Years of service 1857-1901 Role Author Name Henry Robert | Commands held Chief of Engineers Rank Brigadier General | |
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Born May 2, 1837
Robertville, South Carolina ( 1837-05-02 ) Buried at Arlington National Cemetery Allegiance United States of America Service/branch United States Army
Union Army Died May 11, 1923, Hornell, New York, United States Education United States Military Academy Place of burial Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States Battles and wars Pig War, American Civil War People also search for John George Bourinot, Arthur W. Radford, Edward A. Craig Books Robert's Rules of Order, 21st century Robert's r, New Robert's Rules of, Webster's New World Robert's, Robert's Rules of Order Re | ||
Henry Martyn Robert (May 2, 1837 – May 11, 1923) was an American soldier, engineer, and author. In 1876, Robert published the first edition of his manual of parliamentary procedure, Robert's Rules of Order, which remains today the most common parliamentary authority in the United States.
Life and career
Robert was born in Robertville, South Carolina, and raised in Ohio, where his father moved the family because of his strong opposition to slavery. Robert's father, Reverend Joseph Thomas Robert, later became the first president of Morehouse College where there is a dormitory on the campus named after him. Robert was nominated to West Point from Ohio, and graduated fourth in his class in 1857. He became a military engineer.
Under command of Silas Casey during the Pig War he built the fortifications on San Juan Island. In the American Civil War, he was assigned to the Corps of Engineers and worked on the defenses of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and several New England ports.
Robert served as Engineer of the Army's Division of the Pacific from 1867 to 1871. He then spent two years improving rivers in Oregon and Washington and six years developing the harbors of Green Bay and other northern Wisconsin and Michigan ports. He subsequently improved the harbors of Oswego, New York, Philadelphia, and Long Island Sound and constructed locks and dams on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. As Southwest Division Engineer from 1897 to 1901, Robert studied how to deepen the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River.
Robert was president of the Board of Engineers from 1895 to 1901. He received a tombstone promotion to brigadier general on April 30, 1901, and was appointed Chief of Engineers. He served until May 2, 1901, when he retired from the Army. Following his retirement, he chaired a board of engineers that designed the Galveston, Texas seawall following the Galveston Hurricane of 1900.
He died in Hornell, New York, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
He is most famous for his Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies (also known as "Robert's Rules of Order") —a collection of rules regarding parliamentary procedure, published in 1876. He wrote the manual in response to his poor performance in leading a church meeting that erupted into open conflict because of abolitionist concerns at the First Baptist Church, 149 Williams Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He resolved that he would learn about parliamentary procedure before attending another meeting. The rules are loosely based on procedures used in the United States House of Representatives, but the rule book was not intended for use in national and state legislatures. At the time, Robert was a resident of Haworth, New Jersey.