Charles C. Gratiot
 Charles Chouteau Gratiot (1786-1855) - Born 29 Aug 1786 in St. Louis, Missouri. A Career U.S. Army officer, engineer and West Point graduate who became the Chief of Engineers (1828-1838) and attained the rank of Bvt. Brigadier General. Dismissed from the Army on 6 Dec 1838 by the President for failure to "...pay into the Treasury the balance of moneys placed into his hands...". Died 18 May 1855, St. Louis, Missouri. He entered the United States Military Academy on 17 Jul 1804 appointed by President Thomas Jefferson and graduated 30 Oct 1806 in the Class of 1806 ranking 6th out of 15. He was commissioned a 2nd Lt in the U.S. Corps of Engineers. By 1808 Gratiot was a Captain, a remarkably rapid rise in peacetime and by 1810 he was back at the United States Military Academy in command of the military garrison. He served in the War of 1812 as chief engineer of the Northern Army under Major General Harrison and the fought in the defense of Fort Meigs and in the attack on Fort Mackinac. Following the war he superintended the construction of coastal defenses including 9 years at Fort Monroe and Fort Calhoun (1). and was promoted to regular Colonel and Bvt Brigadier General at the end of that assignment. He next commanded the U.S. Corps of Engineers until 1838 when he ran afoul of the auditors and political enemies at the War Department over his claim that the government owed him money and his withholding of funds necessary for his reimbursement. He was dismissed from the U.S. Army on 6 Dec 1838 by President Martin Van Buren for failure to "...pay into the Treasury the balance of moneys placed into his hands...". This was the result of a long standing disagreement with the War Department over what he felt was owed to him. After dismissal he became a clerk in the General Land Office in Washington DC. He died 18 May 1855 in St. Louis, Missouri and was interred in section 13, Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum in St. Louis, Missouri. Father: Charles C. Gratiot, Sr (1752-1817) Mother: Victoire Chouteau (1760-1825) Marriage:
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