Claudius Crozet

Claude "Claudius" Crozet (December 31, 1789 – January 29, 1864) was a soldier, <a href="/facts/Educator/5zkjcWo8">educator</a>, and <a href="/facts/Civil_engineer/RjIFIjNe">civil engineer</a>. 
Crozet was born in <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">France</a> and trained as an artillery officer and civil engineer. After the defeat of Napoleon's army, he emigrated to the United States in 1816 and joined the <a href="/facts/United_States_Army/WACWBEK9">U.S. Army</a> to teach at the U.S. Military Academy at <a href="/facts/West_Point%2c_New_York/QTdt4UYC">West Point</a>. 
After resigning his commission in 1823, he took a job with the <a href="/facts/Virginia_Board_of_Public_Works/GUly1ffN">Virginia Board of Public Works</a> and oversaw the planning and construction of <a href="/facts/Canal/pBE8LsJx">canals</a>, <a href="/facts/Toll_roads_in_the_United_States/spwb0zCj">turnpikes</a>, <a href="/facts/Bridge/vBJ7Hw8v">bridges</a> and <a href="/facts/Railroad/9nJQbsDV">railroads</a> in <a href="/facts/Virginia/WSyGxzaH">Virginia</a>, including the area which became <a href="/facts/West_Virginia/USP8LtCq">West Virginia</a> during the <a href="/facts/American_Civil_War/A9FT3ksD">American Civil War</a> (during which Crozet sided with the <a href="/facts/Confederate_States_of_America/jMSDM4q3">Confederate States of America</a>). Crozet also helped found the <a href="/facts/Virginia_Military_Institute/R3xWjPSx">Virginia Military Institute</a> in 1839 and earned a nickname as the "Pathfinder of the Blue Ridge."

Claudius Crozet open-in-new

Claudius Crozet