United States Army After graduating from the
United States Military Academy at
West Point in 1825, as first in his class, he was an assistant professor of engineering there for some time. As a second lieutenant in the
United States Army Corps of Engineers, he was engaged in the construction of
Fort Adams in
Newport, Rhode Island. Bache resigned from the Army on June 1, 1829.
University of Pennsylvania Bache was a professor of
natural philosophy and chemistry at the
University of Pennsylvania from 1828 to 1841 and again from 1842 to 1843. He spent 1836–1838 in Europe on behalf of the trustees of what became
Girard College; he was named president of the college after his return. Abroad, he examined European education systems, and on his return he published a valuable report. From 1839 to 1842, he served as the first president of
Central High School of Philadelphia, one of the oldest public high schools in the United States.
U.S. Coast Survey In 1843, on the death of Professor
Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, Bache was appointed superintendent of the
United States Coast Survey. Whereas Hassler had faced continual doubts from Congress, Bache succeeded in convincing legislators of the value of
geodesy in addition to
geomagnetic and meteorological research. With many contacts, friends, and family among the nation's political and military leaders, Bache won liberal appropriations to build up his agency and greatly expand its work. By the mid 1850s it had become the federal government's leading scientific bureau. In 1849, it began study of the Pacific Coast, which the US had newly acquired via the
US-Mexico War and
Oregon Treaty. Assisted by
Isaac Stevens, his number two in Washington, DC, Bache reorganized the Coast Survey so that it could complete initial mapping of the entire US coast.
Scientific leadership and the "Lazzaroni" By the 1840s, a clique of leading US scientists began to coalesce around Bache with the goal of professionalizing their fields. They formalized with establishment of the Association of American Geologists and Naturalists in 1843 (renamed the
American Association for the Advancement of Science five years later) and the
Smithsonian Institution in 1846. Informally, Bache and his circle called themselves the
Scientific Lazzaroni. Together, the groups created and enforced standards of intellectual merit with the goal of elevating the nation and its reputation. This meant discrediting charlatans but, at times, also denying research funding or academic appointments to others. Perhaps most important, the groups advised and even mentored politicians and army engineers. Bache would lead the AAAS until 1851 and serve on the Smithsonian's board of regents throughout his term as Coast Survey superintendent. In 1863, amid the demands of the Civil War, Bache was a central figure in the establishment of the
National Academy of Sciences, created by an act of Congress to provide scientific advice to the federal government. He was elected its first president and served in that role until his death in 1867.
Civil War and later life As the sectional crisis worsened through the late 1850s, Coast Survey budgets became ensnared by polarization and conflicts in Congress. Then, the start of war in 1861 brought a stop to work along the South's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Bache withdrew Survey ships from the region so they would not fall into secessionists' hands. At the same time, some staff resigned to join the Confederacy. A number of trusted friends and Democratic allies, including senators
Jefferson Davis and
Stephen Mallory, would lead the rebellion — acts that Bache took as both political and personal treachery. Yet the Civil War enhanced the Coast Survey's stature in Washington, D.C. By this time, the agency had amassed charts of southern harbors, rivers, and coastal terrain. The research gave a critical advantage to the Union navy and army. Meanwhile, Bache continued to lead scientists to greater influence in government, helping to establish the
U.S. Sanitary Commission. He also played a central role in the founding of the
National Academy of Sciences in 1863 and served as its first president. Official duties and private worries contributed to Bache's declining health. By 1864 he had suffered a stroke, which left him handicapped and unable to work without his wife's assistance. At the time of his death, he had served as head of the Coast Survey for 24 years. ==Awards and honors==