Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1844, Mar. 27 | Born, Newburyport, Mass. |
| 1861 | Enlisted in Ninteenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry |
| 1862 | Promoted to corporal Wounded at Battle of Antietem, Md. |
| 1863 | Promoted to sergeant Commissioned second lieutenant, Ninth Regiment, Corps d'Afrique (later Eighty-first United States Colored Infantry, then Seventy-seventh United States Colored Troops) |
| 1864 | Promoted to first lieutenant |
| 1865 | Promoted to captain, then brevet major |
| 1867 | Commissioned second lieutenant, United States Regular Army |
| 1873 | Promoted to first lieutenant, United States Army |
| 1876-1879 | Directed construction of two thousand miles of military telegraph lines in Texas, the Dakota Territory, and Montana |
| 1878 | Married Henrietta Hudson Cruger Nesmith |
| 1881-1884 | Leader of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition |
| 1886 | Promoted to captain, United States Army Published Three Years of Arctic Service: An Account of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881-84 and the Attainment of the Farthest North . New York: Charles Scribner's Sons |
| 1887 | Promoted to brigadier general; made chief signal officer, United States Army |
| 1888 | Founding member, National Geographic Society |
| 1898-1902 | Directed construction of one thousand miles of telegraph lines in Puerto Rico, 3,800 miles in Cuba, 250 miles in China, and 13,500 miles of lines and cables in the Philippine Islands |
| 1900-1904 | Directed installation of a system of 3,900 miles of telegraph lines, submarine cables, and wireless telegraphy in Alaska |
| 1903 | United States delegate, International Telegraph Conference, London, England United States delegate, International Wireless Telegraph Conference, Berlin, Germany |
| 1906 | Promoted to major general, United States Army Commander, Pacific Division, United States Army, and in charge of relief after the San Francisco, Calif., earthquake and fire Commander, Northern Division, United States Army |
| 1907 | Commander, Department of the Columbia, United States Army |
| 1908 | Retired from United States Army |
| 1911 | United States Army representative, coronation of King George V, London, England |
| 1922 | Awarded Honorary Fellowship and Daly Medal, American Geographical Society |
| 1935 | Awarded Congressional Medal of Honor |
| 1935, Oct. 20 | Died, Washington, D.C. |