CORPS OF ENGINEERS • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Corps of Engineers

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noun

Corps of Engineers, Engineer Corps n.

In the United States army, the, a corps of officers and enlisted men consisting of one band and three battalions of engineers commanded by a brigadier general, whose title is Chief of Engineers. It has charge of the construction of fortifications for land and seacoast defense, the improvement of rivers and harbors, the construction of lighthouses, etc., and, in time of war, supervises the engineering operations of the armies in the field.

In the United States navy, a corps made up of the engineers, which was amalgamated with the line by act of March 3, 1899. It consisted of assistant and passed assistant engineers, ranking with ensigns and lieutenants, chief engineers, ranking from lieutenant to captain, and engineer in chief, ranking with commodore and having charge of the Bureau of Steam Engineering.

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Etymology of 'Corps of Engineers'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Corps of Engineers" Quotes from Famous Books

... into all our talk he came. A marsh was a place that he was to transform, oily odors were things he would sweep away. For every abuse that I could discover her father was working out some cure. With a whole corps of engineers drafting his dreams into practicable plans, there was no end to ...

— The Harbor • Ernest Poole

... place on my ride, I saw a sentry walking in front of a house, and stopped to inquire what he was doing there. Finding that the house was full of wounded American officers and soldiers, I dismounted and went in. I found there Captain Williams, of the Engineer Corps, wounded in the head, probably fatally, and Lieutenant Territt, also badly wounded his bowels protruding from his wound. There were quite a number of soldiers also. Promising them to report their situation, I left, ...

— Memoirs of Three Civil War Generals, Complete • U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman, P. H. Sheridan

... I told Lily. She's no idea of the state of things here, and she was quite horrified. But she says he was a perfect gentleman in everything. He belongs to the engineer corps,—that's one of the highest branches of the service, he told her,—and he gave ...

— A Fearful Responsibility and Other Stories • William D. Howells

... unpleasant one for a coffin is a "boite a dominos" (a box of dominoes); a droll phrase for a plagiarist is "demarqueur de linge" (some one who alters the marking of another's linen). An interesting fact for the notice of physiologists is that when the officers of the engineer corps lose a comrade from insanity, they say, "Il s'est passe au dixieme," in allusion to the fact that their loss in numbers from this cause amounts to practical decimation. This is attributed to the close study of the exact sciences. ...

— Lippincott's Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, April 1875, Vol. XV., No. 88 • Various

... "Reade, Engineer Corps. Take charge of camp until Rutter returns. Then turn over charge to him. Rush for the nearest physician; engage him to remain at camp and look after Blaisdell. I return tonight. ...

— The Young Engineers in Colorado • H. Irving Hancock

... deep hole in the trenches dug by the Royal Engineer Corps; supposed to be shell proof. It is, until a shell hits it. Rat and Tommy find it an excellent habitation in which ...

— Over The Top • Arthur Guy Empey

... Engineer Corps press heavily upon that branch of the service, and the public interest requires an addition to its strength. The nature of the works in which the officers are engaged renders necessary professional knowledge ...

— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 1 (of 2) of Volume 3: Andrew Jackson (Second Term) • James D. Richardson

... the highest rating at West Point may choose whatever arm of the service they prefer, and Lee, selecting the Engineer Corps, was appointed a second lieutenant and assigned to fortification work at Hampton Roads, in his twenty-second year. The work there was not hard but it was dull. There was absolutely no opportunity to distinguish oneself in any way, ...

— On the Trail of Grant and Lee • Frederick Trevor Hill