Andrew Talcott (1797–1883) was an American civil engineer and close friend of Civil War General Robert E. Lee. He did not serve during the Civil War, as he could not fight against the Union, nor fight against his brothers in the South. He traveled to Veracruz, Mexico, to work on the railroad. Coming back with the President to New York for supplies he was arrested and placed at Fort Lafayette accused of being a spy for the Confederate States of America. He was moved to Fort Warren in Boston harbor under orders of General John E. Wool. General John A. Dix was placed in the command of the Eastern Military Department. Knowing Captain Andrew well and believing his loyalty to the Union he was released.
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Early life
Talcott was born on April 20, 1797, in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He attended West Point and graduated second in his class in 1818. As an officer in the Corps of Engineers, he was garrisoned at Fort Atkinson and explored the passage to Fort Snelling in 1820. Some notable relatives include his brother General George Talcott, Chief of the Ordnance Corps from 1848 to 1851; granddaughter Lucia Beverly Talcott (born 1865), who married the famous statistician and inventor Herman Hollerith in 1890; first cousin three times removed Joseph Talcott, Governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1724 to 1741; and third great-grandfather John Talcott, one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut.