Meigs, Montgomery Cunningham

Meigs was an irascible man who spent forty-six years in the service of his country. He was a talented architect and engineer, but his tenure as quartermaster general was perhaps more significant as it ushered in a new age of modern military bureaucracy. Meigs's appetite for staff work, insistence on departmental honesty, and attention to the minutiae of supplying troops in the field rendered him one of the most effective administrators of U.S. Army history. His unsung efforts certainly facilitated the eventual Union victory. His eldest son, John Rodgers Meigs, was a talented Union officer who was allegedly murdered by Confederate partisans while scouting the Shenandoah Valley on 3 October 1864. His commanding officer, General Philip Sheridan, was so outraged that he burned all houses and farms within five miles of the place of his death.