Samuel Henry Lockett (July 7, 1837 – October 12, 1891) was a Virginian engineering officer in the armies of the United States, Confederate States, and Egypt. He was also a professor at Louisiana State University and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, as well as an amateur artist.University of North Carolina.

Life

Samuel Henry Lockett was born on July 7, 1837, in Mecklenburg County Virginia.Cullum 1879, ii. p. 481.

Military career

He was a Cadet at the Military Academy, at West Point, New York, from July 1, 1854, to July 1, 1859, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to Brevet Second Lieutenant, Corps of Engineers, on July 1, 1859. He served, at the Military Academy, from 1859 to 1861, as assistant instructor in the use of small arms, from November 19, 1858, to September 4, 1860—and as assistant professor of Spanish, from September 2, 1859, to September 4, 1860; and as assistant engineer in the construction of Forts Pulaski and

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

, Georgia, between 1860 and 1861. He resigned his commission in the U.S. Army on February 1, 1861. He joined the forces of the Confederacy and fought in the Civil War of 1861 to 1865 against the United States.

Vicksburg

The engineering effort during the

Vicksburg campaign The Vicksburg campaigns were a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi ...

came under the general authority of chief engineer Major Samuel H. Lockett, who arrived at Vicksburg in June 1862. At that time, Vicksburg's only fortifications consisted of a few batteries along the river. Union naval bombardments on 27–28 July 1862 persuaded the Confederate command to fortify the city on both the landward and riverfronts. Lockett spent the month of August surveying the rough terrain and planning on how best to utilize it for defensive purposes. On 1 September 1862, the actual construction began, using hired or impressed slave labor. Lockett's fortified line extended nine miles, from the river above Vicksburg to the river below. Thirteen river batteries studded the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi. Snyder's (Haynes') Bluff to the north and Warrenton to the south were also fortified. In addition, the Confederates also constructed a set of floating barriers called "rafts" across the

Yazoo River The Yazoo River is a river primarily in the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the Ame ...

to block incursions by Union gunboats.Gabel, pp. 54–59 When John C. Pemberton assumed command of the department on 1 November 1862, Lockett's responsibilities increased. He exercised authority over the entire area from Holly Springs to Port Hudson and from Vicksburg to

. As part of his duties, Lockett surveyed defensive positions around Jackson and Edwards Station. In May 1863, after Grant had crossed the river, Lockett laid out defensive bridgeheads at several crossing sites along the Big Black River. As the campaign unfolded, Lockett continued to support the Confederate army, often on his own initiative. It was Lockett who found and repaired the washed-out bridge over Baker's Creek that gave Pemberton a withdrawal route after the

Battle of Champion Hill The Battle of Champion Hill (aka Champion's Hill) of May 16, 1863, was the pivotal battle in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Union Army commander Major General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennes ...

on 16 May. Lockett later prepared the railroad bridge over the Big Black for demolition and fired it on 17 May just before the Federals reached it after their destruction of the Confederate bridgehead. Following that disastrous engagement, Lockett rushed back to Vicksburg to supervise the repair of fortifications damaged by the winter rains. Once the siege began, Lockett was busy supervising the repair of fortifications damaged by Union artillery. When the Federals began mining efforts, Lockett responded with at least fifteen

countermine Tunnel warfare refers to aspects of warfare relating to tunnels and other underground cavities. It includes the construction of underground facilities in order to attack or defend, and the use of existing natural caves and artificial underg ...

s, three of which he exploded. Lockett operated with even fewer engineer assets than the meager number available to Grant. Although Lockett and his three-man staff equaled the number of engineers assigned to Grant's staff, and although he did have four other trained engineers as assistants, his troop assets included only one company of sappers and miners that numbered less than three dozen men. Most of the entrenching work had been done by a relatively small number of hired or impressed slave laborers. Apparently, Confederate infantrymen were less willing than their Union counterparts to dig and maintain earthworks. When Lockett reached Vicksburg on 18 May, he had only twenty-six sappers and miners, eight detailed mechanics, four overseers, and seventy-two slaves (twenty of whom were sick) to quickly repair nine miles of fortified lines. Lockett noted having only 500 shovels available. Although the Confederate army at Vicksburg was obviously blessed with an engineer staff officer of talent and initiative, not all of Lockett's countrymen appreciated his efforts. General

Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia declared secession from ...

, when he toured the works around Vicksburg in December 1862, felt that "[the usual error of Confederate engineering had been committed there. An immense, entrenched camp, requiring an army to hold it, had been made instead of a fort requiring only a small garrison." This defect, however, was not Lockett's fault. He received little command guidance; therefore, he planned his defenses to suit the best engineering aspects of the terrain. After the war, Lockett served as a Colonel of Engineers in the Egyptian Army, from July 17, 1875, to August 31, 1877.

Civil career

He was Principal Assistant Engineer in the construction of the pedestal of the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty, New York harbor, from June 1883 to October 1884.Cullum 1901, suppl. iv. p. 113. He was involved in the construction of water and gas works in various cities in the United States to 1888, and was engaged in engineering and railroad work in South America (Chile and Colombia), from 1888 to 1891. He died on October 12, 1891, at

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, Colombia, aged 54.

Likenesses

File:Samuel Henry Lockett, rank unknown.jpg, Samuel Henry Lockett File:Carte-de-visite of Col. Samuel Lockett (cropped).jpg, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Henry Lockett, CSA File:Samuel Henry Lockett.jpg, Colonel Samuel Henry Lockett, CSA File:Samuel H. Lockett in the Egyptian army uniform.jpg, Colonel Samuel H. Lockett, Egyptian Army File:Bronze relief portrait of Maj. Samuel Lockett.jpg, Bronze relief portrait of Major Samuel Lockett, erected March 1, 1910 File:21-32-205-lockett-cropped.jpg, Bronze relief portrait of Maj. Samuel Lockett at

Vicksburg National Military Park Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from March 29 to July 4, 1863. The park, located in Vicksburg, Mississippi, flanking the Mississippi River, also commemorates the greater ...

Paintings

File:Painting of a Confederate soldier lying dead on the ground with his right arm over his head and a rifle with a bayonet resting beside his body.jpg, Confederate soldier lying dead on the ground with his right arm over his head and a rifle with a bayonet resting beside his body, 1863 File:Night Passage of Union Boats at Vicksburg on the Mississippi.jpg, Night Passage of Union Boats at Vicksburg on the Mississippi, 1863 File:Confederate soldier leaning on the barrel of a gun, gazing over a moonlit lake.jpg, Confederate soldier leaning on the barrel of a gun, gazing over a moonlit lake, 1863

References

Sources

* Cullum, George W. (1879). ''Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, at West Point, N.Y''. 2nd ed
Vol. 2
New York, NY: James Miller. p. 481. * Cullum, George W. (1901). Holden, Edward S. (ed.). ''Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, at West Point, N.Y''
Supplement, Vol. 4
Cambridge, MA: The Riverside Press. p. 113. * Gabel, Christopher R.
''Staff ride handbook for the Vicksburg Campaign, December 1862-July 1863''
Fort Leavenworth, Kan.: Combat Studies Institute Press, 2001. .
"Samuel Henry Lockett Papers, 1820–1972 (Collection Number: 00432)"
University of North Carolina (UNC). Retrieved April 4, 2023.

External links

* Creekmore, Betsey B
"Samuel Henry Lockett"
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Retrieved April 4, 2023. * Glazer, Steven
"Cranford's Rebel Colonel"
Cranford Historical Society. Retrieved April 4, 2023. * Thayer, Bill, ed

''Cullum's Register''. Bill Thayer's Web Site. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
"Samuel H. Lockett"

Shiloh National Military Park Shiloh National Military Park preserves the American Civil War Shiloh and Corinth battlefields. The main section of the park is in the unincorporated community of Shiloh, about south of Savannah, Tennessee, with additional areas located ...

. Facebook. August 16, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
"Samuel H. Lockett"

The Historical Marker Database The Historical Marker Database (HMdb.org) is an online database that documents locations of numerous historical markers and commemorative plaques in the United States as well as other countries. The database was launched in 2006 by computer progra ...

(HMdb.org). Retrieved April 4, 2023. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lockett, Samuel H. 1837 births 1891 deaths United States Army officers American expatriates in Egypt Confederate States Army officers 19th-century American painters People from Virginia United States Military Academy alumni