What is Corps of Topographical Engineers?
{{Infobox military unit |unit_name= U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers |image= |caption= |dates=1838 – 63 |country={{flagicon|USA}} United States of America |allegiance=[[Image:United States Department of the Army Seal.svg|20px|link=]] [[United States Army]] |branch=[[Regular Army (United States)|Regular Army]] |type= |role= |size= |command_structure= |nickname= |patron= |motto= |colors= |march= |mascot= |battles= |notable_commanders= [[John James Abert]] (1838-61)<br>[[Stephen Harriman Long]] (1861-63) |anniversaries= }} [[File:Headquarters, Military Topographical Engineers, Chattanooga, Tennessee. - NARA - 530442.jpg|thumb|right|The headquarters for the Corps of Topographical Engineers, ca. 1860-1865]] The '''U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers''' was [[wikt:establish|establish]]ed by the [[United States Congress]] in 1838.<ref name=SchubertNB>''The Nation Builders: A Sesquicentennial History of The Corps of Topographical Engineers 1838-1863'', ed. Frank N. Schubert (Fort Belvoir, VA: Office of History, United States Army Corps of Engineers, 1988), p. iii</ref> It was made up of only [[officer]]s who were hand-picked [[graduate]]s of the [[United States Military Academy at West Point]].<ref name=TrimbleTW>{{cite web |url=http://www.truewestmagazine.com/army-corps-of-topographical-engineers/ |title=Army Corps of Topographical Engineers |author=Marshall Trimble |date=18 April 2016 |publisher=True West Publishing |access-date=9 October 2016 |archive-date=3 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703011605/http://www.truewestmagazine.com/army-corps-of-topographical-engineers/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Their main purpose was to [[map]] and make military [[Surveying|surveys]] for [[wikt:route|route]]s to the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]].<ref name=TrimbleTW/> They were at the center of the [[west]]ward [[wikt:expansion|expansion]] of the United States between the [[War of 1812]] and the [[American Civil War]].<ref name=SchubertNB/> They mapped the [[wikt:frontier|frontier]] regions of the