| William Trent Rossell | |
|---|---|
 Brigadier General William T. Rossell, Chief of Engineers 1913 | |
| Born | (1849-10-11)October 11, 1849 Mount Vernon, Alabama |
| Died | October 11, 1919(1919-10-11) (aged 70) New Brighton, New York |
| Place of burial | Congressional Cemetery |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1873-1913, 1917-1918 |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Commands | Chief of Engineers |
| Signature | .png){kind=small} |
| Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia | |
| In office October 15, 1891 – May 8, 1893 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Martyn Robert |
| Succeeded by | Charles Frances Powell |
William Trent Rossell (1849–1919) was the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia.
Biography
He was born in Mount Vernon, Alabama on October 11, 1849, the son and grandson of Army officers, and he graduated third in the United States Military Academy class of 1873. Commissioned in the Corps of Engineers, he served until 1880 at Willets Point and as Assistant Professor of Engineering at the Military Academy. He then engaged in river, harbor, and fortification work in regions around Portland, Maine; Jacksonville, Florida; and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Rossell served in 1891-93 as the Engineer Commissioner on the three-member governing board of the District of Columbia. After briefly commanding the Battalion of Engineers, he led Mobile District for six years. He then supervised lighthouse construction and repair in the New York area and, later, Ohio River improvements. He was a member of the Mississippi River Commission from 1906 to 1913, as well as Central Division Engineer in 1908-09 and Eastern Division Engineer in 1909–13. He retired October 11, 1913, but was recalled to active service in 1917. He led the Third New York and Puerto Rico districts and was Northeast Division Engineer. He again retired in 1918. He died October 11, 1919, in New Brighton, New York.
References
- "DCPL: MLK: Washingtoniana Division: FAQs: DC Commissioners". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ William Trent Rossell on records.ancestry.com Retrieved 2014-10-30.
This article contains public domain text from "Brigadier General William Trent Rossell". Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers. Archived from the original on March 6, 2005. Retrieved August 26, 2005.
- "General William Trent Rossell" (PDF). Congressional Cemetery Obituaries. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 15, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byWilliam Herbert Bixby | Chief of Engineers 1913 |
Succeeded byDan Christie Kingman |
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- 1849 births
- 1919 deaths
- People from Mobile County, Alabama
- United States Army generals
- United States Military Academy alumni
- Members of the Board of Commissioners for the District of Columbia
- Burials at the Congressional Cemetery
- United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel
- Military personnel from Alabama
- United States Army generals of World War I
- 19th-century United States Army personnel
- United States Army personnel stubs
- American engineer stubs
- Washington, D.C., politician stubs