Jere Haygood headed up one Grantville's Civil Engineering firms before the Ring of Fire. Afterward, he oversaw the rebuilding sacked city of Magdeburg into the continental capital of the United States of Europe. Additionally, in conjunction with Admiral-to-be Simpson, Haygood convinced Gustav's officer corps to reorganize the army into a smaller more professional form using newly designed firearms with bayonets (instead of two-thirds pikes and one-third muskets).