Postbellum Career
After the Confederate surrender, Parke commanded IX Corps in the Department of Washington. He also briefly commanded XXII Corps. Parke was mustered out of the volunteer service on January 15, 1866. He served as an engineer, being promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on March 4, 1879. Parke attained the rank of colonel on March 17, 1884. He served as superintendent of the United States Military Academy from August 28, 1887, to June 24, 1889, and he retired from the Army on July 2 of that year.
Parke died in Washington, D.C., leaving a wife Ellen but no children. He is buried in the churchyard of Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia.
Parke wrote several reports on public improvements and exploration of the west. He also served as a cartographer, publishing maps of the New Mexico Territory and California.
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—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)