Edward Duchman Muhlenberg (May 15, 1831 – March 10, 1883) was an Americancivil engineer in the railroad industry and an officer in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War. He commanded anartillerybrigade at theBattle of Gettysburg while only alieutenant. He played an important role in the defense ofCulp's Hill against attackingConfederates.

Muhlenberg was born inLancaster, Pennsylvania, to the prominentMuhlenberg family. He was an 1850 graduate ofYale University. He was engaged until September 1857 as a civil engineer on various railroads and canals in Pennsylvania. In September, 1857, he sailed forBrazil in company with several other civil engineers and artisans to assist in the construction of the Dom Pedro Segundo Railroad, which ran westward fromRio de Janeiro.^[1]

Several months after outbreak of the Civil War, Muhlenberg returned to the United States and enlisted in the Union Army inPhiladelphia. He became asecond lieutenant in the4th U. S. Artillery in October 1861. He was promoted to the rank offirst lieutenant on October 22, 1861. Muhlenberg served with Battery F of thatregiment at theFirst Battle of Winchester, May 24–25, 1862. He commanded the battery at theBattle of Cedar Mountain. Muhlenberg retained command at theBattle of Antietam, where he served in the artillery ofXII Corps under Capt.Clermont Livingston Best.

After the death of Lt. Franklin B. Crosby, who was senior to him, Muhlenberg resumed command of the battery while serving with XII Corps. At theBattle of Chancellorsville, he commanded batteries attached to Brig. Gen.John W. Geary's division. They were deployed near Chancellorsville itself, protecting the left of XII Corps. At one point, Muhlenberg had 20 guns to direct. Later some of these guns were redeployed from this position to Best's concentration facing Confederate batteries at Hazel Grove.

When Captain Best becameinspector general of the corps on the staff ofMaj. Gen.Henry W. Slocum, Muhlenberg assumed command of the artillery brigade. Although only a first lieutenant, he was senior to the commanders of the other batteries. (Lt.Sylvanus T. Rugg commanded Battery F while Muhlenberg commanded the brigade.) In the role of brigade commander, Muhlenberg served at theBattle of Gettysburg, especially in the defense ofCulp's Hill. Slocum did, however, assign Claremont Best to oversee deployment of the corps’ guns on the morning of July 3, 1863, when acounter attack was made on Confederate forces occupying part of the hill.

Muhlenberg fought at theBattle of Missionary Ridge under Maj. Gen.Joseph Hooker. He then became theadjutant general andquartermaster of the 4th U.S. Artillery on August 13, 1864, and stayed in theRegular Army following the end of the war in April 1865. He resigned on May 8, 1869.

After his military service ended, Muhlenberg resumed his career as a civil engineer. He was employed on theKansas and Pacific Railroad from September 1856 to September 1867. He came East and was employed in the construction of theWilmington and Reading Railroad until January 1870. He served as the engineer of the1871 Yellowstone survey.^[2]His appointment was attributed to SenatorSimon Cameron, and he was criticized for his drinking. From June 1871 until January 1872, he surveyed theTexas and Pacific Railway fromFort Phantom Hill toFort Bliss on theRio Grande.^[3]

When he died ofBright's disease in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in March 1883, Muhlenberg was described by a newspaper report as a retired major of artillery.^[4]

Muhlenberg never married. He was a member of theGerman Baptist Brethren Church.^[5]

• Bigelow, John, Jr.,The Campaign of Chancellorsville: A Strategic and Tactical Study, Norwalk, CT: The Eaton Press, 1991.
• Falkenstein, George N.,The German Baptist Brethren Or Dunkers. Volume VIII. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania-German Society, 1900.
• Lubetkin, M. John,"The forgotten Yellowstone surveying expeditions of 1871,"Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Winter 2002. Accessed November 1, 2009.
• Officers of the 4th U. S. Artillery (accessed May 30, 2008)
• Pfanz, Harry W.,Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1993,ISBN 0-8078-2118-7
• Plumey, Gardiner S.; Colton, Willis S.; & Bissell, Champion,Biographical Record of the Class of 1850 of Yale College. New Haven, Connecticut: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1877.

• American surveyors
• American civil engineers
• American rail transportation pioneers
• Union army officers
• People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War
• Muhlenberg family
• People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
• Yale University alumni
• 1831 births
• 1883 deaths

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