. In 1850 he demonstrated the navigability of the Red River. He served as the chief engineer of the Department of New Mexico from 1851 to 1853 and spent the remainder of the antebellum years surveying a route for the Pacific Railroad.
Read more about this topic: John Pope (military Officer)
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