William McRee was an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and later a Surveyor General of the United States. Fort McRee was named in his honor.

Early life

McRee was born in December 1787 in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

. He was the son of Major Griffith John McRee, a veteran of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, and the daughter of Dr. John Fergus of Wilmington.

Military career

McRee was an 1805 graduate of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

and received his commission as a second lieutenant into the Army Corps of Engineers on 1 July 1805. From 1806 until 1808, he served as an assistant engineer surveying sites for coastal fortifications in the southern US. In 1808 he transferred to

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

where he was involved in construction of defenses for that city's

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, McRee was chief of artillery for the Northern Army then chief engineer for the Army of the Niagara Frontier. For gallant conduct in the Battle of Niagara he was brevetted to lieutenant colonel. For distinguished and meritorious service at the defense of Fort Erie, he was brevetted to colonel. After the War of 1812, McRee traveled to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

where he served in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

surveying fortifications in those countries from 1815 to 1817. Upon his return to the US in 1817, McRee served on the Board of Engineers where he took part in the two-year general survey of America's coastal defenses. In bitter protest to the appointment of the foreign officer General

Simon Bernard Baron Simon Bernard (; 28 April 1779 – 5 November 1839) was a French general of engineers. Born in Dole, Simon Bernard was educated at the École polytechnique, graduating as second in the promotion of 1799 and entered the army in the corps of ...

as the assistant to the chief of engineers, McRee resigned his officer's commission and was discharged from the military on 31 March 1819.

Post-military career

From February, 1825 until July, 1832, McRee served as Surveyor General of the United States for the territories of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. McRee died on 15 May 1833 in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Missouri. In an ironic twist, it was General Bernard, the foreign officer that McRee so despised, that designed the seacoast fort that would eventually be named after McRee.

References

Service profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macree, William United States Army officers 1787 births 1833 deaths People from Wilmington, North Carolina United States Military Academy alumni United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Military personnel from North Carolina