[1] McRee was an 1805 graduate of the United States Military Academy and received his commission as a second lieutenant into the Army Corps of Engineers on 1 July 1805.
In 1808 he transferred to Charleston, South Carolina where he was involved in construction of defenses for that city's harbor.
[1] After the War of 1812, McRee traveled to Europe where he served in Belgium and France surveying fortifications in those countries from 1815 to 1817.
[1] Upon his return to the US in 1817, McRee served on the Board of Engineers where he took part in the two-year general survey of America's coastal defenses.
[1] From February, 1825 until July, 1832, McRee served as Surveyor General of the United States for the territories of Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas.