The Quartermaster: Montgomery C. Meigs, Lincoln’s General, Master Builder of the Union Army
Call him the Union Army’s secret weapon. Today Montgomery Meigs is best known for one inspired act of revenge. It’s a shame, because the nation has a lot to thank him for. O’Harrow’s biography illustrates how Meigs combined poetic vision with hard-headed pragmatism and a knack for “selling” his expensive ideas to penny-pinching politicians. His public works programs and renovation of the Capitol laid the foundation for Washington, DC’s role as a world capital. As the Union’s quartermaster, Meigs pioneered the industrialization of war, and his logistical support ensured the Union’s victory.
That act of revenge mentioned was classic Meigs, incorporating unmistakable symbolism with practicality. Meigs laid the horror of war at the doorstep of his former friend, Robert E. Lee, by burying dead soldiers in Mrs. Lee’s garden. This ensured that the Lees would never reclaim their home and solved the problem of how to ease the overcrowding of graveyards within the City of Washington.
This is one of the few glimpses we get into Meigs’ personality. The Meigs that O’Harrow depicts is unfailingly high-minded and incorruptible, seemingly as lifeless as the marble statues that adorn the iconic buildings he constructed.
