Type: Exhibition case

Name: Washington Roebling's Civil War

Detail: Washington Roebling of Trenton, son of engineer John A. Roebling and future builder of the Brooklyn Bridge, enlisted as a private in Company A of the New Jersey State Militia in April 1861, resigning a few months later to enlist in the Sixth New York Independent Battery. He was later promoted to the rank of sergeant, and then to second lieutenant in January 1862. During the war, he built suspension bridges, made maps, and did reconnaissance from a hot-air balloon. He saw action at the battles of Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, where he helped to secure Little Round Top, as well as the Battle of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and the Crater. In 1865, he was commissioned Colonel, U.S. Volunteers, by brevet for "gallant and meritorious services during the war."

Type: Exhibition caption

Detail: Washington Roebling helped build Fort Sedgwick, popularly known as "Fort Hell," which was occupied by Union soldiers during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. The fort was named in memory of General John Sedgwick, who was killed while commanding New Jerseyans in the Battle of the Wilderness.