- Robert Erskine
Colonel Robert Erskine (1735 – 1780) was a Scottish inventor and later an American officer in the
Continental Army during theAmerican Revolutionary War .Born in
Scotland , Erskine was aninventor andengineer of some renown in his native land. He attended theUniversity of Edinburgh and started a failed business in his youth. He invented the "Continual Stream Pump " and "Platometer ", acentrifugal hydraulic engine , and experimented with otherhydraulic system s. He became active in civic issues and increasingly gained the respect of his community. In 1771, he was elected aFellow of the Royal Society , a prestigious appointment in the scientific community.In 1771, the owners of the ironworks near
Ringwood, New Jersey , tapped Erskine to replace Peter Hasenclever as iromaster after Hasenclever's profligate spending nearly bankrupted the operation.Erskine immediately set about trying to make the operation profitable. His efforts were cut short by the
American Revolutionary War . Erskine was sympathetic to the American cause, but worried that might lose his workers to the army. He organized them into a militia and was appointed a militia captain in August 1775.Once the war broke out in earnest, there was concern among the rebels that the British warships would use the
Hudson river to attack northern forts and separateNew England from the rest of the colonies. Erskine, ever the engineer, designed a tetrahedron-shaped marineChevaux-de-Frise -- essentially a barrier that would keep warships from moving upriver.George Washington was impressed with Erskine from the moment they met and appointed him to the post ofGeographer and Surveyor General of the Continental Army in 1777. Following his appointment, Erskine drew upwards of 275 maps covering the northern sector of the war. His maps of the region, showing roads, buildings, and other details, were of much use to Gen. Washington and remain historically valuable today. Many of these maps can be found in the Erskine Dewitt Map Collection, which is located at the New York Historical Society, visit http://www.nyhistory.org/ http://www.armygeographer.org/documents_maps/erskine_dewitt.htm .Erskine also kept the ironworks in operation supplying critical munitions and materials to Washington's army.
While out on a map making expedition, Erskine contracted a cold and died on
October 2 ,1780 , probably ofpneumonia . He is buried atRingwood Manor inRingwood State Park inNew Jersey .Erskine invented what is now known as hydraulics. Back then, however, when first made they were called elevating pumps.
Lake Erskine, in Ringwood, NJ, is named after him.
ources
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[http://www.profsurv.com/ps_scripts/article.idc?id=872 Professional Surveyor Archives: Robert Erskine, Part I]
*[http://www.profsurv.com/ps_scripts/article.idc?id=887 Professional Surveyor Archives: Robert Erskine, Part II]and erko is a top bloke
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