Designing Gotham - (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War) by Jon Scott Logel (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Between 1817 and 1898, New York City evolved from a vital Atlantic port of trade to the center of American commerce and culture. With this rapid commercial growth and cultural development, New York came to epitomize a nineteenth-century metropolis. Although this important urban transformation is well documented, the critical role of select Union soldiers turned New York engineers has, until now, remained largely unexplored. In Designing Gotham, Jon Scott Logel examines the fascinating careers of George S. Greene, Egbert L. Viele, John Newton, Henry Warner Slocum, and Fitz John Porter, all of whom studied engineering at West Point, served in the United States Army during the Civil War, and later advanced their civilian careers and status through the creation of Victorian New York. These influential cadets trained at West Point in the nation's first engineering school, a program designed by Sylvanus Thayer and Dennis Hart Mahan that would shape civil engineering in New York and beyond. After the war, these industrious professionals leveraged their education and military experience to wield significant influence during New York's social, economic, and political transformation. Logel examines how each engineer's Civil War service shaped his contributions to postwar activities in the city, including the construction of the Croton Aqueduct, the creation of Central Park, and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Logel also delves into the administration of New York's municipal departments, in which Military Academy alumni interacted with New York elites, politicians, and civilian-trained engineers. Examining the West Pointers' experiences--as cadets, military officers during the war, and New Yorkers--Logel assesses how these men impacted the growing metropolis, the rise of professionalization, and the advent of Progressivism at the end of the century"--From publisher's website.

Book Synopsis

Between 1817 and 1898, New York City evolved from a vital Atlantic port of trade to the center of American commerce and culture. With this rapid commercial growth and cultural development, New York came to epitomize a nineteenth-century metropolis. Although this important urban transformation is well documented, the critical role of select Union soldiers turned New York engineers has, until now, remained largely unexplored. In Designing Gotham, Jon Scott Logel examines the fascinating careers of George S. Greene, Egbert L. Viele, John Newton, Henry Warner Slocum, and Fitz John Porter, all of whom studied engineering at West Point, served in the United States Army during the Civil War, and later advanced their civilian careers and status through the creation of Victorian New York.

These influential cadets trained at West Point in the nation's first engineering school, a program designed by Sylvanus Thayer and Dennis Hart Mahan that would shape civil engineering in New York and beyond. After the war, these industrious professionals leveraged their education and military experience to wield significant influence during New York's social, economic, and political transformation. Logel examines how each engineer's Civil War service shaped his contributions to postwar activities in the city, including the construction of the Croton Aqueduct, the creation of Central Park, and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Logel also delves into the administration of New York's municipal departments, in which Military Academy alumni interacted with New York elites, politicians, and civilian-trained engineers. Examining the West Pointers' experiences--as cadets, military officers during the war, and New Yorkers--Logel assesses how these men impacted the growing metropolis, the rise of professionalization, and the advent of Progressivism at the end of the century.

Review Quotes

"Designing Gotham is a remarkable conjunction of literatures that rarely meet. Jon Scott Logel has crafted a stimulating blend of urban, social, and intellectual history that draws together crucial trajectories in nineteenth-century America through the vehicle of elites educated in engineering and military values at the Military Academy at West Point. These men shaped the economy, politics, and daily life of New York City during the decades in which it became a world city. Logel's attention to multiple contexts and his balanced interpretation of change and continuity are models for historians in any field." -- Samuel Watson, author of Peacekeepers and Conquerors: The Army Officer Corps on the American Frontier, 1821-1846--Samuel Watson

"Jon Scott Logel's Designing Gotham brings to center stage the contributions of a remarkable number of West Point-trained engineers to the nineteenth-century evolution of New York City. From the Croton Aqueduct that brought water to the city, to the layout and construction of Central Park that brought leisure and recreation, Logel demonstrates the key roles that these West Pointers played. Logel's insightful research and clear and effective writing have produced a work that will grace the libraries of all those interested in the history of the city, or in those important but little-known aspects of West Point's remarkable history."--Theodore J. Crackel, author of West Point: A Bicentennial History--Theodore J. Crackel

About the Author

JON SCOTT LOGEL is an associate professor in war gaming at the United States Naval War College.