made chief engineer of the Utah Expedition in 1858, and afterward superintending engineer of the construction of Fort Delaware, and of repairs of Fort Mifflin, Delaware Bay; and of the special board of engineers for modifying the plans of the fort at Sandy Hook, and for selecting sites for additional batteries at Fort Hamilton.
These occupations engaged his attention down to the time of the outbreak of the rebellion in 1861, when he entered the active service as chief engineer of the Department of Pennsylvania, in which capacity he accompanied General Paterson's column in the Valley of Virginia, and was engaged in the action of Falling Waters. He was also, in this year, chief engineer of the Department of the Shenandoah, assistant engineer in the construction of the defenses of Washington, and commander of a brigade in the defense of the capital, till March 10, 1862; and was appointed major of the Corps of Engineers and brigadier-general in the volunteer service. In 1862 General Newton served in the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsular and Maryland campaigns, and was engaged in the actions at West Point, Gaines Mill, and Glen dale; in the retreat from the second battle of Bull Run; and in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. At West Point, when it was found that the Union army was threatened by the interposition of the forces of Gustavus W. Smith, at Barhamsville, with their retreat cut off by the river in their rear, Newton went out at dawn to reconnoitre. He found that marshes covered all their position except a space sufficient for the movements of one brigade. He planted his own brigade there, and with it held the post against attack. At South Mountain General Newton's brigade, attached to General Franklin's corps, was one of the three brigades composing the division of General Slocum, which advanced up the side of the mountain, and repulsed the enemy's force. The same brigade won formal commendation for its behavior at Gaines Mill and at Glendale; and its commander was brevetted lieutenant-colonel (regular army) September 17, 1862, for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Antietam.
General Newton was given the command of a division in the Rappahannock campaign, in which he was engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg. In the Chancellorsville campaign, having been in the mean time made a major-general of volunteers, he was attached to General Sedgwick's corps, counseled and participated in the storming of Marye Heights, and took part in the battle of Salem. In the Pennsylvania campaign he participated in the eventful battle of Gettysburg, and took the temporary command of the First Corps after the death of General Reynolds, and in that capacity followed in pursuit of the enemy to Warrenton, Virginia. For his gallant and meritorious services at Gettysburg he was, July 3, 1863, brevetted colonel. He still commanded the First Corps in the Rapidan campaign; but, when the "march through Georgia" was about to be entered upon, he was transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, and put in command of
