Jeremy Francis Gilmer was born February 23rd 1818 in Guilford County, North Carolina. He graduated fourth in his class at West Point in 1839, and entered the army corps of engineers as a second Lieutenant. Gilmer started as an assistant professor of engineering at West Point, before being assigned to Fort Schuyler in New York City. During the Mexican - American War he was the Chief Engineer of the United States Army of the West, located in the New Mexico Territory, he also surveyed battlefields near Mexico City. Through 1861 Gilmer was in San Francisco California working on harbor improvements, and fortifications.
Gilmer resigned his commission when the Civil War started, and joined the Confederate army. He was appointed as a Major in engineers. He was quickly promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and worked on the staff of General Albert Sidney Johnston. He was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, and after recovering was promoted in August 1862 to Brigadier General and stationed in Richmond Virginia. In 1863 Gilmer was appointed to the Chief of Engineer Bureau for the Confederacy, overseeing the building and maintance of defenses in Charleston South Carolina. It came along with the promotion to Major General. Gilmer saw that Atlanta was weak and a likely target for the Union, he developed a plan of forts and earthworks that ringed the city. He returned to Richmond Virginia in 1864 and spent the rest of the war there.
When war was over Gilmer was the director of the Georgia Central Railroad, and until his death was the president of the Savannah Gas Company in Savannah Georgia. He died in Savannah December 1st 1883, and is buried the Laurel Grove Cemetery.
Another web site worth a look - Gilmer Civil War Maps
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