Charles Gratiot

Charles Gratiot
Charles Gratiot, by Thomas Sully, in the West Point Museum Art Collection, U.S. Military Academy
Born	August 29, 1786 (1786-08-29) St. Louis, Missouri
Died	May 18, 1855 (1855-05-19) (aged 68) St. Louis, Missouri
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1806–1838
Rank	Brevet Brigadier General
Unit	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Commands held	Chief of Engineers
Battles/wars	Battle of Mackinac Island, 1814, during War of 1812

Charles Gratiot, Jr. (August 29, 1786 – May 18, 1855) was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the son of Charles Gratiot, Sr., a fur trader in the Illinois country during the American Revolution, and Victoire Chouteau, who was from an important mercantile family. His father became a wealthy merchant during the early years of St. Louis.^[1] After 1796, Charles was raised in the large stone house purchased by his father in St. Louis, near the Mississippi River.^[2]

Military career

President Thomas Jefferson appointed him a United States Military Academy cadet in 1804. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, was the first school of engineering in the United States and graduated its first class in 1802. Gratiot was a member of the Class of 1806, the fourth graduating class, and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. He became a captain in 1808 and assisted Alexander Macomb in constructing fortifications in Charleston, South Carolina. He returned to his alma mater in 1810 to be commander of the Army garrison at West Point during 1810-1811.

As General William Henry Harrison's Chief Engineer in the War of 1812, he distinguished himself by planning and building Fort Meigs in 1813. He also rebuilt Fort St. Joseph, later renamed Fort Gratiot in his honor. In 1814 he took part in the attack of the Battle of Mackinac Island. He received the Thanks of Congress for his efforts during the war.^[3]

He served as Chief Engineer, 1817–1818, in Michigan Territory followed by assignment as the superintending engineer, 1819–1828, for the construction of defenses at Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Chief of Engineers

On May 24, 1828, Gratiot was appointed colonel of engineers, brevet brigadier general, and Chief Engineer. For ten years he administered an expanding program of river, harbor, road, and fortification construction. He also engaged in a lengthy dispute with War Department officials over benefits, and in 1838 President Martin Van Buren dismissed him for failing to repay government funds that had been entrusted to him.

He assigned Robert E. Lee to do engineering in the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri.^[3]

Late life

Gratiot became a clerk in the General Land Office from 1840–1855 and died in St. Louis.

Gratiot became a party to lengthy litigation against the United States government, which was appealed twice to the U.S. Supreme Court.^[4]

Death and Legacy, Tributes and memorials

• His remains are interred at Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum, in Section 13 of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.^[3]
• M-3, an important highway link between Detroit and Port Huron, is more commonly known as Gratiot Avenue and was named in his honor. Before the interstate highway system was built, Gratiot Avenue was the main link, other than the railway.
• Fort Gratiot, Michigan, was named after Bvt. Brig. Gen. Charles Gratiot, who oversaw its re-construction in 1814 to guard the mouth of the St. Clair River at Lake Huron. It was formerly known as Fort St. Joseph. It sports Michigan's oldest lighthouse, Fort Gratiot Light, constructed in 1829 to replace an older one.^[5]
• The towns of Gratiot, Michigan, Gratiot, Ohio, and Gratiot, Wisconsin, were named in his honor.

See also

• Point Gratiot Light
• Gratiot County, Michigan
• List of Michigan county name etymologies

Notes

1. ^ Biography of Charles Gratiot's father
2. ^ The house in St. Louis where Charles Gratiot was raised
3. ^ ^{a b c} Charles Chouteau Gratiot memorial at Find a Grave.
4. ^ CHARLES GRATIOT, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR, v. THE UNITED STATES. January Term, 1846 45 U.S. 80 - Charles 4 How. 80, 11 L.Ed. 884 at Open Jurist.
5. ^ Information about Fort Gratiot Lighthouse in Michigan

References

• This article contains public domain text from Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers: Colonel Charles Gratiot.
• Information about his parents from National Park Service's page on the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Further reading

• Farmer, Silas. (1884) (Jul 1969) The history of Detroit and Michigan, or, The metropolis illustrated: a chronological cyclopaedia of the past and present: including a full record of territorial days in Michigan, and the annuals of Wayne County, in various formats at Open Library.

External links

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Commanders of the Corps of Engineers, Charles Gratiot.

Military offices
Preceded by Alexander Macomb	Chief of Engineers 1828–1838	Succeeded by Joseph Gilbert Totten

Persondata
Name	Gratiot, Charles
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 29, 1786
Place of birth	St. Louis, Missouri
Date of death	May 18, 1855
Place of death	St. Louis, Missouri