Alexander Hamilton Bowman Alexander Hamilton Bowman ( May 15 , 1803 – November 11 , 1865 ) was an engineer , military educator , and career officer in the United States Army . Bowman supervised the erection of Charleston Harbor defenses , including Fort Sumter , and served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York during the American Civil War . Early life . Alexander H . Bowman was born on May 15 , 1803 , at Bowman ' s Hill in Wilkes - Barre , Pennsylvania , the sixth child of farmer Samuel Bowman . One of seven brothers who participated in the American Revolutionary War as soldiers in the Continental Army , the elder Bowman and a brother fought at Lexington as two of the village ' s 48 minutemen and as ensign of the 3rd Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Line guarded the spy Major John André awaiting his execution in 1780 , walking him to the gallows . Samuel Bowman was later promoted to Lieutenant of the 1st Regiment of the Massachusetts Line . One of his brothers was killed at Monmouth , but after 1786 Captain Samuel and several of his siblings moved to the Wyoming Valley of northeast Pennsylvania . Appointed to the United States Military Academy from his native state on June 1 , 1821 , Bowman proved an excellent student , graduating third in his class of 37 , and was appointed to the corps of engineers in 1825 . Second Lieutenant Bowman spent one year teaching at the academy as " Assistant Professor of History , Geography , and Ethics . " Both Jefferson Davis ( Class of 1828 ) and Robert E . Lee ( Class of 1829 ) attended the academy while Bowman was teaching there . Military career . Bowman was engaged engineering improvements on the facilities and defenses of Gulf Coast harbors for nine years . He built the military road between Memphis , Tennessee and Little Rock , Arkansas , then in 1835 Bowman was promoted to First Lieutenant of engineers , and married Marie Louise Colin , a native of Pensacola , Florida . After three years working in the Tennessee and Cumberland River systems , Bowman was again promoted . In 1838 , Captain Bowman began a long period supervising construction of the jetties and defenses of the harbor in Charleston , South Carolina . The Third system island coastal fortification Fort Sumter , started in 1827 , was continued by Bowman and his engineers . Bowman returned to the academy in 1851 , taught applied engineering to first class cadets , and was " Commandant of Sappers , Miners , and Pontoniers . " Captain Bowman returned to Charleston for a year , working on engineering projects in Georgetown , South Carolina and Savannah , Georgia before assignment in 1853 to Washington , D . C . superintending construction of the south wing extension of the U . S . Treasury Building . On January 23 , 1861 , during Secession Winter and with war looming , Creole P . G . T . Beauregard was offered the office of USMA Superintendent to replace Richard Delafield . When Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26 , 1861 , Beauregard ' s orders were revoked by the War Department , and Major Bowman was assigned to replace him ( colonel " ex officio " ) . Delafield resumed the office in the brief period between Beauregard ' s and Bowman ' s commands . As a career officer of the Corps of Engineers , Bowman served on many boards and commissions related to maritime improvements like lighthouses , river improvements and military defenses . Legacy . Alexander Bowman died at the home his father had built and he had expanded on Bowman ' s Hill in Wilkes - Barre , November 11 , 1865 . Alexander H . Bowman married Marie Louise Collins , daughter of Antoine Collins and Mary Pyburn in Pensacola , Florida on February 19 , 1835 . The couple had the following children Charles Stuart Bowman , was himself a graduate of the U . S . Military Academy in 1860 . The younger Bowman mustered Kansas volunteer and Native American companies for the Union Army , commanded Fort Leavenworth for a time , and developed a reputation as an efficient cavalry officer , eventually becoming an inspector of cavalry for the War Department . Brevetted major for his actions commanding an independent detachment of the 4th United States Cavalry at the Battle of Okolona during the Meridian expedition , Charles S . Bowman died on January 13 , 1868 while in Texas commanding the cavalry detachment at Camp Verde , Texas .