Mr. Lincoln’s Bridge Builders: The Right Hand of American Genius (review)

Mr. Lincoln's Bridge Builders: The Right Hand of American Genius. By Phillip M. Thienel. (Shippensburg, Penn.: White Mane Books, 2000. Pp. xiv, 278. $40.00.)

For most historians, the mention of Civil War pontoon bridges calls to mind Burnside's troops bridging the Rappahannock while under fire at Fredericksburg in 1862 , or the massive effort to move Grant's forces across the James River in June 1864 . In Mr. Lincoln's Bridge Builders, Army Corps of Engineers historian Phillip Thienel demonstrates that Union engineers performed impressive feats of bridge construction during practically every major military operation, from bridging the Ohio River at Paducah, Kentucky, in 1861 , to the Appomattox River in 1865 .

When the war began, the United States Army was woefully short of troops trained in engineering. In the fall of 1861 , its single company of engineers was enlarged to a three-company battalion. In addition, volunteer units were formed in Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Pennsylvania. For the remainder of the war these organizations helped provide critical mobility for Union soldiers and supplies. Rather than attempt the daunting task of researching all the wartime duties of engineers, including building fortifications and siege works, Thienel has instead focused on bridge building, because it "ranked high as a major task," and one to which engineers applied "mind-propelled energy" and "creative and innovative technology" (ix).

Each of the book's chapters discusses a particular year of the war. Because the Peninsula campaign was the first major challenge for Union engineers, Thienel covers this move on Richmond in great detail. After a brief discussion of Herman Haupt and his railroad bridges, the focus shifts to the Army of the Potomac's effort to cross the Rappahannock. Thienel then highlights the engineers' role in the Chancellorsville, Vicksburg, and Chickamauga/Chattanooga campaigns of 1863 . He rounds out his narrative with operations during the Overland campaign, Sherman's drive to Atlanta, the March to the Sea and through the Carolinas, and the road to Appomattox. Overall, Thienell has crafted an interesting summary of Federal bridge-building operations. Although it is perhaps impossible to write a gripping narrative to explain the construction of bridges, Thienell has compiled a large amount of useful information in a readable format to support his argument that engineers and their bridges were crucial to the outcome of the war.

The author's heavy reliance on the Official Records and his decision not to use other important sources--such as Ed Malles's Bridge Building in Wartime or the unpublished letters and diaries of engineer officers like Orlando Poe and William Folwell--prevent Mr. Lincoln's Bridge Builders from being truly comprehensive. A number of minor errors dealing with the non-engineering aspects of specific campaigns also appear. In addition, for certain campaigns, such as McClellan's 1862 adventure on the Peninsula, maps of the bridges and river systems being discussed would greatly aid readers unfamiliar with the nuances of local geography. Thienel's book, however, is both a tribute to the resourcefulness and ingenuity of Union army engineers and a convenient reference work for anyone wishing to know more about their efforts to keep the army in motion during the war's major campaigns.