James Buchanan Eads
Encyclopedia
Captain James Buchanan Eads (May 23, 1820 – March 8, 1887) was a world-renowned American
civil engineer
and inventor, holding more than fifty patents.
, and named for his Mother's cousin, then Congressman
and subsequent President of the United States
James Buchanan
. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri
.
Eads was largely self-educated; at the age of thirteen, he left school to take up work to help support the family. One of his first jobs was at the Williams & Duhring dry-goods store
run by Barrett Williams. Williams allowed the young Eads to spend time in his library, located above the store. In Eads's spare time, he was read books on physical science
, mechanics
, machinery, and civil engineering
.
, by creating a diving bell
for retrieving goods from the bottom of rivers that were sunk there by riverboat
disasters, especially along the busy Mississippi River
. He also devised special boats for raising the remains of sunken ships from the river bed. Because of his detailed knowledge of the Mississippi (the equal of any professional river pilot), his exceptional ability at navigating the most treacherous parts of the river system, and his personal fleet of snag-boats and salvage craft, he was afforded the much prized courtesy title of "Captain" by the rivermen of the Mississippi and was addressed as Captain Eads throughout his life.
, Eads was called to Washington at the prompting of his friend, Attorney General Edward Bates
, to consult on the defense of the Mississippi River. Soon afterward, he was contracted to construct the City class ironclad
s for the United States Navy
, and produced seven such ships within five months: the St. Louis
, the Cairo
, the Carondelet
, the Cincinnati
, the Louisville
, the Mound City, and the Pittsburgh
. The river ironclads were a vital element in the February-June highly successful Federal offensive into Tennessee, Kentucky and upper Mississippi. Eads corresponded frequently with Navy officers of the Western Flotilla, and used their "combat lessons learned" to improve vessels during post-combat repairs, and build improvements into succeeding generations of gunboats. By the end of the war he would build more than 30 river ironclads.
The last were so hardy that the Navy sent them into service in the Gulf of Mexico
, where they supported the successful Federal attack on the Confederate port city of Mobile. All senior officers in the Western Theater, including Grant and Sherman, agreed that Eads and his vessels had been vital to early victory in the West. The first four gunboats were built at the Eads' Union Marine Works in Carondelet, Missouri. The next three were built under Eads' contract at the Mound City (Illinois) Marine Railway and Shipyard. A month before the battle between the Monitor and Merrimack, the gunboats enabled the Union capture of Fort Henry
was effected.
Eads designed and built the first road and rail bridge to cross the Mississippi River at St. Louis
. The Eads Bridge
, constructed from 1867 through 1874, was the first bridge of a significant size with steel
as its primary material, and it was the longest arch bridge
in the world when completed. Eads was the first bridge builder to employ the cantilever
method, which allowed steam boat traffic to continue using the river during construction, and he was the first to use pneumatic caisson
in the construction of bridge piers. The bridge is still in use today, carrying both automobile and light rail
traffic over the river.
and the Gulf of Mexico
frequently suffered from silting up of its outlets, stranding ships or making parts of the river unnavigable for a period of time. Eads solved the problem with a wooden jetty
system that narrowed the main outlet of the river, causing the river to speed up and cut its channel deeper, allowing year-round navigation. The jetty system was installed in 1876 and the channel was cleared in February 1877.
Journalist Joseph Pulitzer
, who had known Eads for five years, invested $20,000 in this project.
A flood in 1890 brought calls for a similar system for the entire Mississippi Valley. A jetty system would prevent the floods by deepening the main channel. However, there were concerns about the ability of water moving through a jetty system to cut out the rock and clay on the river bottom. Top officials of the Army Corps of Engineers lobbied Congress for levees and flood walls of their own design, which exacerbated these disasters, and against Eads' jetty system, which would have reduced these disasters.
, which would carry ocean going ships across the isthmus from the Gulf of Mexico
to the Pacific Ocean
; this attracted some interest but was never constructed.
In 1884 he became the first U.S. citizen awarded the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of the Arts
.
Eads died in Nassau, Bahamas
, aged 66. He was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery
in St. Louis, Missouri
.
, is named for him.
US Route 50 through Lawrenceburg, his hometown, is called Eads Parkway in his honor.
The American Association of Civil Engineers memorialized Eads with a tablet honoring him in the Colonnade of the Hall of Fame at New York University.
Eads is memorialized at Washington University in St. Louis by James B. Eads Hall, an handsome 19th century building long associated with science and technology. Eads Hall was the site of Professor Arthur Holly Compton's Nobel Prize winning experiments in electromagnetic radiation. Today Eads Hall continues to serve Washington University as the site of a number of facilities including the Arts and Sciences Computing Center. Eads Hall was the gift of Captain Eads's daughter Mrs. James Finney How.
Each year the Academy of Science of St. Louis awards the James B. Eads Award recognizing a distinguished individual for outstanding achievement in science and technology.
Eads is recognized with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame
.
Eads' great Mississippi River Bridge at St.Louis was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior in 1964 and on October 21, 1974 was listed as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was also awarded a Special Award of Recognition by the American Institute of Steel Construction in 1974 on the 100th anniversary of its entry into service.
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United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
and inventor, holding more than fifty patents.
Early life and education
Eads was born in Lawrenceburg, IndianaLawrenceburg, Indiana
Lawrenceburg is a city in Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,042 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Dearborn County...
, and named for his Mother's cousin, then Congressman
Congressperson
A Member of Congress is a term used for a politician who has become qualified, appointed or elected, and inducted into some official body , typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature...
and subsequent President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
Eads was largely self-educated; at the age of thirteen, he left school to take up work to help support the family. One of his first jobs was at the Williams & Duhring dry-goods store
Dry goods
Dry goods are products such as textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, and sundries. In U.S. retailing, a dry goods store carries consumer goods that are distinct from those carried by hardware stores and grocery stores, though "dry goods" as a term for textiles has been dated back to 1742 in England or...
run by Barrett Williams. Williams allowed the young Eads to spend time in his library, located above the store. In Eads's spare time, he was read books on physical science
Physical science
Physical science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, in contrast to the life sciences...
, mechanics
Mechanics
Mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment....
, machinery, and civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
.
Fortune
Eads made his initial fortune in salvageMarine salvage
Marine salvage is the process of rescuing a ship, its cargo, or other property from peril. Salvage encompasses rescue towing, refloating a sunken or grounded vessel, or patching or repairing a ship...
, by creating a diving bell
Diving bell
A diving bell is a rigid chamber used to transport divers to depth in the ocean. The most common types are the wet bell and the closed bell....
for retrieving goods from the bottom of rivers that were sunk there by riverboat
Riverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
disasters, especially along the busy Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. He also devised special boats for raising the remains of sunken ships from the river bed. Because of his detailed knowledge of the Mississippi (the equal of any professional river pilot), his exceptional ability at navigating the most treacherous parts of the river system, and his personal fleet of snag-boats and salvage craft, he was afforded the much prized courtesy title of "Captain" by the rivermen of the Mississippi and was addressed as Captain Eads throughout his life.
Civil War
In 1861, after the outbreak of the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Eads was called to Washington at the prompting of his friend, Attorney General Edward Bates
Edward Bates
Edward Bates was a U.S. lawyer and statesman. He served as United States Attorney General under Abraham Lincoln from 1861 to 1864...
, to consult on the defense of the Mississippi River. Soon afterward, he was contracted to construct the City class ironclad
City class ironclad
The Pook Turtles, or City class gunboats to use their semi-official name, were war vessels intended for service on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. They were also sometimes referred to as "Eads gunboats." The labels are applied to seven vessels of uniform design built from...
s for the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, and produced seven such ships within five months: the St. Louis
USS Baron DeKalb (1861)
USS Baron DeKalb was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the Union Navy by James B. Eads during the American Civil War....
, the Cairo
USS Cairo (1861)
USS Cairo was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the Union Navy by James B. Eads during the American Civil War. She was the first vessel of the City class ironclads, also called the Cairo class....
, the Carondelet
USS Carondelet (1861)
USS Carondelet was a gunboat constructed for the Union Navy by James B. Eads during the American Civil War...
, the Cincinnati
USS Cincinnati (1862)
The City class ironclad USS Cincinnati was a stern-wheel casemate gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Cincinnati, Ohio and was the first ship to bear that name in the United States Navy....
, the Louisville
USS Louisville (1862)
USS Louisville was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the U.S. Army by James B. Eads during the American Civil War. [While initially owned by the Army, the City Class gunboats were commanded by U.S. Navy officers, and were eventually transferred to the Navy.]Louisville was built at St....
, the Mound City, and the Pittsburgh
USS Pittsburgh (1861)
USS Pittsburgh was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the Union Army by James B. Eads during the American Civil War, and transferred to the Union Navy in October 1862...
. The river ironclads were a vital element in the February-June highly successful Federal offensive into Tennessee, Kentucky and upper Mississippi. Eads corresponded frequently with Navy officers of the Western Flotilla, and used their "combat lessons learned" to improve vessels during post-combat repairs, and build improvements into succeeding generations of gunboats. By the end of the war he would build more than 30 river ironclads.
The last were so hardy that the Navy sent them into service in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, where they supported the successful Federal attack on the Confederate port city of Mobile. All senior officers in the Western Theater, including Grant and Sherman, agreed that Eads and his vessels had been vital to early victory in the West. The first four gunboats were built at the Eads' Union Marine Works in Carondelet, Missouri. The next three were built under Eads' contract at the Mound City (Illinois) Marine Railway and Shipyard. A month before the battle between the Monitor and Merrimack, the gunboats enabled the Union capture of Fort Henry
Battle of Fort Henry
The Battle of Fort Henry was fought on February 6, 1862, in western Tennessee, during the American Civil War. It was the first important victory for the Union and Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater....
was effected.
Mississippi River bridge
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. The Eads Bridge
Eads Bridge
The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis, connecting St. Louis and East St. Louis, Illinois....
, constructed from 1867 through 1874, was the first bridge of a significant size with steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
as its primary material, and it was the longest arch bridge
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
in the world when completed. Eads was the first bridge builder to employ the cantilever
Cantilever
A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
method, which allowed steam boat traffic to continue using the river during construction, and he was the first to use pneumatic caisson
Caisson (engineering)
In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
in the construction of bridge piers. The bridge is still in use today, carrying both automobile and light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
traffic over the river.
Mississippi River designs
The Mississippi in the 100-mile-plus stretch between the port of New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
frequently suffered from silting up of its outlets, stranding ships or making parts of the river unnavigable for a period of time. Eads solved the problem with a wooden jetty
Jetty
A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...
system that narrowed the main outlet of the river, causing the river to speed up and cut its channel deeper, allowing year-round navigation. The jetty system was installed in 1876 and the channel was cleared in February 1877.
Journalist Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
, who had known Eads for five years, invested $20,000 in this project.
A flood in 1890 brought calls for a similar system for the entire Mississippi Valley. A jetty system would prevent the floods by deepening the main channel. However, there were concerns about the ability of water moving through a jetty system to cut out the rock and clay on the river bottom. Top officials of the Army Corps of Engineers lobbied Congress for levees and flood walls of their own design, which exacerbated these disasters, and against Eads' jetty system, which would have reduced these disasters.
Other work
Eads designed a gigantic railway system intended for construction at the Isthmus of TehuantepecIsthmus of Tehuantepec
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and prior to the opening of the Panama Canal was a major shipping route known simply as the Tehuantepec Route...
, which would carry ocean going ships across the isthmus from the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
; this attracted some interest but was never constructed.
In 1884 he became the first U.S. citizen awarded the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of the Arts
Albert Medal (RSA)
The Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts was instituted in 1864 as a memorial to Prince Albert, who had been President of the Society for 18 years. It was first awarded in 1864 for "distinguished merit in promoting Arts, Manufactures and Commerce"...
.
Eads died in Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
, aged 66. He was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery
Bellefontaine and Calvary Cemeteries
Bellefontaine Cemetery and the Roman Catholic Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri are adjacent burial grounds, which have numerous historic and extravagant tombstones and mausoleums. They are the necropolis for a number of prominent local and state politicians, as well as soldiers of the...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
Legacy
Port Eads, LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, is named for him.
US Route 50 through Lawrenceburg, his hometown, is called Eads Parkway in his honor.
The American Association of Civil Engineers memorialized Eads with a tablet honoring him in the Colonnade of the Hall of Fame at New York University.
Eads is memorialized at Washington University in St. Louis by James B. Eads Hall, an handsome 19th century building long associated with science and technology. Eads Hall was the site of Professor Arthur Holly Compton's Nobel Prize winning experiments in electromagnetic radiation. Today Eads Hall continues to serve Washington University as the site of a number of facilities including the Arts and Sciences Computing Center. Eads Hall was the gift of Captain Eads's daughter Mrs. James Finney How.
Each year the Academy of Science of St. Louis awards the James B. Eads Award recognizing a distinguished individual for outstanding achievement in science and technology.
Eads is recognized with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame
St. Louis Walk of Fame
The St. Louis Walk of Fame honors well-known people from St. Louis, Missouri, who made contributions to culture of the United States. All inductees were either born in the Greater St. Louis area or spent their formative or creative years there...
.
Eads' great Mississippi River Bridge at St.Louis was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior in 1964 and on October 21, 1974 was listed as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was also awarded a Special Award of Recognition by the American Institute of Steel Construction in 1974 on the 100th anniversary of its entry into service.
External links
- PBS – Secrets of a Master Builder
- National Park Service, Vicksburg National Military Park website on City class ironclads
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