Aaron through Amory

AARON, born 1811, African American, former Virginia slave, anti-slavery orator.  Wrote Light and Truth of Slavery: Aaron’s History, 1845.  (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 1, p. 1.)


AARON, SAMUEL, 1800-1865, Morristown, New Jersey, educator, clergyman, temperance activist, abolitionist.  Manager, American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), 1840-1842.  Vice President, 1839-1840, Executive Committee, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 1.  Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936)

AARON, Samuel, educator, born in New Britain, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1800; died in Mount Holly, New Jersey, 11 April, 1865. He was left an orphan at six years of age, and became the ward of an uncle, upon whose farm he worked for several years, attending school only in winter. A small legacy inherited from his father enabled him at the age of sixteen to enter the Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Academy, where he fitted himself to become a teacher, and at the age of twenty was engaged as an assistant instructor in the classical and mathematical school in Burlington, New Jersey. Here he studied and taught, and soon opened an independent day school at Bridge Point, but was presently invited to become principal of Doylestown Academy. In 1829 he was ordained, and became pastor of a Baptist Church in New Britain. In 1833, he took charge of the Burlington High School, serving at the same time as pastor of the Baptist Church in that city. Accepting in 1841 an invitation from a church in Norristown, Pennsylvania, he remained there three years, when he opened the Treemount Seminary near Norristown, which under his management soon became prosperous, and won a high reputation for the thoroughness of its training and discipline. The financial disasters of 1857 found Mr. Aaron with his name pledged as security for a friend, and he was obliged to sacrifice all his property to the creditors. He was soon offered the head-mastership of Mt. Holly, New Jersey, North Carolina, a large, well-established school for boys, where, in company with his son as joint principal, he spent the remainder of his life. During these years he was pastor of a church in Mt. Holly. He prepared a valuable series of text-books introducing certain improvements in methods of instruction, which added greatly to his reputation as an educator. His only publication in book form, aside from his text-books, was entitled “Faithful Translation” (Philadelphia, 1842). He was among the early advocates of temperance, and was an earnest supporter of the anti-slavery cause from its beginning. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 1.


ABADIE, EUGENE H., surgeon, born in France, about 1814; died in St. Louis, 12 December, 1874. He entered the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army in 1836, with the rank of assistant surgeon. In 1853 he was promoted surgeon, and as such served through the Civil War, receiving the brevet rank of colonel in March, 1865. His first service was with the Creek Nation, then recently removed from their hereditary lands in Georgia, and until the Seminole War he was engaged with the migrating tribes. After this service he was stationed at the forts in New York Harbor, and at various regular posts in the interior until the war with Mexico, where he was on duty in 1848, but was ordered to Point Isabel, Texas, in 1849. Changing from station to station as the exigencies of the service demanded, he was in Texas when the U.S. forces in that state were surrendered by General Twiggs, and before the close of 1861 he was paroled as a prisoner of war and permitted to go north. He was stationed at West Point in 1862-’64, during which period he was detailed to serve on medical boards in Philadelphia and New York. In 1865, he became chief medical officer of the Military Division of West Missouri in 1866 Medical Director of the Department of Missouri, and lastly acting assistant medical purveyor at St. Louis. At the time of his death he had seen more years of actual service than any, save two, of the army surgeons.  Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 1


ABANDONING A POST, OR MISBEHAVIOR BEFORE AN ENEMY. Punishable with death, or otherwise, as a court-martial shall direct; (Art. 52.)  (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 9.)


ABATIS (French) are rows of felled trees deprived of their smaller branches, the remainder sharpened to a point, and employed for defence. Abatis should be placed so as not to be exposed to the fire of artillery. In redoubts or intrenchments, they are usually fixed FIG. 1. in an upright position against the counterscarp, or at the foot of the glacis, the plane of which is broken so as to conceal the abatis from the view of the enemy, and to guard against obstructing the musketry fire from the parapet in their rear. FIG. 2. Abatis are also an excellent means of blocking up a road, when trees grow of either side. If branches are properly placed, and intertwined one within another, their disengagement is extremely difficult. An abatis will always be found a very useful and effective auxiliary to the defence of houses or isolated posts, if judiciously placed within range of musketry. When close in front of the windows on the ground floor, or used as a cover to the entrance door, it will be extremely difficult for the enemy to force his way into the building. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 10.)


ABBEVILLE, MISSISSIPPI, August 23, 1864. Detachment of the 16th Army Corps. A part of the 2nd brigade, 1st division, under command of Colonel McClure, was opposed by a part of the 2nd brigade of Forrest's cavalry, commanded by Colonel Wade. At noon the Federals encamped near Abbeville, and a picket in the rear, on the Oxford road, was attacked by the Confederate advance guard, which for some hours had been following the Federal column. A line of skirmishers was deployed, supported by the 5th Minnesota, and the skirmishing soon became general, the Confederates having developed a considerable force. The Union skirmishers were reinforced by four companies of the 5th Minnesota, the 8th Missouri, the 47th Illinois, and a section of the 2nd la. battery. A line of battle was formed, the enemy was charged and forced to retreat in confusion. The Union loss was 15 killed; that of the enemy 19 killed and 15 wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.17.


ABB'S VALLEY, VIRGINIA, May 8, 1864. Averell's Cavalry Division. The only official mention of a skirmish in Abb's valley on this date is in the report of Brigadier-General W. W. Averell, in the expedition against the Virginia & Tennessee railroad, and is as follows: "The division found its way over pathless mountains and up tortuous streams to Abb's valley, in Tazewell county, where it arrived on the evening of the 7th, capturing scouts of the enemy and one company of the 8th Virginia (rebel) cavalry on picket . The march was resumed on the 8th, and some Kentucky troops of the enemy driven, with a loss to them of 4 killed and 5 wounded, to Tazewell Court House, a distance of 15 miles." (It is probable that some of this skirmishing occurred near Jeffersonville, where the official records of the war mention an engagement on the 8th, but of which no detailed report is given.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.17.


ABBOT, HENRY LARCOM, soldier, born in Beverly, Massachusetts, 13 August, 1831. He was graduated at West Point in 1854, and made brevet second lieutenant of Topographical Engineers. His first service was in the office of the Pacific Railroad Surveys in Washington, whence in 1855 he was transferred to the Pacific Railroad Survey of the route between California and Oregon, and afterward served on the Hydrographic Survey of the delta of the Mississippi River. During the Civil War he was principally engaged as a military engineer, and rose by successive steps until brevetted brigadier-general, U. S. Army, 13 March, 1865, and made lieutenant-colonel of engineers, 31 March, 1880. He served in various actions, and was wounded at Bull Run in 1861. Since the close of the war he has been engaged in superintending the defences of the East River; in command of the engineer post and depot at Willet's Point, New York, and of the engineer battalion and the engineer school of application, the latter of which he has created. He was a member of the expedition to Sicily to observe the solar eclipse in 1870, member of the engineer board on the U. S. military bridge equipage and drill, of one on a plan for the protection of the alluvial region of the Mississippi against overflows, and of various other boards connected with fortifications and river and harbor improvements. He invented and developed the U. S. system of submarine mines for coast and river defence, 1869 to 1886. He has published “Vol. VI., Pacific Railroad Reports” (Washington, 1857); “Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi,” jointly with Captain. A. A. Humphreys (Philadelphia, 1861); “Siege Artillery in the Campaign against Richmond” (Washington, 1867); “Experiments and Investigations to develop a System of Submarine Mines for defending Harbors of the United States” (1881); jointly with boards and commissioners, “United States Bridge Equipage and Drill” (1870); “Reclamation of the Alluvial Basin of the Mississippi River” (1875); “Report of Gun-Foundry Board” (1884); and “Report of the Board on Fortifications or other Defences” (1886). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 4


ABBOTT, GORHAM D., Boston, Massachusetts.  Member of the American Colonization Society, Boston Auxiliary.  Active in leadership of Society.  Published The Colonizationist and Journal of Freedom, a monthly magazine.  (Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 201, 204)


ABBOTT, JOSEPH CARTER, journalist, born in Concord, New Hampshire, 15 July, 1825; died in Wilmington, North Carolina, 8 October, 1882. He studied at Phillips Andover Academy, and subsequently under private instruction, covering the usual college course. He then read law in Concord, and was admitted to the bar in 1852, at which time he had already edited the “Daily American” for six months. He continued to edit this journal until 1857, and in the meantime (1855) he was appointed adjutant-general of New Hampshire, and in that capacity effectively reorganized the State militia. In 1859-'61 he assumed the editorship of the Boston “Atlas and Bee,” but continued to discharge his duties as adjutant-general. He early joined the “Know Nothing” Party, and during all these years was a frequent contributor to the magazines, being particularly interested in historical matters. He was a member of the commission for adjusting the boundary between New Hampshire and Canada. When the Civil War broke out he showed great energy and efficiency in raising and organizing troops until, yielding to the desire for active service, he obtained a commission as lieutenant-colonel of the 7th Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers. On various occasions he distinguished himself, but especially at the attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, where his brigade stormed successively several positions where the Confederates made a stand. He was promoted colonel 22 July, 1863, and commanded his regiment in active service until the summer of 1864, when he was placed in charge of a brigade and brevetted brigadier-general. After the war he moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he was a member of the constitutional convention, was elected U. S. Senator by the Republicans for a partial term ending in 1871, served as collector of the port under President Grant, and was inspector of ports under President Hayes. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 7


ABBOTT, ROBERT OSBORNE, surgeon, born in Pennsylvania in 1824; died in Brooklyn, New York, 16 June, 1867. He entered the army in 1849 U.S. assistant surgeon, and in that capacity accompanied Magruder's battery to California. He subsequently served in the East, and also in Florida and Texas. During 1861 he was assistant to the chief medical purveyor in New York. In 1862, he was made medical director of the Fifth Army Corps, and later in the same year was appointed medical director of the Department of Washington, having charge of all the hospitals in and around the capital, together with all the hospital transports. The incessant and arduous duties of this office, which he held until November, 1860, seriously impaired his health. A six months' sick-leave failed to restore it, and he died a victim of over-work.    Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 7-8


ABERCROMBIE, JOHN JOSEPH, soldier, born in Tennessee in 1802; died in Roslyn, New York, 3 January, 1877. He was graduated at West Point in 1822, served as adjutant in the 1st U.S. Infantry from 1825 to 1888, and was made captain in 1836. He served in the Florida Ear, and was brevetted major for gallant conduct at the battle of Okeechobee. He was engaged in frontier duty in the west until the Mexican War. For gallantry at the battle of Monterey, where he was wounded, he received the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was at the siege of Vera Cruz and at Cerro Gordo, and served in 1847 as aide-de-camp to General Patterson. When the Civil War broke out he was stationed in Minnesota. He took part in the Shenandoah Campaign and was in command at the action of Falling Waters. He served through the Peninsular Campaign as brigadier-general of volunteers, was wounded at Fair Oaks, and was present at Malvern Hill and in several skirmishes on the retreat to Harrison's Landing. He was engaged in the defence of Washington in 1862 and 1863, had charge of depots at Fredericksburg in May, 1864, and took part in the defence against Hampton's Legion in June, 1864. He was brevetted brigadier-general at the close of the war, and retired 12 June, 1865.  Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p.  8


ABERDEEN, ALABAMA, November 17-19, 1864. 6th and 9th Illinois and 2nd Iowa Cavalry. In the North Alabama and Middle Tennessee campaign, Colonel Coon of the 2nd la. cavalry, then commanding the 2nd brigade, 5th division, cavalry corps, Military Division of the Mississippi, scouted across Shoal creek with the brigade, sent the 2nd la. to patrol the Florence and Waynesboro road, and on the 18th, camped at Cowpen Mills. Next day the brigade moved across Shoal creek at Cowpen ford to camp on Butler creek and at the Butler creek road drove in the Confederate picket. Coon sent Captain Mock, with part of the 9th Illinois, to patrol the Waynesboro road, and left the remainder of that regiment under Captain Harper to picket the road to Florence. The main column turned north to Butler creek. The train and artillery escorted by the 6th Illinois, under Major Whitsit, was sent down the little Butler valley instructed to cross Shoal creek at all hazards. The 2nd la. was attacked in front by superior numbers under the Confederate General Buford and the 9th Illinois was heavily pressed in the rear by a force from the south. Mock was warned that unless he could return soon his escape would inevitably be cut off. The regiment formed a line in a naturally protected place and dismounted, supported by the 2nd Louisiana, but it was compelled to fall back. The regiments then fell back alternately and formed lines for two miles, protecting the train and its escort until they were over Shoal creek. Federal troops dismounted to cover the crossing and a skirmish was kept up while the command descended the bank. Mock and his detachment, after a night of marching and fighting, rejoined the command on the 19th. No casualties reported.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 17-18.


ABERDEEN, ARKANSAS, July 5-6, 1862. Fitch's White River Expedition. At 8:30 a. m. on the 5th Colonel Fitch, commanding the expedition, anchored his fleet off Aberdeen, where he bivouacked his men. At 6:30 p. m. of the same day a guerrilla attack was made, from the woods on the shore, on the Lexington, killing 1 and wounding 1. The Federal artillery poured a fire of grape, shell and canister into the woods and the attack was not renewed. The next morning Fitch, with 2,000 men of the 24th, 34th, 43d and 46th Indiana infantry, scouted toward Devall's bluff. About 9 a. m. his advance, about 200 men of the 24th Indiana, routed some 400 Confederate cavalry, killing and wounding 84, and after a pursuit of 3 miles returned to Aberdeen with 6 prisoners. The Union loss was 1 killed and 21 wounded.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 18.


ABERDEEN, MISSISSIPPI, February 18, 1864. 9th Illinois Cavalry. Incidental to Sherman's Meridian expedition, the 9th Illinois cavalry, Colonel Burgh commanding, by order of General B. H. Grierson, moved upon Aberdeen. There it found and drove back two companies of state militia, killing and wounding several and taking 18 prisoners. It destroyed a 10-pounder cannon, about 3,500 bushels of corn, a saddle-tree factory, 300 saddle-trees and a quantity of leather, whisky, beans and other products and commodities.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.18


ABERT, JOHN JAMES, soldier, born in Shepherdstown, Virginia, 17 September, 1788; died in Washington,. D. C., 27 September, 1863. He was the son of John Abert, who came to this country with Rochambeau in 1780. Young Abert was graduated at West Point in 1811, but at once resigned, and was then employed in the war office. Meanwhile he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia in 1813. In the War of 1812 he volunteered as a private soldier for the defence of the capital. He was reap pointed to the army in 1814 as topographical engineer, with the rank of major. In 1829 he succeeded to the charge of the topographical bureau at Washington, and in 1838 became colonel in command of that branch of the engineers. He was retired in 1861 after "long and faithful service." Colonel Abert was associated in the supervision of many of the earlier national works of engineering, and his reports prepared for the government are standards of authority. He was a member of several scientific societies, and was one of the organizers of the national Institute of science, which was subsequently merged into the Smithsonian Institute. His sons served with distinction in the U. S. Army during the Civil War.  Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p.  8


ABERT, JAMES WILLIAM, soldier, born in Mount Holly, New Jersey, 18 November, 1820, was graduated at West Point in 1842. After service in the U.S. Infantry he was transferred to the Topographical Engineers, and was engaged on the survey of the northern lakes in 1843-'44. He then served on the expedition to New Mexico, and published a report (Senate documents, 1848). From 1848 to 1850 he was assistant in drawing at West Point, and from 1851 to 1860 he was engaged in the improvement of western rivers, except during the Seminole War in 1856-'58, when he was in Florida. During the Civil War he served on the staffs of General Patterson and General Banks in the Virginia Campaign of 1861–62. He was severely injured at Frederick, Maryland, in 1862, and subsequently served on General Gillmore's staff, having attained the rank of major in 1863. He resigned on 25 June, 1864. For a short time he was an examiner of patents in Washington, and later he became professor of mathematics and drawing in the University of Missouri, at Rolla. He is a contributor to current literature in science, art, and history. [son of John James Abert; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, pp.  8-9


ABERT, SILVANUS THAYER, civil engineer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 22 July, 1828. He was educated at Princeton, and in 1848 began his engineering career in the government service on the construction of the James River and Kanawha Canal. For eleven years he was actively engaged on government work at various localities. In 1859 he was appointed engineer in charge of all the works of construction at the Pensacola U.S. Navy-yard. During the Civil War he served at first on the staff of General Banks in his Virginia Campaign, and later under General Meade with the Army of the Potomac. From 1865 to 1866 he was engaged on the surveys of the Magdalena River for the Colombian government. On his return he again joined the engineering Corps, and has been occupied on numerous government surveys. Since 1873 he has been in charge of the geographical division extending from Washington, D. C., to Wilmington, North Carolina. Colonel Abert is the author of numerous valuable reports on his work, and has also published “Notes, Historical and Statistical, upon the Projected Route for an Interoceanic Ship Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans” (Cincinnati, 1872). [son of John James Abert; Appleton’s 1887] p. 9


ABERT, WILLIAM STRETCH, soldier, born in Washington, D.C., 1 February, 1836; died in Galveston, Texas, 25 August, 1867. He was appointed lieutenant in the artillery in 1855, and at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 was stationed at Fort Monroe, Virginia He was appointed captain in the Cavalry in 1861, and fought in the battles of Williamsburg and Hanover Court House. Later he joined General McClellan's staff, and was at Antietam. From November, 1862, to October, 1864, he was assistant inspector-general at New Orleans under General Banks, after which he served in the defences of Washington as colonel of the 3d Massachusetts Artillery. Subsequent to the war he was with his regiment in Texas, and became assistant inspector-general of the District of Texas. In June, 1867, he was advanced to the rank of major in the 7th U. S. Cavalry. He received several brevets, the highest of which was that of lieutenant-colonel. [son of John James Abert; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 9


ABINGDON, VIRGINIA, December 15, 1864. Stoneman's raid. Starting from Knoxville, Tennessee, on December 9, with two mounted brigades under Generals Burbridge and Gillem, General Stoneman drove out of East Tennessee the forces with which General Breckenridge had made a diversion in favor of Hood. In following up his advantage he went up the Holston valley to Abingdon, Wytheville and Saltville, Virginia After the capture of Bristol, Tennessee, Burbridge learned that General Vaughan was at Zollicoffer, 10 miles distant, with 2,000 men. Asking Stoneman to support him with Gillem's brigade, Burbridge with 4,000 men marched to attack Vaughan, but the latter eluded him in a dense fog and attempted to join Breckenridge at Saltville, going via Abingdon where Burbridge headed him off, capturing the town, 1 piece of artillery, a locomotive, 12 cars and valuable stores. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 18.


ABRAHAM'S CREEK, Virginia, September 13-17, 1864. 1st Brigade, 3d Cavalry Division. Incidental to Sheridan's Shenandoah campaign, Brigadier-General Mcintosh of this brigade, was ordered to make a strong reconnaissance toward Winchester to determine the enemy's position. Crossing the Opequan by the Winchester pike he attacked the enemy's pickets on the other side, capturing 2 officers and 37 men. On Abraham's creek, within two miles of Winchester, he broke through a line of infantry, parted in force to cover the town, captured the entire 8th South Carolina infantry and its colors. On the 17th, he burned a mill on Abraham's creek, on the Winchester pike, and Jones mill, near the Opequan. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.18.


ABSENCE, WITH LEAVE. Every colonel or other officer commanding a regiment, troop, or company, and actually quartered with it, may give furloughs to non-commissioned officers or soldiers in such numbers, and for so long a time, as he shall judge to be most consistent with the good of the service; and a captain or other inferior officer, commanding a troop or company, or in any garrison, fort, or barrack of the United States, (his field-officer being absent,) may give furloughs to non-commissioned officers or soldiers for a time not exceeding twenty days in six months, but not more than two persons to be absent at the same time, excepting some extraordinary occasion should require it; (Art. 12.)

The law does not specify by whom leaves of absence may be given to commissioned officers, and the omission has been supplied by orders of the President.


ABSENCE, WITHOUT LEAVE, FROM CAMP, PARADE, OR RENDEZVOUS. Punished, by sentence of a court-martial, according to the nature of the offence; (Articles 41, 42, 43, and 44.)  (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 10.)


ABUSES AND DISORDERS. Every commanding officer shall keep good order, and, to the utmost of his power, redress all abuses and disorders which may be committed by any officer or soldier of his command. If, upon complaint made to him of officers or soldiers beating, or otherwise ill-treating, any person, of disturbing fairs or markets, or of committing any kinds of riots, to the disquieting of the citizens of the United States, &c., the said commander shall refuse or omit to see justice done to the offender or offenders, and reparation made to the party or parties injured, as far as part of the offender's pay shall enable him or them, he shall, upon proof thereof, be cashiered, or otherwise punished, as a general court-martial shall direct; (Art. 32.)  (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 10.)


ACADEMY. The Military Academy of the United States is located at West Point, N. Y. The students, called cadets, are subject to the rules and articles of war. They are appointed from each congressional district, upon the nomination of the representative of the district in Congress. Each district is allowed but one representative at the Military Academy; but besides the number so appointed, the President of the United States annually appoints ten cadets from at large. The Academy furnishes about forty graduates a year, who receive commissions of the lowest grade in some one of the different corps of the army, provided vacancies exist. If there be no vacancies, the graduates are attached to different corps as supernumerary officers of the lowest grade, not exceeding one to each company. The Military Academy was founded by act of Congress in 1802. Its present high reputation is mainly due to Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, who did not become Superintendent until 1817.

At the breaking out of the war of 1812, there were about seventy graduates of the Academy holding commissions, and but little knowledge of the military art arid of the science of war prevailed. At the breaking out of the Mexican war, the officers of our army were mostly graduates of the Academy. Every branch of the service was filled with men of talent and military information; volunteer corps raised during the war sought and obtained as their commanders graduates of the Military Academy. General officers from' political life appointed staff officers from the same class. In all positions which the graduates held during that brilliant war, the honor and glory of the United States were sustained, and the great usefulness of an institution, which annually costs little, if any more than the maintenance of one frigate afloat, was satisfactorily demonstrated to the people of the United States. (See SUPERINTENDENT.) Military Academies, modelled upon that at West Point, have also been established within their respective limits by the States of Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama, and perhaps others.  (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 11.)


ACCOTINK, VIRGINIA, October 17, 1863. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.18.


ACCOTINK, VIRGINIA, January 12, 1864. Four of the force of Provost-Marshal, General Wells, at Alexandria and some members of the Accotink home-guard had an encounter near Accotink with six cavalrymen of Gordon's brigade, Hampton's division. The Confederates about sunrise had captured 2 citizens and a number of horses near Accotink. Wells' force pursued them, retook the citizens and horses, captured 2 Confederate prisoners and the horses and equipment of the whole party.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 18-19


ACCOTINK, VIRGINIA, July 15, 1864. The home-guard was attacked by about 200 of Mosby's men. Loss, 1 killed on each side.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.19


ACCOUNTS. Officers accountable for public money or property render quarterly accounts to the Treasury Department, if resident in the United States; and every six months, if resident in a foreign country. Additional returns may be required by the Secretary of War, if the public interest requires it; (Act Jan. 31, 1823.) Every officer or agent offending against the foregoing provisions may be dismissed by the President of the United States; (Act Jan. 31, 1823.) The method of rendering accounts by Administrative Agents of the application of all public money and material passing through their hands, has been prescribed by regulations made pursuant to law. The object of a system of accountability should be, in respect to the army, to obtain plain statements of the operations and results of Military Administration. The system should be neither complex nor cumbrous, but should be adapted to a state of war; and while carefully guarding against losses to the Government, should, at the same time, by prompt settlements, through government agents, present with armies in the field, dispense with accumulations of papers, which manifestly subject administrative officers to great losses, even if they were not frequently obliged to wait years before obtaining a settlement of their accounts.

By the present system of accountability it is prescribed: 1. That all accounts whatever in which the United States are concerned shall be settled and adjusted in the Treasury Department; (Act March 3, 1817.) 2. It is made the duty of the second and third auditors of the Treasury, to receive and examine all military accounts; to receive from the second comptroller the accounts which shall have been finally adjusted; to preserve such accounts; to record all warrants drawn by the Secretary of War; and make such reports on the business assigned to them as the Secretary of War may deem necessary, and require for the service of his Department; (Act March 3, 1817.) 3. It is the duty of the second comptroller to examine all accounts settled by the second and third auditors, and certify the balances arising thereon to the Secretary of War; to countersign all legal warrants drawn by the Secretary of War; to report to the Secretary of War the official forms to be issued in the different offices for disbursing the public money, and the manner and form of keeping and stating the accounts of the persons employed therein; and it shall also be the Comptroller's duty to superintend the preservation of the public accounts subject to his revision; (Act March 3, 1817.)

The great obstacles to the simplification and prompt settlement of army accounts interposed by law consist: 1. In the requirement that military accounts shall be adjusted and settled at the Treasury Department, instead of being settled by the War Department, and reported to the Treasury; 2. In making the second and third auditors and second comptroller officers of the Treasury instead of officers of the War Department; 3. In authorizing the second comptroller to establish forms for keeping and stating military accounts, instead of requiring him in those matters to conform to the directions of the Secretary of War; and, 4. In withholding from the War Department the power of appointing agents to accompany armies in the field for the prompt settlement of accounts. With the changes of law here suggested, it would be easy for the War Department, through the various grades in the several administrative staff departments, to establish a simple system of accountability with requisite means of control and supervision, which would operate advantageously to the government, and to individual agents. Under the present system there is, and must be, a remarkable similarity in the duties of all grades of the staff administrative departments. (Consult Cours d’ Administration, par VAUCHELLE, Intendant Militaire; Cours d’ Eludes sur V Administration Militaire, par ODIER: Memorial des Officiers d' Infanterie et de Cavalerie, 1846.)  (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, pp. 12-13.)


ACCOUTREMENTS. Black leather belts, &c., furnished by the ordnance department. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, pp. 13-14.)

PARTS. Infantry. Artillery. o d Cartridge box .  95 10 Cartridge box plate. Cartridge box belt .... Cartridge box belt plate Bayonet scabbard and frog 37 10 40 16 "62 10 37 60 Waist belt plate 10 40 16  60 1 00 10 40 1 35 60 Cap pouch and pick Sabre belt Sword belt Sword belt plate, Sword belt, non-commissioned officers and musician's. . . Sword belt plate do. do. ... Waist belt do. do. Waist belt plate do. do. 62 10 37 60 .... "87 75 Pistol do. Holsters with soft leather caps 2 63 95 88 30 "53 40 1 20 Carbine sling Sabre knot Bullet pouch Flask and pouch belt Powder flask Waist belt, sapper's, with frog for sword bayonet, $1.

Infantry accoutrements for 100 men, including non-commissioned officers' shoulder-belts and plates, weigh 330 Lbs.; rifle accoutrements for 100 men, including non-commissioned officers' shoulder-belts and plates, weigh 329 Lbs.; 100 carbine slings and swivels, 110 Lbs. (See ARMS.)

Mr. Dingee's directions for reblacking Belts. Brush them with a hard brush, to clean the surface; if they are very greasy, use a wire scratch-brush. Then, with a soft brush or sponge, apply the following mixture, viz.: one gallon soft water, two pounds extract of logwood, half a pound of broken nutgalls, boiled until the logwood is dissolved. When cold, add half a pint of the pyrolignite of iron made by dis- solving iron filings in pyroligneous acid, as much as the acid will take up. The dye thus made should be well stirred, and then left to settle. When clear, bottle it free from sediment, and keep it well corked for use. Dye the belts in the shade; then apply a little sperm or olive oil, and rub well with a hard brush. Should any bad spots appear, scratch up the surface with the wire brush, and wet two or three times with a simple decoction of gallnuts or sumach, and again apply the dye. Logwood is not essential, and a solution of copperas may be used instead of the acetate of iron.


ACTON, MINNESOTA, September 2, 1862.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.19


ACWORTH, GEORGIA, June 3, 1864. Cavalry of the 2nd Division, Army of the Cumberland. This was a point of some importance to General J. E. Johnston so long as he held the line in front of New Hope church. Forced to abandon that line by the extension of Geary's and Butterfield's divisions along the Acworth road, McCook's cavalry menacing him from the east, he removed his troops from Acworth preparatory to a general retreat to new positions between Lost mountain and Brush mountain near Kennesaw. McCook's and Stoneman's cavalry made prisoners of a few videttes and found the place abandoned.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.19.


ACWORTH, GEORGIA, October 4, 1864. The Federal garrison here was attacked about 9 o'clock in the evening by Loring's division, Stewart's corps, Hood's army, and after exchange of a few shots capitulated to the overwhelming numbers of the Confederates, 250 officers and men surrendering as prisoners of war. That night Stewart tore up the railroad from near Harrison Station to beyond Acworth.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.19.


ADAIRSVILLE, GEORGIA, May 16-18, 1864. 4th Corps, Army of the Cumberland. General Walker's division of Hardee's (Confederate) corps, consisting of the brigades of Gist, Mercer, Jackson and Stevens, had been at Calhoun for several days. On the morning of the 16th, the 4th corps, Army of the Cumberland, Major-General O. O. Howard commanding, crossed the Oostanaula river over a bridge that had been burned, but which members of the organization had repaired, and after driving in the Confederate skirmishers, encamped near Calhoun. In the afternoon Hardee's skirmish line was strengthened and an advance, with a view to developing the Federal strength, was made by Walker and Cleburne. About 1 a. m., May 17, Hardee's corps retired slowly, holding the Federals in check with cavalry, and reached Adairsville, 7 miles from Calhoun, about noon. Newton's division was in the Federal advance. Until late in the afternoon there was heavy skirmishing with the cavalry of Cheatham and Wheeler, who intrenched themselves in several strong positions along the road, from each of which they were dislodged. That day Johnston's army at Adairsville was reinforced by French's division of Polk's corps and William H. Jackson's division. On the morning of the 18th, the Federals at Adairsville found that Johnston had gone. Hardee's corps had marched to Kingston, Polk's and Hood's to Cassville. Johnston had intended to turn back and meet the column following him from Adairsville. On the 19th, Polk started back on the Adairsville road and Hood on a road parallel with it. Learning that Federals were approaching in the rear and right of the position that he had just vacated, Hood fell back and took position beyond the Canton road. The Confederates, according to General Thomas' report had "fallen back in echelon of divisions steadily and in superb order into Cassville."  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.19.


ADAMS, U. S. S., Attack on June 2, 1864. (See Columbia, Arkansas)


ADAMS, ALVIN, expressman, born in Andover, Vermont, 16 June, 1804; died in Watertown, Massachusetts, 2 September, 1877. In 1840 he established an express route between New York and Boston, making his first trip on 4 May. A few months later, under the firm-name of Adams & Company, he associated with himself Ephraim Farnsworth, who took charge of the New York office. On the death of the latter, soon afterward, William B. Dinsmore succeeded to his place, and for several years subsequently the business was limited to New York, New London, Norwich, Worcester, and Boston. In 1854 the corporation of Adams Express Company, was formed by the union of Adams & Company, Harnden & Company, Thompson & Company, and Kinsley & Company, with Mr. Adams as president. Its business then rapidly extended throughout the south and west, and in 1870 to the far west. Mr. Adams was associated with the organization of the pioneer express throughout the mining camps of California in 1850; but on the consolidation of the companies in 1854, Adams & Company disposed of their interest to the California Express Company. During the Civil War the facilities that were afforded by Adams Express Company were of the greatest value to the national government. Mr. Adams accumulated a large fortune. See “History of the Express Business,” by A. L. Stimson (New York, 1881). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 11-12.


ADAMS' BLUFF, ARKANSAS, July 4, 1862. Portion of the U. S. Fleet on the White River. Incidental to the expedition planned by Flag-Officer Davis to pursue Confederate gunboats and support General Curtis, Lieutenant Shirk, with boats protecting troops and transports, went up the river from Crockett's bluff. While passing Adams' bluff, he was fired on by guerrillas from the east bank of the river. He returned their fire with shot and shell and destroyed a ferry boat.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.19.


ADAMS, CHARLES FOLLEN, author, born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 21 April, 1842. He received a common-school education, and at the age of fifteen entered into mercantile pursuits. At the age of twenty-two he enlisted in the 13th Massachusetts Infantry; was in all the battles in which his regiment participated, was wounded at Gettysburg, taken prisoner; released, and detailed for hospital duty. Since 1872 he has been known as a writer of German dialect poems, chiefly humorous. The first that appeared was “The Puzzled Dutchman” in “Our Young Folks” in 1872. This was followed by various others of which “Leedle Yawcob Strauss” (1876) became immediately a favorite. Mr. Adams is a frequent contributor to periodical literature, and has published in a volume “Leedle Yawcob Strauss and other Poems” (Boston, 1877). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1900, Vol. I, p. 12.


ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS, 1807-1886, Vice President, Anti-Slavery Free Soil Party, newspaper publisher and editor.  Son of former President John Quincy Adams.  Grandson of President John Adams.  Opposed annexation of Texas, on opposition to expansion of slavery in new territories.  Formed “Texas Group” within Massachusetts Whig Party.  Formed and edited newspaper, Boston Whig, in 1846. (Adams, 1900; Duberman, 1961; Goodell, 1852, p. 478; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 32-33; Pease, 1965, pp. 445-452; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 51, 298; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 12-13. Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, pp. 40-48)

ADAMS, Charles Francis, diplomatist, son of John Quincy Adams, born in Boston, 18 August, 1807; died there, 21 November, 1886. When two years old he was taken by his father to St. Petersburg, where he learned German, French, and Russian. Early in 1815 he travelled all the way from St. Petersburg to Paris with his mother in a private carriage, a difficult journey at that time, and not unattended with danger. His father was soon afterward appointed minister to England, and the little boy was placed at an English boarding-school. The feelings between British and Americans was then more hostile than ever before or since, and young Adams was frequently called upon to defend with his fists the good name of his country. When he returned after two years to America, his father placed him in the Boston Latin school, and he was graduated at Harvard College in 1825, shortly after his father's inauguration as president of the United States. He spent two years in Washington, and then returned to Boston, where he studied law in the office of Daniel Webster, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1828. The next year he married the youngest daughter of Peter Chardon Brooks, whose elder daughters were married to Edward Everett and Reverend Nathaniel Frothingham. From 1831 to 1836 Mr. Adams served in the Massachusetts legislature. He was a member of the Whig Party, but, like all the rest of his vigorous and free-thinking family, he was extremely independent in politics and inclined to strike out into new paths in advance of the public sentiment. After 1836 he came to differ more and more widely with the leaders of the Whig Party with whom he had hitherto acted. In 1848 the newly organized Free-Soil Party, consisting largely of Democrats, held its convention at Buffalo and nominated Martin Van Buren for president and Charles Francis Adams for vice-president. There was no hope of electing these candidates, but this little party grew, six years later, into the great Democratic Party. In 1858 he was elected to Congress by the Republicans of the 3d District of Massachusetts, and in 1860 he was reelected. In the spring of 1861 President Lincoln appointed him minister to England, a place which both his father and his grandfather had filled before him. Mr. Adams had now to fight with tongue and pen for his country as in school-boy days he had fought with fists. It was an exceedingly difficult time for an American minister in England. Though there was much sympathy for the U. S. government on the part of the workmen in the manufacturing districts and of many of the liberal constituencies, especially in Scotland, on the other hand the feeling of the governing classes and of polite society in London was either actively hostile to us or coldly indifferent. Even those students of history and politics who were most friendly to us failed utterly to comprehend the true character of the sublime struggle in which we were engaged— as may be seen in reading the introduction to Mr. E. A. Freeman's elaborate "History of Federal Government, from the Formation of the Achaean League to the Disruption of the United States" (London, 1862). Difficult and embarrassing questions arose in connection with the capture of the Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell, the negligence of Lord Palmerston's government in allowing the "Alabama" and other Confederate cruisers to sail from British ports to prey upon American commerce, and the ever manifest desire of Napoleon III, to persuade Great Britain to join him in an acknowledgment of the independence of the confederacy. The duties of this difficult diplomatic mission were discharged by Mr. Adams with such consummate ability as to win universal admiration. No more than his father or grandfather did he belong to the school of suave and crafty, intriguing diplomats. He pursued his ends with dogged determination and little or no attempt at concealment, while his demeanor was haughty and often defiant. His unflinching firmness bore clown all opposition, and his perfect self-control made it difficult for an antagonist to gain any advantage over him. His career in England from 1861 to 1868 must be cited among the foremost triumphs of American diplomacy. In 1872 it was attempted to nominate him for the presidency of the United States, as the candidate of the liberal Republicans, but Horace Greeley secured the nomination. He was elected in 1869 a member of the board of overseers of Harvard College, and was for several years president of the board. He has edited the works and memoirs of his father and grandfather, in 22 octavo volumes, and published many of his own addresses and orations. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 12-13.


ADAMS, Henry A., Jr., naval officer, born in Pennsylvania in 1833. He entered the naval school at Annapolis in 1849, and was graduated in 1851; became a passed midshipman in 1854, and a master the following year, when, while attached to the sloop of war “Levant,” he took part in the engagement with the forts at the mouth of Canton River, China. He was commissioned as lieutenant in 1856, and was on the “Brooklyn” at the passage of forts St. Philip and Jackson, and the capture of New Orleans in April, 1862. Commissioned as lieutenant-commander and transferred to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, he participated in both the attacks on Fort Fisher, and received the encomium from Admiral Porter in his official despatch of 28 January, 1865, “I recommend the promotion of Lieutenant-Commodore H. A. Adams, without whose aid we should have been brought to a standstill more than once. He volunteered for anything and everything.” After the taking of Richmond he was one of the party that accompanied President Lincoln on his entry into the city. He was commissioned as commander in July, 1866, and was ordered to the store-ship “Guard,” of the European Squadron, where he remained during 1868-'9, and was afterward assigned to duty in 1870 in the U.S. Navy-yard at Philadelphia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1900, Vol. I, p.


ADAMS, JOHN, soldier, born in Tennessee in 1825; killed in the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, 30 November, 1864. He was graduated at West Point in 1846, and joined the 1st U.S. Dragoons. He was brevetted 1st lieutenant for gallantry at Santa Cruz de Rosales, Mexico, 16 March, 1848, after several years of frontier duty was promoted to 1st lieutenant, 9 October, 1851, and in 1853 served as aide to the governor of Minnesota with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was promoted captain of 1st Dragoons, 30 November, 1856, but resigned 81 May, 1861, and became a Confederate major-general. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I,


ADAMS, JOHN HUY, 1822-1881, politician, businessman, abolitionist, Illinois State Senator, 1854-1870.  Helped in founding of the Republican Party.  Friend of Abraham Lincoln.  Father of famous social reformer and activist, Jane Adams.  (Adams, 1910; Berson, 2004; Elshtain, 2002; Knight, 2005; Linn, 2000)


ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY, 1767-1848, Massachusetts, sixth U.S. President (1825-1829), U.S. Congressman (1831-1848), U.S. Secretary of State, lawyer, anti-slavery leader, activist, abolitionist, son of second U.S. President John Adams.  Opposed the Missouri Compromise of 1819, which allowed the expansion of slavery in southern states.  Fought against the “Gag Rule” in Congress, which prevented discussion of the issue of slavery in the U.S. House of Representatives.  The Gag Rule was revoked in 1844. 

(Adams, 1874; Bemis, 1956; Cable, 1971; Dumond, 1961, pp. 238, 243-244, 367-370; Filler, 1960, p. 57, 80, 82, 96, 98, 102, 104, 105, 107, 108, 164, 168, 208; Goodell, 1852; Hammond, 2011, pp. 25, 175, 176, 240, 248, 272, 273, 276, 380; Mason, 2006, pp. 3., 90, 93, 98, 165, 185, 187, 190, 200, 205, 214-222, 263n31, 383n32, 289n47; Miller, 1996; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 3, 6, 8, 10, 18-19, 24, 33, 39, 45, 137, 197, 248; Pease, 1965, pp. 260-267; Remini, 2002; Richards, 1986; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 40-41, 49, 45, 132, 153-154, 305; Wilson, 1872, Vol. 2, pp. 161-164; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 24-28. Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, pp. 84-92.)


Biography from Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography:

ADAMS, John Quincy, sixth president of the United States, born in Braintree, Massachusetts, 11 July, 1767; died in Washington, D. C., 23 February, 1848. He was named for his mother's grandfather, John Quincy. […]

After an absence of eight years, John Quincy Adams was called back to his native land to serve as Secretary of State under President Monroe. A new era in American politics was dawning. The war which had just been concluded has sometimes been called our second war of independence; certainly the year 1815, which saw the end of the long strife between France and England, marks an important era in American history. Our politics ceased to be concerned mainly with foreign affairs. So suddenly were men's bones of political contention taken away from them that Monroe's presidency is traditionally remembered as the “era of good feeling.” So far as political parties were concerned, such an epithet is well applied; but as between prominent individuals struggling covertly to supplant one another, it was anything rather than an era of good feeling. Mr. Adams's principal achievement as Secretary of State was the treaty with Spain, whereby Florida was ceded to the United States in consideration of $5,000,000, to be applied to the liquidation of outstanding claims of American merchants against Spain. By the same treaty the boundary between Louisiana and Mexico was established as running along the Sabine and Red Rivers, the upper Arkansas, the crest of the Rocky mountains, and the 42d parallel. Mr. Adams defended the conduct of General Jackson in invading Spanish Florida and hanging Arbuthnot and Ambrister. He supported the policy of recognizing the independence of the revolted colonies of Spanish America, and he was the principal author of what is known as the “Monroe Doctrine,” that the American continent is no longer open to colonization by European powers. His official report on weights and measures showed remarkable scientific knowledge. Toward the close of Monroe's first term came up the first great political question growing out of the purchase of Louisiana: Should Missouri be admitted to the union as a slave-state, and should slavery be allowed or prohibited in the vast territory beyond? After the Missouri compromise had passed through Congress, and been submitted to President Monroe for his signature, two questions were laid before the cabinet. First, had Congress the constitutional right to prohibit slavery in a territory? and, secondly, in prohibiting slavery “forever” in the territory north of Mason and Dixon's line, as prolonged beyond the Mississippi River, did the Missouri Bill refer to this district only so long as it should remain under territorial government, or did it apply to such states as might in future be formed from it? To the first question the cabinet replied unanimously in the affirmative. To the second question Mr. Adams replied that the term “forever” really meant forever; but all his colleagues replied that it only meant so long as the district in question should remain under territorial government. Here for the first time we see Mr. Adams taking that firm stand in opposition to slavery which hereafter was to make him so famous. 

[…]

Although now an ex-president, Mr. Adams did not long remain in private life. The greatest part of his career still lay before him. Owing to the mysterious disappearance of William Morgan, who had betrayed some of the secrets of the Masonic order, there was in some of the northern states a sudden and violent prejudice against the Freemasons and secret societies in general. An “anti-mason party” was formed, and by its votes Mr. Adams was, in 1831, elected to Congress, where he remained, representing the same District of Massachusetts, until his death in 1848. He was shortly afterward nominated by the anti-masons for the governorship of Massachusetts, but was defeated in the legislature, there being no choice by the people. In Congress he occupied a perfectly independent attitude. He was one of those who opposed President Jackson's high-handed treatment of the bank, but he supported the president in his firm attitude toward the South Carolina nullifiers and toward France. In 1835, as the French government delayed in paying over the indemnity of $5,000,000 which had been agreed upon by the treaty of 1831 for plunder of American shipping in the Napoleonic wars, Jackson threatened, in case payment should be any longer deferred, to issue letters of marque and reprisal against French commerce. This bold policy, which was successful in obtaining the money, enlisted Mr. Adams's hearty support. He defended Jackson as he had defended Jefferson on the occasion of the embargo; and this time, as before, his course was disapproved in Massachusetts, and he lost a seat in the U. S. Senate. He had been chosen to that office by the state senate, but the lower house did not concur, and before the question was decided the news of his speech in favor of reprisals turned his supporters against him. He was thus left in the House of Representatives more independent of party ties than ever, and was accordingly enabled to devote his energies to the aid of the abolitionists, who were now beginning to appear conspicuously upon the scene. At that time it was impossible for the opponents of slavery to effect much. The only way in which they could get their case before Congress was by presenting petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. Unwilling to receive such petitions, or to allow any discussion on the dreaded question, Congress in 1836 enacted the cowardly “gag-rule,” that “all petitions, memorials, resolutions, or papers relating in any way or to any extent whatsoever to the subject of slavery or the abolition of slavery, shall, without being either printed or referred, be laid upon the table; and that no further, action whatever shall be had thereon.” After the yeas and nays had been ordered on this, when Mr. Adams's name was called he rose and said: “I hold the resolution to be a direct violation of the constitution of the United States, the rules of this house, and the rights of my constituents.” The house sought to drown his words with loud shrieks and yells of “Order!” “Order!” but he raised his voice to a shout and defiantly finished his sentence. The rule was adopted by a vote of 117 to 68, but it did more harm than good to the pro-slavery party. They had put themselves in an untenable position, and furnished Mr. Adams with a powerful weapon which he used against them without mercy. As a parliamentary debater he has had few if any superiors; in knowledge and dexterity there was no one in the house who could be compared with him; he was always master of himself, even at the white heat of anger to which he often rose; he was terrible in invective, matchless at repartee, and insensible to fear. A single-handed fight against all the slave-holders in the house was something upon which he was always ready to enter, and he usually came off with the last word. Though the vituperative vocabulary of the English language seemed inadequate to express the hatred and loathing with which the pro-slavery party regarded him, though he was more than once threatened with assassination, nevertheless his dauntless bearing and boundless resources compelled the respect of his bitterest opponents, and members from the south, with true chivalry, sometimes confessed it. Every session he returned to the assault upon the gag-rule, until the disgraceful measure was rescinded in 1845. This part of Mr. Adams's career consisted of a vast number of small incidents, which make a very interesting and instructive chapter in American history, but cannot well be epitomized. He came to serve as the rallying-point in Congress for the ever-growing anti-slavery sentiment, and may be regarded, in a certain sense, as the first founder of the new Democratic Party. He seems to have been the first to enunciate the doctrine upon which Mr. Lincoln afterward rested his great proclamation of emancipation. In a speech in Congress in 1836 he said: “From the instant that your slave-holding states become the theatre of war—civil, servile, or foreign—from that instant the war powers of the constitution extend to interference with the institution of slavery in every way in which it can be interfered with.” As this principle was attacked by the southern members, Mr. Adams from time to time reiterated it, especially in his speech of 14 April, 1842, on the question of war with England and Mexico, when he said: " Whether the war be civil, servile, or foreign, I lay this down as the law of nations: I say that the military authority takes for the time the place of all municipal institutions, slavery among the rest. Under that state of things, so far from its being true that the states where slavery exists have the exclusive management of the subject, not only the president of the United States, but the commander of the army has power to order the universal emancipation of the slaves.”  

After the rescinding of the gag-rule Mr. Adams spoke less frequently. In November, 1846, he had a shock of paralysis, which kept him at home four months. On 21 February, 1848, while he was sitting in the House of Representatives, came the second shock. He was carried into the speaker's room, where he lay two days, and died on the 23d. His last words were: “This is the last of earth; I am content.” See “Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams,” by William H. Seward (Auburn, 1849); “Life of John Quincy Adams,” by Josiah Quincy (Boston, 1858); “Diary of John Quincy Adams,” edited by Charles F. Adams, 12 vols., 8vo (Philadelphia, 1874-'7); and “John Quincy Adams,” by John T. Morse, Jr. (Boston, 1882). 

The steel portrait of Mr. Adams, facing page 24, is from a picture by Marchant, in the possession of the New York Historical Society. The mansion represented on page 26 is the Adams homestead at Quincy, in which the presidents lived, now the summer residence of Charles Francis Adams.  Source: Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 24-28.


Chapter: “John Quincy Adams. - William H. Seward. - Salmon P. Chase,” by Henry Wilson, in History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, 1872.

On the 21st of February, 1848, John Quincy Adams was stricken with apoplexy in his seat in the House of Representatives. He was borne to the Speaker's room, where, two days afterward, the aged statesman died. It was, in his own touching words, his "last of earth," a striking but fitting close of a long and illustrious career. Indeed, had it been left for him to choose the mode of his departure, he could hardly have chosen a death in richer harmony with his life. On the very spot of his grandest triumphs, under the roof that had so often resounded with his ringing words, “the old man eloquent " passed away.

Though Mr. Adams was distinguished above all others in his earnest, persistent, and finally triumphant vindication of the right of petition and freedom of speech, he was not, at least until near the close of life, in hearty accord with Abolitionists, with whom he never affiliated, from whom he often received severe criticisms and censures, and to whom he sometimes applied words indicating little confidence in their plans, if in their purposes, of action. Yet he was a trusted leader in their great fight for freedom of speech, while it was his voice that first enunciated the doctrine --novel to all, and greatly distasteful to slaveholders--of the right of the government, under the war power, to emancipate the slaves; very right on which President Lincoln based the Proclamation of Emancipation.

As, however, he drew near the close of life, his views changed. If his abhorrence of slavery did not increase, his anxiety for the future of his country deepened, and he became more and more cognizant of the machinations of those who seemed determined either to make the government entirely subservient to the behests of the Slave Power or to destroy it. His long participation in public affairs, his intimate relations with public men his protracted observation of statesmen and their measures, his consummate knowledge of the schemings and the indirect purposes of too many, who, with fair professions, sought merely to promote their own personal and. partisan ends, protected him from, what deceived others, and prepared him to interpret both the utterances and the silences of those who spake as loudly and as intelligibly in his ear by the latter as by the former. John Minor Botts, in his history of the rise, progress, and disastrous failure of the great Rebellion, states that the policy and avowed purposes of Mr. Calhoun converted him, and that the open and brazen avowals that the acquisition of Texas was mainly sought to extend and perpetuate slavery made Mr. Adams an Abolitionist. Mr. Botts gives the substance of an interview, after he had expressed sentiments he had not been understood to entertain. Upon the adjournment of the House," he said,” we walked down together, and I took occasion to refer to his remarks, which I do not now precisely recollect, and said that I thought he did not intend to say all that his language could imply. ‘Yes,' he replied, ' I said it deliberately and purposely.' ‘But’ said I, ' Mr. Adams, you are not an Abolitionist.' ‘Yes, I am,' said he. ' I never have been one until now; but when I see the Constitution of my country struck down by the South for such purposes as are openly avowed, no alternative is left me. I must oppose them with all the means within my reach. I must fight the Devil with his own fire; and, to do this effectually, I am obliged to co-operate with the Abolition Party, who have been hateful to me heretofore. If the South had consulted her true interest, and followed your counsel on the Twenty-first Rule and on the Texas­ question, their institutions would never have been endangered by the North; but, if matters are to take the shape foreshadowed by Mr. Calhoun and others of the Democratic Party, then no one can foretell what may be the consequences.'”

Nor did Mr. Adams express his convictions in equivocal and mealy words. In August, 1847, he wrote to Governor Slade of Vermont that the existence of slavery was “a moral pestilence” which "preyed on the human race "; that it was "the great evil now suffered by the race of men,--an evil to be extinguished by the will of man himself and by the operations of that will." He declared his belief, that, “if the will of the free portion of this North American people could be organized for action, the people of the whole American Union would ipso facto become free." He avowed himself in favor of an improvement in "the popular education," which, he said, " shall administer to the soul of every male child born within the free portion of these States the principle of that oath which it is said the Carthaginian Hamilcar administered to his son Hannibal with reference to Rome, --eternal, inextinguishable hatred, not to Rome, nor any existing nation, but to slavery throughout the earth.'' 

“The revolution,'' he said, "to be effected in the North American confederacy, preliminary to the abolition of slavery throughout the earth, is in the will of the portion of the American people already free. They now suffer themselves to be told that slavery is nothing to them, and they sleep in bonds of voluntary servitude. How long they will so sleep it will be of no use for me to inquire. The day of their awakening is reserved for a future age."

Mr. Adams had witnessed for fifteen years the continued aggressions of the Slave Power and its continued successes. No wonder, then, that the venerable statesman looked not to the immediate future, but to a coming age, for that awakening of the people which was to precede and procure that breaking of those " bonds of voluntary servitude " he so much deplored, and of whose speedy rupture he was so hopeless. Indeed, his very hopelessness revealed a deeper insight into the nature, workings, and tenacity of the system than did the more positive and confident utterances and anticipations of those who criticised him for his lack of zeal and want of co-operation. There can be little doubt as to his position, had he lived to see the struggle which at once witnessed and attested that awakening, and which resulted in the destruction of what he so thoroughly deprecated and so evidently understood.

Source:  Wilson, Henry, History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, Vol. 2.  Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1872, 161-164.


Family of John Quincy Adams:

See ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS

See ADAMS, HENRY A., JR.

See ADAMS, JAMES HOPKINS

See ADAMS, JOHN

See ADAMS, SAMUEL


ADAMS, JAMES HOPKINS, statesman, born in South Carolina about 1811; died near Columbia, South Carolina, 27 July, 1861. He was graduated at Yale in 1831. In 1832, during the “nullification” excitement, he strongly opposed the nullifiers in the legislature. After serving in the state senate for several sessions, he was elected governor for the term of l855-'57. He was one of the state commissioners that were chosen, after the ordinance of secession was passed, to treat with the president concerning the disposition of United States property in South Carolina. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1900, Vol. I, p. 15.


ADAMS, SAMUEL, military surgeon, born in Maine; died in Galveston, Texas, 9 September, 1867. He entered the National Army 16 April, 1862, and, after a year spent in the active duties of the permanent hospitals, joined the Army of the Potomac and served constantly with it until it was disbanded. During his field service he rose from the rank of regimental surgeon to that of medical inspector of the Ninth Army Corps, receiving also a brevet for “meritorious conduct at the capture of Petersburg.” During one of the closing battles of the war, at a time when the brilliant and rapid series of federal successes tended to obscure acts of individual gallantry, Dr. Adams distinguished himself by riding along the advanced line of combatants, and, under the fire of the enemy, dressing the wounds of General Potter, who could not be removed from the spot where he fell, and, but for the action of Surgeon Adams, would have lost his life. At the close of the war Surgeon Adams received an invitation from a wealthy and well-known gentleman to accompany his family on a European tour as his physician; but an application for leave of absence was refused by the war department, on the ground that his services could not be spared. Soon afterward he was ordered to Texas, where yellow fever was epidemic, and his last days were spent among the victims of the disease, of which he died. He was highly esteemed for his Christian character. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 31.


ADAMSTOWN, MARYLAND, October 14, 1864.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.19.


ADAMSVILLE, TENNESSEE, March 31, 1862. Detachment 5th Ohio Cavalry. A detachment of 28 men from Company I, under command of Lieutenant Murray, was sent down to the Purdy road from Adamsville, to relieve a temporary cavalry picket commanded by Lieutenant Rossman, was defeated in a skirmish with Confederate cavalry, with a loss of 1 wounded and 2 or 3 captured.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 19-20.


ADDRESS. An address to a court-martial, by either party, must be in writing. (Consult Hough's Law Authorities.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 14.)


ADJUTANT, (Latin adjutor, aid.) An officer selected by the colonel of the regiment from the subalterns. He communicates the orders of the colonel, and has duties in respect to his regiment assimilated to those of an adjutant-general with an army. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 14.)


ADJUTANT-GENERAL. The principal organ of the commander of an army in publishing orders. The same organ of the commander of a division, brigade, geographical division, or department, is styled Assistant Adjutant-general. The laws of the United States, however, provide for but one Adjutant-general with the rank of colonel, (made by regulations chief of a bureau of the War Department, and charged with the recruiting service, records, returns, &c.,) one Assistant Adjutant-general with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and twelve other assistants with the rank of major and captain. (See ARMY ORGANIZATION.)

 The bureau duties of Adjutants-general and assistants are: publishing orders in writing; making up written instructions, and transmitting them; reception of reports and returns; disposing of them; forming tables, showing the state and position of corps; regulating details of service; corresponding with the administrative departments relative to the wants of troops; corresponding with the corps, detachments, or individual officers serving under the orders of the same commander; and the methodical arrangement and care of the records and papers of his office. The active duties of Adjutants-general consist in establishing camps; visiting guards and outposts; mustering and inspecting troops; inspecting guards and detachments; forming parades and lines of battle; the conduct and control of deserters and prisoners; making reconnaissances; and in general discharging such other active duties as may be assigned them. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 14.)


ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF A STATE. (See MILITIA.)


ADJUTANT-GENERAL, DEPUTY, &c. An act making further provision for the army, and for other purposes: Approved July 6, 1812, provides: Sec. 2, That to any army of the United States, other than that in which the adjutant-general, inspector-general, quartermaster-general, and paymaster of the army, shall serve, it shall be lawful for the President to appoint one deputy adjutant-general, one deputy inspector-general, one deputy quartermaster-general, and one deputy paymaster-general, who shall be taken from the line of the army, and who shall, each, in addition to his pay and other emoluments, be entitled to fifty dollars per month, which shall be in full compensation for his extra services. And that there shall be, to each of the foregoing deputies, such number of assistant deputies (not exceeding three to each department) as the public service may require, who shall in like manner be taken from the line, and who shall each be entitled to thirty dollars per month, in addition to his pay and other emoluments, which shall be. in full compensation for his extra services, &c. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 15.)


ADMINISTRATION, ADMINISTRATIVE. These words are derived from ministrare, administrare, to serve. Administration is a branch of political economy; it is the action of administrative agents in executing laws or regulations conformable to law. The aim of a system of administration is to secure the performance of public duties, either directly, ministerially, or through the intervention of sub-agents. It is exercised over individuals or things, in civil matters, in courts of law, in political bodies, in the army and in the navy, and in general in all financial matters of government. Administration consists in establishing the ways and means of public receipts and expenditures; in watching over such employments; in the collection, care, and distribution of material and money; and in rendering arid auditing accounts of such employments. Army Administration also embraces in war the means by which an army is supported in foreign countries by a general in campaign, when without regular supplies, without resorting to pillage. The wars of the French revolution brought into use REQUISITIONS, a moderate kind of marauding, weighing more heavily upon countries than upon individuals. Requisitions are, however, an uncertain and unequal means of supply, and only enable an army to live from hand to mouth, and although practicable in offensive wars, are only justifiable in rapid movements, where time does not admit the employment of more certain means of supply. The system is less odious than pillage.

Bonaparte skilfully adopted another method, in harmony with the spirit of wars of invasion, and also more reliable as a means of support. He substituted himself in place of the supreme authorities of the invaded country, and exacted pecuniary contributions, paying, or promising to pay, for all provisions and other supplies needed for his army. Some writers think that even this modified system can only succeed in gigantic operations, where an army upon a new soil successively gives repose to that previously occupied. Such a system was, however, well executed by Marshal Suchet in Spain, and a similar system was also matured and published in orders by General Scott while in Mexico. A treaty of peace, however, soon after was made, which put an end to military operations, and the system was therefore only partially executed. But with a sufficient army in a fertile country, the experience of the world has shown that if the inhabitants are protected from injuries, they will very generally sell to the best paymasters. It is therefore the interest of an invading army not to interfere with the ordinary avocations of citizens, and such is the modern usage.

Bonaparte (according to Las Casas) thought that an entire revolution in the habits and education of the soldier, and perhaps also in those of the officers, was essential to the formation of a veritable self-subsisting army. Such an army (he said) cannot exist with present ovens, magazines, administration, wagons, &c., &c. Such an army will exist when, in imitation of the Romans, the soldier shall receive his corn, shall personally carry his mill and cooking utensils, cook his own bread, &c., &c., and when the present frightful paper administration has been dispensed with. He added that he had meditated upon all those changes, but a period of profound peace was necessary to put them in practice. If he had been constrained to keep a large army in peace, he would have employed it upon the public works, and given it an organization, a dress, and a mode of subsistence altogether special. If such a scheme be practicable, no approach to it yet exists.

The French have made some progress in developing a system of administration suited to a large army, but hardly a step in the direction pointed out by Napoleon. The French administrative service is a powerful means of moving armies in unforeseen emergencies. Its foresight provides resources, and the adversary soonest ready has the greatest chance of success. Not a century since, the French government required six months' preparation before an army could move; now, in the language of Gen. Lamarque, “ The cannon is loaded, and the blow may be given at the same moment as the manifesto, and, if necessary, the blow may precede it.” Ordinary army administration consists in the organization and other means by which various administrative duties are performed, necessary to provide for the wants of troops, and for all the foreseen demands of a state of war, including labor and the supplies for garrisons, sieges, &c. Such duties embrace subsistence magazines, daily rations, forage, dress, encampments, barracks, hospitals, transportation, &c., &c., the administrative duties of engineers, and of the ordnance department, estimates, accountability, payments, recruiting, and in general the receipt and proper application of money. The Secretary of War, under the orders of the President, is the head of military administration in the United States. The object of such administration is to provide, through the resources placed by law at his disposition, for the constant wants, regular or accidental, of all who compose the army. Good administration embraces a foreknowledge of wants, as well as the creation, operation, and watchfulness of the ways and means necessary to satisfy them; the payment of expenses, and the settlement of accounts.

Army administration is divided into several branches determined by law. These different branches constitute the administrative service of an army, the operations of which should be so regulated that the Secretary of War will be always informed of the condition of each, and be able to exercise, subordinate to law, a complete financial control over each. These different branches of administration are: 1. The recruiting service, and the custody of records and returns of personnel; 2. The administrative service of engineers and topographical engineers; 3. The ordnance department; 4. The quartermaster's department; 5. The subsistence department; 6. The pay department; 7. The administrative service of the medical department; and, 8. The settlement of army accounts. Bureau of the War Department charged with these different matters have been organized by the President and Secretary of War, under the joint authority given these functionaries by the act of Congress of 1813 (See REGULATION) to make regulations better defining the powers and duties of certain staff officers. The adjutant-general of the army and the heads of administrative corps have each been assigned a bureau in the War Department, under the direction of the Secretary of War, for the management of the administrative duties with which they have been respectively charged. Administration and Command are distinct. Administration is controlled by the head of an executive department of the government, under the orders of the President, by means of legally appointed administrative agents, with or without rank, while Command, or the discipline, military control, and direction of military service of officers and soldiers, can be legally exercised only by the military hierarchy, at the head of which is the constitutional commander-in-chief of the army, navy, and militia, followed by the commander of the army, and other military grades created by Congress. (See ACCOUNTS; ACCOUNTABILITY; ADJUTANT-GENERAL; ALLOWANCES; AMBULANCES; APPROPRIATIONS; ARREARS OF PAY; ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES; ARMY REGULATIONS; AUDITORS; BAGGAGE; BAKING; BARRACKS; BED; BOOKS; BONDS; BOUNTY; BRIDGE; CALLING FORTH MILITIA; CARPENTRY; CASEMATE; CLERKS; CLOTHING; COMMISSARY; COMMISSION; 2 COMPTROLLER; CONGRESS; CONSCRIPTION; CONTRACTS; COUNCILS OF ADMINISTRATION; DAMAGE; DECEASED; DEFAULTERS; DELINQUENTS; DEPARTMENT OF WAR; DEPOT; DISBURSING OFFICERS; DISCHARGE; EMBEZZLEMENT; ENGINEER CORPS; ENGINEERS, (TOPOGRAPHICAL;) ENLISTMENTS; EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS; EXECUTION OF LAWS; EXEMPTS; EXTRA EXPENSES; EXTRA ALLOWANCES; GRATUITY; INDIAN; INSURRECTION; LAWS (MILITARY) AND REFERENCES; LOSSES; LOGISTICS; MARSHALS; MEASURES; MEDICAL DEPARTMENT; MILEAGE; MILITIA; MUSTER; NITRE; OBSTRUCTION OF LAWS; ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT; ORDNANCE SERGEANTS; ORGANIZING; OVEN; PASSPORTS; PAY; PAY DEPARTMENT; PAYMASTER-GENERAL; PENSION; PONTON; POSSE COMITATUS; PRESIDENT; PURCHASING; QUARTERS; QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT; QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL; RAISE AND REFERENCES; RATION; RECRUITING; REENLISTING; REGULATION; REMEDY; RETURNS; ROADS; SALE; SANITARY PRECAUTIONS; SAPPERS; SAW-MILL; SECRETARY OF WAR; SERVICE; STAFF; STATE TROOPS; STANDARDS; STOREKEEPERS; STOPPAGE OF PAY; SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT; SUIT; SUPERINTENDENT; TELEGRAPH; TENT; TOOLS; TRADE; TRANSFERS; TRAVELLING ALLOWANCES; TREATY; UNIFORM; UTENSILS; VALUE; VETERAN; VETERINARY; VOLUNTEERS; WAGON; WAR; WEIGHTS; WILLS, (NUNCUPATIVE); WOUNDS. (Consult BARDIN, de Dictionnaire de l Armee de Terre / Legislation et. Administration Militaire, par M. LEON GUILLOT; Military Laws of the United States; Gen. SCOTT'S orders in Mexico; SUCHET'S Memoirs.)  (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p.p. 15-18.)


ADMISSIONS. The judge advocate is authorized, when he sees proper, to admit what a prisoner expects to prove by absent witnesses. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 18.)


ADOBE FORT, NEW MEXICO, November 25, 1864. Detachment of California and New Mexico Volunteers and Friendly Indians. The detachment, consisting of three companies of the 1st California cavalry two companies of the 1st New Mexico cavalry, and two companies of infantry, with 2 mountain howitzers, numbering 335 white men and 75 Ute and Apache Indians, the whole commanded by Colonel Christopher ("Kit") Carson, engaged about 1,000 well mounted Indians about four miles from Adobe Fort. The hostile force consisted of Kiowas and Comanches, with a few Apaches and Arapahoes. The fight lasted from 8:30 in the morning until sunset, during which time the Indians fought bravely, charging many times from different points, but in the end they were defeated and compelled to witness the destruction of their village of 150 fine lodges, with large quantities of dried meats, buffalo robes, powder, cooking utensils, a buggy belonging to the Kiowa chief, Sierrito or Little Mountain, and other property. The battle was hot all over the ground from the village to Fort Adobe. Carson's loss was 2 whites and 1 Indian killed, and 10 whites and 5 Indians wounded. The enemy lost over 60 in killed and wounded.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 20.


ADOBES are unburnt brick made from earth of a loamy character containing about two-thirds fine sand mixed intimately with one-third or less of clayey dust or sand. Stiff clay will not answer, as the rays of the sun would crack it in pieces. The adobe, under the action of the sun, becomes a compact mass. Upon our Indian frontiers in New Mexico, in Mexico, and in Central America, adobe houses and adobe defences against the Indians are common structures. Four men usually work together in making adobe brick. One mixes the mass in a hole, and loads the barrow, two carry it on a common hand-barrow, and the fourth moulds the brick. The moulder has a double mould, or one which forms two adobes, each eighteen inches long, nine inches w r ide, and four inches thick. The partition between the two compartments should be of one and a half inch stuff, the other parts of inch board; a cleat on either outer side, extending the length of the mould, permits the mould to be easily handled. It must be well morticed together so as not to wabble. The moulder has no bottom, the adobe being deposited on the surface of the ground, made tolerably level, and without reversing, as in brick making. The mould is raised gradually and slowly away from the moulded masses. Before placing it on the ground to mould another couple, the inner sides of the mould are washed with water, kept at hand; this is all that is required to preserve the mud from sticking and thus breaking the adobe. The mould is emptied a second time on the ground at about three inches from the first couple, and in refilling, the balance of the mud left over from the first moulding is cast in the compartments, and the two men with the barrow of mud throw their load directly upon the mould, and all that is over and above what is necessary to fill it is scraped off by the moulder's hands toward where his next couple is to be. The dumping of the mud from the barrow is facilitated by casting into the barrow a little finely powdered dry manure or dust.

An adobe eighteen inches long, nine inches wide, and four inches thick, is the best average size for moulding and for building. They are sometimes made sixteen inches long and twelve inches wide; in such cases they are all laid as headers; but with the eighteen inch adobe they afford the means of binding the wall strongly by alternating headers and stretchers, as in brick-laying. In the hot 'spring and summer suns two or three days uninterrupted drying is sufficient at. the first; the adobes are then carefully turned up on edge, so as to expose the under or still wet face to the southern and western sunshine. They should be left in this position from a week to fifteen days to dry thoroughly, when, if not wanted for immediate use, they may be stacked on edge and covered from the weather. Houses in New Mexico are seldom built over one story high. This enables the builder to place on the roof-covering at once, if necessary. But in all cases, intervals in the work must be allowed, or the house will not only be unsafe, but, if immediately occupied, damp and disagreeable. The inside plastering with mud is most frequently done before the roof is covered in, so as to dry with the wall. If the wall must be left unfinished through the fall rains or the winter, the top of it is covered with a bushy weed called cachanilla, and this is covered with earth, to exclude water and protect it till the ensuing year. If door and window frames are at hand, the Mexicans prefer to put them in as they build; but oftener they leave gaps for doors and windows, unfilled with the frames, till the whole is finished. The adobes are laid with mud mortar made from the earth at the base of the wall; the holes thus formed are readily filled again with the rubbish from the house when completed. When the wall is ready to receive the roof-covering, heavy joists are laid, about two feet apart, on the top of the walls, strong enough to “bear near a foot of earth all over the roof; the joists, as they rest upon the wall, are supported upon boards, or plates, as they are called, to distribute the weight of the roof, and prevent the joists from crushing into the walls. Across the joists, and over the whole roof, averaging about two inches in diameter, poles are now placed, the largest on the highest side of the roof to begin the slope, and on this is placed a close covering of the cachanilla, which is aromatic and keeps out bugs; it is evergreen, and a plant of the most suitable length to fill the interstices in the poles. Small willow brush is often used in the absence of cachanilla. The earth-covering of the roof is now put on, extending all round the roof to the parapet above the joists, which is only one-half the width of the wall below; this brings the dirt roof to cover over one-half the width or thickness of the wall, by which leaks in the room below are prevented. An adobe house, if well secured, is warmer in winter, and cooler in summer, than one of wood or brick. The brick is cold and damp, the adobe is dry and a much worse conductor of heat no furrowing nor lathing is necessary and the rough inside can be white-washed or slapped with plaster. The durability of adobe walls is extraordinary. The Pecos Church, not far from Santa Fe, is doubtless one hundred years old; its mud walls (adobe) are as firm to this day as a rock, and they cannot be less than fifty feet high. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, pp. 18-20.)


ADVANCED. Any portion of an army which is in front of the rest. It is figuratively applied to the promotion of officers and soldiers. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 20.)


ADVANCED COVERED WAY is a terre plein, on the exterior of the advanced ditch, similar to the first covered way. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 20.)


ADVANCED DITCH is an excavation beyond the glacis of the enceinte, having its surface on the prolongation of that slope, that an enemy may find no shelter when in the ditch. Scott, (Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 20.)


ADVANCED GUARD. A detachment of troops which precedes the march of the main body. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 20.)


ADVANCED LUNETTES are works resembling bastions or ravelins, having faces and flanks. They are formed upon or beyond the glacis. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 20).


ADVANCED WORKS are such as are constructed beyond the covered way and glacis, but within the range of the musketry of the main works. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 20.)


ADVANCES of public money may be authorized by the President of the United States to persons in the military or naval service employed on distant stations. Prohibited otherwise; (Act Jan. 31, 1823.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 20.)


ADVISING TO DESERT. Punishable with death or otherwise, as a court-martial may direct; (Art. 23, Articles of War.)  (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 21.)


AENON CHURCH, VIRGINIA, May 28, 1864. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, and 2nd Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. This engagement was an incident of the campaign from the Rapidan to the James river. The 1st brigade, consisting of the 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th Michigan cavalry, and commanded by Brigadier-General George A. Custer, after driving the enemy from Haw's shop and Crump creek, was ordered to the support of the 2nd division (Gregg's) which was engaged with a large force at Aenon church. From Haw's shop Custer moved down the Richmond road until near the church, when the dense growth of timber and underbrush rendered the cavalry useless. Dismounting his men he formed a line at right angles with the road, the 1st and 6th regiments on the right and the 5th and 7th on the left. In this formation the brigade advanced until an opening was made in Gregg's line to receive it. By this time there was heavy fighting along the whole line, and several losses had been inflicted on both sides without material advantage to either. As the 1st brigade moved forward and engaged the enemy the 5th and 7th regiments were exposed to a well directed cross fire and to a heavy fire in front. More than once they had to give ground temporarily, but each time they advanced again with courage and determination. Believing that it was within the power of the 1st and 6th regiments to dislodge that portion of the enemy whose destructive fire enfiladed the other two, Custer ordered them to advance their line. The men moved forward with a cheer and drove the enemy in confusion from his position, his dead and wounded remaining on the field. Simultaneously the 5th and 7th advanced on the left of the road, inflicted terrible loss on the enemy in front and drove him back. The pursuit was kept up until the Confederates had found safety beyond the range of the Federal guns. The brigade held its position until dark, when it was relieved by infantry, and encamped on the Pamunkey, about a mile from the mouth of the Totopotomy river. "Our loss in this battle," reported Custer, "was greater than in any other engagement of the campaign." Official reports include it with losses in other nearly contemporaneous engagements. The Confederate forces here engaged were those of Generals Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.20.


AFFAIR. Any slight action or engagement. Affair of outpost; affair of rear-guard, &c. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 21.)


AFFIDAVITS, being admissions upon oath, are evidence as such against the parties who made them, (Hough.) In the trial of cases not capital, the deposition of witnesses not of the staff or line of the army, taken before a Justice of the Peace in presence of the prosecutor and person accused, may be read in evidence; (Art. 10.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 21.)


AGNEW, CORNELIUS REA, physician, born in New York City, 8 August, 1830; died there, 18 April, 1888. He was graduated at Columbia College in 1849, studied medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and received his degree in 1852. During the following year he was house surgeon, and subsequently curator, at the New York Hospital. After studying in Europe, he was surgeon to the New York Eye and Ear infirmary until 1864. In 1858, he was appointed surgeon general of the state of New York, and at the outbreak of the Civil War he became medical director of the New York state volunteer hospital, in which capacity he performed most efficient service. He was a prominent member of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, and much of its success must be attributed to his labors. In 1868 he established an ophthalmic clinic in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and during the following year he was elected clinical professor of diseases of the eye and ear in the same institution. He founded in 1868 the Brooklyn eye and ear hospital, and in 1869 the Manhattan eye and ear hospital. For several years he was one of the managers of the New York State Hospital for the Insane, at Poughkeepsie. Dr. Agnew exhibited considerable interest in the educational institutions of New York City. In 1859 he was elected a trustee of the public schools, and subsequently he was president of the board. In 1864 he was associated in the establishment of the Columbia College school of mines, and in 1874 became one of the trustees of the college. In 1872 he was elected president of the State Medical Society. He contributed numerous papers to the current medical journals, most of which are devoted to diseases of the eye and ear, and he also published brief monographs and a " Series of American Clinical Lectures," edited by E. C. Seguin, M. D. (New York, 1875). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1900, Vol. I, p.39.


AIDES-DE-CAMP are ex-officio assistants adjutant-general; (Act March 2, 1821.) They are confidential officers selected by general officers to assist them in their military duties. A lieutenant-general appoints not exceeding four in time of war, and two in peace, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel; a major-general two, and a brigadier-general one. Attached to the person of the general, they receive orders only from him. Their functions are difficult and delicate. Often enjoying the full confidence of the general, they are employed in representing him, in writing orders, in carrying them in person if necessary, in communicating them verbally upon battle-fields and other fields of manoeuvre. It is important that Aides-de-Camp should know well the positions of troops, routes, posts, quarters of generals, composition of columns, and orders of corps: facility in the use of the pen should be joined with exactness of expression; upon fields of battle they watch the movements of the enemy; not only grand manoeuvres but special tactics should be familiar to them. It is necessary that their knowledge should be sufficiently comprehensive to understand the object and purpose of all orders, and also to judge in the varying circumstances of a battle-field, whether it is not necessary to modify an order when carried in person, or if there be time to return for new instructions. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 20.)


AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA, February 11, 1865. 3d Cavalry Division, Sherman's Army. Early in the morning, the 2nd brigade, 3d cavalry division, Military division of the Mississippi, under command of General Atkins, accompanied by General Kilpatrick, moved toward Aiken, the advance driving the Confederates to the east side of the town. The 92nd Illinois, under Lieutenant-Colonel Van Buskirk, charged into Aiken, which appeared to have been vacated, only to find it held in force by the enemy under Hampton and Wheeler. A Confederate division in the woods on the Federal right charged in the rear of the 92nd and formed in line. Leaving a skirmish line to hold the enemy in front, Van Buskirk faced the regiment to the rear, charged through the Confederates and rejoined his brigade, which had formed a line of battle with the 9th Michigan on the left of the road and railroad, the 9th Ohio on the right, supporting Lieutenant Clark's section of artillery some distance in the rear, and the loth Ohio in reserve. The 92nd came up to this line so mixed up with the enemy as to make it impossible for the remainder of the brigade to fire. Federals and Confederates alike were claiming their enemies as prisoners and pulling them off their horses. Neither side was armed with sabers. Two Confederates were killed and another was knocked off his horse by Van Buskirk, who used his empty pistol as a club.  As soon as firing was possible the Confederate advance was checked by a volley from the Federal line. The 9th Ohio under Colonel Hamilton charged the enemy on the right of the road and most of the 92nd Illinois charged back with it. Major McBride of the 9th Michigan charged with his battalion on the left, and the Confederates were driven back into Aiken. The Federals then fell back to their fortified position at Johnson's station and, though pursued and attacked on their flanks, repeatedly repelled the enemy's charges by a well directed fire. The Federal loss was 53 killed, wounded and missing; Confederate loss 72 killed. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 20-21.


AIM. (See FIRING; TARGET.)


ALAMO, STEAMER, November 29, 1864. (See Dardanelle, Arkansas, same date.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 21.


ALARM-POST is the place appointed for every regiment or detachment to assemble, in case of a sudden alarm. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 20.)


ALARMS, FALSE. Any officer who shall occasion false alarms in camp, garrison, or quarters, shall suffer death or other punishment as a court-martial may direct; (Art. 49.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 21.)


ALBANY, KENTUCKY, September 23, 1861. The exact date of this affair is uncertain. According to General Zollicoffer (Confederate) a Federal force of about 400 men, which had made prisoners of Confederate soldiers and citizens sympathizing with the cause of secession, at and near Albany, was about this time routed by a detachment of Confederate troops under Captain Bledsoe and about 60 muskets captured.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 21.


ALBANY, KENTUCKY, September 29, 1861. Shortly before this date the Confederates at Albany withdrew to an encampment about 20 miles away, taking much private and public property, including more than 30 home-guard muskets and 3,000 rounds of cartridges. In the presence of a foe out-numbering them ten to one, the Russell home-guards (Federal) occupied the place, replanting and standing by the colors and defiantly inviting an attack. About 300 Federals, pf the 12th Kentucky infantry under Colonel Haskins, arrived on the 28th and were soon reinforced by 500 to 600 cavalry and home-guards. On the 29th, Haskins ordered Captain Morrison to attack a new Confederate camp at Travisville, 13 miles distant. About 100 troops were surprised there, 2 were killed, 2 taken prisoners and the others escaped. Major Brents, with 45 men, was sent to reinforce Morrison, but arrived too late to participate in the attack.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 21.


ALBANY, KENTUCKY, August 18, 1863. Detachment of the 23d Army Corps. The monthly return of the corps' itinerary, during the East Tennessee campaign, says: "On the 18th Lieutenant Carr fell in with Champ Ferguson at Albany. Killed 2, wounded 3, among whom was Ferguson himself." This is the only official mention of the affair.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 21.


ALBANY, MISSOURI, October 26. 1864. 33d Infantry Enrolled Missouri Militia. This regiment commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel S. P. Cox attacked Bill Anderson and his guerrillas at Albany, Ray county, and gained a signal victory. Anderson and one of his men supposed to have been Captain Rains, son of General Rains of Price's army, charged through the Federal lines and Anderson was killed. Rains escaped from the town with his routed followers. On Anderson's body were found orders from General Price.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 21.


ALBEE'S RANCH, CALIFORNIA, July 29, 1862. Two express riders of Company E, 2nd California infantry, were fired upon by Indians in ambush about 2 miles Albee's ranch. One was shot through the body and the other's horse was wounded, but he exchanged fire with an Indian at close range, without injury to either. The two men managed to get to Albee's, and later to Fort Anderson.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 21-22.


ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VIRGINIA, February 28-March 1, 1864. Custer's Expedition. Brigadier-General George A. Custer, commanding the 3d cavalry division, with 1.500 men and a section of artillery, left Pony mountain on the afternoon of February 28 for a raid into Albemarle county. That night he bivouacked at Madison Court House, but at 2 a. m. on the 29th resumed his march on the road leading to Stanardsville. A small picket of the enemy was encountered a few miles north of Banks' ford on the Rapidan river, but it was quickly dispersed. About 8 o'clock the advance reached Stanardsville, where shots were exchanged with a small detachment of Confederate cavalry, which fled rapidly toward Orange Court House. From prisoners taken at Stanardsville, Custer learned that Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry was foraging in the neighborhood of Charlottesville and turned in that direction. Some 6 miles from Charlottesville the Confederate pickets were met and driven rapidly back 2 miles beyond the Rivanna river and 3 miles from Charlottesville, where the enemy was found in force, supported by four batteries of artillery. Captain Ash, with two squadrons of the 5th U. S. cavalry, was sent to charge the right flank and succeeded in capturing 6 caissons filled with ammunition, 2 forges and several sets of good harness, besides destroying the camp of the enemy's artillery. The demonstration developed the fact, however, that the Confederates were superior in numbers and too strong to attack, so Custer withdrew in good order, recrossed the Rivanna, destroying the bridge behind him and returned to Stanardsville. Upon reaching that place on the morning of March 1, he found it again occupied by the enemy's pickets, who were driven out and the stores, consisting of clothing, saddles, provisions and whisky, were destroyed. From Stanardsville Custer started on the return to Madison Court House, but after proceeding a few miles he found three brigades of Confederate cavalry—two under General Stuart and one under General Wickham —drawn up at the forks of the road leading to Burton's and Banks' fords. Captain Lieb, who was in advance with one squadron of the 5th U. S. cavalry, charged the whole force, and for a short time the enemy was thrown into confusion by the sudden and unexpected action. Stuart rallied his men and countercharged, forcing Lieb back upon the main body. The entire 5th regiment under Captain Arnold then charged, driving the enemy back and capturing over 20 prisoners, besides recapturing some of Lieb's men who had fallen into the hands of the enemy. As the Confederates retreated Lieutenant Porter hurried his guns in position and fired a few shots after them to accelerate their movements. Part of the Confederates moved toward Banks' ford and the remainder toward Burton's. The latter was pursued across the South river and driven to the Rapidan, where Custer placed his artillery in position as though he intended to force a passage at Burton's ford, which caused Stuart to concentrate his forces there, when Custer faced about and moved quickly to the upper fords, crossing the Rapidan before the enemy could prevent the movement. Besides the bridge over the Rivanna river and the stores at Stanardsville, the expedition destroyed 3 large flour mills filled with grain; captured 2 wagons, one of which was loaded with bacon; 50 prisoners, a stand of colors and 500 horses and brought in 100 negroes. Custer's casualties amounted to 6 men slightly wounded. He was complimented by the major general commanding for the success of the expedition.


ALBEMARLE SOUND, NORTH CAROLINA, May 5, 1864. United States Gunboats. In the afternoon, the side-wheel boats Mattabesett, Sassacus and Wyalusing lay at anchor in Albemarle sound, 20 miles below the mouth of the Roanoke river. They were charged with an encounter with, and if possible the destruction of, the Albemarle, a Confederate iron-clad ram, whose presence in the waters was, in view of her past achievements, a menace to Federal occupancy. The Miami, with four or five of the smaller boats of the hederal Meet, had been sent down to the mouth of the Roanoke to decoy the Albemarle from under the protecting batteries of Plymouth, into the open waters of the sound. At 3 o'clock, falling back before the ram, they drew it and its consorts, the Bombshell and the Cotton Plant, into a position favorable for an attack. The last named, manned by 200 sharpshooters and boarders, put back toward Plymouth on the approach of the Federal gunboats. The Bombshell closed up on the ram's quarter in position for the impending action. The Mattabesett, Sassacus and Wyalusing came on in the order named, under command of Captain Smith, senior naval officer. The Miami, some distance in the rear of these vessels, fired over them, striking but not harming the Albemarle, which immediately responded. The Mattabesett passed the ram and delivered a harmless broadside. The Albemarle tried and failed to ram the Sassacus, now passing in her turn. The latter sent a broadside of solid shot against the ram's iron armor without making any impression. Then sweeping around the stern of the Albemarle, the Sassacus poured a disabling broadside into the hull of the Bombshell, which brought the latter's Confederate flag down and her white flag up and the conquered steamer anchored out of fire. Meantime the Mattabesett had again passed the ram, delivering a well directed fire; and the Wyalusing, which had previously passed, serving its guns skillfully, was now astern of the Sassacus, diverting the attention of the Albemarle from the latter, to which her whole side presented a fair mark. The Sassacus dashed furiously upon the ram and received a 100-pound shot through her, but succeeded in penetrating a vulnerable part of the side of the Albemarle. A duel of ponderous ordnance ensued, but the Albemarle gave way as the prow of the Sassacus pressed deeper and deeper into her side. It was a fight with cannon almost muzzle to muzzle; with musketry and hand grenades, the latter hurled from the foretop of the Sassacus into the enemy's hatches. The other Federal vessels helped all they could, but most of their missiles glanced from the iron-clad sides of the Albemarle. The machinery of the Sassacus was disabled, its penetrating stem gave way and the two vessels swung side by side. Blackened, scalded, sightless, the engineer of the Sassacus kept his post and rallied the scalded, pain-maddened and fleeing men to prevent the explosion of the boilers by putting out the fires under them. The Sassacus poured shell and solid shot into the Albemarle's port-holes. One shot from a 100-pounder Parrott gun was shattered on the port-side of the ram and pieces of it rebounded to the Federal deck whence it had come. The Albemarle was finally repulsed and driven into the mouth of the Roanoke river, somewhat damaged, but with its machinery not disabled. The Sassacus was disabled in guns, hull and machinery, but the Bombshell was a prize of war, her 37 officers and men were prisoners and the Federals were in undisputed possession of the sound.


ALBERT, JOHN S., engineer, born in 1835; died in Philadelphia, 3 July, 1880. He entered the U. S. Navy in 1855 from New York, and was appointed chief engineer in 1861, in which capacity he served during the war with credit. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 39


ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, April 8-9, 1862. General Canby wanted to make a junction with another command below the Confederates at Albuquerque and Santa Fe in order to cut off their retreat, but an insufficient force and lack of supplies rendered such a movement inexpedient. He left Fort Craig on the 1st, with 800 regulars and 350 volunteers, and on the 8th, by his order, Captain Graydon's spy company, supported by regular cavalry, made a demonstration before Albuquerque, to develop the position of the Confederate batteries. Major Duncan of the 3d U. S. cavalry was wounded. The demonstration was during the night of the 9th, the object being to draw the Confederate forces from Santa Fe, Canby hoping thus to effect a junction without opposition to his own or the other Federal column. Events proved the wisdom of his plan, for on the succeeding night he marched to San Antonio. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 23.


ALCORN'S DISTILLERY, KENTUCKY, May 9, 1863. Detachment 9th Kentucky, 20th Michigan Cavalry and Henry Rifles. On the 8th Captain Wiltsie, under orders from Colonel Jacob, post commander at Gran's Ferry, proceeded with the detachment, numbering 100 men, dismounted, toward Monticello to attempt the breaking up of Champ Ferguson's band of guerrillas. Next day, without having met any armed force, he took prisoners 12 men supposed to be of Ferguson's band, captured 5 horses and burned Alcorn's distillery, a reputed lurking place for bushwhackers. Then, with some detachments out, he rested with the main body of his force at Alcorn's. There he was attacked by about 300 dismounted men, said to be Morgan's advance guard. Although he resisted desperately he was driven to a wood, where he repeatedly charged the Confederates and ultimately drove them back. As they retired to remount, the Federals gained a good position and the fight was not renewed. That afternoon Wiltsie returned to camp. At the beginning of the fight 4 of his prisoners and 3 of his captured horses escaped. His loss was 12 killed, wounded and missing. In attempting to reinforce Wiltsie, Captain Carpenter of one of the detachments met and repulsed a detachment of Confederate cavalry. He then fell back until he met Captains Barnes and Allen with other detachments of the command. Barnes fell back rapidly, with the avowed intention of holding a narrows, and Allen fell back leisurely. Before the latter reached the reserve post Confederate cavalry attacked him in force. He retired in good order, with a loss of 3 men, and the enemy did not pursue.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 24.


ALCOTT, AMOS BRONSON, 1799-1888, abolitionist, educator, writer, philosopher, reformer.  Opposed the Mexican American War and the extension of slavery into Texas.  His home was a station on the Underground Railroad.  His second daughter was noted author Louisa May Alcott, who was also opposed to slavery.  Friend of abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips.  (Baker, 1996; Bedell, 1980; Dahlstrand, 1982; Matteson, 2007; Schreiner, 2006; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 40-41; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, pp. 139-141)

ALCOTT, Amos Bronson, educator, born in Wolcott, Connecticut, 29 November, 1799. His father was a farmer. While yet a boy he was provided with a trunk of various merchandise, and set out to make his way in the south. He landed at Norfolk, Virginia, and went among the plantations, talking with the people and reading their books. They liked him as a companion, and were glad to hold discussions with him on intellectual subjects. They would keep him under their roofs for weeks, reading and conversing, while he forgot all about his commercial duties. But when he returned to the north his employer discovered he had not sold five dollars' worth of his stock. He relinquished his trade in 1823, and established an infant school, which immediately attracted attention. His method of teaching was by conversation, not by books. In 1828, he went to Boston and established another school, showing singular skill and sympathy in his methods of teaching· young children. His success caused him to be widely known, and a sketch of him and his methods, under the title of “A Record of Mr. Alcott's School,” by E. P. Peabody, was published in Boston in 1834 (3d ed., revised, 1874). This was followed in 1836 by a transcript of the colloquies of the children with their teacher, in “Conversations with Children on the Gospel.” His school was so far in advance of the thought of the day that it was denounced by the press, and as a result he gave it up and moved to Concord, Massachusetts, where he devoted himself to the study of natural theology, reform in education, diet, and civil and social institutions. In order to disseminate his reformatory views more thoroughly, he went upon the lecture platform, where he was an attractive speaker, and his personal worth and originality of thought always secured him a respectful hearing. In 1842 he went to England, on the invitation of James P. Greaves, of London, the friend and fellow-laborer of Pestalozzi in Switzerland. Before his arrival Mr. Greaves died, but Mr. Alcott was cordially received by Mr. Greaves's friends, who had given the name of “Alcott House” to their school at Ham, near London. On his return to America, he brought with him two English friends, Charles Lane and H. G. Wright. Mr. Lane bought an estate near Harvard, in Worcester County, Massachusetts, which he named “Fruitlands,” and there all went for the purpose of founding a community, but the enterprise was a failure. Messrs. Lane and Wright soon returned to England, and the property was sold. Mr. Alcott moved to Boston, and afterward returned to Concord. He has since then led the life of a peripatetic philosopher, conversing in cities and villages, wherever invited, on divinity, human nature, ethics, dietetics, and a wide range of practical questions. These conversations, which were at first casual, gradually assumed a more formal character. The topics were often printed on cards, and the company met at a fixed time and place. Of late years they have attracted much attention. Mr. Alcott has all through his life attached great importance to diet and government of the body, and still more to race and complexion. He has been regarded as a leader in the transcendental style of thought, but in later years has been claimed as a convert to orthodox Christianity. He has published “Tablets” (1868); “Concord Days,” personal reminiscences of the town (1872); “Table Talk” (1877); and “Sonnets and Canzonets” (1877), besides numerous contributions to periodical literature, including papers entitled “Orphic Sayings” in “The Dial” (Boston, 1839-'42). After taking up his residence in Concord, he allowed the peculiarities of his mind to find expression in quaint and curious arrangement of his grounds. The fence enclosing them, built entirely by himself, is made wholly of pine boughs, knotted, gnarled, and twisted in every conceivable shape, no two pieces being alike. They seem to be the result of many years of fragmentary collection in his walks. The engraving presented on the previous page is a view of Mr. Alcott's home in Concord, Massachusetts Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888. Pp. 40-41.


ALCOTT, LOUISA MAY, 1832-1888, writer, opponent of slavery, feminist.  Author of Little Women: Or Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (1868).  Daughter of abolitionist Amos Bronson Alcott. Their home was a station on the Underground Railroad.  (Eisenlein, 2001; MacDonald, 1983; Saxton, 1977; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 41; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, p. 141)

ALCOTT, Louisa May, author, born in Germantown, now a part of Philadelphia, 29 November, 1832. She is a daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott. When she was about two years of age her parents moved to Boston, and in her eighth year to Concord, Massachusetts At the age of eleven she was brought under the influence of the community that endeavored to establish itself near Harvard, in Worcester County Thoreau was for a time her teacher; but she was instructed mainly by her father. She began to write for publication at the age of sixteen, but with no marked success for fifteen years. During that time she devoted ten years to teaching. In 1862 she went to Washington as a volunteer nurse, and for many months labored in the military hospitals. At this time she wrote to her mother and sisters letters containing sketches of hospital life and experience, which on her return were revised and published in book form (Boston, 1863), and attracted much attention. In 1866 she went to Europe to recuperate her health, which had been seriously impaired by her hospital work, and on her return in 1867 she wrote “Little Women,” which was published the following year, and made her famous. The sales in less than three years amounted to 87,000 copies. Her characters are drawn from life, and are full of the buoyant, free, hopeful New England spirit which marks her own enthusiastic love for nature, freedom, and life. Her other stories are conceived in the same vein, and have been almost equally popular. They are: “Flower Fables or Fairy Tales” (Boston, 1855); '”Hospital Sketches,” her first book, now out of print, reissued with other stories (1869); “An Old-Fashioned Girl” (1869); “Little Men” (1871); a series called “Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag” (1871-'82), containing “My Boys,” “Shawl Straps,” “Cupid and Chow-Chow,” “My Girls,” “Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore,” and “An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving”; “Work, A Story of Experience” (1873); “Eight Cousins” (1874); “Rose in Bloom” (1876); “Silver Pitchers” (1876); “Under the Lilacs” (1878); “Jack and Gill” (1880); “Moods” (1864), reissued in a revised edition (1881); “Proverb Stories” (1882); “Spinning- Wheel Stories” (1884); “Lulu's Library,” the first of a new series (1885). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888 p.41.


ALDEN, JAMES, naval officer, born in Portland, Maine, 31 March, 1810  died in San Francisco, California, 6 February, 1877. He was appointed midshipman in 1828, and in that capacity accompanied the Wilkes Exploring Expedition around the world in 1838-'42. He was commissioned lieutenant in 1841, and served during the Mexican War, being present at the capture of Vera Cruz, Tuxpan, and Tabasco. In 1855-56 he was actively engaged in the Indian War on Puget's Sound. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was in command of the steamer "South Carolina," re-enforced Fort Pickens, Florida, and was in an engagement at Galveston, Texas. He commanded the sloop of war " Richmond " at the passage of Forts Jackson and St. Philip and the capture of New Orleans (April, 1862). and was also at Port Hudson. He was made captain in 1863, and commanded the " Brooklyn," participating in the capture of Mobile Bay (August, 1864) and in the two attacks on Fort Fisher. He was commissioned commodore in 1866, and two years later was placed in charge of the U.S. Navy-yard at Mare Island, California In 1869 he was appointed chief of the bureau of navigation and detail in the U.S. Navy Department. He was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1871, and assigned command of the European Squadron. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1900, Vol. I, pp. 42.


ALDEN, JOSEPH W., 1807-1885, educator, clergyman, writer. (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 42. Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, pp. 147-148.)

ALDEN, Joseph, educator, born in Cairo, New York, 4 January, 1807; died in New York, 30 August, 1885. At the age of fourteen he began teaching in a public school and showed great ability in this direction. He was graduated at Union College in 1829, and studied at Princeton Theological Seminary, where for two years he was tutor. In 1834 he was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and subsequently (1835-'52) became professor of Latin, and then of rhetoric and political economy, in Williams College. From 1852 to 1857 he was professor of mental and moral philosophy at Lafayette College. In 1857 he became president of Jefferson College, and from 1867 to 1872 he was principal of the Albany, New York, Normal School. He was a prolific writer, and prepared more than 70 volumes, mostly Sunday-school literature. Among his works are “The Example of Washington,” “Citizen's Manual,” “Christian Ethics,” “The Science of Government,” “Elements of Intellectual Philosophy,” and “First Steps in Political Economy.” He was also a constant contributor to periodical literature and for some time editor of the New York "Observer” and of the Philadelphia “Christian Library.” Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 42.


ALDERSON'S FERRY, WEST VIRGINIA, July 12, 1862. Detachment of Crook's Cavalry. Two companies, commanded by Captain Harrison, skirmished with a body of Confederate cavalry, killing and wounding 7 of them and capturing about a dozen horses.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 24.


ALDIE, VIRGINIA, October 9, 1862. Detachments of Sigel's Cavalry. Incidental to a reconnaissance from Fairfax Court House, Federal cavalry entered Aldie on the 8th, captured 4 prisoners, several wagon loads of bacon and an ambulance. At noon the next day Lieutenant S. B. Conger, of the 3d Virginia cavalry, with 60 men, made an attack on the Confederate force at Aldie, and in a sharp skirmish killed 1 and wounded 3 of the enemy without loss. Finding the force too strong to overcome he fell back 7 miles to a toll-gate, pursued all the way.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 24.


ALDIE, VIRGINIA, October 31, 1862. Cavalry of Bayard's and Karge's Brigades, Army of the Potomac. Confederates pursued General Stoneman's pickets from Mountville into Aldie. where they were driven out of the town and pursued 2 miles by a detachment of cavalry under Major Falls and Captain Sawyer, until confronted by the enemy's reserves. The detachment then fell back, but Colonel Karge, with his brigade and 2 pieces of artillery, held the hill beyond the town. The Confederates also had 2 cannon and there was a short artillery fight. The Federals held the camp for an hour after the skirmish. Sawyer was wounded and 8 men were lost.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 24.


ALDIE, VIRGINIA, March 2, 1863. Detachment 1st Vermont Cavalry. About 50 or 60 men of Companies H and M formed the rear squadron of a Federal force of about 400, returning from Middleburg. At Aldie, where a stop was made to water horses, the rear-guard was surprised by a detachment of Mosby's command, under the personal command of Mosby, and both its captains, with 15 to 17 men, were captured. The 1st Vermont was included in the cavalry brigade of Colonel Johnstone, who stated the Federal force to be 50. besides the 2 captains, the Confederate force about 70. Mosby gave the Federal strength as 59 besides the 2 captains and his own as only 17.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 24.


ALDIE, VIRGINIA, June 17, 1863. 2nd and 4th New York, 6th Ohio, 1st Massachusetts, 1st Main and 1st Rhode Island Cavalry. At 4:30 p. m. General Pleasonton arrived at Aldie and learned that a brigade of Fitzhugh Lee's command had just entered the town. He immediately attacked the Page 25 Confederates and by a determined charge drove them from the place toward Snicker's gap. Gregg's division only was present and Kilpatrick's brigade did the fighting. The Confederates brought 4 cannon into action. Their loss was heavy; 9 commissioned officers and 54 privates were captured in the charge. The Federal loss in killed, wounded and missing aggregated 305. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 24-25.


ALDIE, VIRGINIA, June 18, 1863. (See Middleburg, same date.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 25.


ALDIE, VIRGINIA, June 22, 1863. Detachment of the 14th U. S. and 17th Pennsylvania Infantry. With 100 men and 3 officers of the 14th U. S. and 30 men and 3 officers of the 17th Pennsylvania, Captain Brown was ordered to attempt the capture of guerrillas who frequented the house of a Dr. Ewell near the Thoroughfare Gap road, 4 miles from the Federal camp near Aldie. In partial concealment near the house the detachment awaited the approach of the guerrillas. They came within pistol shot, but fled after an exchange of shots, soon getting behind rolling ground out of range of the guns, and were not pursued. Federal loss, 1 killed.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 25.


ALDIE, VIRGINIA, February 5, 1864. Detachment of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry. Eight of Mosby's men attacked some of the 2nd Massachusetts cavalry, forming the rear-guard of a scouting party of General Tyler's command, as it was returning in the afternoon from Aldie and Middleburg. The Confederates were soon dispersed and their leader was captured. He proved to be William E. Ormsby, a deserter from the 2nd Massachusetts cavalry, was tried by drum head court-marshal, convicted and executed. In this affray 2 Union men and 3 Confederates were wounded.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 25.


ALDIE, VIRGINIA, July 6, 1864. (See Mount Zion Church.) Aldie, Virginia, February 15-16, 1865. Squadron of the 8th Illinois Cavalry. The squadron, commanded by Captain G. W. Corbit, left Fairfax Court House on the 15th to scout in the direction of Aldie and Middleburg. Near Middleburg he surprised and captured a party of 11 Confederates, including a colonel, a captain and a lieutenant, with their horses and equipments, without the loss of a man. As he was returning he was pursued by about 60 Confederate cavalry to near Aldie, but without casualties.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 25.


ALEXANDER, ARCHER, freedman, born near Richmond, Virginia, about 1810  died in St. Louis, Missouri, 8 December 1879. He was a slave, and fled to St. Louis, then under martial law, in 1863, and was formally liberated the same year. He served as the model for " the freedman" in the bronze group by Thomas Ball, standing in the capitol grounds in Washington, and known as "Freedom's Memorial." In 1831 he was taken to Missouri by his young master. During the reign of terror in that state at the outbreak of the war he learned that the pro-slavery party had cut the timbers of a certain bridge so that it should break down under a train carrying a detachment of national troops about to pass over it. At the risk of his life he conveyed the information to a well-known union man, and the detachment was saved. Alexander was suspected as the informant and arrested by a pro-slavery committee. He made his escape to and secured employment in St. Louis under a provost marshal's certificate. Until the Emancipation Proclamation assured his permanent freedom he was in constant danger from kidnappers. Although almost wholly illiterate, he had a shrewd intelligence and was a skilled and efficient workman. A stone commemorating his capture as a fugitive slave has been raised on the spot where he was taken when making his escape from slavery. See " The Story of Archer Alexander" (Boston, 1886). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1900, Vol. I, p. 43.


ALEXANDER, BARTON STONE, soldier, born in Kentucky in 1819; died in San Francisco, California, 15 December, 1878. He was appointed to the U. S. Military Academy from Kentucky, was graduated in 1842, and became lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. He superintended the repairs at various fortifications, and also in the erection of Minot's Ledge Lighthouse, at the entrance of Boston Harbor. During the Civil War he served as engineer in the construction of the defences of Washington, took part in the Manassas Campaign of 1861, and was brevetted major for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Bull Run. He continued with the Army of the Potomac, rendering important aid at the siege of Yorktown, for which he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel in 1862. In 1864 he was consulting engineer with General Sheridan's army, and in 1865 was made brevet brigadier-general for meritorious services during the war. For the next two years he had charge of the construction of most of the public works in Maine, when he became senior engineer with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and member of the Pacific Board of Engineers. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1900, Vol. I, p. 46.


ALEXANDER, EDMUND BROOKE, soldier, born in Hay Market, Prince William County, Virginia, 2 October, 1802 ; died in Washington, D. C, 3 January, 1888. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1823. After twenty years of frontier and garrison duty he had an opportunity for service in Mexico, where he won a major's brevet at Cerro Gordo (18 April, 1847), and a lieutenant-colonel's at Contreras and Churubusco (20 August, 1847). He became major of the 8th U.S. Infantry, 10 November, 1851, and colonel of the 10th U.S. Infantry, a new regiment, 3 March, 1855. In 1857-"58 he commanded the Utah Expedition until relieved by General Johnston. During the Civil War he was retained at St. Louis on provost-marshal's duty, involving delicate and responsible administration of important matters. He was also superintendent of the volunteer recruiting service, and chief mustering and disbursing officer for Missouri. He was brevetted brigadier-general, 13 March, 1865, and commanded his regiment at Fort Snelling till retirement, 22 February, 1869, by operation of law. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 46.


ALEXANDER'S BRIDGE, GEORGIA, September 18, 1863. (See Chickamauga.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 25.


ALEXANDER'S CREEK, LOUISIANA, October 5, 1864. A feeble stand was made on this stream, a mile from St. Francisville, by Federal troops to cover their retreat to their boats, after they had unsuccessfully engaged a portion of the 1st Louisiana cavalry at Thompson's creek, a mile from Jackson, and at an intermediate point. Alexandria, Louisiana, April 26 to May 13, 1864. Portions of the 13th, 14th, l6th, 17th and 19th Army Corps; Banks' Red River Expedition. Alexandria, on the Red river, had a population of about 600. The forces of General Banks reached that point and camped there in line of battle on April 26. They remained there until May 13, getting gunboats of Admiral 'Porter's Mississippi river squadron from above the falls, where they had been caught by low water, to the navigable channel below. The last gunboat passed the falls on May 12 and the next day the town was evacuated and burned. No authoritative statement as to the origin of the fire has ever been made. During this period there was almost constant skirmishing in the vicinity of Alexandria, between Banks' army and the Confederate forces under General Dick Taylor. On May 1, a Federal force attacked General Liddell above Pineville, but was repulsed with severe loss in killed and prisoners. The force in Alexandria had been increased by a brigade from Matagorda under General McCIernand, and members of it were among prisoners taken by Liddell. General Steele (Confederate) attacked the Federals on the Rapides road and forced their pickets back to within 3 miles of Alexandria. On the evening of the 3d, on the Bayou Robert road, Federals were attacked and driven back beyond the Governor plantation. That night near David's ferry, the transport Covington, bringing the 120th Ohio up the river, was captured by General Major. More than 270 prisoners were taken, among them all the regimental field officers, and many were killed and wounded. The boat was sunk across the channel of the river. A Federal gunboat and another transport were damaged in this encounter. At this time the Federals still had nine gun-boats above the falls as a part of a dam to deepen the channel. During the night of the 4th and 5th, the Federal gunboats Signal and Covington, each mounting 8 guns, and a transport were attacked near Fort Russy by Major's division, consisting of Hardeman's and Lane's cavalry brigades and West's battery. One gunboat and the transport were captured and the other gunboat was blown up to prevent its capture. Major sunk the captured vessels across the channel. The Confederates raised the guns of one boat and planned to get close to the other. At daybreak on the 5th, an attack was made on the Confederate advance on the Rapides road 4 miles from Alexandria by 3,000 to 4,000 infantry and two batteries. Steele, with Carter's and Parson's cavalry and Moseley's battery, contested every inch of the ground, but by 5.30 had retreated 5 miles, when the attack was abandoned and Steele retired toward Alexandria. Federal losses not reported. Confederate loss about 5o killed and wounded. On the same day at Chambers' on the Bayou Robert road, 11 miles from Alexandria, fighting began at dawn and was continued hotly for several hours, when the Federals retreated toward Alexandria. The Confederate force engaged was Bee's division, consisting of Bagby's, Debray's and Vincent's cavalry brigades, with Nettles' and Benton's batteries. Next morning Confederates attacked the Federals near Lamaurie bridge and drove their rear-guard to Governor Moore's lower plantation. On the 6th and 7th there was brisk skirmishing on the Rapides road and hard fighting on the Robert and Boeuf roads. On the Boeuf the Lamaurie separated the two forces. After heavy cannonading for some hours, the Federals advanced on General Polignac's Confederate line, throwing both flanks into confusion. Then, before a charge by Bagby's men, they retreated back across the river. Members of the 17th corps fell into the hands of the enemy. For sixteen successive days the Federals had kept the Confederates busy around Alexandria, while the Union fleet was being gotten over the falls.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 25-26.


ALGER, CYRUS, inventor, born in West Bridge- water, Massachusetts, 11 November, 1781; died in Boston, 4 February, 1856. Early in life he became an iron founder, and established his business in Easton, Massachusetts In 1801) he moved to South Boston, where he founded the works that since 1817 have been known as the South Boston Iron Company. He supplied the government with large numbers of cannon-balls during the war of 1812, and his works became famed for the excellent ordnance there manufactured. He was one of the best practical metallurgists of his time, and his numerous patents of improved processes show continued advance in the art practised by him. The first gun ever rifled in America was made at his works in 1834, and the first perfect bronze cannon was made at his foundry for the U. S. Ordnance Department. The mortar “Columbiad,” the largest gun of cast iron that had then been made in the United States, was cast under his personal supervision. Mr. Alger also devised numerous improvements in the construction of time fuses for bomb-shells and grenades. In 1811 he patented a method of making cast-iron chilled rolls, and in 1822 first designed cylinder stoves. He is said to have been the first manufacturer to introduce the ten-hour system in South Boston. Mr. Alger was both liberal and charitable, and was prominent in various projects beneficial to South Boston. He served as a member of the city council during the first year of its existence, and was elected alderman in 1824 and 1827. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 48-49


ALGER, HORATIO, JR., author, born in Revere, Massachusetts, 13 January, 1834. He was graduated at Harvard in 1852 and spent three years in journalism and teaching, and another three years (1857–60) at the Cambridge theological school, paying his way by his contributions to the press. The greater part of the following year (1861) was devoted to European travel, when he returned to Cambridge, and until December, 1864, was a private tutor. On 8 December of that year he received ordination as pastor over the Unitarian Church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Taking up his residence in New York in 1866, he became interested in the condition of the street boys, and this experience gave form to many of his later writings. He has contributed largely to periodical literature, and has published in book form “Bertha's Christmas Vision” (Boston, 1855); “Nothing to Do; a Tilt at our Best Society,” a poem (1857); “Frank's Campaign, or, What a Boy can do” (Boston, 1864); several series of books for the young, about forty volumes, including lives of Webster, Lincoln, and Garfield; “Paul Preston's Charge” (1865); “Helen Ford,” a novel (1866); and a volume of poems. “Rag Dick,” “Luck and Pluck,” and “Tattered Tom ” are the most popular of his series for boys. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 49.


ALGER, RUSSELL ALEXANDER, governor of Michigan, born in Lafayette, Medina County, Ohio, 27 February, 1836. He was left an orphan at eleven years of age, worked on a farm till he was eighteen, attending school in the winters, and then, after teaching, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1859. He began to practice in Cleveland, but was forced by impaired health to remove to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he engaged in the lumber business. He became captain in the 2d Michigan Cavalry at the beginning of the Civil War, and at Boonesville. Mississippi, 1 July, 1862, was sent by Philip H. Sheridan, then colonel of that regiment, to attack the enemy's rear with ninety picked men. The Confederates were routed, but Captain. Alger was wounded and taken prisoner. He escaped on the same day, and on 16 October was made lieutenant-colonel of the 6th Michigan Cavalry. On 28 February, 1863, he became colonel of the 5th Michigan Cavalry, and on 28 June his command was the first to enter the town of Gettysburg. He was specially mentioned in General Custer's report of the cavalry operations there, and in the pursuit of the enemy he was severely wounded at Boonesborough, Maryland, on 8 July. He was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley in 1864, and on 11 June, at Trevillian station, by a brilliant charge, he captured a large force of Confederates. On 11 June, 1865, he was given the brevets of brigadier-general and major-general of volunteers. He then resumed the lumber business in Detroit, Michigan, and has acquired a fortune, serving also as president or director of various corporations. His great pine forest on Lake Huron comprises more than 100 square miles and produces annually more than 75,000,000 feet of lumber. In 1884 he was the successful Republican candidate for governor of the state, serving from 1885 till 1887. In March, 1897, General Alger was appointed Secretary of War in President McKinley's cabinet. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 49.


ALIBI. Elsewhere. An Alibi is the best of all defence if a man is innocent; but if it turns out to be untrue, it is conclusive against those who resort to it; (Hough.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 21).


ALLAN, WILLIAM T., 1810-1882, born in Tennessee, Alabama, clergyman, abolitionist leader, Oberlin College, Illinois, anti-slavery agent.  His father, John Allan, was a pastor in Huntsville, Alabama, who owned 15 slaves.  John Allan supported the Colonization movement and was a member and co-founder of the Alabama Society for the Emancipation of Slavery.  William Allan became a Lecturing Agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS).  Charter Member of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society in April 1835.  He graduated from Oberlin College in 1836.  He lectured in New York, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois.  He organized chapters of the new Liberty Party in Iowa and Illinois in 1840.  His home in Illinois was a station on the Underground Railroad.  His father died in 1843, and freed his slaves in his will. (Dumond, 1961, pp. 92-93, 160-164, 185-186; Filler, 1960, p. 68)


ALLATOONA, GEORGIA, October 5, 1864. 3d and 4th Divisions, 75th Army Corps. This was one of the most sanguinary battles of the war. General Sherman had about 1,000,000 rations stored at Allatoona, guarded by a garrison of 890 infantry and a battery of 6 guns, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John F. Tourtelotte. of the 4th Minnesota The fortifications, located on a ridge, consisted of three redoubts west of a deep railroad cut and a star fort on the east, with outer works, abatis, stockades, etc. The stores were collected on a tract of fiat land south of the hill. On the 4th Hood sent General French's division, about 3.000 strong, to reduce the garrison and capture the stores. French made a night march and about 3 o'clock on the morning of the 5th encountered the Federal pickets. In the meantime Sherman had sent General Corse, with Rowett's brigade, to the relief of the garrison. Corse arrived from Rome about two hours in advance of French, who knew nothing of the reinforcements. As soon as it was light Corse disposed his forces to resist the attack. The 7th Illinois and 39th Louisiana were placed in line of battle, facing west, on a spur that covered the redoubt on the hill immediately over the railroad cut; one battery of the 93d Illinois was held in reserve, the other being placed in the line of skirmishers moving westwardly along the ridge; the 4th Minnesota. 12th and 50th Illinois in the works on the hill east of the cut, and the rest of the command out on skirmish and picket duty. A little before 8 o'clock the head of French's column occupied the ridge overlooking the Federal works. Corse refused to surrender and the fight commenced. French disposed his forces to attack from three directions. Under a brisk artillery fire he pushed Sears' brigade of infantry around to the north of the works, and destroyed the railroad and telegraphic communication with Rome and Cartersville. Young's Texas brigade, 1,900 strong, reached the west end of the ridge and moved along the crest until checked by the 7th HI. and 39th la. under Rowett. They rallied again and again, attacking each time with apparently greater determination, making it necessary to send the 93d Illinois to Rowett's assistance. Meantime Sears had moved up from the north, his left extending across the railroad, where two companies of the 93d Illinois were stationed on the brink of the cut, on a spur running north from the redoubt. These companies were reinforced by pickets that had been driven in and, urged by Corse, tried vainly to hold on to the spur. The Confederate line of battle swept the Federals before it as wind sweeps chaff, until Tourtelotte's fire caught Sears on the flank, breaking his line so badly that Corse was able to send a staff officer over the cut with orders to the 50th Illinois to reinforce Rowett. Before the movement could be executed Sears and Young rallied in force and made such a desperate assault in front and on the flank that Rowett's line was broken. For two hours and a half he had held the greater part of the Confederate force in check, though attacked on three sides. As he fell back to the fort a detachment of the 39th la. commanded by Major Redfield, fought with such stubbornness that the main body was enabled to reach the redoubt. Had it not been for this determined stand it is probable that few, if any, would ever have gained the shelter of the fort. But by a hand-to-hand struggle, with forces that outnumbered them more than ten to one, they compelled the enemy to halt and reform before assaulting the fort, thus giving Corse time to readjust his forces to meet the attack when it came. This feature of the fight saved Allatoona, though it was not realized at the time. The gallant Redfield fell, shot in four places. It was now u o'clock. Sherman had reached Kennesaw mountain about an hour before and had signaled to Corse to hold the fort, as reinforcements were on the way. This news was communicated to the men and gave them courage to continue the fight. With alacrity they obeyed the orders of their commander, and by the time the enemy was ready to attack the fort the ditches were filled and the parapets lined with men, giving the Federals a firing line that would make the fort impregnable as long as the ammunition lasted. For some time the Confederates kept up an incessant fire from low places in the ground, from behind logs, trees and stumps, picking off nearly every man that showed his head. Finding this method of warfare useless they determined to carry the works by assault. They advanced in a solid phalanx, with a steadiness that made even the bravest in the trenches wonder as to the result. But the 12th Wisconsin battery began to pour a merciless fire into the advancing lines at short range. Human nature could not stand the test, and when within 300 feet of the works the lines broke, all efforts of the officers to rally the men proving in vain. The Confederates were becoming discouraged. About 150 yards from the fort was a ridge, on the top of which was a small house. Finding it impossible to charge and carry the works the Confederates massed a force here and began a destructive fire on the fort. The Federals cleared an embrasure commanding the ridge, dragged a piece of artillery to it and fired a few shots that scattered the enemy in all directions. About the time the charge was made Corse was severely wounded in the face and was unconscious for nearly an hour. The other officer, having faith in Sherman's signals, encouraged the men to hold out, as reinforcements were on the way. They were right, for General J. D. Cox's corps was then hurrying westward to gain French's rear and either capture or destroy his entire division. About 4 o'clock French got wind of this movement and hurriedly withdrew from the field to save his command. Before beginning his retreat he captured the blockhouse at Allatoona creek and burned the bridge. Allatoona was saved, but at a fearful cost. The Federal loss was 142 killed, 352 wounded and 212 missing; that of the enemy was 134 killed, 499 wounded and 300 missing. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 26-28.


ALLATOONA HILLS, GEORGIA, May 25-June 4, 1864. (See Dallas.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 28.


ALLEN, MISSOURI, July 23, 1864. Detachment 17th Illinois Cavalry. While at this place in Randolph county, in command of a detachment of 40 men of the 17th Illinois cavalry from the post at Glasgow, Lieutenant Knapp was attacked by about 75 guerrillas commanded by Bill Anderson. The attack was repelled without the loss of men, but 9 government horses and 7 horses that had been pressed for service in the expedition, and which belonged to citizens in the neighborhood, were either killed or captured. Allen's Farm, Virginia, June 29, 1862. For a detailed account of the action at Allen's farm on this date see Seven Days' Battles.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 28.


ALLEN, REVEREND GEORGE, 1808-1876, Worcester, Massachusetts, educator, theologian, anti-slavery agent.  Lectured extensively against slavery. (Dumond, 1961, pp. 187, 285, 393n20; Rice, 1883; Zilversmit, 1967, pp. 99, 104, 153; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 52. Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, pp. 190-191.)

ALLEN, George, educator, born in Milton, Vermont, 17 December, 1808; died in Worcester, Massachusetts, 28 May, 1876. He was graduated at the University of Vermont in 1827, studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1831. Subsequently he studied theology, and from 1834 to 1837 was rector of an Episcopal Church at St. Albans, Vermont In 1837 he became professor of ancient languages in Delaware College, Newark, Delaware, and in 1845 professor of ancient languages, and then of Greek alone, in the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Professor Allen published a “Life of Philidor,” the chess-player (Philadelphia, 1863). In 1847 he became a Catholic. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 52.


ALLEN, HARRISON, physician, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 17 April, 1841  died there, 14 November, 1897. He was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1861, in 1862 became assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army, and served with the h of the Potomac until March, 1863, when he was transferred to hospital duty at Washington, where he remained until his resignation in December, 1865, and attained the brevet rank of major. From 1865 to 1878 he was professor of comparative anatomy and medical zoology in the University of Pennsylvania, and since then he has filled the chair of physiology. In 1867 he was elected professor of anatomy and surgery in the Philadelphia dental College, and in 1870 surgeon to the Philadelphia Hospital and secretary of its medical board. He is a member of numerous medical societies, and was a delegate from the Centennial Commission to the International Medical Congress. His contributions to the various medical journals relate chiefly to osteomyelitis, human anatomy, and morbid anatomy, he has published "Outlines of Comparative Anatomy and Medical Zoology" (Philadelphia, 1867), " Studies in the Facial Region " (1874), and "An Analysis of the Life-form in Art" (1875). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 52.


ALLEN, HENRY WATKINS, soldier and statesman, born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, 29 April, 1820; died in the city of Mexico, 22 April, 1860. His father, a physician of note, moved to Lexington, Missouri, while Henry was young. The latter, at his solicitation, was taken from the shop where he was employed and placed in Marion College, Missouri, but, in consequence of a dispute with his father, he ran away and became a teacher in Grand Gulf, Mississippi Then he studied law, and was in successful practice in 1842 when President Houston called for volunteers in the Texan War against Mexico. He raised a company, and acquitted himself well during the campaign, then resumed his practice in Grand Gulf, and was elected to the legislature in 1846. He settled a few years later on an estate in West Baton Rouge, and was elected to the Louisiana Legislature in 1853. A year later he went to Cambridge University to pursue a course of legal studies. In 1859 he went to Europe with the intention of taking part in the Italian struggle for independence, but arrived too late. He made a tour through Europe, the incidents of which are recounted in "Travels of a Sugar Planter." He was elected to the legislature during his absence, and on returning took a prominent part in the business of that body. He had been a Whig in politics, but had joined the Democratic Party when Buchanan was nominated for president in 1856. When the Civil War broke out he volunteered in the Confederate service, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, and was stationed for some time at Ship Island. He was subsequently made colonel of the 4th Louisiana Regiment, and was appointed military governor of Jackson. He fought gallantly at Shiloh, where he was wounded. At Vicksburg he rendered important service in the construction of fortifications, a part of the time under fire. At the battle of Baton Rouge he commanded a brigade, where he was badly wounded in both legs by a shell. On his recovery he was commissioned a brigadier-general, in September, 1864, and almost immediately afterward was elected governor of Louisiana. He arranged to have the cotton tax to the Confederate government paid in kind, and opened a route by which cotton was exported through Texas to Mexico, and medicine, clothing, and other articles introduced into the state. These necessities were sold at moderate prices and given to the poor. In the suppression of the manufacture of liquor and other similar measures Governor Allen exercised dictatorial powers. After the war he settled in Mexico and established an English paper, the " Mexican Times." See  Recollections of Henry W. Allen," by Sarah A. Dorsey (New York, 1867). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 53.


ALLISON, WILLIAM B., Senator, born in Perry, Wayne Co.,  2 March, 1829. He spent his early years on a farm, and was educated at Alleghany College, Pennsylvania, and Western Reserve College, Ohio. He studied law, and practised in Ohio until 1857, when he went to Dubuque, Iowa. He was a delegate to the Chicago Convention of 1860, a member of the governor's staff in 1861, and rendered valuable service in raising troops for the war. He was elected in 1862 to the 38th Congress, as a Republican, and returned for the three succeeding Congresses, serving in the House of Representatives from 7 December, 1863, till 3 March, 1871. In 1878 he was elected to the U. S. Senate, as a Republican, for the term ending in 1879, and he has been twice reelected. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 53.


ALLEN, MISSOURI, July 23, 1864. Detachment 17th Illinois Cavalry. While at this place in Randolph county, in command of a detachment of 40 men of the 17th Illinois cavalry from the post at Glasgow, Lieutenant Knapp was attacked by about 75 guerrillas commanded by Bill Anderson. The attack was repelled without the loss of men, but 9 government horses and 7 horses that had been pressed for service in the expedition, and which belonged to citizens in the neighborhood, were either killed or captured. Allen's Farm, Virginia, June 29, 1862. For a detailed account of the action at Allen's farm on this date see Seven Days' Battles.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 28.


ALLEN, WILLIAM G., born 1820, free African American abolitionist, publisher and editor. Manager and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society in December 1833.  Publisher with Henry Highland Garnet of The National Watchman, Troy, New York, founded 1842. (Filler, 1960, pp. 142, 249, 261; Mabee, 1970, pp. 107, 109; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 48; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 1, p. 346; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 1, p. 127)


ALLEY, JOHN B., 1817-1896, Lynn, Massachusetts, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1863-1876, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery.  Alley was a member of the Liberty and Free Soil Parties. (Congressional Globe)


ALLISON, WILLIAM B., Senator, born in Perry, Wayne Co.,  2 March, 1829. He spent his early years on a farm, and was educated at Alleghany College, Pennsylvania, and Western Reserve College, Ohio. He studied law, and practised in Ohio until 1857, when he went to Dubuque, Iowa. He was a delegate to the Chicago Convention of 1860, a member of the governor's staff in 1861, and rendered valuable service in raising troops for the war. He was elected in 1862 to the 38th Congress, as a Republican, and returned for the three succeeding Congresses, serving in the House of Representatives from 7 December, 1863, till 3 March, 1871. In 1878 he was elected to the U. S. Senate, as a Republican, for the term ending in 1879, and he has been twice reelected. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 53.

ALLISON, William Boyd, Senator, born in Perry, Wayne County, 2 March, 1829. He spent his early years on a farm, and was educated at Alleghany College, Pennsylvania, and Western Reserve College, Ohio. He studied law, and practised in Ohio until 1857, when he went to Dubuque, Iowa. He was a delegate to the Chicago Convention of 1860, a member of the governor's staff in 1861, and rendered valuable service in raising troops for the war. He was elected in 1862 to the 38th Congress, as a Republican, and returned for the three succeeding Congresses, serving in the House of Representatives from 7 December, 1863, till 3 March, 1871. In 1873 he was elected to the U. S. Senate, as a Republican, for the term ending in 1879, and he has been twice reelected.  (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. I, p. 58. Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936.)


ALLOWANCES. The receipts of an officer consist of pay and allowances, sometimes called pay and emoluments. Allowances are regular and occasional; they consist of money for servants, forage, rations, and travelling expenses; and of fuel and quarters, stationery, straw for bedding, transportation of baggage, and forage in kind under certain circumstances. An allowance for servants and forage is only given where the servants and horses allowed are actually kept in service by the officer. Double rations are given to the commander of the army, the commander of an army in the field, a geographical division, department, military post and arsenal; and ten dollars per month is allowed to the actual commander of a company. Armies have always been paid by means of pay and allowances. It is the least expensive mode of supporting an army, and it is at the same time the most just method of graduating the pay according to circumstances. In the United States army, however, the allowances made are not sufficient, and not properly graduated. Several of the allowances given in European armies, are withheld from our own; and of those withheld, some are charges which press very heavily upon officers in campaign, when all their energies are needed for the service of the country. Of the allowances given in European armies, but withheld from the United States army, the following are the most important: Allowance, as equipment money at the beginning of a campaign, marching allowance, indemnity for losses in the field, prize money, and barrack furniture allowance. (See INDEMNIFICATION.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 22.)


ALMY, JOHN J., naval officer, born in Rhode Island, 25 April, 1814. He entered the U. S. Navy  as a midship-man in 1829, and rose through the successive grades to be commodore, 30 December, 1869, and rear-admiral 24 August, 1873. He was retired in July, 1876, after fifty-six years and eleven months of service. As midshipmen and lieutenant he cruised all over the world in the old sailing navy, was at the surrender of Walker and his filibusters, commanded the “Fulton” in the expedition to Paraguay, was at the siege of Vera Cruz and the capture of Tuxpan during the Mexican War, and at the Navy-yard, Brooklyn, New York, in 1861–62. As commander he had charge successively of the gunboats “South Carolina,” “Connecticut,” and “Juniata.” While in command of the “Connecticut.” he captured four noted blockade-runners with valuable cargoes, and ran ashore and destroyed four others. As captain he commanded the “Juniata" which was in the South Atlantic Squadron, until 1867, and was then assigned to the Brooklyn U. S. Navy-yard, then the Signal Corps, and after a cruise in the Pacific was retired, 24 April, 1877. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 59.


ALPINE, GEORGIA, September 5-12, 1863. Cavalry, Army of the Cumberland. Early in September General Stanley, chief of cavalry, was directed to make a reconnaissance into Broomtown valley, where Alpine is situated. A slight skirmish occurred on the 5th and on the 8th Minty's brigade of Crook's division engaged four regiments of Confederate cavalry, driving them back with a loss to his command of 4 killed and 8 wounded. The next day Crook's advance again met the enemy at Alpine and in the skirmish which ensued lost 3 killed and 11 wounded. On the 12th McCook's division marched from the camp at Alpine, encountered Wheeler's cavalry on the Lafayette road and drove it some distance. The enemy's casualties during these operations were not ascertained.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 28.


ALPINE DEPOT, WEST VIRGINIA, January 4, 1862.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 28.


ALSOP'S FARM, VIRGINIA, May 8, 1864. The battle of Alsop's farm was a part of the operations about Spottsylvania Court House (q. v.).  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 28.


ALTAMONT, MARYLAND, April 26, 1863. A squadron of the 11th Virginia cavalry (Confederate), under Captain McDonald, went to Altamont, on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, captured an engine and train and burned some small bridges. It is not reported to have met armed opposition.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 28.


ALTAMONT, TENNESSEE, August 30, 1862. A detachment of the 1st Alabama and 1st Kentucky Confederate cavalry, according to General Wheeler's report, attacked Federal pickets near Altamont on three sides, driving them back on their camp and killing 1 colonel, 1 captain and 2 privates.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 28.


ALVARADO, August 5, 1861. The bark, Alvarado, Captain Whiting, owned in Boston, left Cape Town, South Africa, June 3, with a cargo of wool, sheep skins, goat skins, old iron and copper and crude medicines, valued at $70,000. She was taken by the privateer Jeff Davis on July 21, on the high seas and sent to the Florida coast. The privateer pursued by the United States steamer, Vincennes, attempted to enter Fernandina harbor, but stranded a mile and a half from shore. Her crew landed taking ashore Captain and Mrs. Whiting and a negro steward, whom they had brought with the prize. The Vincennes, failing to save the bark, burned her.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 28.


ALVORD, BENJAMIN, soldier, born in Rutland, Vermont, 18 August. 1813; died 16 October, 1884. He was graduated at West Point in 1833, joined the 4th Infantry, served in the Seminole War (1835-'37), was instructor in mathematics and physics at West Point until 1839, and was on frontier, garrison, and engineer duty until 1846, when he participated in the military occupation of Texas, and subsequently in the war with Mexico. He received the successive brevets of captain and major for gallantry in several of the more important engagements, and was chief of staff to Majors Tally's column on the march from Vera Cruz to Mexico in 1847. He was made pay-master 22 June, 1854, and served as such until 1862, when he became a brigadier-general of volunteers, which grade he resigned 8 August, 1865. He was brevetted brigadier in the regular army in April, 1865, and was made chief paymaster of the District of Omaha 25 May, 1867. He is the author of several treatises on mathematics and of numerous essays and reviews. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 62


ALVORD, CORYDON A., printer, born in Winchester, Connecticut, about 1812; died in Hartford, Connecticut, 28 November, 1874. He learned his trade in Hartford, and in 1845 moved to New York, where he made a specialty of printing illustrated books, gaining a high reputation. His establishment on Vandewater St. was one of the most extensive in the country. Among its features were fonts of ancient and oriental letter, together with fonts of old-style type, which enabled him to make reprints or facsimiles of old books and newspapers. There were monster vaults deep underground, and extending under adjacent buildings, forming a series of immense storage-rooms guarded by thick walls and iron doors as thoroughly protected as the treasury vaults. These were for the storage of stereotype plates and valuable engravings. He began a reprint of the old records of the city of New York, but the work was not finished, owing to changes in the recorder's office. In the reproduction of old books and papers he succeeded in copying the discolorations made by age. in a remarkable degree. He was an active member of the Typographical Society, and president of the Typothetae. He acquired a competence, which was subsequently lost through the misconduct of others. In 1871 he retired from business, went to Hartford, and devoted his remaining years to the preparation of a local history of Hartford and Winchester. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 62


ALVORD, JOHN WATSON, 1807-1880, abolitionist, anti-slavery agent, clergyman. Congregational minister.  Worked around Ohio area.  Secretary, Boston Tract Society.  Chaplain with General Sheridan’s Union Forces in Civil War.  Worked with former slaves.  (Dumond, 1961, pp. 164, 185; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 1, p. 399)


AMBULANCES (French) are flying hospitals so organized that they can follow an army in all its movements, and are intended to succor the wounded as soon as possible. Other sick are also placed in Ambulance, but the Ambulances are emptied as soon as fixed hospitals are at hand. In the French army, an Ambulance of infantry is composed of five wagons containing cases of instruments for amputating Page 23 and trepanning, bandages for divers fractures, utensils of all kinds, medicines, and 8,900 dressings. The Ambulance of cavalry is composed of three wagons, containing the articles above enumerated, with 4,900 dressings. The Ambulances are distributed as follows: Each division of infantry has one Ambulance of infantry, and each division of cavalry an Ambulance of cavalry. The headquarters of an army corps is allowed two Ambulances; the grand park of artillery one Ambulance of cavalry; the reserve of the army at general headquarters six Ambulances; four of infantry, and two of cavalry. The number of Ambulance carts and wagons recently ordered for the United States service, in case of war, greatly exceeds the foregoing allowance, and would be doubtless required in operations of small detachments, or wherever, from any cause, it is impracticable to establish fixed hospitals, or leave wounded to the care of inhabitants. (See SURGERY; WAGON.)  (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 22.)


AMBUSCADE. A body of men lying in wait to surprise an enemy. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 22)


AMELIA COURT HOUSE, VIRGINIA, April 4, 1865. Cavalry, Army of the James. Incidental to the Appomattox campaign General MacKenzie's division of cavalry went into camp near Amelia Court House on the 4th, after having two slight skirmishes with the enemy, in which the 11th Pennsylvania, 1st District of Columbia and 1st Maryland were principally engaged. After going into camp Companies A and B, 1st New Jersey, under Captain Craig, reconnoitered the road to Amelia Springs, captured 22 prisoners, 38 horses and a number of mules, which they turned over to General Davies, commanding 1st brigade, 2nd cavalry division. From these prisoners it was learned that Lee's army was concentrating at Amelia Court House, where a supply of rations was expected. This information proved to be erroneous, as Lee was moving north of the Court House to strike the Lynchburg railroad. (See Amelia Springs.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 28-29


AMELIA SPRINGS, VIRGINIA, April 5, 1865. 1st Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac. On the 4th, this brigade commanded by General Davies, expecting an engagement, took up a position at Jetersville and camped for the night. Next morning it broke camp to reconnoiter on the enemy's rear and learn the position of his trains. From prisoners taken the day before it was learned that his wagon train was passing a point about 4 miles from Paineville. The 1st Pennsylvania cavalry, Davies' advance, was hurried to the place and came upon the train just as a gun was being placed in position to defend it. By a charge through a swamp the train guard of about 400 men was routed and the battery and train were captured. About 200 ammunition and headquarters wagons, caissons and ambulances were fired, after which Davies started toward Jetersville with 5 pieces of artillery, 11 flags, 320 white prisoners, about as many negro teamsters and more than 400 captured animals. After he had passed through Paineville Gary's brigade of the Confederate cavalry, which had been an escort to the train, attacked his rear-guard and a running fight was maintained to Amelia Springs. There Davies formed his brigade and held the enemy in check until the 2nd brigade of the 2nd division came to his relief. At the junction of the Amelia Springs and Jetersville road and the road to Amelia Court House, Davies was confronted by Confederates who were quickly repulsed by a regiment of the 3d brigade, the 1st Pennsylvania, and a part of the 10th New York cavalry. The brigade reached camp with all that it had captured and in the afternoon again went into action to prevent the enemy from reaching Jetersville from Amelia Springs. Though many of its men had been detailed to guard the prisoners and captured property, it successfully resisted every attack and made several gallant mounted charges.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 29.


AMERICAN RANCH, COLO. TERRITORY, January 15, 1865. (See Valley Station, same date.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.


AMES, ADELBERT, soldier, born in Rockland, Maine, 31 October, 1835. He was graduated at West Point in 1861, and assigned to the 5th Artillery. He was wounded at the battle of Bull Run and brevetted for gallantry in that action, and was present at the siege of Yorktown, and the battles of Gaines's Mills, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, and Gettysburg, besides many of the minor engagements in Virginia throughout the Civil War. He was brevetted colonel for gallantry, and commanded a brigade, and at times a division in the army of the Potomac, and in the operation before Petersburg in 1864. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers for his conduct at the capture of Fort Fisher, 18 March, 1865, and brevetted major-general, U. S. Army, for "gallant and meritorious conduct in the field during the rebellion," and on 30 April, 1866, mustered out of the volunteer service. On 28 July, 1866, he was promoted to the full rank of lieutenant-colonel, 24th Infantry. On 15 July, 1868, he was appointed provisional governor of Mississippi, under acts of Congress providing for such temporary government, and on 17 March, 1869, his command extended to include the 4th Military District. The lately insurrectionary states were at the time divided into five such districts, each with a general officer in command, and a military force at his disposal. Mississippi was among the last of the states to comply with the conditions of reconstruction, and in the interval the community drifted into a state bordering upon anarchy, the provisional governor at times interfering in the interest of order. Un- der his direction an election was held 30 November, 1869, and on 11 January, 1870, the legislature was convened by his direction. General Ames was elected U. S. Senator for the unexpired term from 4 March, 1869. In 1873 he was chosen governor of Mississippi by a popular vote, and resigned his seat in the Senate. His administration was so repugnant to the Democrats—or, in other words, to the white population—that between them and the Republicans, mostly blacks, a feeling of hostility arose so bitter that it culminated in a serious riot in Vicksburg, 7 December, 1873, and this was followed by atrocities all over the state, consisting for the most part in the punishment, often in the murder, of obnoxious Republicans, white and black. The civil officers were unable to enforce the laws, and Governor Ames appealed to the general government for aid. Upon this, despatches of the most contradictory character were forwarded to Washington by the opposing parties, and, pending an investigation by Congress, affairs were in a deplorable state of disorganization. An election held in November resulted in a general defeat of the Republicans, both branches of the legislature becoming distinctly democratic. Governor Ames held that this election was largely carried by intimidation and fraud, and vainly sought to secure Congressional interference. Soon after the legislature convened in January, 1876, articles of impeachment were prepared against all the executive officers, and, pending the trials, the machinery of state government was nearly at a standstill. Governor Ames, seeing that conviction was inevitable, offered through his counsel to resign, provided the articles of impeachment were withdrawn. This was done, and he resigned at once and moved to Minnesota.  Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 63-64.


AMES, MARY CLEMMER (Mrs. Hudson), author, born in Utica, New York, in 1839; died in Washington, D. C.; 18 August, 1884. She was educated at Westfield (Massachusetts) Academy, and when very young began to write for the “Springfield Republican.” Afterward she became a correspondent of the New York “Independent,” to which, under the title of “A Woman's Letter from Washington,” she regularly contributed for many years. Through these letters she was best known in the literary world. At an early she married the Reverend Daniel Ames, from whom she was afterward divorced. She was intimate with Alice and Phoebe Cary, whose biographies she wrote. She also published monographs on Charles Sumner, Margaret Fuller, George Eliot, Emerson, and Longfellow. She wrote three novels,  “Victoria” (New York, 1864), “Eirene” (1870), and “His Two Wives” (1874); “Ten Years in Washington” (1871), “Outlines of Men, Women, and Things” (1873), and a volume of poems (Boston, 1882). With the earnings of her pen she bought a house in Washington, which was a social as well as a literary centre for many years, and in 1883 she married Edmund Hudson, editor and proprietor of the “Army and Navy Register.” She was thrown from a carriage in 1878, and received injuries from which she never wholly recovered. A complete edition of her works, in four volumes, was published in Boston in 1885, and a memorial by her husband in 1886. She was an earnest and conscientious writer, and exercised a powerful and healthful influence upon public affairs. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 65.


AMES, NATHAN P,, manufacturer, born in 1803; died in Cabotville, Massachusetts, 23 April, 1847. He established a cutlery business in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, in 1829, and became known as a skilful sword-maker, furnishing large numbers by contract to the U. S. government. His business having increased, he moved to Cabotville, Massachusetts, and with his associates incorporated in 1834 the Ames Manufacturing Company. In 1836 the works were supplemented by the addition of a foundry for casting bronze cannon and church-bells. This establishment soon became famous, and furnished most of the brass cannon for the U. S. Army. The statues of De Witt Clinton, in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, of Washington, in Union Sq., New York, and of Franklin, in School St., Boston, Massachusetts, were cast at this foundry. In 1840 Mr. Ames visited Europe for the purpose of inspecting the various armories and of acquiring the latest information in regard to improved processes. In 1854 he received an important order from the British government for machines used in the manufacture of muskets. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 65.


AMES, OAKES, 1804-1873, manufacturer, businessman, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 2nd Massachusetts District 1862-1873, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 65-66; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 1, pp. 251-253; Oakes, Ames, A Memoir, 1883; Congressional Globe)

AMES, Oakes, manufacturer, born in Easton, Massachusetts, 10 January, 1804; died in North Easton, Massachusetts, 8 May, 1873. He was the eldest son of Oliver Ames, a blacksmith, who had acquired considerable reputation in the making of shovels and picks. After obtaining a public-school education, he entered his father's workshops and made himself familiar with every step of the manufacture. He became a partner in the business, and with his brother, Oliver, Jr., established the firm of Oliver Ames & Sons. This house carried on an enormous trade during the gold excitement in California, and again a few years later in Australia. During the Civil War they furnished extensive supplies of swords and shovels to the government. In the building of the Union Pacific Railroad they were directly interested, and obtained large contracts, which were subsequently transferred to the Credit Mobilier of America, a corporation in which Oakes Ames was one of the largest stockholders. In 1861 he was called into the executive council of Massachusetts. He served continuously in Congress from 1862 to 1873 as representative from the 2d Massachusetts District. His relations with the Credit Mobilier led to an investigation, which resulted in his being censured by a vote of the House of Representatives. Subsequent to his withdrawal from political life he resided at North Easton, where he died of apoplexy. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 65-66.


AMES, OLIVER, manufacturer, born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 5 November, 1807; died in North Easton, Massachusetts, 9 March, 1877, was a member of the Massachusetts State Senate during 1852 and 1857. He was largely interested with his brother in the development of the Union Pacific Railroad, and was its president pro-tem, from 1866 until 1868. He was formally elected president of the company on 12 March, 1868, and continued as such until 8 March, 1871. He was connected with the Credit Mobilier, and in 1873 succeeded his brother as the head of the firm. [Brother of  Oakes Ames]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 66


AMES, SAMUEL, jurist, born in Providence. Rhode Island, 6 Sept, 1806, died there, 20 December, 1865. He was prepared for college at Phillips Andover Academy, and was graduated at Brown in 1823. After graduation he attended the law lectures of Judge Gould at Litchfield. Connecticut, and became a member of the Rhode Island bar in 1826. He served in the Providence City Council, was for many years in the state assembly, and was elected speaker of that body in 1844 and 1845. In 1839 he married Mary Throop Dorr, a daughter of Thomas Wilson Dorr, famous as the leader of the rebellion in 1842. But this did not prevent Mr. Ames from taking a stand on the side of law and order, and he served as quartermaster of the state troops during the whole period of disturbance. In 1853 he was appointed by the legislature to represent the state in adjusting the boundary between Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In 1855 he was one of the commissioners to revise the statutes of Rhode Island, a work that was completed in 1857 mainly under his supervision. He was elected chief justice of the state supreme court in May, 1856, and resigned the office in November, 1865, because of failing health. He was a delegate to the Peace Convention in 1861. The law books of which he was author or editor are "Agnell and Ames on Corporations" and "Rhode Island Reports " (vols. 4 to 7). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 66.


AMHERST COURT HOUSE, VIRGINIA, June 12, 1864. 1st Cavalry Division. Department of West Virginia. The division, commanded by Brigadier-General A. N. Duffie, was ordered to join General Hunter at Lexington, Kentucky When it arrived near the point where the road toward White's gap crosses Piney river the advance was attacked by about 300 Confederate cavalry. Duffie supported the advance with two squadrons of the 20th Pennsylvania cavalry, Wynkoop's brigade, which charged the enemy, drove him back in confusion beyond Piney river to within 3 miles of Amherst Court House, capturing 10 commissioned officers and 30 other prisoners.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 29.


AMICUS CUEIAE. Counsel, or at least Amici Curiae, (friends of the court,) are allowed to prisoners in all cases, but no person is permitted to address the court, or interfere in any manner with its proceedings, except the parties themselves. (Hough’s Law Authorities.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 22).


AMISSVILLE, VIRGINIA, November 10, 1862. General Robert E. Lee reported that, Federals having apparently halted in his advance, he directed General Stuart to penetrate their picket-lines at Corbin's cross-roads and learn as much as possible of their plans. On the morning of the 10th, with Fitzhugh Lee's brigade and two infantry regiments, Stuart forced the Federals to fall back to Amissville, to withdraw from Washington, and to recall a force apparently bound down the river below Rappahannock Station. At Amissville the Federals with three brigades of infantry drove Stuart back.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 29.


AMISSVILLE, VIRGINIA, June 6, 1863. Detachment, 4th New York Cavalry. A squadron of this regiment, commanded by Colonel Duffie, made a reconnaissance to Amissville, where they found a small force of Confederates, of whom one was captured.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 29.


AMISSVILLE, VIRGINIA, August 4, 1863.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 29.


AMITE RIVER, LOUISIANA, June 28, 1862. (See Williams' Bridge.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 29.


AMITE RIVER, LOUISIANA, July 24, 1862. Colonel McMillan sent out a reconnoitering party to the Amite river, about daylight, which attacked and routed Captain Kemp's company of rangers, taking 20 to 25 horses and all the camp equipage. Another part of Federal scouts crossed the river at Curtis' Page 30 ferry, 4 miles above the camp, and defeated there a body of Confederates under command of Captain Wilson. All the Confederate troops here mentioned were of the 9th battalion, Louisiana Partisan Rangers, under Lieutenant- Colonel J. H. Wingfield.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 29-30.


AMITE RIVER, LOUISIANA, March 28, 1863. 14th and 24th Maine Infantry.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 30.


AMITE RIVER, LOUISIANA, April 7, 1863. U. S. Steamer Barataria. Corp. Davidson, with 8 men of Captain Herren's squadron, 1st Mississippi (Confederate) cavalry, set out to scout from Camp Ruggles to Rome on the Tickfaw river, and if practicable thence to Duck Bill on the lake shore, near the mouth of the Amite river. Leaving a picket guard at the Rome ferry, he went with his other men to within a mile of the mouth of the Amite, where he found the U. S. gunboat Barataria aground, but manned and otherwise capable of resistance. From the cover of timber on shore he attacked and by his men's good marksmanship drove the gunners to the protection of the casemates. Two of the vessel's men were shot as they attempted to climb on board with some spars with which they had tried to get it afloat. Unable to draw the crew from the iron protection of the Barataria, and boarding it being out of the question, Davidson left men to watch it and returned to Camp Ruggles for aid and instructions. Herren, with his entire squadron, hastened to the spot under orders to capture or destroy the gunboat, but found that it had been set on fire and abandoned. The only thing available for capture was a brass cannon.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 30.


AMITE RIVER, LOUISIANA, April 12, 1863. Captain Herren, with Company H, 1st Miss, and Company C, 2nd Arkansas cavalry, under orders from Colonel Simonton, on April 9 went to the mouth of the Amite river to remove a cannon and other valuables from the wreck of a gunboat. After two days' labor he got the cannon on board a schooner and started back with a lieutenant and 20 men, sending the remainder of his command to camp by land. The schooner was sighted and pursued by Federals. Herren landed 14 men in ambush on the east bank of the river, directed the lieutenant to conceal the others on the boat and make for the west shore. The Federals in a yawl passed Herren and his men, who fired on them at a distance of 200 yards or more. They effected a landing on the west shore, but the lieutenant on the boat cut off their retreat, killing 1 and capturing 8, with a yawl and another small boat. Fearing further pursuit, Herren cast the cannon overboard and hurried up the river.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 30.


AMITE RIVER, LOUISIANA, April 17, 1863. Amite River, Louisiana, May 9-18, 1863. Troops of Department of the Gulf under Colonel Edmund J. Davis. During the operations of certain cavalry and infantry regiments under Davis on the Amite river skirmishes occurred at Tickfaw bridge and near Ponchatoula and Independence. In these affairs Davis' command suffered a loss of 1 killed and 3 wounded, while the Confederates had between 10 and 15 killed and 44 taken prisoners.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 30.


AMITE RIVER, LOUISIANA, July 25, 1864. Major Moore, of the 2nd Illinois cavalry, with 135 men of that organization and the 18th Illinois mounted infantry, marched at nightfall, July 24, to the Amite river and crossed at daylight next morning. About a mile and a half from the river he came upon Confederate pickets, whom he drove in 7 miles to their camp. There he routed 300 men, captured and destroyed 150 stands of arms, 15,000 rounds of ammunition and took 4 prisoners. He fell back to the Amite, pressed by the enemy and contested every inch of the ground. Near Benton's ferry he made a stand, killing 20 Confederates, without loss and returned to camp next day.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 30.


AMITE RIVER, LOUISIANA, December 12, 1864.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 30.


AMITE RIVER, LOUISIANA, March 18, 1865.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 30.


AMMEN, DANIEL, Union naval officer AMMEN, Daniel, naval officer, born in Ohio, 15 May, 1820. He was appointed midshipman 7 July, 1836, and served as passed midshipman in the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, in the Mediterranean, in the East India Squadron, and on the coast survey. As lieutenant (from 4 November, 1849) he was attached to a commission to select a naval station on the Pacific coast, accompanied the expedition to Paraguay River in 1853-'54, and was on the steam frigate " Merrimac " in 1859-'60. In 1861, at the out- break of the Civil War, he was executive officer of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. At the reduction of Port Royal, 7 November, 1861, he commanded the " Seneca," and was sent ashore to hoist the flag over the surrendered forts, and hold them, till the army took possession. He was promoted to be commander 21 February, 1863, was assigned to the monitor " Patapsco," and participated in the attack on Fort McAllister, 3 March, 1863. In May, 1864, he was despatched to the Pacific in command of 220 seamen as passengers on board a California steamer. Two days out from New York a well-organized attempt at mutiny was suppressed by Com. Ammen and Boatswain Bell, aided by Captain Tinklepaugh, of the steamer, and a few volunteer from among the passengers. He participated u the two attacks on Fort Fisher in the winter of 1864-'65, was commissioned captain 26 July, 1861 and was on special and sea service until 11 December 1877, when he was made rear-admiral and was placed on the retired list after 49 years and 6 months of service. He is the author of “The Atlantic Coast,” a volume in the series entitled “The Navy in the Civil War” (New York, 1883). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 66-67.


AMMEN, JACOB, soldier, born in Botetourt County, Virginia, 7 January, 1808. He was graduated at West Point in 1831, and served there as assistant instructor in mathematics, and afterward of infantry tactics until 31 August, 1832. During the threaten “nullification ” of South Carolina he was on duty in Charleston Harbor. From 4 October, 1834, to November, 1837, he was again at West Point as an instructor, and he resigned from the army, 30 November, 1837, to accept a professorship of mathematics at Bacon College, Georgetown, Kentucky Thence he went to Jefferson College, Washington, Miss., in 1839, to the University of Indiana in 1840, to Jefferson College again in 1843, and returned to Bacon College in 1848. From 1855 to 1861 he was a civil engineer at Ripley, Ohio, and on April 18 of that ear became captain in the 12th Ohio Volunteers. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel 2 May, and participated in the West Virginia Campaign (June and July) under McClellan, where the first considerable federal successes of the war were gained. After the campaigns in Tennessee and Mississippi he was promoted to be brigadier-general of volunteers 16 July, 1862, and was in command of camps of instruction in Ohio and Illinois until 16 December, 1863. From 10 April, 1864, to 14 January, 1865, when he resigned, he was in command of the District of East Tennessee. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 67


AMMUNITION is a term which comprehends gunpowder, and all the various projectiles and pyrotechnical compositions and stores used in the service. Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 23-26.

Any commissioned officer convicted at a general court-martial of having sold without a proper order, embezzled, misapplied or, through neglect, suffered provisions, forage, army clothing, ammunition, or other military stores belonging to the United States to be spoiled or damaged, shall at his own expense make good the loss or damage, and shall forfeit his pay and be dismissed from the service; (Art. 36.) Any non-commissioned officer or soldier who shall be convicted at a regimental court-martial of having sold, or designedly, or through neglect, wasted ammunition delivered to him, shall be punished at the discretion of such court; (Art 37.)

The quantity of ammunition with troops is usually fixed at two hundred rounds for each piece of ordnance. These supplies are transported in caissons, and an army should be followed, in all cases, by a second supply at least equal to the first. The ammunition which cannot be carried in the caissons attached to pieces will be kept in boxes in reserve.

Additional supplies of ordnance stores are placed in convenient depots, according to circumstances.

Ammunition for Small Arms. This supply consists of one hundred rounds to each man: forty rounds in cartridge box, and sixty in reserve. Percussion caps should exceed by one-half the number of cartridges. Cuts 5 and 6 represent the bullets of new arms.

To use the new cartridge carrying the powder and elongated ball attached to each other, tear the fold and pour out the powder; then seize the ball end firmly between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, and strike the cylinder of the cartridge a smart blow across the muzzle of the piece; this breaks the cartridge and exposes the bottom of the ball; a slight pressure of the thumb and forefinger forces the ball into the bore clear of all cartridge paper. In striking the cartridge, the cylinder should be held square across, or at right angles to the muzzle; otherwise, a blow given in an oblique direction would only bend the cartridge without rupturing it.

Ammunition for a siege train of one hundred pieces, consisting of the following:
Guns           24-pounder about one-third the whole number          32
                   18-pounder, one-tenth the whole number.                10
                   12-pounder,                                                           10
Howitzers.   8-inch siege, one-eighth.                                         13
Mortars        10-inch siege, one-seventh                                      14

                   8-inch siege, one-fourteenth                                    7
Stone Mortars, one-seventh                                                        14
Coehorn Mortars (in addition to the 100 pieces)                           6
Wall Pieces, for the attack of one front                                        40

The 18 and 24-pounders should be furnished with one thousand rounds each, the 12-pounders with twelve hundred rounds, the 8-inch howitzers and mortars with six hundred rounds. In addition to the above, fifty rounds of spherical-case shot should be furnished to each gun. Powder magazines, containing from fifty to one hundred thousand pounds of powder, must be accessible.

Cartridges for siege and garrison service are usually one-fourth the weight of the shot; but the charge varies according to circumstances from one-third the weight of the shot (for a breaching battery) to one-sixth of that weight for firing double shot, or hot shot, and still less for ricochet firing. The charges for mortars and howitzers vary ac- cording to the required range. For columbiads and sea-coast howitzers, the cartridge should always occupy the whole length of the chamber; for this purpose, in firing with reduced charges a cartridge block is placed in the bag over the powder. For mortars, cartridge bags may be made in the same manner as for gins, but the charge is usually poured loose into the chamber. Charges vary for mortar shells from 11 lbs. to 4 oz. according to the size of the mortar, and whether the intention be to fill the shell, to burst it, or simply to blow out the fuse. For hot shot, cartridge bags are made double by putting one bag free from holes within another. (For full details concerning ammunition, including its preparation, &c., consult ORDNANCE MANUAL, 1850; consult also Experiments with small arms by Ordnance Officers, 1856. See ARMS; CANISTER; CARTRIDGE; FRICTION TUBES; FUZE; GRAPE SHOT; GUN POWDER; ORDNANCE AND ORDNANCE STORES; RIFLED ORDNANCE; SABOT; SHELLS; SOLID SHOT; SPHERICAL-CASE.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. ).


AMNESTY. An act of oblivion, or forgiveness of past offences. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 26.)


AMORY, THOMAS J. C., soldier, born in Massachusetts about 1830; died of yellow fever in Newbern, North Carolina, 8 October, 1864. He was graduated at West Point in 1851, and served on garrison and frontier duty in the Utah Expedition (1858–60), and on recruiting service until 1861, when he became colonel of the 17th Massachusetts Volunteers. He was stationed at Baltimore with his regiment until March, 1862, when he was ordered to North Carolina and took part in the operations about Newbern, Beaufort, Goldsboro, and Kinston, until 1 March, 1864, when he was assigned to a general command of the forces south of the Trent River, and on 5 July to the Sub-District of Beaufort. He was promoted to be major 19 September, and was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers 1 October. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 67.