Bat through Belt

BAT, BAT MEN, BAT HORSE, BAT AND FORAGE ALLOWANCE. Men who take charge of the baggage of officers and companies. Allowance given at the beginning of a campaign in the English army is called Bat and Forage allowance. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 82).


BATARDEAU is a strong wall of masonry built across a ditch, to sustain the pressure of the water, when one part is dry and the other wet. To prevent this wall being used as a passage across the ditch, it is built up to an angle at top, and armed with iron spikes; and to render the attempt to cross still more difficult, a tower of masonry is built on it. In the batardeau is the sluice-gate, by the opening or closing of which the manoeuvres of the water can be regulated. (See DITCH.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 82).


BATCHELDER'S CREEK, NORTH CAROLINA, April 29, 1862. 23d Massachusetts Infantry. A detachment of this regiment, deployed as pickets for about a quarter of a mile on either side of the railroad at Batchelder's creek, was attacked at noon on the right flank by about 70 Confederate cavalry who passed between the extreme right group and the rest of the picket, thus cutting off a few men on the right and making them prisoners. The pickets opened fire on the enemy's advance and the Confederates replied with a volley of 20 or 30 shots, killing 1 man; 3 others were missing when the affair was over. Batchelder's Creek, North Carolina, February 10, 1863.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 83.


BATCHELDER'S CREEK, NORTH CAROLINA, May 23, 1863. Troops of the 18th Army Corps. In the afternoon the Confederates attacked the outpost line of the corps, on Batchelder's creek, commanded by Colonel Jones of the 58th Pennsylvania infantry. Major-General Foster reinforced Jones with the 45th Massachusetts, and the Confederates were repulsed at every point, but with great loss to the corps in the death of Colonel Jones, who was shot through the heart as he was leading a detachment of his regiment to dislodge the enemy from a position that he had taken.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 83.


BATCHELDER'S CREEK, NORTH CAROLINA, February 1, 1864. (See New Berne, same date.)


BATCHELHER, SAMUEL, inventor, born in Jaffrey. New Hampshire, 8 June, 1784; died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 5 February, 1879. His early life was spent in New Ipswich, whither his parents had moved, and in 1808 he became interested in a cotton factory at this place, which was the second that was erected in New Hampshire. In 1825 he moved to Lowell, where he superintended the erection of the Hamilton Company's Mills. In 1831 he was called on to undertake the erection of a cotton-mill for the York Manufacturing Company in Saco, Maine, and to superintend its operations. The mills under his management were very successful, and the plant and capital were greatly enlarged. In 1846 he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he continued to reside, and, although a representative in the Massachusetts state legislature, he yet for many years continued his relations with the mills, being president of the Hamilton Manufacturing Company, the Appleton Company, the Essex Company, the Everett Mills, the York Manufacturing Company, and the Exeter Manufacturing Company—having an aggregate capital of about $5,000,000. About 1832 no devised the first stop-motion to the drawing-frame, which has since been used in this country and England. In 1832 he patented the steam-cylinders and connections now universally used in dressing-frames for drying yarns. His greatest invention was the dynamometer used for ascertaining the power for driving machinery. It was first used in the York Mills in 1837, and was considered preferable to any known apparatus for determining the power actually used in driving machinery. In early life he contributed to the "Boston Monthly Anthology" and to the "Port Folio." and he was the author of the "Responsibilities of the North in Relation to Slavery” (Cambridge, 1856), and "Introduction and Early Progress of the Cotton Manufacture in the United States" (Boston, 1863). A sketch of his life was published in pamphlet form (Lowell, 1885). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 191.


BATES, EDWARD, 1793-1869, Virginia, statesman, lawyer, Society of Friends, Quaker.  Congressman.  U.S. Attorney General, Lincoln’s cabinet.  Member, Free Labor Party, Missouri.  Anti-slavery activist.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 193; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, pp. 48-49)

BATES, Edward, statesman, born in Belmont. Goochland County, Virginia, 4 September, 1793; died in St. Louis, Missouri, 25 March, 1869. He was of Quaker descent, and received most of his education at Charlotte Hall, Maryland, finishing under the care of a private tutor. In 1812 he received a midshipman's warrant, and was only prevented from going to sea by his mother's influence. From February till October, 1813, he served in the Virginia Militia at Norfolk. His elder brother, Frederick Bates, having been appointed secretary of the new territory of Missouri, Edward emigrated thither in 1814, and soon entered upon the practice of law. As early as 1816 he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the St. Louis Circuit, and in 1820 was elected a delegate to the state constitutional convention. Toward the close of the same year he was appointed attorney-general of the new state of Missouri, which office he held for two years. He was elected to the legislature in 1822, and in 1824 became state attorney for the Missouri District. About this time he became the political friend of Henry Clay. In 1826, while yet quite a young man, he was elected a representative in Congress as an anti-democrat, serving but one term. For the next twenty-five years he devoted himself to his profession, but served in the legislature again in 1830 and 1834. In 1847 Mr. Bates was a delegate to the convention for internal improvement, held in Chicago, and here made a favorable impression upon the country at large. In 1850 President Fillmore offered him the portfolio of Secretary of War, which he declined. Three years later he accepted the office of judge of the St. Louis Land Court. In 1836 he presided over the Whig Convention held in Baltimore. When the question of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was agitated, he earnestly opposed it, and thus became identified with the “free-labor” party in Missouri, opposing with them the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. Mr. Bates became more and more prominent as an anti-slavery man, until in 1859 he was mentioned as a candidate for the presidency. He was warmly supported by his own state, and for a time it seem that the opposition to Governor Seward might concentrate upon him. In the National Republican Convention of 1860 he received 48 votes on the 1st ballot; but when it became apparent that Mr. Lincoln was the favorite, his name was withdrawn. When Mr. Lincoln, after his election, decided upon selecting for his cabinet the leading men of the Democratic Party, including those who had been his principal competitors, Mr. Bates was appointed Attorney-General. In the cabinet he played a dignified, safe, and faithful, but not conspicuous, part. In 1864 he resigned his office and returned to his home in St. Louis. From this time he never again entered into active politics. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 193.


BATES, JOSHUA H., soldier, born in Massachusetts about 1817. He was graduated at West Point in 1837 and served as a lieutenant of artillery in the Florida War, in removing the Cherokees to the west in 1838, and at Cleveland, Ohio, during the Canada border disturbances of 1839–41. He resigned his commission, 20 July, 1842, and became a lawyer in Cincinnati. In the beginning of the Civil War he was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers, on 27 April, 1861, and organized the Ohio volunteers in Camps Harrison and Dennison, until mustered out of the service on 27 August, 1861. He was a member of the Sanitary Commission, and when Cincinnati was threatened by the Confederates in 1863, he commanded a division. After his discharge from the army he practised law in Cincinnati, and in 1864 was elected a member of the Ohio State Senate. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 194.


BATES, MARTIN, senator, born in Salisbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 24 February, 1787; died in Dover, Delaware, 1 January, 1869. He was educated for a physician, and taught school for a time, but afterward studied law and moved to Delaware, where he practised in Dover. He served several terms in the legislature, and was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1850. After the death of John M. Clayton he was chosen to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, and served from 6 December, 1858, until 3 March, 1859, acting as a member of the Committee on Pensions. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 194.


BATES' FERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA, February 15, 1865. 15th Army Corps. Incidental to the advance on Columbia, South Carolina, the 15th corps passed Sandy run on the 14th and went into camp in the following order and position: 1st division under Bvt. Major-General Woods, near Wolf's plantation, with the 2nd division under General Hazen, in support; the 3d and 4th divisions under Bvt. Major- General Smith and Bvt. Major-General Corse, respectively, some 2 miles in the rear. The enemy having been reported in force and intrenched on Congaree creek these dispositions were made to force the passage and at the same time to demonstrate upon the Congaree river with a part of the corps. The demonstration was entrusted to Woods and the movement was begun at 7 a. m. on the 15th, the 1st division having the advance, supported by the 2nd and 4th. On the opposite side of the stream, at Bates' ferry 25 to 30 Confederate pickets were discovered in line. The Federal skirmishers opened fire on them about 1 p. m. and they replied, evidently determined to hold their ground. Smith got a section of Battery B, 1st Michigan artillery, in action and disposed his command as to make it look larger than it was. This caused the Confederate pickets to fall back and they did not again appear. The crossing at the point was practicable, but was scarcely desirable. At 7.30 p. m. Smith withdrew his command and marched forward to Tom's creek. The demonstration also extended to other points in the vicinity. Woods marched toward Columbia, but was stubbornly opposed through the day and was obliged to cover his advance with a skirmish line. In the afternoon the division had advanced only 5 miles to Congaree creek, where the enemy was developed in considerable force, his position being protected by 3 pieces of artillery. The 2nd brigade under Colonel Catterson, was deployed to the right of the road, to feel toward the left flank of the enemy's line and if possible to cross the creek below him. The 3d brigade commanded by Colonel Stone, was moved to the left of the road to feel toward the right flank of the enemy and effect a crossing above. Both brigades moved under cover of a strong connected line of skirmishers and the 1st brigade was held in reserve in the center. Hazen and Corse moved their divisions in support of Woods. Stone's skirmishers turned the enemy's left flank and drove his skirmishers back beyond the creek. The 4th la. infantry, moving still further to the enemy's right and rear, crossed the stream above him, while Catterson obtained a foothold below. Skirmishers pressed the enemy hard in front and he fell back from his works along the creek to an inner line near the Congaree river, firing the bridge in his flight. The fire was extinguished and the bridge repaired. The works abandoned were strongly constructed and admirably adapted to the defense of the crossing. As the Confederates left this position, the 2nd brigade and the 12th Wisconsin battery moved over the partially burned bridge and pursued the enemy a mile beyond it. The remainder of the division was delayed in crossing until darkness prevented a further advance, when it encamped on a ridge, its left resting on the river bank, its right connecting with the 2nd division which also had crossed. During the night the Confederates shelled the Federal camps from beyond the river, but with little effect. On the advance of the Federal skirmish line next morning it was found that the enemy had abandoned its second line and the corps moved on Columbia.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 83-84.


BATES TOWNSHIP, ARKANSAS, November 2, 1863.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 84.


BATESVILLE, ARKANSAS, May 3, 1862. Army of the Southwest. General Curtis' army reached Batesville at 5 a. m. and Colonel Coleman's Confederate cavalry fired on the Federal pickets from across the White river. The fire was returned with artillery and the cavalry was driven off. Several of the enemy were seen carried from the field. Curtis took a number of prisoners, about 100 stands of arms and considerable contraband property.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 84.


BATESVILLE, ARKANSAS, July 14, 1862. 4th Iowa Cavalry. Batesville, Arkansas, February 4, 1863. Waring’s Brigade, Davidson's Cavalry Division. Incidental to a foraging and reconnoitering expedition, the brigade reached Batesville in the night and with a charge led by Captain Rose of the 4th Missouri cavalry drove General Marmaduke's forces out of the town, killing and wounding many and taking some prisoners, among them Colonel Adams. In the flight such of the enemy as could not crowd upon the ferry boats swam the White river.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 84.


BATH, WEST VIRGINIA, January 3-5, 1862. 39th Illinois, 84th Pennsylvania, and 13th Indiana Infantry. During the movement of troops from Frederick, Maryland, to Williamsport, Captain Linton, commanding Company D, 39th Illinois, divided his company at Bath on the 3d to scout the roads in order to learn the strength and position of the enemy. About a mile and a half from the town some of his men routed the Confederate advance guard of 8 mounted men. A little later two of the squads of Company D, one of them Linton's, under the partial protection of a fence, advanced up a bare hill and fought a formidable body of Confederate infantry and cavalry. An attempt was made to cut them off, but it was thwarted by an attack on a battalion of the enemy concealed in a ravine by a squad of Company D under Sergt. Snowden. After holding the enemy at the top of the hill as long as there was anything to be gained by so doing, Linton and his party retreated toward Warm Springs mountain and thence made their way by mountain paths to Bath, where they arrived about midnight. Sergt. Snowden and his men were hemmed in, but managed to escape in the darkness. A squad under Lieutenant Towner went up the west side of Warm Springs mountain and exchanged shots with a greatly superior force, reaching Bath at 11 p. m. About 3 a. m. on the 4th Linton and his men took position on the summit of Warm Springs mountain. The night before the attack on Bath Lieutenant Whipple, Company E, with 25 men, was detailed to go to Great Cacapon to the assistance of Captain Slaughter. The rest of the company was stationed at Sir John's run to guard the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. The attack on Bath was expected and the Federals planned to occupy a position on a commanding hill and put out a strong picket line. About noon some 10,000 Confederates attacked the town. Company D, Captain Linton, Company K, Captain Woodruff, and Company I, Captain Phillips, under command of Major Mann, became engaged in a sharp skirmish, in which they fought gallantly but were forced back by large numbers, losing several prisoners. The 84th Pennsylvania, under Colonel Murray, came to their support, but its arms were new and unfit for service and Murray ordered a retreat to Sir John's run. There the troops crossed the river in boats en route for Hancock, where they arrived on the evening of the 4th. Meantime the 13th Indiana left the cars at Sir John's run and advanced toward Bath only to fall back upon warning of the Federal retreat from that place. The regiment then went by rail to Great Cacapon. All of the several companies of the 30th Illinois, except about a dozen men of Company E, under Captain Hooker, went to Hancock. Hooker with his little band skirmished all through that night and next day with Confederates who wanted to tear up the railroad track, killing 8 of them and preventing them from damaging the road. Meanwhile General Jackson had routed the Federal cavalry that had remained at Bath and sent Colonel Rust to destroy the railroad bridge. A portion of the Federal force there was seen and the Confederates started to charge upon it but fell back under a terrible fire from an ambuscade. Later Jackson ordered McLaughlin's battery to fire a few shells into Hancock. Rust with his own and Colonel Fulkerson's regiments, and a section of Shumaker's battery, engaged the Federals near the railroad bridge over the Big Cacapon and sustained some loss. On the morning of the 5th General Loring with his artillery, drove off the Union troops that had defended the railroad bridge against Rust, destroyed the bridge and railroad buildings and a considerable stretch of telegraph wire. Jackson menaced Hancock with an artillery attack and demanded its surrender, but his demand was refused. He cannonaded the town a short time without effect and then proceeded to construct a bridge for crossing the Potomac about 2 miles further up. He had already been joined by Lieutenant-Colonel Ashby, Major Paxton and Captain Colston and the force with which they had enlarged the break in Dam No. 5 at Bath. Having completed his work of destruction on the railway, Loring, with Gilham's and Rust's commands, rejoined Jackson at Hancock. On the 6th Federal reinforcements rendered an attack on that town impracticable.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 84-85.

BATH, WEST VIRGINIA, September 6, 1863. 20th Pennsylvania Cavalry. On the night of September 6 two companies of the 20th Pennsylvania cavalry, 6-months' men, under Captain Hebble, were attacked by 26 of General Imboden's men under Captains Burke and Blackford. Hebble and several of his men were killed and 23 prisoners and 50 horses were taken by the Confederates.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 85.


BATH COUNTY, KENTUCKY, March 26, 1865. Detachment of 185th Ohio Infantry. Captain Robert W. Wilson and 60 men of his regiment sent out from Mount Sterling to arrest 2 Confederate sympathizers were attacked by 125 of the enemy. Wilson was compelled to fall back, losing 1 killed and 4 wounded in doing so. The Confederate casualties were estimated at 4 killed and 7 wounded. Bath Springs, Mississippi, January 1, 1863.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 85.


BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, August 5, 1862. Detached Forces under Brigadier-General Thomas Williams. In pursuance of a plan of the Confederate leaders at Vicksburg, Major-General John C. Breckenridge, with a force variously estimated at from 3,000 to 6,000 men, moved on Baton Rouge, while the newly built ram Arkansas was to go down the river and engage the Federal gunboats at the same time the fight was going on between the land forces. Williams learned of the movement and disposed his troops to meet it. The 4th Wisconsin was on the extreme left, on the right bank of Bayou Gross, on the opposite bank of which were 2 pieces of Manning's battery so placed as to sweep the ground on the left of the Badger regiment. To the right of the 4th Wisconsin was the 9th Connecticut, with 2 guns in the rear of the center and 2 more in rear of the right. Then came the 14th Me., posted behind the Bayou Sara road and to the left of the Greenwell Springs road; then the 21st Indiana in the woods behind Magnolia cemetery with 4 pieces of Everett's battery on the Greenwell Springs road; then the 6th Michigan across the road to the right of Magnolia cemetery and the Clay Cut road, on the former of which were 2 pieces of Everett's battery; the 7th Vermont was posted in rear of the 21st Indiana and 6th Michigan on the right of the Catholic cemetery; and the 30th Massachusetts, supporting Nim's battery on the extreme right. The fight began at daylight. Breckenridge formed line of battle on the open ground near the Greenwell Springs road and attempted to draw Williams out. Failing in this the Confederates advanced on the ground between the Clinton and Clay Cut roads, thus throwing the brunt of the attack against the 14th Maine, the 21st Indiana and the 6th Michigan Williams ordered the 9th Conn, and the 4th Wisconsin with a section of artillery to support the left of the center and the 30th Massachusetts with a portion of Nim's battery to aid the right of the center, but the effort was unavailing. The Federals put up a desperate resistance but were slowly forced back and the Confederates captured the camps of the advanced regiments. Williams was killed just as the regiments commenced to fall back, and for a little time there was some confusion in the Union ranks. When the Confederates had forced the garrison back beyond Magnolia cemetery they were within range of the Federal gunboats in the river and the galling fire of the infantry, which was soon rallied, and the gunboats compelled Breckinridge to fall back. When he had destroyed the Federal encampment and had ascertained that the ram Arkansas was hard aground with her machinery disabled he hastily withdrew, leaving his dead and wounded on the field. The Union loss in this affair was 84 killed, 266 wounded and 32 captured or missing; Confederate reports make their losses 44 killed, 152 wounded and 6 missing, but a despatch from Lieutenant G. Weitzel, chief engineer of the Department of the Gulf, states that by the 8th the garrison at Baton Rouge had buried 250 of the enemy's dead. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, August 20-21, 1862. U. S. Troops under Colonel Paine. Victory in the battle at Baton Rouge on August 5, had been claimed by both Federals and Confederates, and the latter have since reasoned that the Federal evacuation of Baton Rouge about 2 weeks later was a justification of their claim. On August 21, 1862, Major DeBaun (Confederate) reported to Brigadier-General Ruggles, commander of the 1st division department of Southern Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana: "On yesterday morning I drove in the Federal pickets and caused a general stampede of the forces in Baton Rouge, who, with the exception of those in the barracks, fled to the gunboats. They fired upon me with one company and afterward their gunboats shelled me for 2 hours." On the 16th, Major-General Butler, commanding Department of the Gulf, reported to Secretary of War Stanton: "I have ordered the evacuation and destruction of Baton Rouge, which will be effected unless an attack is made on it by Van Dorn before we can get away. In that case, we shall fight." On the 19th he wrote to Colonel Paine commanding at Baton Rouge: "Upon your representation, through Mr. Bates, of the state of the public, charitable and penal institutions at Baton Rouge, wherein the orphan, the insane and the helpless are confined and housed, so that the innocent and helpless must be so greatly the sufferers, I am inclined to countermand my order for burning the town. You will leave it as whole as you can, unless you are obliged to burn it as a matter of defensive action. I have not changed my opinion as to the great military advantage it will be to the enemy to have it, but I am impelled by a sense of just humanity to overlook that advantage. Its importance is not such as to justify that destruction upon the unoffending." On August 23, Brigadier-General Ruggles reported to Major-General Van Dorn: "The town was evacuated by the enemy on the 21st. The Essex and No. 7 remain before it. I expect to be in possession this morning." On August 27, Butler reported from New Orleans to Major-General Halleck: "As indicated in my dispatch to the secretary of war of the 16th inst., finding a concentration of troops by the enemy, I withdrew at my leisure the troops at Baton Rouge and have them now encamped behind my lines at Carrollton. As the town of Baton Rouge is now held by 2 gunboats stationed in the river and if the enemy attempt to build batteries there it will be necessary to drive them out by shells I ordered the state library to be brought away, and Powers' statue of Washington from the state house. This has been safely accomplished. The library is stored with the city library here. I have sent the statue of Washington to the mayor of New York, to be held in trust for the people of Louisiana until they shall have returned to their senses. I deem the evacuation of Baton Rouge a matter of prudence, as the entire force at Vicksburg had been brought down to Jackson and Tangipahoa for the avowed purpose of an attack on New Orleans." The Federal gunboats commanded Baton Rouge, but the defense of the military position was not desirable. The enemy captured cattle and horses, no prisoners. The Confederate attack was not necessary as some writers have asserted it to have been, to save the town from destruction. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, September 8, 1863. 4th Wisconsin Cavalry. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 85-87.


BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, September 19, 1863.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 87.


BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, March 3, 1864. 118th Illinois Mounted Infantry. The record of events on the return of the 2nd brigade, cavalry division, Department of the Gulf, for March 1864, discloses the fact that on the 3d Lieutenant-Colonel Logan, 118th III. mounted infantry, went to Baton Rouge and was involved with his command in a skirmish, killing 1 Confederate and taking 3 prisoners.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 87.


BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, April 15, 1864. On this date Confederates approached to attack Baton Rouge. A Federal scouting detachment of 50 drove an equal number of the enemy 20 miles or further. Reports do not contain further details. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 87.


BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, July 29, 1864. Picket of the 14th New York Cavalry. Three men and a corporal of this regiment were attacked in the forenoon of this day, while on picket duty at Highland Stockade. Two of the men escaped unharmed; the corporal and the other man were severely wounded. Battery Huger, Alabama, April 9-11, 1865. Army of West Mississippi. After the fall of Spanish fort and Fort Blakely Batteries Huger and Tracy on the opposite shore of Blakely river still held out. It was necessary to reduce these posts in order that the navy might operate successfully in Blakely river. Spurling's cavalry was sent up the river to cut off communication between the forts and Mobile, and Lucas' cavalry was ordered to block the navigation of the Alabama river. On the 10th additional guns were brought to bear upon the batteries and a boat expedition for a night attack on Tracy was organized, but at 10 p. m. the Confederates evacuated both works, blowing up the magazines. Before daylight also Mobile had been evacuated. The casualties in the 2 days' bombardment of Batteries Huger and Tracy were not reported.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 87.


BATTALION. An aggregation of from two to ten companies in the United States Service. Their instruction is regulated by Infantry and Light Infantry tactics. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. ).


BATTELLE, GORDON, clergyman, born in Newport, Ohio, 14 November, 1814; died in camp, 7 January, 1862. He was graduated at Alleghany College in 1840, and licensed as a Methodist preacher in 1842. From 1843 to 1851 he was principal of the Academy at Clarksburg, Virginia. During this time he was, in 1817, ordained deacon, and in 1849 elder, in the Methodist Church. As preacher and presiding elder he occupied most of his time from 1851 to 1880, and was a member of the general conference of 1856 and 1860. His influence in western Virginia was very great, and at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 he was appointed an official visitor to the military camps. The needs of the time demanding attention to the political situation, he became a member of the convention that met 24 November, 1861, and framed the constitution of the new state of West Virginia. To him, more largely probably than to any other man, was due the abolition of slavery in that region. In November, 1861, he was chosen chaplain of the 1st Virginia Regiment, and so continued till his death of typhoid fever after a service of but a few weeks. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 195.


BATTERY. A battery consists of two or more pieces of artillery in the field. The term Battery also implies the emplacement of ordnance destined to act offensively or defensively. It also refers to the company charged with a certain number of pieces of ordnance. The ordnance constitutes the Battery. Men serve the Battery. Horses drag it, and epaulments may shelter it. A battery may be with or without embrasures. In the latter case it is en barbette, and the height of the genouillere varies according to the description of the gun carriage used. The ordnance constituting the battery requires substantial bearings either of solid ground for field-pieces, or of timber, plank, or masonry platforms, for heavy artillery. Batteries are sometimes designated as follows: Barbette battery, one without embrasures, in which the guns are raised to fire over the parapet; Ambulant battery, heavy guns mounted on travelling carriages, and moved as occasion may require, cither to positions on a coast, or in besieged places; Covered battery, intended for a vertical fire, and concealed from the enemy; Breaching battery; Joint batteries, uniting their fire against any object; Counter battery, one battery opposed against another; Coast battery; Direct battery; Cross batteries, forming a cross fire on an object; Oblique battery forms an angle of 20 or more, with the object against which it is directed, contradistinguished from direct battery; Raised battery, one whose terre plein is elevated considerably above the ground; Sunken battery, where the sole of the embrasures is on a level with the ground, and the platforms are consequently sunk below it; Enfilading battery, when the shot or shell sweeps the whole length of a line of troops or part of a work; Horizontal battery, when the terre plein is that of the natural level of the ground, consequently the parapet alone is raised and the ditch sunk; Open battery, without epaulment, or other covering wholly exposed; Indented battery, or battery a cremaillere, battery constructed with salient and re-entering angles for obtaining an oblique, as well as a direct fire, and to afford shelter from the enfilade fire of the enemy; Reverse battery, that which fires upon the rear of a work or line of troops; Ricochet battery, whose projectiles, being fired at low angles, graze and bound without being buried; Masked battery, artificially concealed until required to open upon the enemy.

Field Batteries, in sieges, are usually of two kinds, viz., Elevated Batteries and Sunken Batteries, and they are placed either in front of the parallel, in the parallel itself, or in rear of it. In an elevated battery, the platforms for the guns or mortars to stand upon, are laid on the natural level of the ground, and the whole of the covering mass, or parapet, is raised above that level, the earth for forming it being obtained from a ditch in front; (Fig. 67.) In a sunken battery, the whole interior of the battery is excavated about three feet deep, and the platforms laid on the bottom, the earth is thrown to the front, and the parapet is formed out of it; (Fig. 68.) An inspection of these figures will show the difference; and it will be obvious that the whole of the parapet in the elevated battery has to be raised, and that in a sunken battery part of the cover is obtained by taking advantages of the excavation FIG. 68. made for forming the mass. This construction is frequently used in turning the portion of a parallel into a battery, by increasing the width of the interior excavation of the trench so as to make room for the platforms of the guns. Great care must be taken that no rise in the ground before the battery obscures the view from the soles of the embrasures; for this purpose, the officer laying out the battery should lie down and look along the ground, in order to be sure that his guns can range freely from their embrasures, before he fixes his details for construction. When guns are fired with an elevation when the soil is sandy or gravelly when the weather is dry or the ground elevated, this construction is approved. The depth of the excavation for the interior must depend on the height of the carriages upon which the guns are mounted: it should be deeper in rear than in front, that it may be drained. The interior slopes of these batteries, and the cheeks of the embrasures, must be supported by field revetments of gabions, fascines, sand-bags, casks, or sods. In batteries exposed to a heavy fire, especially of shells, it is necessary to provide as much cover as possible for the men serving in them; for this purpose, traverses are usually placed between every two guns; and as these masses serve to protect the men from the splinters of the bursting shells, they are generally called splinter-proof traverse. There is nearly twice as much work in the elevated as in the sunken battery. (JEBB'S Attack and Defence; see EMBRASURE.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, pp. 82-84).


BATTERY HUGER, VIRGINIA, April 19, 1863. Detachments of the 89th New York and 8th Connecticut Volunteers. This was an incident of the siege of Suffolk. About dusk Brigadier-General Getty, commanding the U. S. naval flotilla, executed successfully a plan for crossing the Nansemond river and capturing Battery Huger on Hill's point at the mouth of the west branch. Shortly before sunset gunboats on the river and 4 rifled guns, two 20-pounder Parrotts and two 3-inch ordnance guns, opened a terrific fire on the battery. Meantime the detachments mentioned embarked at Dr. Council's landing about a mile above the battery on the gunboat Stepping-Stones, commanded by Lieutenant Lamson. A canvas screen around the deck effectually concealed the men as the boat steamed rapidly down stream and ran close to the shore about 300 yards above the battery. The vessel was headed inshore, but striking a pile she glanced off, and borne on the ebb-tide would have glided in front of the battery had not Lieutenant Lamson reversed her propelling works and backed her aground. From both ends of the boat the men jumped in mud and water up to their waists, scrambled hastily ashore and with cheers dashed upon the battery. By this time the gunboat's crew had landed 4 boat howitzers, placed them in position and opened with them on the works. The enemy opened a hot fire of musketry, and reversed and fired one of their guns. But, cut off and terrorized by discharges of canister from Lamson's batteries, they finally surrendered. The results of this brilliant achievement included the capture of 7 officers, 130 men and 5 guns, the liberation of 5 gunboats above the battery and the occupation of a point of vital importance to. the enemy and of much value to the Federals.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 87-88.


BATTERY ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, May 21, 1862. About 11 a. m. on this date a Federal gunboat came up the river, took a position where it could enfilade the bridge and causeway leading to James island. About the same time a detachment of troops was landed in small boats and moved to the rear of the Confederate pickets on Battery island. The gunboat opened on a causeway with grape and shrapnel, cutting off the retreat of the pickets, and the men who had gone ashore succeeded in capturing a sergeant, a corporal and 4 men near the old magazine on the north end of the island. The other picket posts managed to make their escape.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 88.


BATTERY ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, September 7, 1863. Brigadier-General Taliaferro, of the Confederate army, reported that he "attacked the enemy's pickets on Battery Island," and "drove them off and destroyed the bridge and landing." There is no mention of the affair in the Federal reports.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 88.


BATTERY SIMKINS, SOUTH CAROLINA, February 11, 1865. 52nd Pennsylvania Volunteers. This regiment lead by Major Hennesey, made a demonstration in boats against Battery Simkins and Fort Sumter. The Confederates opened a lively artillery fire from Battery Simkins and Sullivan's island and a musketry fire from Simkins and Sumter. General Hardee designated this as a "barge attack" and reported that it was repulsed.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 88.


BATTERY TRACY, ALABAMA, April 9-11, 1865. (Sec Battery Huger, same dates.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 88.


BATTERY WAGNER, SOUTH CAROLINA, July 10-11, 1863. (See Fort Wagner.) Battle Creek, Tennessee, June 21, 1862. 2nd and 33d Ohio, 10th Wisconsin, and 24th Illinois Volunteers, 4th Ohio and 4th Kentucky Cavalry, and Edgarton's Battery. Battle Creek, Tennessee, August 27, 1862. Part of the 9th Brigade, 3d Division, 1st Army Corps. On the 21st, Colonel Harris of the 2nd Ohio infantry, occupied Fort McCook at the mouth of Battle creek, with his regiment, the 33d Ohio, Edgarton's Ohio batten', and no men of the 4th Ohio cavalry. Next day he sent four companies to Bridgeport to replace an infantry regiment withdrawn from there, and one regiment and the battery to General McCook. Six companies of the 33d Ohio and the cavalry remained at the fort. Early on the morning of the 27th, Brigadier-General Maxey, commanding Confederate forces in that vicinity, ordered part of his cavalry to ford the Tennessee river 2 or 3 miles below Bridgeport, cautiously approach the town and attack the Federals. When it became apparent that the Federal force there had been withdrawn the night before Maxey ordered the 32nd Alabama infantry, which was concealed on the bank of the river, to cross and Captain Rice was ordered to throw the cavalry well out on the Battle creek and Stevenson roads. That morning Harris learned that the enemy was crossing at Bridgeport. He ordered his cavalry to that point with instructions to attack the enemy at once if he had crossed and if possible to drive him into the Tennessee river. He also directed his cavalry on picket on the Jasper road to push forward as far as Jasper and report promptly any advance of the enemy in that direction. Observing the approach of the Federal troops Maxey formed the 32nd Alabama in line of battle near the crest of the hill in the town and soon the Federal cavalry under Major Pugh, dashed up at full speed. When within 50 yards of the Confederate line it received a galling fire and fell back. Twice the Federals reformed and charged, first on the Confederate left and then on the center. A company of the 32nd Alabama under Lieutenant Sellers, ambushed in the center, arose as the Federals came up the hill and delivered a deadly volley at close range simultaneously with that of the wings, which were separated for cover, causing the Federals to fall back in confusion. While this portion of the fight was in progress, the Confederate artillery, consisting of Freeman's and Dure's batteries and one 24-pounder rifle gun, opened on the Federal fort and camp from the opposite bank of the Tennessee river about 800 yards distant, and shelled them for 12 hours without intermission except to let their guns cool. After taking precautions to protect his retreat, Harris ordered his wagons loaded with the most valuable stores at the fort and the balance were piled up ready to be burned. The tents were cut up and the wagon wheels were muffled with them. As soon as it was dark he began the withdrawal of the forces and the stores for which he had transportation. "This," he reported, "I succeeded in doing without loss. An hour after the last of the forces had been withdrawn, Captain Mathews, of the 4th Ohio cavalry, applied the torch to the stores, which were left behind, completely destroying them. I arrived with the command at Decherd on the 29th and reported to Major-General Buell."  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 88-89.


BATTERY WAGON. A battery wagon accompanies each field-battery. (See FORGE.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 84).


BATTLE. Battles are either parallel or oblique, and they are strategic when, in consequence of a plan of campaign, they are fought upon a given and objective point, as the battles of Marengo or Austerlitz.

The following preparations for battle are usually made by great commanders: All disposable troops are held in hand; the readiness of the troops is ascertained by inspection of arms; proper nourishment is given to them before going into battle; the projects of the day are communicated from grade to grade; the points for the ambulances and caissons are indicated; the rendezvous for rallying or retreating made known; measures are taken to secure the rear and communications, in order to retain the mastery of the base of operations; the “ army is ranged ordinarily in two lines, and the position of reserves given in the order of battle; the three arms are disposed according to the nature of the ground; decisive points are occupied; open or flanking batteries are established on proper elevations; the front and flanks of the army are furnished with artillery, in number, kind, and calibre according to circumstances. These are preparations for battle; the action commences ordinarily as follows: Marksmen are thrown forward, sometimes acting in conjunction with artillery. Either the enemy shows an equal disposition to attack, or else one party insults the other to bring on a combat. When the advanced guards have left each other, the army disposed to make battle begins or increases its cannonade, to constrain the adversary to deploy his MASSES, show his different arms, and thus make known the composition, number, importance, and the direction to be given to the adverse forces. The reserves remain stationary, while the cavalry, properly sheltered from fire, watch their opponents, and throw themselves upon weakened or staggered lines of infantry. When the affair has begun, and the position and dispositions of the enemy are known, and the proper effect has been produced by firing, the infantry may march to the charge, with the arms at a carry or on the right shoulder, leaving to the instinct of the soldier the determination of the proper moment of bringing the musket to the position of charge bayonet.

These details, however, constitute the mechanical parts of a battle. The art and science of battles consist, according to Professors of STRATEGY, in the subordination of tactical movements to the rule of attacking only with such FORCES, as can overthrow those of the enemy, either by numbers, position, or vigor; in creating alarm upon many points to induce your adversary to take false steps; in surprising him in the midst of his bold movements, and punishing him in his irresolute ones; in penetrating his designs to neutralize their effects, or taking advantage of his faults; in occupying commanding positions; in avoiding masks or curtains, and in acting always, if possible, on the OFFENSIVE. When the, action has seriously begun, the important business of the general is to follow it up to advantage. If he is skilful and valiant, he will preserve the ALLIGNMENT and intervals of his battalions, by standing firm, or by marching; he will strengthen his flanks by enterprises against those of the enemy; by employing his fire so as not to stop the fire, at the same time, of all arms; by filling up, at the expense of the cavalry or second line, the holes made in the first line; by reinforcing or reanimating all corps which give way or falter; by leaving none in unfavorable positions; by sheltering the reserves from cannon shot; by bringing up, at opportune moments, fresh troops; by preserving the rear lines from being broken, while opening a free passage to repulsed troops; by exposing, when needed, his own\ person, securing united efforts in attacks, vigor in charges, and promptitude in rallying. Such is the theory of battles; but GENIUS and experience are necessary to apply the theory, and victory will be in vain sought from the mechanical application of any dogma whatever. Battles upon the same ground rarely occur, and never with soldiers of the same morale, the same arms, the same numbers, and the same relative proportions. It is by study of the campaigns of great commanders, by his own experience, and his own genius, that battles are properly initiated and won by a skilful general. (See MANOEUVRES IN COMBAT.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, pp. 84-86).


BATTLE MOUNTAIN, Virginia, July 24, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 3d Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. In the morning Brigadier-General Custer commanding the brigade moved from camp at Amissville, with the 1st, 5th and 6th Michigan cavalry and Battery M, 2nd U. S. artillery, toward Newby's cross-roads, where he expected to strike the enemy's column. His advance guard, the 5th Michigan, encountered Hill's 3d army corps, and Benning's brigade of Longstreet's corps. Custer attacked with both cavalry and artillery, compelling the enemy to halt his column and form in line of battle, when he became aware of the overwhelming force of the enemy and prepared to withdraw his command. An unlooked-for delay occurred in relieving his skirmishers and the enemy pushed 2 brigades of infantry to Custer's left and rear. By that movement the 5th and 6th Michigan and 2 guns of the battery were cut off, but bravely and skillfully extricated themselves with slight loss. Loss, 30 killed, wounded and missing.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 89.


BAXTER, ELISHA, governor of Arkansas, born in Rutherford County., N. C., 1 September, 1827. He was educated in the common schools of his native county, and moved to Arkansas, where he was mayor of Batesville in 1853. He was a member of the legislature in 1854 and 1858, and in 1863 served as colonel of the 4th Arkansas Mounted Infantry in the national army. He was elected U. S. Senator in 1864, but not allowed to take his seat, on the ground that the state had not been legally reconstructed. From 1868 till 18?2 he was judge of the Third Judicial District Court of Arkansas. In the spring of 1872 Mr. Baxter was nominated for governor by the wing of the Republican that approved President Grant's administration, the liberal, or Greeley wing, nominating Joseph Brooks. The Democrats made no nomination, but favored Brooks. On 6 January, 1873, the vote was canvassed by the general assembly, and Baxter was declared elected. Meanwhile Brooks had alleged fraud at the polls, and after unsuccessfully applying to the U. S. Circuit Court, the legislature, and the state supreme court, brought suit against Baxter in a state circuit court, and on 15 April, 1874, Baxter's counsel being absent, obtained judgment in his favor, and proceeded at once forcibly to eject Baxter from office. It was claimed by Baxter that the taking up of the case in the absence of his counsel was in violation of an express agreement. Both Brooks and Baxter now issued proclamations and each had armed adherents. There was some bloodshed, and more was prevented only by the presence of federal troops. Both parties appealed the president, but he refused to interfere until 15 May, when, acting on an elaborate opinion of Attorney-General Williams, he recognized Baxter as governor, and Brooks immediately disbanded his forces. In a message to Congress on 8 February, 1875, however, President Grant expressed the opinion that Brooks had been legally elected. Baxter continued to hold the governorship until the adoption of a new state constitution in the autumn of 1874. By this the term of office was reduced from four to two years, and the republicans condemned Baxter" for giving up his office before the expiration of the term for which he had been elected— His brother, John, judge of the U. S. Circuit Court for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, died in Hot Springs. Arkansas, 2 March, 1866. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 196.


BAXTER, HENRY, soldier, born in Sidney Plains, Delaware County,  New York, 8 September, 1821; died in Jonesville, Hillsdale County, Michigan, 30 Dec, 1873. He received an academic education, and in 1849 went to California with a company of thirty men, with ox-teams, and was chosen as their captain. He volunteered as a private early in 1861, and was active in raising a company, of which he was elected captain, and which was mustered into the 7th Michigan Infantry in August. He was made lieutenant-colonel 22 May, 1862, and while in command of his regiment, at Fredericksburg, volunteered to cross the river and dislodge a company of Confederate sharp-shooters. Colonel Baxter was shot through the lung in the attempt to cross, but the movement was successful, and he was promoted to brigadier-general on 12 March. 1863. He participated in most of the battles of the Army of the Potomac, and was wounded at Antietam, and again in the Wilderness, where two horses were killed under him. For gallantry at the Wilderness, Dabney's Mills, and Five Forks, he was brevetted major-general 1 April, 1865. From 1868 till 1869 General Baxter was U. S. minister to Honduras. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 196.


BAXTER, PORTER, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Congressional Globe)


BAXTER, WILLIAM, clergyman, born in Leeds, England, about 1823. He came to the United States with his parents in 1828, was graduated at Bethany College in 1845, entered the Baptist ministry and preached for several years in various places in Mississippi and Arkansas, until he became president of Arkansas College, in Fayetteville. During the Civil War the college was destroyed. In 1863 he moved to Cincinnati and devoted himself to preaching and literary work. He published a volume of poems in 1852, contributed largely to periodical literature, and has also aided in the preparation of several books, one of the most important being a large volume, "The Loyal West in the Times of the Rebellion." Of his "Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove, or Scenes and Incidents of the War in Arkansas," several editions were issued. His "War Lyrics," appearing originally in "Harper's Weekly”, became widely known and were recited at mass meetings by Murdoch and other popular elocutionists. His hymn ' Let Me Go" appeared in many hymnbooks and collections of sacred music. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 196


BAXTER SPRINGS, KANSAS, October 6, 1863. General Blunt and escort, and a Detachment of the 3d Wisconsin Cavalry. On the 4th, General Blunt left Fort Scott for Fort Smith, accompanied by a part of his staff and his clerks, orderlies and the brigade band, taking records and other property belonging to the headquarters of the District of the Frontier. His escort consisted of about 100 men of the 3d Wisconsin and 14th Kansas cavalry under command of Lieutenant Cavert. The train consisted of 8 wagons, carrying the band, the district headquarters property and company effects. At noon on the 3d day, Blunt and the advance guard halted near Baxter Springs. The garrison there consisted of parts of two companies of the 3d Wisconsin cavalry and one company of the 2nd Kansas colored regiment under command of Lieutenant Pond. The position was fortified and was provided with one howitzer, but was on low ground behind a slight intervening elevation which hid the fort from Blunt's view. In fact, he was not aware of his nearness to Pond's command, nor was the latter aware of Blunt's proximity. Colonel Quantrill, with a Confederate force variously estimated at from 600 to 1,000, was passing south on the Kansas-Missouri border, and had made a detour to attack Pond's camp. At the hour of the attack all the cavalry was absent with a forage train. The attack of the Confederates was so sudden and impetuous that they were inside the rude breast-works firing pistol shots into the tents before the garrison realized its situation. Pond's men were at dinner and were obliged to break through the enemy's lines to secure arms. Pond fought his way in, rallied his men as best he could, and finally succeeded in dragging the howitzer outside the breastworks and getting it in action. With 3 murderous shots he repulsed the enemy's main force, which retreated over the hill north of the camp, where they first saw Blunt's little column. From the fact that they wore Federal uniforms. Blunt at first supposed the Confederates to be Pond's cavalrymen on drill, but formed 65 of his men in line of battle to be ready for any emergency and sent the wagons, with the band, clerks, orderlies, cooks and other non-combatants to the rear. Then accompanied by his staff, he made forward about 50 paces to learn definitely what the approaching force was. Not 200 yards separated the lines. The Confederates came slowly forward firing irregularly. Part of Blunt's force broke and fled and Quantrill's men charged along the whole line. A second line of about 200, which had been formed in the edge of the timber, dashed forward after the first. The Kansas troops broke and would not be rallied. The Wisconsin company fired a staggering volley into the enemy's right, but the left advanced and the right soon rallied and came forward unsteadily. The second line of Confederates, better mounted than the escort, soon closed in and when Blunt would have led his men in stubborn resistance he saw most of them in flight, after having emptied their revolvers at the advancing enemy until the latter had come within 20 feet. Pond, who had heard the firing when Blunt's men had been attacked, thought that his own cavalry had returned and engaged the Confederates. Shortly afterward he learned that Blunt's escort and brigade band had been massacred, that many of the bodies had been stripped, those of some of the musicians and others shamefully mutilated and some burned with the wagons. The Union loss was 80 killed and 18 wounded. Quantrill reported his casualties as "3 men wounded," though they were doubtless much greater.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 89-90.


BAXTER SPRINGS, KANSAS, August 1, 1864. Detachment of the 7th Provisional Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia. Colonel John D. Allen, commanding at Mount Vernon, Missouri, sent out 80 men under Captains Sutherland, Roberts and Ritchey, to scout in the direction of Baxter Springs. When about 10 miles from the springs they came upon a small party of Confederates under Captains Taylor and Marchbanks. A slight skirmish ensued, in which the enemy was completely routed with a loss of 5 or 6 men killed and . several wounded. Union loss nothing.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 90.


BAUMFREE, ISABELLA, see Truth, Sojourner


BAYARD, GEORGE DASHIELL, soldier, born in Seneca Falls, New York, 18 December, 1835; died 14 December, 1862. His parents moved to Iowa in his early youth, and he attended a military school kept by Major Dorn. He learned fencing from Colonel Korponay, an exiled Hungarian soldier, and from him acquired the military spirit that led him to seek an appointment as a cadet. After graduation at the U. S. Military Academy in 1856 he was assigned to the 1st U.S. Cavalry. Four years were passed in frontier and garrison duty. He was severely wounded in a fight with the Kiowa Indians. In 1861 he was cavalry instructor at West Point, and on 10 March of that year was promoted to first lieutenant in the 3d U.S. Cavalry; captain 4th U.S. Cavalry, 20 August, and was granted leave of absence, to become colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry Volunteers. 14 September, 1861. He became brigadier-general of volunteers 28 April, 1862, and served in the arduous campaigns of the Shenandoah, northern Virginia, and on the Rappahannock, distinguishing himself by the dash and bravery of his reconnaissance. He was mortally wounded at Fredericksburg, 13 December, 1862, and died the following day. He was buried with military honors at Princeton, New Jersey. A memorial volume by his father, Samuel J. Bayard, was published in New York in 1874. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 196.


BAYARD, THOMAS FRANCIS, statesman, son of James A. Bayard, born in Wilmington, Del., 29 October, 1828. He was educated chiefly in the Flushing school established by the Reverend Dr. V. L. Hawks, and, being intended for mercantile life, was placed in a business house in New York City. After the death of his elder brother in 1848, he re-turned to Wilmington, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1881. He was appointed U. S. District Attorney for Delaware, but resigned in the following year. In 1855 he moved to Philadelphia, where he became the partner of William Shippen and practised for two years, but then returned to Wilmington and continued in the practice of the law until he was elected in 1868 to succeed his father in the U. S. Senate. In 1861, at a public meeting in Dover, he delivered a memorable speech in favor of peace with the south. He took his seat 4 March, 1889, and, being re-elected for a second term in January, 1875, and again in 1881, served continuously until he became Secretary of State, 4 March, 1885. On the day on which he was elected to the Senate for a full term his father was also re-elected a senator from Delaware to serve for the unexpired part of his original term. This is the only case of a father and son being voted for by the same legislature to fill the senatorial office. In the Senate he served on the committees on finance, judiciary, private land claims, library, and revision of laws, in October, 1881, he was elected President Pro Tempore of the Senate. He was a member of the Electoral Commission of 1876-'7, and a conspicuous upholder in Congress of democratic doctrines and state rights, and was voted for in national convention as a candidate for the presidency in 1880 and again in 1884. In appointing his cabinet in March, 1888, Mr. Cleveland selected Mr. Bayard for the post of Secretary of State. Including his great -grandfather, Governor Bassett, he is the fifth member of his family who have occupied seats in the U. S. Senate. See "Public Life and Services of Thomas F. Bayard." by Edward Spencer (New York, 1880).  Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 199.


BAYLES' CROSS-ROADS, Louisiana, October 12, 1861. 79th New York Volunteers.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 90.


BAYLES, JAMES C., journalist, born in New York city, 3 July, 1845. He pursued a course of technical studies until 1862, when, shortly after the beginning of the Civil War, he entered the U. S. service as a lieutenant of artillery. His health having been impaired by exposure and injuries, he resigned in 1864 and turned his attention to journalism. He was editor of the New York "Citizen" in 1865-7, of the New York "Commercial Bulletin" in 1868-'9. In 1870 he became editor of "The Iron Age," and in 1874 established "The Metal Worker," of which he also became editor. Mr. Bayles has devoted much time and careful study to the special topics of which his journals treat, and has made numerous varied and successful experiments in electro-metallurgy, and also in the microscopic analysis of metals, the results of which have appeared in different technical journals, notably in a paper on " Microscopic Analysis," which was published in the "Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers." He was among the first to examine health problems from an American standpoint, and his study of sanitary conditions in New Jersey, where he resides, made him prominent as an authority on such subjects. He has delivered lectures on sanitary topics in New York, and in all of the prominent first efforts was to cities of the union, and is the author of the first South Orange, in 1856. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 199-200.


BAYARD, JAMES ASHETON, statesman, born in Wilmington, Delaware, 15 November, 1799; died there, 13 June, 1880. He was a son of the preceding, and the younger brother of Richard Henry Bayard. He received a classical education, studied law, and  in Wilmington, taking a high rank in is profession. During the administration of President Van Buren was U.S. Attorney for Delaware. In 1851 he was elected by the Democrats a U. S. Senator to succeed John Wales, a Whig, and was re-elected in 1857, and again in 1862. In 1863, on taking his seat in the Senate, when required to take the “iron-clad” oath, he resented it as an indignity and an invasion of the sovereign rights of the states; but, after uttering a protest against its constitutionality, he took the oath, and immediately resigned his seat. George R. Riddle, who was elected in his place, died soon afterward, and Mr. Bayard consented to serve through his own unexpired term, from 1 April, 1867, to 3 March, 1869. In 1869 his son, Thomas F. Bayard, succeeded him as senator from Delaware. After his retirement from public life he resided in Wilmington. Mr. Bayard was for a long time chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary in the Senate. He was eminent as a constitutional lawyer, and was highly esteemed for his refined sense of public honor, which was manifested in a noted instance upon his receiving an offer of stock of the Crédit Mobilier in 1868, in reply to which he wrote: “I take it for granted that the corporation has no application to make to Congress on which I should called upon to act officially, as I could not, consistently with my views of duty, vote upon a question in which I had a pecuniary interest.” Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 197.


BAYLOR'S FARM, VIRGINIA, June 15, 1864. (See Petersburg, same date.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 90.


BAYONET. At the battle of Spires, in 1703, charges of infantry were first made with fixed bayonet. From that time, however, until the wars of the French Revolution, the bayonet was more threatening than murderous. Since then it has changed, throughout, the whole system of the military art; cavalry has ceased to be the terror of foot; and the fire of lines of battle, even with new arms effective in range at 1,000 yards, does not impair the usefulness of the bayonet; and although Suwarof s maxim that “ La balle est folle “ cannot be admitted, yet it is true that “ la bayonnette est sage.” (Consult Manual of Bayonet Exercise, by CAPT. G. B. MCCLELLAN.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 86).


BAYOU ALABAMA, LOUISIANA, September 20, 1864. 2nd New York Veteran Cavalry. A detachment of 225 of this regiment, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Gurney, after a hard all-night march, reached and crossed Bayou Alabama at 7:30 a. m., on the 20th, and after a short skirmish captured the camp of a Captain Ratliff, taking 3 prisoners of war, 15 horses. 1 piece of artillery, some small arms and ammunition, a quantity of clothing, a large mail and other valuables. The gun was spiked, filled with shells and sunk in 50 feet of water. Gurney then marched to Fausse river, arriving there at 1 p. m. This movement was a part of the operations of General Lawler's command in the vicinity of Morganza.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 90.


BAYOU BERNARD, INDIAN TERRITORY, July 27, 1862. 1st Regiment Kansas Indian Home Guards. This regiment, commanded by Major Phillips, was included in the 1st Indian brigade and attached to the expedition of Colonel Salomon. By forced and night marches Phillips proceeded some 40 miles to Tahlequah and Park Hill. He sent forward his command in three lines along three roads, forming a cross-roads at Bayou Bernard, 7 miles from Fort Gibson. At the cross-roads Lieutenant Haneway's command, which formed the right, met the enemy moving toward Park Hill and fell back on the Park Hill road. The enemy pushing forward, encountered the Federal center but after a brief fight was utterly routed and fled to Fort Gibson. Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor, of Stand Waitie's regiment, Captain Hicks, a Cherokee, and 2 Choctaw captains were killed. The entire Confederate loss was about 125 in killed and wounded and 25 captured. Federal loss 1 wounded. "I was very much pleased with the conduct of the whole Indian force," said Phillips in his report. "The only difficulty was in restraining their impetuous charge and in keeping back a reserve and guard for the wagons."  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 90-91.


BAYOU BLACK, LOUISIANA, March 19, 1864.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 91.


BAYOU BLACK, LOUISIANA, May 4, 1865. Captain Barker, with a detachment of the 75th U. S. colored infantry and 1st Louisiana cavalry under orders from headquarters, District of La Fourche, left Bayou Boeuf station to proceed to Bayou Chene to reconnoiter at the mouth of Bayou Black. In a little cut-off above the entrance of the bayou they fired on a skiff-load of negroes employed near by, mistaking them for a party of the enemy, and wounded 2 of them. (See also Black Bayou.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 91.


BAYOU BOEUF, LOUISIANA, April 22, 1863. 1st Brigade, Grover's Division. In Banks' operations in West Louisiana, Brigadier-General Dwight, commanding this brigade, was delayed at bridges over Bayous Cocodrie and Boeuf. Unforeseen difficulties in bridge construction arose. He crossed some cavalry at noon on April 22, and they went forward on the Bayou Boeuf road over 2 miles, when they were ambushed near Washington by about 200 Confederates, losing 1 man killed and 1 captured.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 91.


BAYOU BOEUF, LOUISIANA, May 7, 1864. Portion of the 17th Army Corps. Incidental to the Red river campaign. The Federal line extending on the south side of Bayou Rapides from Gordon's to the Bayou Boeuf timber and appearing formidable from the north side of the stream, was much longer than the thin cavalry formation of the Confederates under Major-General Dick Taylor. The chief struggle was for the river, which was important to the Federals. Taylor had been massing his forces on the Bayou Boeuf and on the river below Alexandria. After several hours of heavy cannonading the Federals advanced. Their attack brought confusion to both flanks of the Confederate line, but they were charged by General Bagby and riven across the Lamourie. The Confederate artillery was used with great effect, one battery covering the movements of another, and finally the short range pieces of both covering the retreat of the other sections over a narrow bridge, holding a heavy infantry force in check by rapid discharges of grape and canister until the bridge was passed and a position taken on the other side. The Federals did not advance further, but retired during the night to a position about 7 miles from Alexandria, on a small bayou leading from Bayou Rapides to Bayou Boeuf, and remained there until about the time of the evacuation of Alexandria.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 91.


BAYOU BONFOUCA, LOUISIANA, November 21, 1862. The U. S. steamer, G. Brown, carrying 2 guns, while attempting to ascend the Bayou Bonfouca, was attacked at a point 60 miles from Ponchatoula and 10 miles from Fort Pike. Lieutenant Evans reported that 2 men were killed and 1 mortally wounded on the boat and that "after the first fire she backed down the river, shelling the woods as' she went."  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 91.


BAYOU BONFOUCA, LOUISIANA, January 31, 1865. 74th U. S. Colored Troops. A party of 9 guerrillas boarded the schooner Perseverance engaged in carrying wood to New Orleans, robbed her crew of money and clothing and threatened to burn her unless the owner, Raymond Terence, gave them $1,000, with which demand he was unable to comply. The timely arrival of the sloop Rosetta from Fort Pike, with a corporal and 13 privates of the 74th U. S. colored troops, under Lieutenant Gallagher on board, brought about an engagement between the troops and the guerrillas, resulting in the routing of the latter and the saving of the Perseverance from destruction. Bayou Bontecar, Louisiana, November 21, 1862. 31st Massachusetts Volunteers. Bayou Bourbeau, Louisiana, November 3, 1863. Troops of the 13th Army Corps. The position of the Federal troops in the morning was as follows: Brigadier-General Burbridge with 1 brigade of the 4th division, about 1,200 strong, a 6-gun battery of 10-pounder Parrotts, and Colonel Fonda, with about 500 mounted infantry and a section of Nim's battery, on the south of Muddy bayou; the 3d division under General Cameron, and Colonel Slack, 3,000 strong with a battery, at Carrion Crow bayou, 3 miles in the rear of Burbridge. The two bayous run easterly, nearly parallel, and between the two is a smooth, level plain called Buzzard's prairie. Along Muddy Bayou was a belt of timber about 150 yards wide. To the right of Burbridge's position was a large, dense wood, while before and to the left of it was high open prairie. Early in the morning Burbridge's outposts were driven in and the Confederates appeared in heavy force on his front and left. He formed his lines and a few well directed shots from his artillery caused the enemy to retire. At 10 a. m. few Confederates were in sight and Burbridge's troops retired to camp, though holding themselves in readiness to fall in ranks at an instant's notice. Major-General Washburn, commanding the corps, when informed of the attack, had ordered out the 3d division, but by the time it was in line word came that the enemy had withdrawn. Leaving the division under arms Washburn rode to the front for a conference with General Burbridge. As he was returning to his headquarters he heard a rapid cannonade and soon learned that Burbridge was assailed with terrible energy by an overwhelming force in front and on both flanks. The troops were broken and scattered and utter destruction or capture of the whole force seemed imminent. The Confederate infantry had approached through a ravine from the direction of Opelousas, while upon the left across the prairie, a heavy column of cavalry had moved forward in line of battle. Burbridge had placed in position on his left the 67th Indiana about 260 strong, a section of Nim's battery, a section of the 17th Ohio battery and 150 cavalry, directing the whole to guard against an attack on the rear and left. The 60th Indiana, 96th Ohio, 23d Wisconsin and 4 pieces of the 17th Ohio battery were posted so as to meet the Confederate infantry advance in the ravine. The 118th Illinois mounted infantry was posted to protect his right and the trains were moved to the rear. The Confederates pressed Burbridge so hard that he soon despaired of holding his position until he could be reinforced. After engaging the enemy a short time in front he saw that they were moving on his right flank and their cavalry was bearing down on his left. The Confederate line was about 3 times as long as his own, and to guard against being surrounded he had to extend his line to the right. He gave Colonel Buchler of the 67th Indiana charge of a movement to guard his left while he himself advanced his right. Buehler was delayed in the execution of the required movement with the result that he and his command were surrounded by Confederate cavalry and surrendered without a man being killed. The artillery played on the enemy until it was almost surrounded, but succeeded in withdrawing save one 10-pounder Parrott gun and caisson of the 17th Ohio battery, which were taken only after the horses had been killed. The 23d Wisconsin, 96th Ohio, 60th Indiana, and 17th Ohio battery fought with remarkable determination, holding the enemy in check for some time and protecting the Federal train and artillery from capture. The bringing off of the section of Nim's battery, after the surrender of the regiment sent to its support, won the admiration of every beholder. When Burbridge's left was gone and the enemy's cavalry in great force was charging through the narrow belt of timber and coming down on his rear, he gradually fell back through the ravine in order to cover his train. The 3d division had come up on the double-quick, but by the time it was in the middle of the prairie a mile and a half from the scene of action, Burbridge's command had been driven out of the woods. Burbridge had noted its approach, which with the arrival of the 83d Ohio, ordered back from a foraging expedition, gave him renewed hope. He was now just abandoning the ravine. To secure his left he placed the 83d on the plain, where he soon rallied his shattered forces, his artillery on the right, the cavalry on the left. By this time the 3d division had come within range. It formed in line and by shelling the Confederates, checked their advance, when Burbridge began to rake them with his artillery and they retreated to the cover of the woods. The whole Federal force was then deployed in line of battle and pressed the enemy rapidly through the woods. Cameron with the 1st brigade of the 3d division sent cavalry to charge the Confederates through the ravine and nearly 100 prisoners were taken. Washburn moved the division upon the Confederate line of retreat about a mile and a half, but the men, having been brought up at a double-quick, were too nearly exhausted to pursue further. The cavalry pursued them about 3 miles. Federal loss, 25 killed, 123 wounded, 536 captured or missing. Total Confederate loss 181.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 91-93.

BAYOU CACHE, ARKANSAS, July 6, 1862. 3d Iowa Cavalry. On the march from Augusta to Clarendon this regiment was in advance of the Army of the Southwest, and on this date the vanguard of the regiment was Company I. At Bayou Cache, the company was brought to a halt by a barricade of felled trees constructed by Confederates to impede the Federal advance. Twelve men of the company dismounted, reconnoitered the timber, got in the rear of a squad of 18 Confederates, engaged them and killed 7 without casualty. The remainder of the Confederate detachment escaped across the river.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 93.


BAYOU DE GLAIZE, LOUISIANA, May 17, 1864. Detachment 7th and 16th Army Corps. In Banks' Red River campaign, General Mower commanding the detachment was pressed by General Wharton. On this day General Steele joined Wharton and their combined forces harried the Federals, skirmishing and righting until almost dark, when Mower drove them back with artillery at Bayou de Glaize.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 93.


BAYOU DE GLAIZE, LOUISIANA, May 18, 1864. 1st and 3d Divisions, 16th Army Corps. This was the last engagement of a series conducted by General Mower and participated in exclusively by troops of the 16th corps. "From the action of Yellow bayou to the close of the war," wrote General Dick Taylor, 12 years after the surrender of Louisiana, "not a gun was fired in the trans-Mississippi department." Mower was instructed in case he should be pursued, to attack and drive back the enemy. Being pressed in the rear he recrossed Yellow bayou, about 11 a. m., with Hill's, Lynch's and Shaw's brigades, Lieutenant Tiemeyer's battery of rifled guns, the 3d Indiana battery, and 4 smooth bore guns of the 9th Indiana battery. After advancing about 2 miles, skirmishing with the enemy, the advance penetrated a dense thicket and discovered a large force of Confederates on the opposite side of a field on Norwood's plantation. This force immediately opened on the Federal line with 12 pieces of rifled artillery. Mower put Tiemeyer's battery in position on the right of his line and the 9th Indiana battery near the left with two regiments on the left of it for support. The enemy immediately advanced in two columns in mass, drove back the Federal cavalry and got in the rear of Mower's left flank. At the same time the Federals drove the enemy in front. The Indiana battery and the two regiments supporting it were brought to a position nearly at right angles with the main Federal line and facing the enemy menacing the Federal flank; the remainder of the line fell back to connect with the right of the line just mentioned and the troops on the left were formed facing the woods. Two regiments of Shaw's brigade, which had been held in reserve, now arrived and were put into position on the left. Mower ordered the battery double-shotted with canister and the enemy on the left were soon driven back with awful slaughter. Then after a few minutes' pause to replenish ammunition, the Federal line advanced. The Confederates had taken position in a thicket, through which Mower's main line must pass. A short desperate encounter here resulted in the rout of the Confederates and their retreat part of the way across the open field beyond, with great loss in killed and wounded and about 160 prisoners. In the meantime the enemy had again driven back the Federal cavalry and exposed the left. He was now swept from his menacing position, the Federals fell back to their original position and the Confederates did not attempt another attack. Hearing the cannonading, incident to the beginning of the engagement, Colonel Lynch, who had gone to the Union boats on the Atchafalaya, hastened to the field and was almost immediately carried off wounded. Colonel Kinney, who was in command of Lynch's brigade, had his horse shot under him, falling under the horse so that he was disabled and the command of the brigade fell temporarily on Lieutenant-Colonel Craven of the 89th Indiana In one of the charges Colonel Hill, commanding the 3d brigade, 1st division, was wounded and his son who was acting as orderly was killed. (Also known as Old Oaks and Yellow Bayou.) Bayou de Large, Louisiana, May 27, 1865. Detachment 3d Rhode Island and 1st Louisiana Cavalry. This party, under the command of Lieutenant Pomponeau, of the Louisiana regiment, surprised Lieutenant Boudreaux and 11 men in their camp on Bayou de Large. The Confederates managed to escape, half-dressed, leaving their arms, ammunition, and other belongings. The Confederate lieutenant was wounded and one man was captured.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 93-94.


BAYOU DE PAUL, LOUISIANA, April 7-8, 1864. 13th Army Corps and Cavalry Division, Department of the Gulf. In the advance of General Banks' forces up the Red river, the 3d cavalry brigade, Colonel Harai Robinson commanding, drove some 200 Confederate cavalry through Pleasant Hill on the 7th, pursuing them to Wilson's farm, where Green's Texans, 3,000 strong, were encountered. Robinson at once engaged the enemy, but finding himself outnumbered withdrew his command a short distance, when he was reinforced by Colonel Lucas, with three regiments of the 1st brigade and the contest was renewed. After a sharp fight Green was driven from his position and rapidly retreated to Carroll's mill on Bayou de Paul, where the fighting was continued until dark. That evening Colonel Landram, commanding the 4th division of the 13th corps, ordered Emerson's brigade to the assistance of the cavalry. Emerson arrived at the bayou at daylight and the fight was commenced. Again the enemy was forced from his position, gradually falling back toward Sabine cross-roads. The Union loss was 11 killed, 42 wounded and 9 missing. The number of the Confederates killed and wounded was not reported, but 23 were captured.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 94.


BAYOU DES ALLEMANDS, LOUISIANA, June 20-22, 1862.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 94.


BAYOU DES ALLEMANDS, LOUISIANA, September 4, 1862. Troops belonging to the Army of the Gulf. A detachment of the 8th Vermont was at Bayou des Allemands as General B. F. Butler's advance pickets. On the morning of the 4th a detail was sent to Algiers for provisions. This detail was ambushed by a regiment of Texas Rangers, a number wounded and the rest captured. The Rangers then proceeded to the bayou, where, by seizing the bearers of a flag of truce and using them as a shield, they succeeded in capturing the entire detachment. In pursuance of Butler's orders Colonel McMillan, with the 21st Indiana and 9th Connecticut, and Colonel Paine, with the 14th Maine and the 4th Wisconsin, supported by Commodore Morris' gunboats, surrounded the guerrillas on the west bank of the river, about 30 miles above New Orleans, killing 8 and capturing 40 prisoners and 250 horses. This affair put an end to guerrilla warfare in the vicinity of New Orleans. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 94.


BAYOU DES ARC, ARKANSAS, July 14, 1864. A force of 1,000 men was sent out by Confederate General Jo. 0. Shelby on the 12th to destroy the railroad communications in the neighborhood of Brownsville and Searcy. This force, at 4:30 o'clock on the morning of the 14th, surrounded the camp of the 10th Illinois cavalry, commanded by Colonel D. H. Wilson, at Bayou Des Arc and made an attack from three sides at the same time. The attacked defended themselves valiantly for half an hour, but were defeated by the superior numbers of the enemy, losing 20 killed, 87 captured, one 6-mule team and supply wagon and the ambulance. At that time the 10th consisted of 214 men and 7 officers. The remainder cut their way through the Confederate lines and escaped without being pursued.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 95.


BAYOU FORDOCHE ROAD, LOUISIANA, May 29, 1864. 4th Cavalry Brigade, 19th Army Corps. The brigade, under the command of Colonel Chrysler of the 2nd New York veteran cavalry, moved just before sunrise, and when about 5 miles from Morganza on the Bayou Fordoche road, came upon the Confederate advance. Chrysler immediately formed his men and drove the enemy back until he uncovered Morgan's ferry road. The force in his immediate front numbered about 300, but as it retired it so increased in numbers as to require the placing of half of Chrysler's force on the skirmish line. He learned that during the past two days, the Confederates had crossed from 3,000 to 7,000 mounted infantry and 2 pieces of artillery, 1 apparently a heavy gun swung under a cotton carriage. Their infantry was crossing at Bayou Grossetete marching toward La Fourche, and their cavalry at Morgan's ferry. At a conservative estimate their forces outnumbered his 3 to 1. Consequently he withdrew his command, the enemy following closely for 3 miles, and arrived in camp about 2 p. m. with a loss of 2 wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 95.


BAYOU FOURCHE, ARKANSAS, September 10, 1863. (See Little Rock, same date.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 95.


BAYOU GOULA, LOUISIANA, June 19, 1863. A body of Confederate cavalry under Colonel James P. Major, commander of a cavalry brigade in the army of General Dick Taylor, took commissary and quartermaster's stores, destroyed Federal plantations and recaptured 1,000 negroes that had been taken by General Banks from planters in Saint Landry and Rapides parishes. He added the adult male negroes to his command and left the women and children at Bayou Goula.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 95.


Bayou Goula, Louisiana, January 24, 1865. Detachment 3d Rhode Island Cavalry. A party of 13 men stationed at Donaldsonville undertook to return from Plaquemine. Colonel Fiske sent a lieutenant and 20 men up to Bayou Goula to meet them and escort them through, but before the escort arrived at Bayou Goula the party of 13 was attacked by 24 Confederates under Colonel Williams. Two were wounded at the first fire and the other 11 surrendered without firing a gun. The lieutenant and his command soon came up and pursued the Confederates 3 miles, but recaptured nothing.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 95.


BAYOU GOULA, LOUISIANA, May 9, 1865. Detachment of 3d Rhode Island Cavalry. Major Burt with 17 men, on a scout through Bayou Goula to Donaldsonville, skirmished with about a dozen of Captain Brown's men at the plantation of a Mr. Gilbert, dispersing them and taking 1 prisoner. Later in the day Burt's men chased squads of Brown's men, who found safety in swamps.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 95.


BAYOU GROSSETETE, LOUISIANA, June 19, 1864. Detachment of the 19th Army Corps. The detachment under command of Colonel Crebs, 87th Illinois infantry, returned to Morganza, where Crebs reported to General Emory the capture of 5 prisoners and of Richard McCall, one of several persons whom he had been sent to bring in. He had also driven in 100 head of cattle and a few horses and mules.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 95.


BAYOU LA FOURCHE, LOUISIANA, November 19, 1864. 11th Wisconsin Volunteers, and 93d U. S. Colored Troops. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 95.


BAYOU LAMOURIE, LOUISIANA, May 7, 1864. 89th Indiana Infantry. During Banks' Red river expedition, the regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Craven engaged in a skirmish with the enemy at Bayou Lamourie and under a severe fire, charged and repulsed the Confederates with a loss of 4 killed, 11 wounded and 1 missing.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 96.

BAYOU LIDDELL, LOUISIANA, October 15, 1864. 52nd U. S. Colored Troops, 2nd Mississippi. Bayou Macon, Louisiana, August 24, 1863. 3d Division, and 3d Brigade, 6th Division, 17th Army Corps. As an incident of Stoneman's expedition from Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Monroe, Louisiana, the Confederates attempted to make a stand at Bayou Macon, but were driven from their position by Osband's cavalry, which held the ford of the bayou until the arrival of the advance guard of the infantry.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 96.

BAYOU METO, ARKANSAS, August 26, 1863. Steele's Little Rock Expedition. Colonel Glover, commanding the 2nd brigade in the cavalry division of General Davidson, was ordered to reconnoiter and push the enemy as far toward Bayou Meto as possible without bringing on a general engagement. Early in the morning the 1st la. cavalry was in advance and four squadrons under the command of Captain Jenks were sent forward as skirmishers, which soon after passing the Federal outposts came upon the enemy's pickets. The Iowa regiment supported by the 3d Missouri cavalry and a section of artillery, advanced steadily, driving the Confederates 4 miles, toward their rifle-pits, killing a Confederate captain, 2 privates and taking 1 prisoner. When the retreating Confederates reached their main body they made a stand. After a considerable artillery duel, Glover ordered Lieutenant Lovejoy to advance his section of artillery, and while the men were doing this one of the cannoneers fell, pierced through the body by a solid shot. Recognizing the enemy's superior strength and fearing to precipitate a general engagement by continuing the fight, Glover masked the removal of his infantry with cavalry, and by covering his rear, abandoned the field in good order. General Walker directed the Confederate operations, with General Marmaduke in immediate command. (See same August 27.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 96.

BAYOU METO, ARKANSAS, August 27, 1863. Davidson's Cavalry Division. Department of the Missouri. The entire division moved out on the road leading to Bayou Meto (or Reed's) bridge at sunrise on the 27th, leaving its baggage packed in a depot camp at Brownsville in charge of Lieutenant- Colonel Chandler, with his own regiment, the 7th Missouri cavalry, and Lovejoy's battery. The enemy was found posted in the position of the previous day. The ground not admitting the display of more troops, General Davidson brought his 2nd brigade into action, in command of Colonel Glover, while the 1st and reserve brigades held themselves in readiness to move up to support other troops as occasion demanded. Bayou Meto was a shallow, sluggish stream with a miry bed, abrupt banks, and heavy timber along its sides. It was spanned by a substantial bridge, which had been prepared for destruction by the Confederates. The advance skirmishers of the 2nd brigade met those of the enemy about 5 miles from the bridge. Before a brisk fire the Confederates fell back about 2 miles and made another stand, but were again sharply encountered by the skirmish line of the 10th Illinois. Here the whole brigade was formed for action with 2 battalions of the 3d Missouri cavalry, dismounted to fight on foot, on the right of the road in order of battle; 1 battalion of the 32nd la. infantry on the left of the road in order of battle; on the left of this the 3d battalion of the 3d Missouri cavalry (dismounted), the artillery being in the center. The 1st la. cavalry and 4 squadrons of 10th Illinois cavalry were formed in the rear and 6 squadrons of the 10th Illinois on the right flank. In this order, the whole front covered by a heavy skirmish line, the brigade moved forward. The Confederates fought desperately with small arms and artillery, but before this steady onslaught, made more destructive by the timely use of artillery, they were driven from ridge to ridge through the thick brush on either side of the road, back to a high, strong position covered on the left with extended rifle-pits. There they checked the Federal advance and briefly held the ground. The 3d Missouri cavalry charged on the right, drove back the Confederates in its front and a simultaneous charge was made on the left. Flanked, beaten back in front, the enemy gave way and fled in disorder toward Bayou Meto, his columns being pursued for about a half an hour by a terrible bombardment of artillery. When they had been driven from their position at the bridge, the Confederates set it on fire. Davidson ordered the 1st la. cavalry to charge with drawn sabers and save it if possible. In making this charge the regiment was exposed to a terrible fire from the Confederate artillery and sharpshooters. The bridge was doomed. The regiment arrived on foot and skirmished half an hour, developing the enemy in a strong position in the rifle-pits, with his batteries effective, when it withdrew under the hill out of range of his guns. Meantime artillery had been brought to the support of the regiment and after a brisk cannonade silenced the enemy's guns and drove them from their position. It now became evident that the enemy in considerable force hung about the Federal right flank, and they were driven across the bayou by the 10th Illinois. By this time the evening was far advanced. Federal loss, 7 killed, 38 wounded.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 96-97.

BAYOU METO, ARKANSAS, September 1, 1863. Rice's Division, Department of Arkansas. Bayou Meto, Arkansas, February 17, 1865. Scout of the 13th Illinois Cavalry. The scouting party under command of Captain Norris reached Bayou Meto, 5 miles from the Arkansas river, where a platoon under command of Lieutenant Curlee was detailed to scout in the vicinity. Near the house of Thomas Farrelly, Curlee's men had a running skirmish with a party of supposed guerrillas, dispersing them, killing 1 and capturing 1. The prisoner escaped while the Federals were searching Farrelly's house. Farrelly was brought in a prisoner and his house was burned.   The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 97.

BAYOU METO, ARKANSAS, February 24, 1865. 13th Illinois Cavalry. Captain G. W. Suesberry with a scouting detachment, arrived at Bayou Meto at 9 a. m., where he had a skirmish with Major Watkins' command, repulsing it. Lieutenant Temple of Company M. led a platoon in a gallant charge. He ordered each of his men to pick his Confederate and capture him, promising to make Major Watkins his prisoner. He chased that officer three and a half miles, captured him in Bayou Meto in water of swimming depth, and 6 of Watkins' men were taken prisoners. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 97.

BAYOU METO BRIDGE, ARKANSAS, September 23, 1863.   The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 97.

BAYOU PIERRE, MISSISSIPPI, May 2-3, 1863. 17th Army Corps. At daylight General Stevenson, under orders from General Logan, moved his command on the main road to a point within a mile of Port Gibson. He then changed his line of march to a point on Bayou Pierre, where the enemy in force and prepared to resist the Federal advance were destroying road and railroad bridges. The 7th Missouri deployed as skirmishers, advanced to the edge of the bayou and developed a large force of Confederates protected by rifle-pits, with 12 pieces of artillery in position. After a lively fire had demonstrated the enemy's strength, De Golyer's battery was posted on the right of the Federal line and a battery of 20-pounder Parrotts on the left commanding the Confederate position. There was a' half hour's brisk cannonading, which kept the Confederates busy, while the Federals completed a bridge at Port Gibson. Then the skirmishers and the batteries were withdrawn and the Federal army crossed over and pressed forward in pursuit of the enemy. Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver of the 7th Missouri infantry was wounded. The 3d division bivouacked on the night of May 2 near the Grindstone ford, on the north fork of the Bayou Pierre. The suspension bridge at that point, which had been partially  burned by the enemy, was promptly repaired by men of the 3d brigade and was ready for the crossing of troops by 4 a. m. on the 3d. The 1st brigade, 3d division (General Smith) having the advance, crossed and moved by flank up the opposite slope till informed by a planter that there had been no Confederates in the vicinity since the previous day. Only a little further progress had been made before the advance, the 59th Indiana infantry, moving forward with Companies A and K, deployed as skirmishers, found the enemy in a strong position, his line of skirmishers thrown forward 200 yards, his reserves and artillery support formed immediately in the rear of 2 guns posted in a commanding position and masked by heavy woods at the summit of a hill. Colonel Alexander of the 59th Indiana deployed the remaining eight companies of his regiment as skirmishers, his line crossing the road at right angles and covering a front of 1,500 yards. This line, in the face of an artillery fire, advanced steadily and drove the Confederates from their first, second and third positions. The 10th Missouri infantry, after the enemy had withdrawn his forces, turned to the left toward Black river and after marching about a mile at the head of the column, was checked by the 1st Missouri (Confederate) battery, with infantry supports. The regiment was formed on the road in support of the 1st Missouri battery (Federal) and a brisk artillery skirmish ensued. About 2:30 p. m. the regiment was deployed as skirmishers to the left of the road across a creek and through a heavily timbered ravine. It was supported by the 18th Ohio and 17th la. in line of battle 150 yards to the rear. The skirmish line was cautiously advanced until the right rested on the left of the skirmish line of the 1st brigade, not more than 300 yards from the Confederate battery. The enemy soon retired and in half an hour the regiment reformed and marched about 6 miles with the division in pursuit. At Black river it bivouacked for the night. Meantime General Smith, while resting his troops after the repulse of the Confederates and the withdrawal of their battery from the crest of the hill, learned that his pickets near Prof. Ingraham's residence had been attacked and ordered the 31st Illinois, under Colonel McCook, to their support. A sharp engagement followed in a wood where it was impossible to estimate the enemy's strength, the 45th Illinois was ordered to the left and the 23d Indiana to the right of McCook's command, and after a rather hot skirmish the enemy was dislodged and hastily retreated on the Grand Gulf and Vicksburg road, leaving his dead on the field.   The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 97-98.

BAYOU PORTAGE, LOUISIANA, November 23, 1863. Brigadier-General Lee, chief of cavalry, Department of the Gulf, on the night of the 22nd, sent detachments of the 1st, 2nd and 3d brigades of his command, 650 men, to capture a detachment of the 1st Louisiana mounted zouaves (Confederate) under command of Major Dupeire, Colonel Lucas, commanding the 1st brigade, being in charge of the expedition. Leaving camp near New Iberia with about 200 of his brigade at 10 p. m., Lucas was joined about 6 miles out on the Saint Martinsville road by the 2nd III. cavalry under Colonel Mudd. At the road leading to Dauterive's landing he halted, waiting for Colonel Paine to join him with 250 of the 3d brigade. Meantime he sent Mudd down the road leading to Dauterive's landing with instructions to strengthen his lines along the left skirting the road. In the fog Mudd missed the road and failed to cooperate with him. A little more time was consumed by Lucas in reaching a wayside plantation, where he hoped to capture Dupeire and Captain Neville. The two Confederate officers had been there early in the evening but had escaped. Upon being joined by Paine and his command and 20 men under a lieutenant from Mudd's command, Lucas went on down the road and halted his force near the Bayou, while Paine took a road leading to the Confederate camp. After sending a lieutenant with 20 men to raid a plantation near by, in which 4 prisoners were taken, Lucas took a road to the right of the camp, crossing the bayou on a  submerged bridge. Slowly and carefully beating the fields on both sides with flankers under Captain Carey of the ist Indiana cavalry, Paine marched to the bridge over Bayou Portage, just beyond which he captured 6 soldiers who were acting as a fatigue party with a forage train. Thence he proceeded down the bayou about 5 miles and came on the enemy's pickets. His advance guard charged them and took some prisoners, the others escaping. Then reinforced to 50 men, commanded by Major Montgomery of the 6th Missouri, the guard galloped into the enemy's camp half a mile farther on and captured 25 enlisted men, 1 officer and the colors of Dupeire's battalion, 2 officers of the 18th Louisiana, and killed 2 Confederates without the loss of a man.   The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 98-99.

BAYOU RAPIDES, LOUISIANA, March 21, 1864. (See Henderson's Hill.)   The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 99.

BAYOU RAPIDES BRIDGE, LOUISIANA, April 26, 1864. According to Confederate authorities there was a skirmish here on this date between unidentified organizations of Banks' command and the Confederate troops of Bagby, Parsons, Bee and Major. Major-General Dick Taylor reported: "At daylight Bagby and Parsons attacked the rear of the enemy on the Rapides road and drove him rapidly down the bayou. Major attacked his flank at James' store and Bee at McNutt's Hill. The pursuit and fighting continued until night in the direction of Alexandria and close into that place."  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 99.

BAYOU SARA, LOUISIANA, August 10, 1862. Union Gunboat Essex. Under protection of the U. S. iron-clad gunboat Essex, a transport came to Bayou Sara ferry and removed a large quantity of sugar. The Essex had intimidated the small Confederate force in the vicinity by throwing a few shells into the lower part of the town. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 99.

BAYOU SARA, LOUISIANA, August 23, 1862. The U. S. gunboat Essex and a transport arrived off Bayou Sara and the Essex threw some shells into the town, doing little or no damage. Bayou Sara, Louisiana, November 9, 1863. Major-General Maury reported that Colonel Maury with the 15th Confederate cavalry regiment, dashed in above Bayou Sara on this date and drove 300 Federal foragers to their ironclads, "with great slaughter. We brought off their wagon train and 25 prisoners from under the broadsides of their gunboats," he concluded, "only 3 wounded of ours." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 99.

BAYOU SARA, LOUISIANA, October 9-10, 1864. Colonel Scott of the 1st Louisiana cavalry, reported to Brigadier-General Hodge, of the Confederate army, commanding the District of Southwest Mississippi and East Louisiana, that on the 9th and 10th, between Bayou Sara and Woodville, he skirmished with Federals whom he drove to their boats at Bayou Sara. "In my engagements around Bayou Sara," he concluded, "the enemy lost 65 killed and wounded; we buried 11. My loss was 1 man killed and 4 wounded." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 99.

BAYOU TECHE, LOUISIANA, November 3, 1862. Union gunboats, Kinsman, Estrella, St. Mary's, Calhoun and Diana and 21st Indiana Volunteers. Lieutenant-Com. Buchanan, who was sent to the Atchafalaya river to act in concert with a land force under General Weitzel, arrived off Brashear City November 1, too late to prevent a crossing of the Confederates, which he had hoped to intercept, and had difficulty in getting his heavy draught vessels over the bay. On the arrival of the Kinsman he crossed in her and grounded the Estrella in trying to get her over. Next day the Estrella and St. Mary's were got over the bay and the day after that the Calhoun came up with the Diana. On the night of the ist Buchanan chased the Confederate gunboat Cotton up the bay and captured the Confederate steamer A. B. Seger. On the 3d he took his gunboats up Bayou Teche and found the enemy posted above obstructions sunk in the bayou 14 miles from Brashear City. He engaged and drove him off and again repulsed the Cotton. The Confederates numbered between 3,000 and 4,000 men, of General Taylor's command, with 70 field pieces. The Kinsman under the fire of the artillery  on shore and played upon by the guns on board the Cotton received 54 shots. The Estrella received 3, the Diana 3, and the Calhoun 8. Loss 3 killed, 6 wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 99-100.

BAYOU TECHE, LOUISIANA, January 14, 1863. Gunboats Calhoun, Diana, Estrella and Kinsman, and land forces under General Weitzel. The object of this movement was the destruction of the Confederate gunboat Cotton. General Weitzel's forces consisted of the 21st Indiana, 6th Michigan, 75th and 160th New York, 12th and 23d Connecticut, and 8th Vermont infantry, part of the 8th New Hampshire cavalry, one company of a Louisiana cavalry regiment, and several pieces of artillery belonging to the 1st and 5th U. S. artillery, 1st Maine, and 4th and 6th Massachusetts batteries. The fleet carried Weitzel's forces over Berwick bay, covering both his advance and return. They were disembarked on the 13th and formed in line of battle at Pattersonville. Lieutenant-Com. Buchanan made a reconnaissance and Weitzel advanced his force to Lynch's Point, where he bivouacked for the night under cover of the gunboats. Next morning, while the 8th Vermont moved to clear the east bank of Bayou Teche of riflemen or other land forces that the Confederates might have stationed there, he advanced his line on the west bank to attack the Cotton. Sixty volunteers from the 8th Vermont undertook to attack the vessel from the east bank and shoot down her gunners. A like number of the 75th New York volunteered for similar service on the west bank and as soon as they were in supporting distance of the Cotton, which had now been engaged by the gunboats, the volunteers and a part of the regular line of skirmishers shot down every one in sight on the vessel and silenced her. At the same time Captain Bainbridge, with the 4th Massachusetts battery, was enfilading her from the main road, while the 1st Maine and 6th Massachusetts batteries, under Captain Carruth and Lieutenant Bradbury, stationed on plantation roads parallel to the main road, were firing at her broadside. The 8th Vermont marched rapidly up the east bank, drove the Confederates from their rifle-pits and routed the cavalry that supported them, taking 41 prisoners. The skirmishers of the 75th New York and Weitzel's light batteries drove back the enemy's artillery, with its infantry and cavalry support, on the west bank. Meantime the Federal gunboats were storming the Cotton with a rapid fire. Under this onslaught she soon began slowly retreating, but came back once after getting out of range and was again repulsed. After that there was no fighting that day except slight skirmishing among the land forces. Early next morning the Cotton was swung across the channel and burned, her hull still further obstructing the bayou. The object of the expedition being accomplished, Weitzel immediately returned with his force to Fort Stevens. The union loss in this affair was 1 lieutenant and 5 privates killed, 2 non-commissioned officers and 25 privates wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 100.

BAYOU TECHE, LOUISIANA, April 12-13, 1863. (See Fort Bisland.) Bayou Teche, Louisiana, October 3, 1863. Cavalry of Department of the Gulf. Major-General N. P. Banks, commanding the Department of the Gulf, reported from New Orleans on October 4 that "A skirmish took place yesterday between the advanced cavalry on the line of the Teche, under Colonel Davis, and about 200 of the enemy's cavalry. The enemy was quickly repulsed, losing 1 gun, which was captured by us, and the loss of the officer in charge of the gun, who was killed."  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 100.

BAYOU TECHE, LOUISIANA, March 21, 1865. Detachment of 93d U. S. Colored Infantry. During an expedition from Brashear City to Bayou Pigeon, Louisiana, a detachment of troops encountered a body of Confederates on Bayou Teche. The enemy, 25 or 30 in number, rode down to the bank and fired a number of shots at the Federals and then attempted to cross, but were prevented by a sharp musketry fire. No casualties were reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 100.

BAYOU TENSAS, LOUISIANA, June 30, 1863. Mississippi Brigade of Infantry and Cavalry, commanded by Colonel C. R. Ellet.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 100.

BAYOU TENSAS, LOUISIANA, August 26, 1864. 51st U. S. Colored Infantry and 3d U. S. Colored Cavalry.  Early on the morning of the 26th some 200 Confederates made a raid on the plantations near Goodrich's landing on Bayou Tensas, capturing two scouts who were killed after they surrendered. They also killed several colored people and 4 white men. A detachment of cavalry was sent in pursuit, but the enemy was not overtaken. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 100-101.

BAYOU TWO PRAIRIES, ARKANSAS, August 25, 1863. Steele's Little Rock Expedition. In the Federal advance on Little Rock, General Davidson's cavalry forces were confronted just west of Bayou Two Prairies by Marmaduke's and Walker's Confederate cavalry. "On the morning of the 24th," reported Marmaduke, '"I reported to General Walker, who ordered Shelby's brigade to report to me and ordered me to hold my force in the vicinity of Brownsville to guard the main approach (Wire Road) to Little Rock. The next morning at sunrise the enemy was reported advancing in force. I moved my two brigades, about 1,300 effective men, with 2 pieces of artillery, forward to engage the enemy, Shelby being in advance. At this time Walker's brigade, commanded by Colonel Archibald S. Dobbin, was encamped some 10 miles south of Brownsville, guarding another important approach from Devall's Bluff to Little Rock (Shallow Ford Road). A sharp engagement ensued between the Federal force and my division. The Federals consisted of about 6,000 cavalry and 16 pieces of artillery. Being unable to meet the enemy's forces in a general engagement, I withdrew my command, retiring slowly through Brownsville toward Little Rock. The Yankees were exceedingly cautious in their pursuit." Only Davidson's 1st brigade, Colonel Geiger, was engaged. The pursuit covered about 9 miles. Colonel Burbridge commanding a Confederate brigade, was captured with other prisoners. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 101.

BAYOU VERMILLION, LOUISIANA, April 17, 1863. 4th Division, 19th Army Corps. The division, with the exception of the 2nd brigade, with one brigade and a battery from General Emory's division, the whole commanded by Brigadier- General Grover, marched from New Iberia directly toward the Vermillion river in pursuit of the retreating Confederates, while the other divisions of the corps moved by way of Saint Martinville. About 3 p. m. Grover's advance came within sight of the rear of the Confederate column near the bridge over the Vermillion river, but lack of cavalry prevented him from pressing the enemy's rear hard enough to save the bridge. The Confederates fired it and then with dismounted cavalry and two 12- pounder field-pieces took up a position to dispute the Federal approach to the river. Skirmishers were sent out on the right and left from the 1st brigade, Closson's and Nim's batteries were placed in the center, and a section of Closson's battery under Lieutenant Taylor on the extreme left. The roads were so raked by shells and so effectually covered by the Federal skirmishers that the enemy soon abandoned his position, leaving only a few sharpshooters, who remained until nightfall. Grover's command encamped that night on Vermillion river and next day rebuilt the bridge. Loss, 1 killed, 5 wounded. (See also Vermillion Bayou.) The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 101.


BAY SAINT LOUIS, MISSISSIPPI, November 17, 1863. Bay Springs, Mississippi, October 26, 1863. (See Vincent's Cross Roads.) The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.


BEACH FORK, KENTUCKY, October 6, 1862. General Wheeler's Confederate cavalry brigade was encamped at Springfield. About 8 a. m. his pickets were driven in by Federals whom he engaged with artillery and small arms, retarding their advance and frequently compelling them to deploy their infantry. When the Federal infantry fire was too heavy, the Confederates fell back slowly, making stands at the Springfield fair-grounds, Burnt cross-roads. Beach fork and Grassy mound, fighting so stubbornly that at dark their pursuers had advanced only about 4 miles. Several attempts on the part of the Federals to turn the enemy's flank were frustrated. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 101.


BEACH, MOSES YALE, inventor, born in Wallingford, Connecticut, 7 January, 1800; died there, 19 July, 1868. In early life he displayed mechanical ability, and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker in Hartford, and by his industry he succeeded in purchasing his freedom before the expiration of his time. He then established himself in the cabinet business in Northampton, but was unsuccessful, and moved to Springfield. There he endeavored to manufacture a gunpowder engine for propelling balloons; but this enterprise was also a failure. He next attempted to open steam navigation on Connecticut River between Hartford and Springfield, and would have succeeded if financial difficulties had not obliged him to cease operations before his steamer was completed. Mr. Beach then invented a rag-cutting machine, which has since been generally used in paper-mills, but from which he received no pecuniary benefit on account of his delay in procuring a patent. He then settled in Ulster County, New York, where he became interested in an extensive paper-mill, and was at first successful, but after seven years was compelled to abandon it. About 1835 he moved to New York, where he acquired an interest in the “Sun,” the pioneer of the penny press, of which he soon he made himself sole proprietor. During the Mexican War, President Polk sent him to Mexico to arrange a treaty of peace; but the negotiations were broken off by a false report announcing the defeat of General Taylor by Santa Anna. In 1857 he withdrew from active business, and until his death continued to reside in his native town, where he liberally aided every plan for the improvement of the place, and was interested in all efforts tending toward its intellectual and moral advancement. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 203.


BEACH, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS, lawyer, born in Saratoga Springs, New York, 13 December, 1809; died in Tarrytown, 28 June, 1884. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, began practice in his native town, and in 1840 was elected district attorney of Saratoga County. In 1855 he moved to Troy, and continued active in his profession until 1870, when he settled in New York. Here he established the law firm of Beach & Brown, and attained a high reputation, becoming one of the most prominent advocates of his time. He was engaged in many notable cases, was counsel for Colonel North in his trial by court-martial during the Civil War, and later was counsel for Theodore Tilton in his celebrated suit against Henry Ward Beecher. He defended Judge Bar- nard during his trial for impeachment, and was associated in the trial of E. S. Stokes for the murder of James Fisk, Jr., and in the Vanderbilt will case. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 203.


BEADLE, WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, educator, born in Liberty, Indiana, 1 January, 1838. He was graduated at the University of Michigan in 1861, entered the army as first lieutenant in the 31st Indiana Infantry, served continuously during the Civil War, and in 1864 was brevetted brigadier general. He was graduated at the law department of the University of Michigan in 1867, practised for two years in Wisconsin, and in 1869 was appointed surveyor-general of Dakota. Since then he has devoted his attention to the development of the resources of that territory. From 1879 to 1885 he was superintendent of public instruction of Dakota, and under his direction the entire school system was organized. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 203.


BEAL, GEORGE LAFAYETTE, soldier, born in Norway, Maine, 21 May, 1825. He left Portland, on 6 October, 1861, as colonel of the 10th Maine Regiment. He was appointed by the president brigadier-general of volunteers, 30 November, 1864, and was mustered out of the service on 15 January, 1866. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 203.


BEALE, EDWARD FITZGERALD, soldier, born in Washington, D. C., 4 February, 1822. His father and grandfather were officers in the U. S. Navy, and both of them received Medals of Honor from Congress. His education was begun in Georgetown College, where he remained until he was appointed a cadet at the U. S. Naval Academy, and was graduated in 1842. During the war with Mexico he distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry, and was presented with a sword by his brother officers, in recognition of his services as a bearer of despatches through the enemy's lines. For the same act he was officially complimented by Commodore Stockton. At the conclusion of the war with Mexico he resigned his commission and was appointed Superintendent of Indian affairs for California and New Mexico. At the request of Major General Wool, he was commissioned brigadier-general and deputed to terminate an Indian war in California. During the decade preceding the Civil War he conducted many important explorations in the far west, and in 1861 was appointed surveyor-general of California by President Lincoln, but offered his services in a military capacity as soon as the war of secession began. In 1876 he was appointed U. S. minister to Austria by President Grant. In 1877 he resigned, and he has since then personally superintended his large sheep and cattle ranch in Southern California. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 204.


BEALE, RICHARD L. T., soldier, born in Hickory Hill, Westmoreland County, Virginia, 22 May, 1810. He was educated at Northumberland Academy and Dickinson College, was graduated at the law school of the University of Virginia, and admitted to the bar in 1839. He served in Congress as a Democrat from 6 December, 1847, till March. 1849, but declined a re-election. He was a delegate to the state reform convention of 1850, and in 1857 a member of the state senate. At the beginning of the Civil War he entered the Confederate Army, and in 1863 was colonel of the 9th Virginia Cavalry. In February, 1865 he commanded a brigade in Lee's cavalry division. Army of Northern Virginia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 204


BEALER'S FERRY, ARKANSAS, June 6, 1864. 25 Men of the 8th Missouri Cavalry. This company in the evening skirmished with 40 of Shelby's cavalry at this ferry on Little Red river, routing and pursuing the enemy 4 miles. Federal loss, 1 killed, 2 wounded; Confederate, 1 killed, 5 captured. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 101-102.


BEALETON, VIRGINIA, October 26, 1863. 3d Brigade, 3d Division, 3d Army Corps, and 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. The infantry, commanded by Colonel B. F. Smith, was ordered to the support of the cavalry, which was engaged in tearing up the railroad between Bealeton and Rappahannock station. On the morning of the 26th the whole force was attacked by two brigades of infantry, a battery of artillery and a brigade of cavalry, the object of the Confederates being to carry off the iron of the torn up track. General Buford came on the ground soon after the Federal pickets were driven in and took command. The cavalry did all the skirmishing, falling back slowly with the intention of drawing the enemy into ambush. This design was not accomplished. For several hours Captain Reece's battery, Carter's battalion, fired at random in the general direction of the 3d brigade, injuring no one. At sunset the Confederate infantry ceased firing and disappeared. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 102.

BEALETON, VIRGINIA, October 24, 1863. 1st Division Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. Bealeton, Virginia, January 14, 1864. One company 9th Massachusetts Volunteers. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 102.

BEALETON STATION, Virginia, March 28, 1862. Detachment of Howard's and Meagher's Brigades. Brigadier-General Howard with a force consisting of 3 regiments of infantry, 2 of cavalry and a battery, reconnoitered from camp near Warrenton Junction toward the Rappahannock. He drove the enemy across the Rappahannock bridge, which was destroyed by the Confederates in their retreat. There was skirmishing during the march and a few shots were exchanged by artillery without Federal loss. After the Federal troops reached the river, where they camped, 2 brigades under General Ewell, on the opposite shore, were driven off by an artillery attack. The 5th New Hampshire and 61st New York infantry, 8th Illinois cavalry and Battery G, 1st New York artillery, were the only troops exposed to the enemy's fire. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 102.


BEALETON STATION, VIRGINIA, March 17, 1863. 1st Massachusetts Cavalry. Lieutenant-Colonel Curtis, with detachments at different points, held the roads from the north to Rappahannock and Kelly's fords. The guard at Bealeton Station was attacked by a small party of guerrillas, but drove them off. No casualties reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 102.


BEALETON STATION, VIRGINIA, October 22. 1863.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 102.


BEALL, BENJAMIN LLOYD, soldier, born in the District of Columbia, about 1800; died in Baltimore. Maryland 16 August, 1863. He was a son of Major Beall of Maryland, and appointed a cadet at West Point in 1814, but did not graduate. He was made captain of the Washington City Volunteers in June, 1836, in a regiment raised for the Florida Indian War; captain of 2d U.S. Dragoons 8 June, 1836; brevetted major 15 March, 1837, for gallantry in the Florida Campaign; and appointed major 1st U.S. Dragoons 16 February, 1847. He took part in the Mexican War, and on 16 March, 1848, was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for bravery at the battle of Santa Cruz de Royales. He became lieutenant-colonel of the 1st U.S. Dragoons 3 March, 1855, and served for several years on the western frontier. He was in command as general in California after its annexation to the United States, and while so serving built all the forts from the western frontier of Texas to the Pacific, He also served for two years at Vancouver's Island. When the Civil War began he was ordered to Baltimore as a mustering officer, was commissioned colonel 1st U.S. Dragoons in May, 1861, and was placed on the retired list 15 February, 1862, because of his long and arduous service. He had two sons in the National Army and one in the Confederate. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 204.


BEALL, JOHN YOUNG, guerilla, born in Virginia, 1 January, 1835; died on Governor's Island, New York Harbor, 24 February, 1865. He was of good family and received a classical education. Joining the navy of the Confederate States, he was appointed acting master, 3 March, 1863. On 16 December, 1864, he was arrested in the railroad station at Suspension Bridge, New York. Charges and specifications were drawn up, reciting in substance that he was acting in the twofold capacity of a spy and guerilla, carrying on irregular warfare against the United States. A military commission, with Brigadier-General Fitz Henry Warren as president and Major John A. Bolles as judge-advocate, was convened at Fort Lafayette for his trial. James T. Brady acted as counsel for the accused. It appeared from the testimony that Beall, in company with other men in the dress of civilians, boarded the Lake Erie steamer " Philo Parsons" on 19 September, 1864, in the character of passengers; that at a signal they produced arms, and, acting under the orders of the accused and others, they seized the boat, driving all hands below as prisoners. They then captured and subsequently sank another boat, the "Island Queen." It also" appeared that Beall was engaged with others in an attempt to wreck a railway train near Buffalo on the night of his arrest The defence was based on the declaration of the accused that he was engaged in legitimate warfare under specific instructions from the Confederate under specific instructions government, and he was permitted to correspond with the authorities at Richmond to procure evidence to this effect, A proclamation was issued by Jefferson Davis under date of 24 December, 1864, certifying that the Confederate government assumed "the responsibility of answering for the acts and conduct of any of its officers engaged in said expedition," namely, that in which Beall was concerned. It was proved that he had perpetrated acts of war within the jurisdiction of the United States, wearing at the time no visible badge of military service. Among civilized nations the penalty for such acts is death, and Beall was hanged in accordance with the finding of the court. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 204


BEALL, SAMUEL WOOTTON, lawyer, born in Montgomery, Maryland, 26, September, 1807; died in Helena, Montana, 26 September, 1868. He was graduated at Union in 1827, and studied law at Litchfield. During the same year he married Miss Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper, and, through the Influence of Chief-Justice Taney, a personal friend of the family, was appointed, in" 1827, receiver for the sale of public lands in the northwest, having his office in Green Bay, Wis. He returned to Cooperstown in 1884, and lived for some years in a beautiful residence called " Woodside," gathering around him a brilliant circle of cultured and refined society, prominent among whom were J. Fennimore Cooper, Washington Irving, James Watson Webb, and the English ballad-singer Henry Russell. Later he returned to Wisconsin, and was engaged in agriculture, being the first to introduce blooded cattle into the northwest. About this time his mother died in Maryland, leaving him over thirty slaves and some slight property. Southerner though he was, and straitened in circumstances in comparison with his earlier life, the spirit of the free west led him to liberate his slaves. He further devoted the entire proceeds obtained from the sale of the property to the support of these slaves as long as the means lasted, or until they were able to earn a living for themselves. In 1848 he was elected to the constitutional convention from the county of Marquette, and was prominent in the organization of the state government. Again, in 1847-'8, he served similarly in the convention then assembled, and in 1850 became lieutenant-governor of the state, serving for two years. He then became Indian agent, and was among the first to take chiefs of tribes under his care to Washington. Among these were the Sachems of Munsees and Stockbridge tribes. One chief of the latter tribe, John Quincey, created much interest and wonder by the delivery of an eloquent speech, now recorded in history as a sample of remarkable power and pathos. This speech was written by Mr. Beall, and taught word by word to the chief, even to the questions, who proved an apt scholar to so able a teacher. The original manuscript is still carefully preserved among the family possessions. In 1859 he led a party to Pike's Peak, and while on this expedition with others located the city of Denver. This place immediately started into rapid growth, and during the following winter Mr. Beall was sent to Washington to obtain a charter for the city. He resides in Denver until 1861, when he returned to Wisconsin. At the beginning of the Civil War he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 18th Wisconsin Regiment, and he was in the various engagements from Shiloh, to Vicksburg. Having been severely wounded, he was then transferred to the Invalid Corps. Shortly after the war he settled at Helena, where he was shot during an altercation. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 204-205.


BEAMAN, FERNANDO, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Congressional Globe)


BEAN'S STATION, TENNESSEE, December 9-13, 1863. Cavalry Corps, Army of the Ohio. Brigadier-General J. M. Shackelford, commanding the corps, while in pursuit of Longstreet, reached Bean's station about noon of the 9th and found the enemy in position with artillery planted. As the Federals approached the Confederates hastily withdrew. Later in the day Lieutenant-Colonel Ward skirmished with the enemy on the Morristown road and drove him across the river. For several days detachments of Shackelford's cavalry were engaged in skirmishes with bodies of the enemy at points in the vicinity. On the 10th a part of a brigade took the Russellville branch and found the enemy at the opposite side of Moore's ferry in force too strong to be dislodged. Six miles from Bean's station there was an encounter between a Federal cavalry company and 100 of the enemy's cavalry. No reports of casualties during the operations. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 102.


BEAN'S STATION, TENNESSEE, December 15, 1863. Shackelford's Cavalry. General Shackelford's command engaged Lieutenant-General Longstreet's "Troops in East Tennessee." On the 12th it had been reported to Longstreet that Federal reinforcements at Bean's station had returned to Chattanooga, whence they had come, and that the force vat the station consisted of 3 cavalry brigades and 1 brigade of infantry, the main body of Shackelford's command being between Rutledge and Blain's crossroads. Longstreet planned a surprise for the Federals for the 14th. His main force was to move from Rogersville directly down to Bean's station with the hope of capturing the forces there; General Martin, with 4 cavalry brigades, was to go down the south side of the Holston and cross the river at or below the station, while General Jones with 2 cavalry brigades, was to go down on the north side of Clinch mountain to cut off the Federal retreat at Bean's station gap. Heavy rains day and night on the 13th made marching slow. The timely arrival of the Confederate infantry column surprised the Federals completely. Jones arrived on time and captured several Federal wagons. Then, not understanding orders to cooperate with other troops, he withdrew from the gap. Not until nearly night was Martin able to cross a part of his command, and that he soon withdrew. Federals stood their ground against an attack by infantry and artillery, but before an onslaught by Buckner's division, they fell back to buildings at Bean's station, where they made a determined stand. Next morning they were in a new position 3 miles below the station, protected by rail defenses. During the day there was much planning and demonstrating, but little fighting. A little after nightfall the Federal forces retreated toward Rutledge and the enemy occupied the defenses. At Blain's cross-roads they made a successful stand against Armstrong's Confederate cavalry.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 102-103.

BEAN'S STATION, TENNESSEE, June 14, 1864.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 103.

BEAN'S STATION, TENNESSEE, October 10, 1864. (See Thorn Hill, same date.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 103.

BEAR CREEK, ALABAMA, October 26, 1863. (See Cane Creek.)

BEAR CREEK, MISSISSIPPI, June 22, 1863. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 103.

BEAR CREEK, MISSISSIPPI, July 12, 1863. (See Canton, same date.)

BEAR CREEK, MISSISSIPPI, July 17, 1863. (See Canton.)

BEAR CREEK, MISSOURI, February 5, 1863. 40th Missouri Enrolled Militia.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 103.

BEAR CREEK, TENNESSEE, March 3, 1863.

BEAR CREEK, TENNESSEE, October 3, 1863. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 103.

BEAR CREEK STATION, GEORGIA, August 19, 1864. (See Lovejoy's Station, Kilpatrick's Raid.)

BEAR CREEK STATION, GEORGIA, November 16, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 3d Cavalry Division, Army of the Cumberland. This brigade consisted of the 93d Illinois mounted infantry, 3d Indiana, 9th Michigan, 5th, 9th and 10th Ohio and McLaughlin's Ohio squadron. It marched from camp 4 miles west of Jonesboro at 7 a. m., took the advance at noon and encountered Wheeler's cavalry near Bear Creek station. The 10th Ohio made a gallant saber charge on the Confederates who were posted behind rail barricades, then dismounted and drove them in confusion, killing and wounding many with their sabers and capturing 20 prisoners, including 3 commissioned officers. Union loss, 4 killed, 7 wounded, 4 prisoners.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.

BEARDSTOWN, TENNESSEE, September 27, 1864.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.

BEAR QUARTER ROAD, VIRGINIA, March 1, 1864. (See Ballahock.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 103.

BEAR RIVER, UTAH TERRITORY, January 29, 1863. Detachment of California Troops. Colonel Connor of the 3d California infantry, commanding the District of Utah with a detachment of 220 men, in charge of a train of 15 wagons was opposed by a band of about 300 hostile Indians, encamped on Bear river, in a strong position with natural defenses, almost inaccessible to troops and in which the Indians evidently believed themselves safe. They were in a dry ravine, 6 to 12 feet deep and 30 to 40 feet wide, with abrupt banks along which they had constructed steps from which they could deliver their fire across the level table land without exposing themselves. In addition to the natural embankments they had artificial covers of willows from behind which they could fire without being observed. It was midwinter, bitterly cold and the snow was deep. Early in the morning Connor approached this place with his cavalry and reached the opposite bank of the river soon after daylight, in full view of the encampment now only a mile distant. Major McGarry advanced with the cavalry and engaged the Indians, who sallied1 out of their hiding places both on foot and on horseback. With fiendish malignity they waved the scalps of white women and challenged the troops to battle, at the same time attacking. After about 20 minutes, Connor discovered that it was impossible to surround them and ordered McGarry to turn their left flank, which rested on the ravine where it entered the mountain. Captain Hoyt arrived at the ford, three-fourths of a mile away, and found the icy water too deep and too rapid to cross infantry, though some of the soldiers plunged boldly in and tried to make the passage. Infantry were helped over by a detachment of cavalry with led horses and reinforced McGarry's flanking party, which soon turned the enemy's flank. The soldiers now gained the bluffs and advancing down them poured an enfilading fire into the Indian stronghold. A few Indians fled north along the ravine, but as they ran out of it were shot by soldiers who were in waiting for them. Cavalry across the mouth of the ravine cut off escape there, but most of the Indians remained fighting like demons hand-to-hand till they were killed. The soldiers found 224 bodies on the field, among them those of Chiefs Bear Hunter, Sagwich and Leight, captured 175 horses, some rifles and other arms, and destroyed large quantities of wheat and other provisions which Mormons had exchanged for property of massacred emigrants. Out of the 200 white men engaged 15 were killed, and 54 wounded.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 103-104.

BEAR SKIN LAKE, MISSOURI, September 7, 1863. 2nd Missouri Cavalry.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 104.

BEAR WALLOW, KENTUCKY, September 19, 1862. Incidental to fighting between Federal forces and Wheeler's cavalry at Horse Cave and near by points there was slight skirmishing at Bear Wallow, no detailed report of which is to be found.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.

BEAR WALLOW, KENTUCKY, December 25, 1862. 2 Battalions of the 12th Kentucky Cavalry. At 5 a. m. Colonel Hobson, commanding the post at Munfordville, ordered the two battalions under Colonel Shanks, to Cave City and Bear Wallow with instructions to give battle and if overpowered to skirmish back to Woodsonville. Shanks attacked Morgan's rear-guard at Bear Wallow, while another detachment of Federal troops attacked his advance guard at Green's chapel. Shank's command killed 1, wounded 2 and took 12 prisoners, with no loss.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 104.


Beard, FRANK, the third son of artist William Beard, was a special artist for Harper & Brothers during the Civil War. He devotes himself particularly to character- sketches, in the production of which he has attained remarkable facility. He lectures on various topics, accompanying himself with crayon sketches on the blackboard. He was for a time professor of the fine arts in Syracuse University. He has published “The Blackboard and the Sunday School” (New York, 1880). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 206.


BEARD, GEORGE MILLER, physician, born at Montville, Connecticut, 8 May, 1830; died in New York. 28 January, 1883. His father was a clergyman. The son studied at Phillips Andover Academy, and was graduated at Yale in 1862. He studied a year in the medical department of Yale, and in 1866 obtained his medical degree at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. For eighteen months, in 1863-'4, he was assistant surgeon on the gun-boat "New London," in the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron. In 1865 he settled in New York and made diseases of the nervous system his specialty. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, pp. 206-206.


BEARD, HARRY, the second son of artist William Beard , entered the national army as a boy in 1861, and was a captain in the 30th Missouri Volunteers at twenty-one years of age. He paints genre subjects in oils and water-colors, and makes the designs for many of Prang's Publications. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 206.


BEARDSLEY, SAMUEL RAYMOND, lawyer, eldest son of Levi, born in Cherry Valley, Otsego County, New York, 31 December, 1814; died in Stevensburg, Virginia, 28 December, 1863. He was graduated at Union in 1836, studied law, and practised in Albany and in Oswego, New York. He afterward engaged in milling, owning the Premium Mills in Oswego. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 48th New York Militia in 1851, and colonel in 1854. He was elected mayor of Oswego in 1852; appointed postmaster in 1853, and was defeated as a candidate for the assembly in 1858. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 24th New York Volunteers in 1861, was wounded at Chancellorsville, and was promoted to the colonelcy in 1863. When the regiment was mustered out in 1863, he was appointed adjutant-general on General Meade's staff. He died of disease contracted in the service. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 207.


BEATTY, JOHN, soldier, born near Sandusky, Ohio, 16 September, 1828. He received a common-school education and entered on a business career in a banking-house at an early age. He took an active banking-house at an early age. He took an active part in public affairs, and was identified with Free-Soil Party until it was merged in the Republican. In 1860 he was a Republican presidential elector. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in the 3rd Ohio Infantry, and was appointed  successively captain and Lieutenant-Colonel. He took part in the early western Virginia Campaigns, became a colonel in 1862, and commanded a brigade in the fight at Stone River, 31 December 1862, to 2 January, 1863.  In 1863 he was commissioned a brigadier general and served through the Tennessee and Chattanooga Campaigns.  He was elected to the Fortieth Congress  and was twice re-elected. In 1884 he was Republican presidential elector at large. In 1886 he was a member of the board of state charities. He has written "The Citizen Soldier" (Cincinnati. 1876) and "The Belle o' Becket's Une" (Philadelphia. 1882). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 208-209.


BEATTY, SAMUEL, soldier, born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, 16 December 1820; died in Jackson, Stark County, Ohio, 26 March, 1885. He moved with his father, a native of Ireland to Jackson, Ohio, in 1827, received a limited education in the common schools, and became a farmer. He served nearly two years in the Mexican War as 1st lieutenant in the 3d Ohio Volunteers, was elected sheriff of his county in 1857, reelected in 1859. On 16 November, 1861, he became colonel of the 19th Ohio Volunteers. He was made brigadier-general of volunteers on 29 November, 1862, commanded a division in the battle of Stone River, and was brevetted major-general on 13 March, 1865. In 1866 he returned to his farm in Jackson, where he spent the rest of his life. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, p. 209.


BEATTY'S MILL, ARKANSAS, September 1, 1864. 3d Arkansas Cavalry. A detachment of 65 men of this regiment,, under Captain Hamilton, met Conley's bushwhackers, 160 strong, charged them and put them to flight, killing 2, wounding several and releasing a Federal surgeon and soldier whom they held as prisoners. Among the effects of the bushwhackers which fell into Hamilton's hands was a quantity of Spanish brown which they had procured to aid in disguising themselves as Indians.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 104.


BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA, April 9, 1863. Destruction of the Steamship George Washington. Soon after daylight the vessel, attempting to follow the U. S. Steamer Hale from a point off Brick Yard Point on Broad river, was fired on by a Confederate battery and wrecked, her magazine being destroyed and one gun dismounted. Captain Briggs of the 3d Rhode Island artillery, commanding an expedition in which she was engaged, soon learned that she was burning and ran up the white Page 105 flag to save the lives of those on board. The men got on shore and were there subjected to an artillery fire. Two were killed, 10 badly wounded, 2 were missing.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 104-105.


BEAUMONT, JOHN G., naval officer, born in Pennsylvania, 27 August, 1821; died 2 August, 1882. He entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman, 1 March, 1838, and obtained promotion as master, 30 August, 1851; lieutenant, 29 August, 1855; commander, July, 1862; captain, 1872. He participated as commander of the steamer “Aroostook,” of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in the severe engagement with the Confederate batteries at Fort Darling, was attached to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in 1862-3, was engaged as commander of a monitor in attacks on the fortifications in Charleston Harbor, and took a prominent part in the capture of Fort Wagner. He commanded the steamer “Mackinaw,” of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in the two attacks on Fort Fisher, when his vessel was badly injured by the shot and shell from the enemy's batteries. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 210.


BEAUREGARD, PIERRE GUSTAVE TOUTANT, soldier, born near New Orleans, Louisiana, 28 May, 1818. He was graduated second in class rank at West Point in 1838. Among his classmates were the future Confederate generals Hardee and Sibley and the federal generals Barry, Nichols, Granger, and McDowell. He was assigned first to the artillery and then to the engineers, and in 1838-’9 was assistant in the construction of Fort Adams, Newport. He was on engineering duty at Barataria Bay, Louisiana, in 1840-1, at the passes of the Mississippi in 1841–4, and at Fort McHenry, Maryland, in 1844–5. At the beginning of the war with Mexico, he was engaged in the construction of defences at Tampico (1846-'7)  siege operations at Vera Cruz (9 to 29 March, 1847), Cerro Gordo (April 17, 18), Contreras (August 19,20), Chapultepec (September 13), and city of Mexico (September 13, 14), where he was twice wounded. Shortly afterward he was brevetted major. He attained the full rank of captain of engineers, 3 March, 1853, for fourteen years of continuous service as lieutenant. Returning to the United States, he was assigned to duty in the vicinity of New Orleans, superintending the construction and repair of fortifications in Mobile Harbor and on the Mississippi River, also of harbor construction in Lake Pontchartrain, and as constructing engineer of the custom-house in New Orleans. His supervisory duties extended over the Gulf Coast from Florida to the Rio Grande. On 23 January, 1861, he was detailed as Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but held the place only a few days, resigning his commission 20 February, 1861. This ends his record as a military officer of the United States. He at once offered his services to the southern confederacy, then organizing to resist the authority of the federal government, and was placed in command of the defences of Charleston, South Carolina On the refusal of Major Robert Anderson to evacuate Fort Sumter, he opened fire soon after daylight on the morning of 12 April, 1861. After a cannonade of several hours, during which, according to the official reports, not a single life was lost on either side, Fort Sumter, with ammunition and provisions nearly exhausted, capitulated to General Beauregard, and the garrison marched out, with the honors of war. Beauregard was almost immediately ordered to Virginia, where he was practically in command at the battle of Bull Run (July 21),  though superseded at the last moment by General Joseph E. Johnston. Here he was again victorious. In the spring of 1862 he was ordered to Tennessee, as second in command to General Albert S. Johnston, and when that officer was killed at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, Beauregard took command and nearly succeeded in routing the northern army. The next day, however, the federals having been re-enforced, he was compelled to retreat by General Grant, falling back in good order to Corinth, Mississippi, where he made a successful defence until 29 May, when he evacuated the place, destroying all his stores, and retreating southward along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. General Beauregard's health failed after this campaign, and he was on leave of absence until August, when, with the full rank of general, he was again placed in command at Charleston, which for a year and a half (September, 1862, till April, 1864) he defended against the formidable siege operations under General Gillmore and Admirals ' and Dahlgren. In May, 1864, when General Grant was closing in upon the approaches to Richmond, Beauregard re-enforced Lee, defeated Butler at Drury's Bluff, and held Petersburg against the federal advance. In October he was commander of the Military Division of the west, and sent to Georgia to resist the march of the federals under Sherman. The attempt proved futile, and, joining forces with General Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina, he surrendered with that officer to General Sherman in April, 1865. After the war he became president of the New Orleans, Jackson, and Mississippi Railroad, adjutant-general of the state, and manager of the Louisiana State Lottery. See “Military Operations of General Beauregard in the War between the States, 1861–’5,” by Colonel Alfred Roman (New York, 1884). General Beauregard is the author of “Principles and Maxims of the Art of War” (Charleston, 1863), and “of the Defence of Charleston” (Richmond, 1864). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 210-211.


BEAVER, JAMES ADDAMS, soldier, born in Millerstown, Perry County, Pennsylvania, 21 October, 1837. The founders of the family came from Alsace in 1740–Huguenots seeking religious liberty in America. They settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and became leaders in the affairs of the infant commonwealth. They have furnished soldiers for every American war since the middle of the last century, and in times of peace have been among the most highly respected and influential families of the state. James was educated by his mother (his father having died in 1840) until 1846, when the family moved to Belleville, Mifflin County, and he was sent to school. In 1852 he entered Pine Grove Academy, and in 1854 joined the junior class in Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania After graduation in 1856 he read law in the office of H. N. McAllister, at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and was taken into partnership by him almost as soon as he was of age. During this period of his life he joined a local military company—the “Bellefonte Fencibles,” under Captain Andrew G. Curtin, afterward war governor of Pennsylvania. He made a thorough study of tactics, and, when the president called for volunteers to suppress the rebellion in 1861, he was second lieutenant of the company, which promptly marched for the defence of the national capital. On the organization of the 45th Pennsylvania Volunteers, he became its lieutenant-colonel, and first saw active service in the neighborhood of Hilton Head and Port Royal, South Carolina A new call for volunteers was issued in 1862, and Lieutenant-Colonel Beaver was commissioned colonel of the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers, recruited in the vicinity of his home. He had by this time developed his qualities as a disciplinarian, and his men made it their boast that they were often mistaken for regulars. The regiment joined the Army of the Potomac just after the battle of Fredericksburg, was assigned to Hancock's Corps, and first met the enemy at the battle of Chancellorsville (2 and 3 May, 1863), where it held an advanced position, and lost very heavily, Colonel Beaver being among the wounded. He had not recovered when the third call for troops was issued; but, at his own request, he was placed on recruiting service, in command of Camp Curtin. He was able to rejoin his regiment just before the battle of Gettysburg, but, still weak from his wound, was not permitted to take command during the fight. He led his regiment throughout the Wilderness Campaign in May, 1864, and took part in the successful assault upon the Confederate works at Spotsylvania Court-House, his regiment being among the first to scale the earthworks. At the battle of Cold Harbor (3 June, 1864) he was left in command of the brigade, General Brooke being wounded, and later he was himself slightly wounded, but not disabled, and remained at his post during the rest of the day, holding an advanced position close to the enemy's works, and constantly under fire. On 16 June, 1864, he was again wounded while leading his brigade in the first assault upon the works at Petersburg. Returning to duty before his wound was fairly healed, he rode to the battle-field of Ream's Station in an ambulance, and  had scarcely reached the front and assumed command at the advanced line when his right leg was shattered by a rifle-ball. Amputation followed, and, although his life was saved, he was no longer capable of active military service. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, 10 November, 1864, and mustered out of service at his own request on 22 December of that year, refusing to remain in the army on light duty as he was urged to do. He repeatedly declined promotion that would have taken him away from his own regiment, feeling bound to remain with the men whom he had enlisted. In civil life General Beaver has attended closely to his practice at the bar. He was elected a member of the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania State University, in 1873, and was been very influential in increasing its usefulness and prosperity. He has taken active part as a speaker in the campaigns of the Democratic Party, and at the state convention of June, 1882, was nominated as its candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, and again nominated for the same office in 1886. He is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic. See "Life of James A. Beaver," by Frank A. Burr (Philadelphia, 1882).  Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 212-213.


BEAVER CREEK, FLOYD COUNTY, Kentucky, June 27, 1863. 39th Kentucky Volunteers.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 105.

BEAVER CREEK, MARYLAND, July 9, 1863. 1st Division, Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac. The Confederates had been driven on the preceding day to a position on the north side of Beaver creek, on the Funkstown road. Early on the morning of the 9th the entire division renewed the pursuit and took up a position on the south side of the creek, about two and a half miles from Boonsboro. Skirmishing was kept up all day. About 5 o'clock in the afternoon an advance was ordered. The 2nd brigade, commanded by Colonel Thomas C. Devin, on the extreme left, deployed as skirmishers, and Vincent's battery was placed so as to cover Devin's movements. Two squadrons of cavalry were dismounted and advanced and a sharp skirmish ensued, the Confederates concentrating their entire strength on the crest of the ridge north of the creek. The division line was now advanced and a charge made which carried the crest and started the enemy on the retreat. Devin's brigade and the battery pursued for about two miles, when darkness prevented further chase, and bivouacked on the field ready for the morrow. This affair is sometimes called the battle of Benevola. (For losses see Funkstown, Maryland, July 10, where the fight was continued.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 105.

BEAVER CREEK, MISSOURI, November 24, 1862. 3d Missouri Cavalry and 21st Iowa Volunteers.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 105.

BEAVER CREEK, NORTH CAROLINA, April 17, 1864. Detachment of 22 men of the 12th New York Cavalry. With this detachment, Captain Horn and Lieutenant Watkins, under general instructions to ascertain if there was a Confederate force at Trenton or any considerable force on the Kingston road, left regimental headquarters at noon on the 16th. On the 17th it was attacked by Confederate infantry and cavalry in considerable force and fought until completely surrounded. However, all of the detachment but 4 returned to camp, a wounded sergeant being the only casualty reported.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 105.

BEAVER DAM CHURCH, VIRGINIA, December 1, 1862. Beaver Dam Creek, Virginia, June 26, 1862. The action at Beaver Dam creek on this date was the second of the Seven Days' battles. It is officially reported as Mechanicsville. (See Seven Days' Battles.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 105.

BEAVER DAM LAKE, MISSISSIPPI, May 23, 1863. Mississippi Marine Brigade of Cavalry and Infantry.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 105.

BEAVER DAM STATION, VIRGINIA, February 29, 1864. 1st Brigade, 3d Division, Cavalry Corps. The brigade consisting of the 3d and 5th New York and 18th Pennsylvania, under the command of Brigadier-General Davies, moved forward through Mount Pleasant, New Market and Chilesburg to the North Anna river, crossed at Anderson's ford and reached Beaver Dam Station between 3 and 4 p. m. Here the railroad depot, water tanks, storehouse, switches, turnouts and track were destroyed, the telegraph wires cut, the poles razed for a considerable distance, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to capture an approaching train which backed off before the cavalry could get to it. A slight skirmish between Davies' advance guard and about 25 of the enemy resulted in the rout of the latter after the first volley.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 105.

BEAVER DAM STATION, VIRGINIA, May 9, 1864. 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac. At daylight on this date General Sheridan's cavalry was detached from the army for the purpose of opening up communications with General Butler on the James river. Just before reaching the North Anna river the advance guard reported a Confederate ambulance train to be in sight, and that it was moving toward Beaver Dam Station on the Virginia Central railroad. Brigadier- General George A. Custer, commanding the ist brigade, ist division, sent forward Major Brewer with the 1st Michigan, to capture the train, after which he was to push on to Beaver Dam Station, the remainder of the brigade following closely in support. Before reaching the station Brewer encountered a force of the enemy, conducting to Richmond about 400 Union prisoners, who had been captured in the battle of the Wilderness. Without waiting for the rest of the brigade to come up he charged, recaptured all the Federal prisoners and a number of the enemy, and put the rest to flight. At the station the brigade captured 2 locomotives, 3 trains of cars loaded with supplies for the Confederate army, 90 wagons, a large number of hospital tents and several hundred stand of arms. After supplying the men with all the provisions they could carry, Custer ordered the remainder, amounting to about 1,500,000 rations, to be destroyed, as were also the wagons, 100 cars, the railroad station, 8 miles of track and telegraph wire, and nearly all the medical stores of Lee's army which had been recently moved from Orange Court House.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 105-106.

BEAVER DAM STATION, VIRGINIA, March 13, 1865. 8th New York Cavalry. As the regiment under Major Compson was marching from Frederick's Hall Station to Beaver Dam it encountered and repulsed 300 Confederates under Colonel Morgan. At Beaver Dam Station it destroyed the railroad track, a mile of telegraph, 3 water tanks, 3 force-pumps, a steam sawmill, 100,000 feet of sawed bridge timber and 400 cords of wood.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 106.

BEAVER DAM SWAMP, VIRGINIA, June 26, 1862. For an account of this action see Seven Days' Battles, particularly that portion relating to the battle of Mechanicsville.

BEAVER POND CREEK, VIRGINIA, April 4, 1865. (See Tabernacle Church.)


BECKLEY, GUY, Northfield, Vermont, Methodist clergyman.  Anti-slavery agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS).  Lectured in New Hampshire, Vermont and Michigan.  Co-edited antislavery newspaper, Signal of Liberty, with Theodore Foster, the newspaper of the Michigan Anti-Slavery Society.  He was excluded from Methodist churches because of his anti-slavery work. (Dumond, 1961, p. 187)


BECKWITH, AMOS, soldier, born in Vermont about 1830. He was graduated at West Point in 1850, and served in the Seminole War. During the Civil War he was chief depot-commissary in Washington, chief of commissariat of the Military Division of the Mississippi, on the staff of General Sherman in the Atlanta Campaign, and, after the war, chief commissary of the Department of the Gulf. He was brevetted brigadier-general in the U. S. Army on 13 March, 1865, and promoted lieutenant colonel on the general staff, 23 June, 1874. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 214.


BECKWITH, EDWARD GRIFFIN, soldier, born in Cazenovia, New York, 25 June, 1818; died in Clifton, New York, 22 June, 1881. He was graduated at West Point in 1842, served in the war with Mexico at Tampico and Vera Cruz, and was employed in Pacific Railroad reconnaissance in 1853- 4, the records of which survey were published by Congress. In the Civil War he served as chief of commissariat of the 5th Army Corps, and of the Army of Virginia, and in fitting out General Banks's Louisiana Expedition. He was provost-marshal-general of the Department of the Gulf in 1863, in command of the defences of New Orleans from 25 August, 1863, till 12 January, 1864, also for a time chief commissary of the department, was made major on 8 February, 1864, and received the brevet rank of brigadier-general, U. S. Army, on 13 March, 1865, for faithful and meritorious services during the war. After the war he was employed in the subsistence department. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 214.


BECKWITH, GEORGE C, clergyman, born in 1800; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 12 May, 1870. He was a Congregational minister, who devoted himself to the service of the American Peace Society, of which he was for thirty-three years corresponding secretary. He also edited its magazine, "The Advocate of Peace," and wrote the appeals issued in its name, in favor of Peace Congresses and the arbitration of international disputes. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 214


BECKWITH, JOHN WATRUS, P. E. bishop, born in Raleigh, North Carolina, 9 February, 1831. He was graduated at Trinity College, Hartford. in 1852, ordained deacon 24 May, 1854, and priest in Mav, 1855. He entered upon work in Wadesboro, North Carolina, but soon moved to Anne Arundel County, Maryland. At the beginning of the Civil War he moved to Mississippi and thence to Alabama, where he became rector of Trinity Church in Demopolis. At the close of the war he became rector of Trinity Church, New Orleans, and while there was elected bishop of Georgia. He received the degree of S. T. D. from Trinity in 1867. He was consecrated bishop in St. John's Church, Savannah, 2 April, 1808. It is largely due to his untiring labors that the Episcopal Church in Georgia has steadily gained in influence and strength. He is a most eloquent and   powerful preacher, and in this respect has no superior in the church of which he is a member. He has published several sermons and addresses. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 214.


BECKWITH'S FARM, MISSOURI, October 14, 1861. (See Bird's Point.)


BED. Straw and bed-sacks are allowed to soldiers for bedding. The introduction of single iron bedsteads will make it necessary to increase the allowance of bed furniture. In Prussia and other countries, hammocks are used in place of bedsteads. Bed has also other applications, as mortar bed; camp bed; bed of a gun lock; bed of sand; bed of a river; to separate the beds of stone in a quarry, &c. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 86).


BEDEL, JOHN, soldier, born in the Indian Stream territory, northern New Hampshire, 8 July, 1822; died in Bath, New Hampshire, 26 February, 1875. His father was General Moody Bedel. The son enlisted as a private in the Mexican War in 1847, and became captain in 1849. He was admitted to the bar in 1850, and practised in Bath until 1853, when he entered the treasury department at Washington, and remained there until the beginning of the Civil War. He was then appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 3d New Hampshire Volunteers, 27 June, 1862, was wounded, 10 July, 1863, and captured at Fort Wagner, 18 July, 1863. He was promoted colonel of that regiment, while a prisoner of war, 6 April, 1864, and paroled on 9 December He was made  brigadier-general of U. S. volunteers, by brevet, dating from 13 March, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services, and was mustered out of service 20 July, 1865. He represented the town of Bath in the legislature, and was several times the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 214.


BEE, BERNARD E., soldier, born in Charleston, South Carolina, about 1823; killed in the battle of Bull Run, 21 July, 1861. He was graduated at West Point in 1845, and served as a lieutenant in the military occupation of Texas and in the war with Mexico, being wounded at Cerro Gordo, and receiving the brevet of captain for gallantry at Chapultepec. He served as captain on frontier duty in Minnesota, on the Utah Expedition, and in Dakota until 3 March, 1861, when he resigned and entered the Confederate service. He held the rank of brigadier general, and commanded a brigade of South Carolina troops at Bull Run. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 216.


BEE CREEK, MISSOURI, May 2, 1864. 8th Missouri State Militia Cavalry. A detachment of 40 men, under Lieutenant McElhanon, while scouting, crossed the White river at Forsyth and went down to near the mouth of Bee creek, where they surprised and killed 3 guerrillas, captured their horses and destroyed their camp. A little further on they dispersed a larger party of guerrillas without bloodshed.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 106.

BEECH CREEK,  SOUTH CAROLINA, April 19, 1865. Provisional Division, District of Beaufort. The operations of General Potter's command, the ist brigade, had for their object the destruction of locomotives and rolling stock on the railroad between Sumterville and Camden, South Carolina On the 19th, the 107th Ohio infantry was ordered to march along the railroad, destroy all bridges, culverts and rolling stock and make the track impassable. The remainder of the brigade resumed the march, but when it had advanced a short distance it was confronted by the enemy in line on both sides of the road. The 157th New York was deployed across the road and advanced until it was met by the fire of the enemy's artillery. Then the 25th Ohio was deployed on the right and in support of the skirmishers and the whole force moved forward, driving the Confederates to Rafting creek, where they made a stand from which it was found impossible to dislodge them without heavy loss. The brigade halted and the skirmishers kept up a desultory fire until the enemy was driven by a flanking party of the 2nd brigade. The 1st then crossed Big and Little Rafting' creeks and halted for rest and dinner. In the afternoon the 157th New York was placed in line of battle on the right of the road, the 25th Ohio on the left, and they advanced .with a strong skirmish line, meeting no serious opposition until they reached Beech creek, near Statesburg, where the enemy was encountered in force, but was routed by the determined action of the 2 regiments. The brigade encamped on Swighton's plantation. Loss during the day, 5 men wounded. Beech Creek, Virginia, August 6, 1862. 4th Virginia Volunteers. A detachment of this regiment had a brief engagement with Straton and Witcher's Confederate cavalry companies and Beckley's arid Chambers' gangs of bushwhackers. The major of the 4th Virginia fell pierced by 4 balls, Straton was mortally and Witcher dangerously wounded, and a few were killed.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 106-107.

BEECH FORK, WEST VIRGINIA, Sept 8, 1863.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p.


BEECHER, CHARLES, 1815-1900, clergyman, anti-slavery activist, author.  Opposed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.  Wrote The Duty of Disobedience to Wicked Laws.  It argued there was a “higher law” that must be followed.  The Constitution’s fugitive slave clause was morally wrong in that it legally condoned kidnapping.  Son of abolitionist Lyman Beecher, brother of author Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Edward Beecher, and Henry Ward Beecher.  (Appletons, 1888, Vol. 1, p. 220; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, pp. 126-129; Dumond, 1961, pp. 273, 310; Mabee, 1970, pp. 298)


BEECHER, EDWARD, 1803-1895, clergyman, abolitionist leader, writer, social reformer.  President, Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois.  Pastor, Salem Street Church, Boston.  Executive Committee, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.  Friend of abolitionist leader Elijah J. Lovejoy.  Co-founded Anti-Slavery Society in Illinois.  Executive Committee, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1840-1842.  Son of abolitionist Lyman Beecher, brother of author Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Charles Beecher, and Henry Ward Beecher.  (Dumond, 1961, pp. 153-154, 288; Merideth, 1968; Pease, 1965, pp. 268-272; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 40, 187-188; Rugoff, 1981; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 219-220; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, p. 128)

BEECHER, Edward, clergyman, born in East Hampton, Long Island, 27 August, 1803. He was graduated at Yale in 1822, studied theology at Andover and New Haven, became tutor in Yale in 1825, and then moved to Boston to take charge of the Park street congregation. Here he remained from 1826 till 1830, when he was elected president of Illinois College, Jacksonville. In 1844 he returned to Boston, as pastor of Salem Street Church, and in 1855 he became pastor of the Congregational Church at Galesburg, Illinois, where he remained until1870. For some years he was professor of exegesis in the Chicago Theological Seminary. In 1872 he retired from the ministry and moved to Brooklyn, New York. The title of D. D. was conferred on him by Marietta College in 1841. He has been a constant contributor to periodicals, was senior editor of “The Congregationalist” for the first six years of its existence, and after 1870 was a regular contributor to the “Christian Union.” His two works on the “Ages” gave rise to much discussion, and have modified doctrinal statements as to the origin of human depravity. The central idea presented is, that man's present life upon earth is the outgrowth of a former life as well as the prelude to a future one; that during the ages a conflict has been going on between good and evil, which will not be terminated in this life, but that sooner or later all the long strifes of ages will become harmonized into an everlasting concord. He has published “Address on the Kingdom of God” (Boston, 1827); '”Six Sermons on the Nature, Importance, and Means of Eminent Holiness throughout the Church” (New York, 1835); “History of Alton Riots” (Cincinnati, 1837); “Statement of Anti-Slavery Principles and Address to People of Illinois” (1837); “Baptism, its Import and Modes” (New York, 1850); “Conflict of Ages” (Boston, 1853); “Papal Conspiracy exposed” (New York, 1855); “Concord of Ages” (1860); “History of Opinions on the Scriptural Doctrine of Future Retribution” (1878).—Another son, George, clergyman, born in East Hampton, Long Island, 6 May, 1809; died in Chillicothe, Ohio, 1 July, 1843, was graduated at Yale in 1828, after which he studied theology. Subsequent to his ordination in the Presbyterian church he filled pulpits at Rochester, New York, and afterward at Chillicothe, Ohio. His death was caused by an accidental discharge of a gun while shooting birds in his own garden. See the “Memoirs of George Beecher,” by his sister Catherine (New York, 1844). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 219-220.


BEECHER, GEORGE, Clinton County, Ohio, Ohio Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1835-38.


BEECHER, REVEREND HENRY WARD, 1813-1887, social reformer, clergyman, abolitionist leader.  Supported women’s suffrage and temperance movements.  Opposed compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act.  Supported early Republican Party and its candidate for President, John C. Fremont.  Son of abolitionist Lyman Beecher, brother of author Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Charles Beecher, and Edward Beecher.  (Applegate, 2006; Filler, 1960, pp. 155, 196, 241; Hibben, 1942; Mabee, 1970, pp. 140, 240, 241, 298, 300, 318, 320, 337, 365; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 380, 656-657; Rugoff, 1981; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 218-219; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, pp. 128-135; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 64-66)

BEECHER, Henry Ward, clergyman, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, 24 June, 1813; died in Brooklyn, New York, 8 March, 1887. At an early age he had a strong desire for a seafaring life, which he renounced in consequence of a deep religious impression experienced during a revival. He studied at the Boston Latin-school, in Mount Pleasant Institute, was graduated at Amherst in 1834, and then studied theology at Lane seminary, under the tuition of his father, who was president of the institution. He first settled as a Presbyterian minister in Lawrenceburgh, Indiana, in 1837, and married Eunice White, daughter of Dr. Artemas Bullard; then moved to Indianapolis in 1839, where he preached until 1847. In that year he received a call from Plymouth Church, a new Congregational society in Brooklyn, New York, and almost from the outset he began to acquire that reputation as a pulpit orator which he maintained for more than a third of a century. The church and congregation under his charge were among the largest in America. The edifice has a seating capacity of nearly 3,000. Mr. Beecher discarded many of the conventionalities of the clerical profession. In his view, humor had a place in a sermon, as well as argument and exhortation, and he did not hesitate sometimes to venture so near the comic that laughter was hardly to be restrained. He was fond of illustration, drawing his material from every sphere of human life and thought, and his manner was highly dramatic. Though his keen sense of humor continually manifested itself, the prevailing impression given by his discourses was one of intense earnestness. The cardinal idea of his creed was that Christianity is not a series of dogmas, philosophical or metaphysical, but a rule of life in every phase. He never hesitated to discuss from the pulpit the great social and political crimes of the day, such as slavery, intemperance, avarice, and political abuses. In 1878 he announced that he did not believe in the eternity of punishment. He now held that all punishment is cautionary and remedial, and that no greater cruelty could be imagined than the continuance of suffering eternally, after all hope of reformation was gone; and in 1882 he and his congregation formally withdrew from the association of Congregational churches, since their theology had gradually changed from the strictest Calvinism to a complete disbelief in the eternity of future punishment. His sermons, reported by stenographers, for several years formed a weekly publication called the “Plymouth Pulpit.” He early became prominent as a platform orator and lecturer, and as such had a long and successful career. His lectures came to be in such demand, even at the rate of $500 a night, that he was obliged to decline further engagements, as they interfered with his ministerial duties, and for a long time he refused all applications for public addresses except for some special occasion. In January, 1859, he delivered an oration at the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the birthday of Robert Burns, which is considered one of his most eloquent efforts. He became a member of the Republican Party on its formation, and delivered many political sermons from his pulpit, also addressing political meetings, especially in 1856, when he took an active part in the canvass, not only with his pen but by speaking at meetings throughout the northern states. During the presidential canvass of 1884, Mr. Beecher supported the Democratic candidate, and by his action estranged many of his political admirers. In the long conflict with slavery he was an early and an earnest worker. In 1863 he visited Europe, and addressed large audiences in the principal cities of Great Britain on the questions involved in the Civil War then raging in the United States, with a special view to disabuse the British public in regard to the issues of the great struggle. His speeches exerted a wide influence in changing popular sentiment, which previously had been strongly in favor of the southern Confederacy, and were published in London as “Speeches on the American Rebellion” (1864). In April, 1865, at the request of the government, he delivered an oration at Fort Sumter on the anniversary of its fall. In 1878 he was elected chaplain of the 13th Regiment, N. G. S. New York, and appeared on parade in the customary uniform. In 1871 one of his parishioners, Henry W. Sage, founded a lectureship of preaching, called “The Lyman Beecher Lectureship,” in Yale College divinity school, and the first three annual courses were delivered by Mr. Beecher. In the summer of 1874, Theodore Tilton, formerly Mr. Beecher's associate, afterward his successor, in the editorship of the “Independent,” charged him with criminality with Mrs. Tilton. A committee of Plymouth Congregation reported the charges to be without foundation; but meanwhile Mr. Tilton instituted a civil suit against Mr. Beecher, laying his damages at $100,000. The trial lasted six months, and at its close the jury, after being locked up for more than a week, failed to agree on a verdict. They stood three for the plaintiff and nine for the defendant. Mr. Beecher was of stout build, florid, and of strong physical constitution. He was fond of domestic and rural life; a student of nature; a lover of animals, flowers, and gems; an enthusiast in music, and a judge and patron of art. He owned a handsome residence at Peekskill on the Hudson, which he occupied during a part of every summer. In 1886 he made a lecturing tour in England, his first visit to that country after the war. During his theological course in 1836, for nearly a year Mr. Beecher edited the “Cincinnati Journal,” a religious weekly. While pastor at Indianapolis he edited an agricultural journal, “The Farmer and Gardener,” his contributions to which were afterward published under the title “Plain and Pleasant Talk about Fruits, Flowers, and Farming” (New York, 1859). He was one of the founders and for nearly twenty years an editorial contributor of the New York “Independent,” and from 1861 till 1863 was its editor. His contributions to this were signed with an asterisk, and many of them were afterward collected and published as “Star Papers; or, Experiences of Art and Nature” (New York, 1855), and as “New Star Papers; or, Views and Experiences of Religious Subject” (1858). The latter has been republished in England under the title of '”Summer in the Soul.” On the establishment of the “Christian Union” in 1870, he became its editor-in- chief. To a series of papers in the '”New York Ledger” he gave the title “Thoughts as they Occur,” by “One who keeps his eyes and ears open,” and they were afterward published under the title of “Eyes and Ears” (Boston, 1864). In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Beecher published “Lectures to Young Men on Various Important Subjects” (Indianapolis, 1844, revised ed., New York, 1850); “Freedom and War: Discourses suggested by the Times” (Boston, 1863); “Aids to Prayer” (New York, 1864); “Norwood; or, Village Life in New England” (1867); “Overture of Angels” (1869), being an introductory installment of “Life of Jesus the Christ; Earlier Scenes” (1871); “Lecture-Room Talks: A Series of Familiar Discourses on Themes of Christian Experience” (1870); “Yale Lectures on Preaching” (3 vols., 1872-'4); “A Summer Parish: Sermons and Morning Services of Prayer” (1874); “Evolution and Religion” (1885). Also, numerous addresses and separate sermons, such as “Army of the Republic” (1878); “The Strike and its Lessons” (1878); “Doctrinal Beliefs and Unbeliefs” (1882); “Commemorative Discourse on Wendell Phillips” (1884); “A Circuit of the Continent,” being an account of his trip through the west and south (1884); and “Letter to the Soldiers and Sailors” (1866, reprinted with introduction, 1884). He edited “Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes” (New York, 1855), and “Revival Hymns” (Boston, 1858). Numerous compilations of his utterances have been prepared, among which are: “Life Thoughts” (New York, 1859), by Edna Dean Proctor; “Notes from Plymouth Pulpit” (1859), by Augusta Moore; both of the foregoing have been reprinted in England; “Pulpit Pungencies” (1866); “Royal Truths” (Boston, 1866), reprinted from a series of extracts prepared in England without his knowledge; “Prayers from Plymouth Pulpit” (New York, 1867); “Sermons by Henry Ward Beecher: Selected from Published and Unpublished Discourses,” edited by Lyman Abbott (2 vols., 1868); “Morning and Evening Devotional Exercises,” edited by Lyman Abbott (1870); “Comforting Thoughts” (1884), by Irene Ovington. Mr. Beecher had completed the second and concluding volume of his “Life of Christ,” which is to be published this year (1887), with a re-publication of the first volume. His biography has been written by Lyman Abbott (New York, 1883). A new life, to be written by his son, William C. Beecher, will include an unfinished autobiography. Mr. Beecher was buried in Greenwood cemetery, and a movement was immediately begun for a monument, to be paid for by popular subscription. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 218-219.


BEECHER, LYMAN, 1775-1863, abolitionist leader, clergyman, educator, writer.  Active in the Cincinnati, Ohio, auxiliary of the American Colonization Society, founded in Washington, DC, December 1816.  Co-founder, American Temperance Society.  President, Lane Theological Seminary.  Major spokesman for the anti-slavery cause in the United States.  Father of notable abolitionists, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Edward Beecher and Charles Beecher. (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 216-217; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, p. 135; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 134, 140, 196, 231)

BEECHER, Lyman, clergyman, born in New Haven, Connecticut, 2 October, 1775; died in Brooklyn, New York, 10 January, 1863. His ancestor in the fifth ascent emigrated to New England, and settled at New Haven in 1638. His father, David Beecher, was a blacksmith. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he was committed to the care of his uncle Lot Benton, by whom he was adopted as a son, and with whom his early life was spent between blacksmithing and farming. But it was soon found that he preferred study. He was fitted for college by the Reverend Thomas W. Bray, and at the age of eighteen entered Yale, where, besides the usual classical course, he studied theology under President Dwight and was graduated in 1797. After this he continued his studies until September, 1798, when he was licensed to preach by the New Haven West Association, entered upon his clerical duties by supplying the pulpit in the Presbyterian Church at East Hampton, Long Island, and was ordained in 1799. Here he married his first wife, Roxana Foote. His salary was $300 a year, after five years increased to $400, with a dilapidated parsonage. To eke out his scanty income, his wife opened a private school, in which the husband also gave instruction. Mr. Beecher soon became one of the foremost preachers of his day. A sermon that he delivered in 1804, on the death of Alexander Hamilton, excited great attention. Finding his salary wholly inadequate to support his increasing family, he resigned the charge, and in 1810 was installed pastor of the Congregational Church in Litchfield, Connecticut Here he remained for sixteen years, during which he took rank as the foremost clergyman of his denomination. In his autobiography he says this pastorate was “the most laborious part of his life.” The vice of intemperance had become common in New England, even the formal meetings of the clergy being not unfrequently accompanied by gross excesses, and Mr. Beecher resolved to take a stand against it. About 1814 he delivered and published six sermons on intemperance, which contain eloquent passages hardly exceeded by anything in the English language. They were sent broadcast through the United States, ran rapidly through many editions in England, and were translated into several languages on the continent, and have had a large sale even after the lapse of fifty years. His eloquence, zeal, and courage as a preacher, and his leading the way in the organization of the Bible, missionary, and educational societies, gave him a high reputation throughout New England. During his residence in Litchfield arose the Unitarian controversy, in which he took a prominent part. Litchfield was at this time the seat of a famous law school and several other institutions of learning, and Mr. Beecher (now a doctor of divinity) and his wife undertook to supervise the training of several young women, who were received into their family. But here too he found his salary ($800 a year) inadequate. The rapid and extensive defection of the Congregational Churches in Boston and vicinity, under the lead of Dr. Channing and others in sympathy with him, had excited much anxiety throughout New England; and in 1826 Mr. Beecher received a call to become pastor of the Hanover Street Church in Boston. At the urgent request of his clerical brethren, he took the charge for the purpose of upholding the doctrines of Puritanism, and remained in this church six years and a half. His sermons at this time were largely controversial; he flung himself into the thickest of the fray, and was sustained by an immense following. About this time the religious public had become impressed with the growing importance of the great west; a theological seminary had been founded at Walnut Bills, near Cincinnati, O., and named Lane Seminary, after one of its principal benefactors, and a large amount of money was pledged to the institution on condition that Dr. Beecher accept the presidency, which he did in 1832. He retained the place for twenty years, and his name was continued in the seminary catalogue, as president, until his death. He was also, during the first ten years of his presidency, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati. Soon after his removal thither he startled the religious public in the east by a tract calling attention to the danger of Roman Catholic supremacy in the west. The French revolution of 1830, the agitation in England for reform and against colonial slavery, and the punishment by American courts of citizens who had dared to attack the slave-trade carried on under the American flag, had begun to direct the attention of American philanthropists to the evils of American slavery, and an abolition convention met in Philadelphia in 1833. Its president, Arthur Tappan, through whose liberal donations Dr. Beecher had been secured to Lane seminary, forwarded to the students a copy of the address issued by the convention, and the whole subject was soon under discussion. Many of the students were from the south; an effort was made to stop the discussions and the meetings; slaveholders went over from Kentucky and incited mob violence; and for several weeks Dr. Beecher lived in a turmoil, not knowing how soon the rabble might destroy the seminary and the houses of the professors. The board of trustees interfered during the absence of Dr. Beecher, and allayed the excitement of the mob by forbidding all further discussion of slavery in the seminary, whereupon the students withdrew en masse. A very few were persuaded to return and remain, while the seceders laid the foundation of Oberlin College. For seventeen years after this, Dr. Beecher and his able coworker, Professor Stowe, remained and tried to revive the prosperity of the seminary, but at last abandoned it. The great project of their lives was defeated, and they returned to the eastern states. In 1835 Dr. Beecher, who had been called “a moderate Calvinist,” was arraigned on charges of hypocrisy and heresy by some of the stronger Calvinists. The trial took place in his own church; and he defended himself, while burdened with the cares of his seminary, his church, and his wife at home on her death-bed. The trial resulted in acquittal, and, on an appeal to the general synod, he was again acquitted; but the controversy engendered by the action went on until the Presbyterian church was rent in twain. In the theological controversies that led to the excision of a portion of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church in 1837-'8, Dr. Beecher took an active part, adhering to the new school branch. In 1852 he resigned the presidency of Lane Seminary, and returned to Boston, purposing to devote himself mainly to the revisal and publication of his works. But his intellectual powers began to decline, while his physical strength was unabated. About his eightieth year he suffered a stroke of paralysis, and thenceforth his mental powers only gleamed out occasionally with some indications of their former splendor. The last ten years of his life were passed in Brooklyn, New York, in the home of his son, Henry Ward Beecher. Dr. Beecher was a man of great intellectual power, though not a profound scholar. His sermons were usually extemporaneous, as far as form was concerned, but were carefully thought out, often while he was engaged in active physical exercise; but his writings were elaborated with the utmost care. He stood unequalled among living divines for dialectic keenness, pungent appeal, lambent wit, vigor of thought, and concentrated power of expression. He possessed intense personal magnetism, and an indomitable will, and was thoroughly devoted to his chosen work. The sincerity and spirituality of his preaching were generally acknowledged, and were attended by tangible results. He was bold to the point of audacity, and it was this feature of his character, probably more than any positive errors, that made him a subject of anxiety to the more conservative class of the theologians of his own denomination. His great boldness in denouncing laxity in regard to the standard of the Christian orthodoxy made a deep impress on the public mind. The degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Yale in 1809, and that of D. D. by Middlebury College in 1818. When he became president of Lane Seminary, he took also the chair of sacred theology. He was the author of a great number of printed sermons and addresses. His published works are: “Remedy for Duelling” (New York, 1809); “Plea for the West,” “Six Sermons on Temperance,” “Sermons on Various Occasions,” (1842), “Views in Theology,” “Skepticism,” “Lectures on Various Occasions,” “Political Atheism.” He made a collection of those of his works which he deemed the most valuable (3 vols., Boston, 1852). He was three times married—in 1799, 1817, and 1836—and had thirteen children. Most of his children have attained literary or theological distinction. All his sons became Congregational clergymen, viz., William Henry, Edward, George, Henry Ward, Charles, Thomas Kinnicut, and James Chaplin. The daughters are Catherine Esther, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Beecher Perkins, and Isabella Beecher Hooker. He was proverbially absent-minded, and after having been wrought up by the excitement of preaching was accustomed to relax his mind by playing “Auld Lang Syne” on the violin, or dancing the “double shuffle” in his parlor. His autobiography and correspondence was edited by the Reverend Charles Beecher (New York, 1863). See also “Life and Services of Lyman Beecher,” by the Reverend D. H. Allen (Cincinnati, 1863). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I. pp. 216-217.


BEECHER, CATHERINE ESTHER, educator, born in East Hampton, Long Island, 6 September, 1800; died in Elmira, New York, 12 May, 1878. The death of her mother when Catherine was about sixteen years of age brought upon her domestic responsibilities that lasted until her father's second marriage, two years later. Her education was received in the seminary at Litchfield. She was betrothed to Professor Fisher, of Yale, who was lost with the “Albion” off the coast of Ireland, while on a voyage to Europe, and she never married. Her brother, Henry Ward Beecher, says the shock was so great that it nearly destroyed her religious faith, and her only consolation was in a life of earnest activity. In 1823 she opened a school for young ladies in Hartford, Connecticut, with such success that, under her supervision, with the assistance of her sister, Harriet (afterward Mrs. Stowe), it numbered 160 pupils. It was maintained for ten years. Comprehending the deficiencies of existing text-books, she prepared, primarily for use in her own school, some elementary books in arithmetic, a work on theology, and a third on mental and moral philosophy. The last was never published, although printed and used as a college text-book. The gist of her theories on the subject of teaching was that the physical and moral training of her pupils was quite as important as the development of their intellectual powers. She also claimed that a housekeeper is responsible for the health of all the inmates of her family, especially of children and servants who have not the needful knowledge and discretion. She was constantly making experiments, and practicing them upon the girls, weighing all their food before they ate it, holding that Graham flour and the Graham diet were better for them than richer food. Ten of her pupils invited her to dine with them at a restaurant. She accepted the invitation, and the excellent dinner changed her views. Thereafter they were served with more palatable food. In 1832 Miss Beecher went to Cincinnati with her father, who had accepted the presidency of Lane Theological Seminary, and in that city she opened a female seminary, which, on account of failing health, was discontinued after two years. She then devoted herself to the development of an extended plan for the physical, social, intellectual, and moral education of women, to be promoted through a national board; and for nearly forty years she labored perseveringly in this work, organizing societies for training teachers; establishing plans for supplying the territories with good educators; writing, pleading, and travelling with persistent energy and earnestness. Her object, as described by herself, was, “to unite American women in an effort to provide a Christian education for 2,000,000 children in our country” who were destitute of schools. She made her field of labor especially in the west and south, and sought the aid of educated women throughout the land. She was for many years engaged with ex-Governor Slade, of Vermont, in a scheme for introducing woman teachers into the west. The name given to the organization was “The National Board of Popular Education”; and it was claimed that hundreds of the best teachers the west received went there under the patronage of this system. To a certain extent the plans succeeded, and were found beneficial; but the careers of the teachers were mostly short, for they soon married. She had a mind full of original vigor, but without much imagination; it was perhaps the want of this that made some of her schemes impracticable. She had a great deal of racy humor and mother-wit, with patience, magnanimity, and unbounded good-nature. Her conversation was full of fresh comments on persons and things, without the least bitterness or malice. It was her rule to make her own common sense the standard of judgment, and she doubted the value of anything not commended by that. She continued in her old age the accomplishments of her youth, singing, and playing the piano and the guitar; but her performances were those of a past generation, as she had no belief in modern or classic music. She believed that what she could not comprehend could not exist. It was so also in art. The work of the masters and mediæval art had no meaning for her. She spoke of a house where rare specimens of art were collected as “full of Virgins and Son,” with “a picture of Christ all rubbed out,” “a Psyche with the top of her head knocked in,” and “Venus without arms.” She occasionally wrote verses, and was sometimes an attendant at women's conventions and Congresses. For many years she suffered from lameness and weakness of nerve and body, and all her work was carried on under great bodily difficulties. In early life she was Calvinistic in belief, but in her later years became a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Miss Beecher's published works include “Letters on the Difficulties of Religion” (Hartford, 1830); “The Moral Instructor” (Cincinnati, 1838); “Treatise on Domestic Economy” (Boston, 1842); “Housekeeper's Receipt-Book” (New York, 1845); “Duty of American Women to their Country” (1845); “True Remedy for the Wrongs of Women, with a History of an Enterprise having that for its Object” (Boston, 1851); “Letters to the People on Health and Happiness” (New York, 1855); “Physiology and Calisthenics” (1856); “Common Sense applied to Religion” (1857), a book containing many striking departures from the Calvinistic theology; “An Appeal to the People, as the Authorized Interpreters of the Bible” (1860); “Religious Training of Children in the School, the Family, and the Church” (1864); “Woman's Profession as Mother and Educator, with Views in Opposition to Woman Suffrage” (Philadelphia, 1871); “Housekeeper and Healthkeeper” (New York, 1873); and with her sister, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The American Woman's Home” (New York, 1869); “Principles of Domestic Science as applied to the Duties and Pleasures of Home” (1870); and also a “Domestic Receipt-Book,” of which numerous editions have been sold. Apart from the books relating to her special educational purpose, she wrote memoirs of her brother, George Beecher (1844); and “Truth Stranger than Fiction” (Boston, 1850), an account of an infelicitous domestic affair in which some of her friends were involved. She left an autobiography nearly completed. [daughter of Lyman Beecher; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 217-218


BEECHER, JAMES CHAPLIN, clergyman, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 8 January, 1828; died in Elmira, New York, 25 August, 1886, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1848, studied theology at Andover, and on 10 May, 1856, was ordained a Congregational clergyman. Until 1861 he was chaplain of the Seamen's Bethel in Canton and Hong Kong, China. During the Civil War he was chaplain of the 1st New York Infantry (1861-'2); lieutenant-colonel of the 141st (1862-'3); colonel of the 35th U. S. colored troops (1863-'6), and was mustered out of service in 1866 as brevet brigadier-general. Later, he held pastorates in Owego, New York. (1867-'70); Poughkeepsie (1871-'3); and Brooklyn (1881-'2). After three years of acute suffering because of incurable hallucinations, the shadows of which had been hovering about him since 1864, he died by his own hand at the Water Cure in Elmira. [son of Henry Ward Beecher; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 221.


BEECHER, FREDERICK HENRY, soldier, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, 22 June, 1841; died on the upper Republican River, Kansas, 17 September, 1868. He was graduated at Bowdoin in 1862, immediately entered the military service, and became successively sergeant, second and first lieutenant. He was in the battles of the Army of the Potomac from Fredericksburg to Gettysburg; was twice severely wounded, but could not be persuaded to remain away from his command. The severe nature of his wounds necessitated his transfer to the 2d Battalion Veteran Reserve Corps, where he served as lieutenant and acted as adjutant-general under General E. Whittlesey of the Freedmen's Bureau, until commissioned in the regular army in 1864. He was transferred to the 3d U.S. Infantry in November, 1864, and made first lieutenant in July, 1866. He served with distinction on the western borders, and was killed by the Indians while on a scouting party some distance from Fort Wallace.  [son of Charles Beecher;] Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 221.


BEERS, ETHEL LYNN, author, born in Goshen, Orange Co., New York, 13 January, 1827; died in Orange, New Jersey, 10 October, 1879. Her maiden name was Ethelinda Eliot, and she was a descendant of John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians. Her earliest writings bore the pen-name of "Ethel Lynn," and after her marriage with William H. Beers she wrote her name as it is now known. Her most noted poem is " All Quiet along the Potomac," suggested by an oft-repeated despatch during the first year of the Civil War. Its authorship was warmly disputed; but, as is usual in such cases, only one of the claimants had written other verses of equal merit. That was Mrs. Beers, and there is now no further doubt as to the genuineness of her title. The lines originally appeared in " Harper's Weekly " for 30 November, 1861, with the caption " The Picket Guard." Mrs. Beers says in a private letter: "The poor' Picket' has had so many authentic claimants and willing sponsors, that I sometimes question myself whether I did really write it that cool September morning, after reading the stereotyped announcement' All Quiet,' etc., to which was added in small type ' A Picket Shot.'" The most popular of her other pieces are "Weighing the Baby," " Which shall it be?" and "Baby looking out for Me." She had long had a premonition that she would not survive the printing of her collected poems, and she died the same day the volume was issued, "All Quiet along the Potomac, and other Poems" (Philadelphia, 1879). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1887, Vol. I, p. 222.


BEERSHEBA, TENNESSEE, October 3, 1863.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 107.

BEERSHEEBA SPRINGS, TENNESSEE, November 26, 1863. Alabama and Tennessee Scouts.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 107

BEERSHEBA SPRINGS, TENNESSEE, March 18, 1864. 5th Tennessee Cavalry. A detachment of 200 men of this regiment attacked the camp of Colonel Hughes, 25th Tennessee (Confederate) infantry, at the foot of the Cumberland mountains, 2 miles from Beersheba Springs, killing 7, routing the remainder of the Confederate force, and capturing some property including Hughes' portfolio of private papers and some Federal clothing.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 107.


BELCHER'S MILLS, VIRGINIA, Sept 17, 1864. Kautz's Cavalry of the Army of the James and 2nd Cavalry Division Army of the Potomac. Belfield, Virginia, December 9, 1864. Part of 2nd and 5th Army Corps, and Gregg's Cavalry, with 4 batteries of Artillery. This body of troops, commanded by Major-General Warren, was sent by General Meade to destroy the Weldon railroad and interrupt the enemy's communications. Warren formed his command in line of battle on the railroad, and each division tore up all the track in its front, then moved to the left, until the road had been wrecked to within about 16 miles of Belfield. Confederates hastened cavalry, attended by 3 batteries, to arrest these operations and an infantry column attended by 4 batteries followed. General Gregg cleared the enemy out of the way southward and picketed the country north and east, while General Griffin, with his division, took charge of the train. At Three Creeks Gregg met the enemy in force, with artillery, found the wagon bridge destroyed and the railroad bridge on fire. He drove back the enemy, saved the railroad bridge, dismounted some of his men and crossed over. He then lowered the water in the river bed by opening the gates in a dam. crossed the rest of his force by fording and by means of pontoons. By 4 p. m. he had driven the enemy across the Meherrin river and was in possession of Belfield. The railroad bridge, 60 feet long, over a branch of Three Creeks and the one 100 feet long, over the main stream, were burned. The destruction of the bridge across the Meherrin could not be accomplished without first gaining the other shore, and there the enemy had 3 forts or batteries connected by rifle-pits, armed with artillery and manned in considerable force. Warren having accomplished his work, withdrew his forces toward Sussex Court House. A cavalry brigade under General Irwin Gregg went ahead to clear the way and watch the side roads. Griffin guarded the train, Mott's and Ayers' divisions followed in the order mentioned and Crawford's brought up the rear. Confederate cavalry and artillery followed Gregg to the point where the main column left the Halifax road and then followed the main column, but were held in check by Crawford. Gregg protected the left flank of the infantry column up the Halifax road, but was harassed by cavalry and artillery which he forced back without loss. The head of the column reached Sussex Court House at dark and the command bivouacked along the route. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 107.


BELINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA, July l8, l86l. Major-General McClellan had directed a movement in force up the Great Kanawha and other movements of troops covering nearly all of West Virginia. Incidental to this general advance, Brigadier-General Morris of the Indiana militia, with nearly 4,000 troops, charged with the defense of Philippi, was ordered to advance on the morning of the 7th to Elliott's farm, leaving his train at Philippi, to occupy Belington by a strong advance guard, and to cover the paths leading from the Confederate camp to his own left flank. He was further ordered to make extended reconnaissances calculated to convey the impression that the main attack would be made by him. McClellan proposed sending a strong advance guard forward from Buckhannon, on the 7th, to occupy the Middle Fork bridge on the 8th and to occupy Beverly on the 8th or 9th, thus cutting off the enemy effectually. Morris occupied Elliott farm, his advanced position being behind Belington some 200 yards. The cleared ground extended about that distance beyond Belington, to a body of timber occupied by the enemy in large force. Morris' advance consisted of the 14th Ohio, 7th and 9th Indiana infantry and Barnett's artillery. Skirmishing began immediately after its arrival. On the 8th the enemy appeared in such force that Morris threw several shells into the woods and attempted to establish a picket line there, but was repulsed with a loss of 2 killed and 3 wounded. This action is also known as Laurel Hill.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 108.


BELKNAP, GEORGE EUGENE, naval officer, born in Newport, New Hampshire, 22 January, 1832. He was appointed midshipman from New Hampshire, 7 October, 1847; became passed midshipman, 10 June, 1853, master in 1855; was commissioned lieutenant, 16 September, 1855; lieutenant-commander, 15 July, 1862; and commander, 25 July, 1866. As lieutenant he commanded a launch at the capture of the Barrier forts at the mouth of the Canton River, China, in November, 1856, and assisted in undermining and blowing up the four forts. He commanded the boats of the “St. Louis” at the reënforcement of Fort Pickens in April, 1861, and was commanding officer of the iron-clad “New Ironsides” in her various engagements with the fortifications in Charleston Harbor from 1862 till 1864. He was highly praised by Admirals Dupont and Dahlgren for '' in making the attacks and managing his vessel under fire. In 1864 he commanded the gun-boat “Seneca.” of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and afterward the iron-clad “Canonicus” in the two actions with Howlett House battery in December, 1864, and in the attacks on Fort Fisher in that and the following month. After the capture of the fort he went to Charleston, and was present at the evacuation. He commanded the same vessel in Admiral Godon's expedition to Havana in search of the Confederate iron- clad “Stonewall.” His name was associated with those of Commanders Parrott and Calhoun and Lieutenant Weaver in a commendatory letter of Admiral Porter declaring that these officers had given a world-wide reputation to the monitors b their efficient handling of the new type of vessel. In 1867-'8 Commander Belknap commanded the flag-ship “Hartford” of the Asiatic Squadron; in 1869 he was on navigation duty at the Boston Navy-yard; in 1874 he was engaged in command of the steamer “Tuscarora" in taking deep-sea soundings in the North Pacific Ocean. with the object of finding a route for a submarine cable between the United States and Japan. He was made commodore, 2 March, 1885, and appointed superintendent of the naval observatory. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 224.


BELKNAP, WILLIAM GOLDSMITH, soldier, born in Newburg, New York, 24 September, 1794; died at Fort Washita, Texas, 10 November, 1851. He was a lieutenant in the war of 1812; was wounded in the sortie from Fort Erie on 17 September, 1814; became captain, 1 February, 1822; brevet major, 1 February, 1832; major, 31 January, 1842; and was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, 15 March, 1842, for his services in the Florida War. In 1828 Captain Belknap established Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. For gallantry in General Taylor's Rio Grande Campaign he received the brevet of colonel. He acted as inspector-general at the capture of Monterey, became lieutenant-colonel 26 September, 1847, and was brevetted brigadier- general for services at Buena Vista, 23 February, 1847. He was commandant at Fort Gibson from December, 1848, till May, 1851. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 224.


BELKNAP, WILLIAM WORTH, soldier, was born in Newburg, if. Y., 22 Sept, 1828. he studied law in Georgetown, D. C, and practised at Keokuk, Iowa, where he settled in 1851, and where he was elected to the legislature as a Democrat in 1857. At the beginning of the Civil War he joined the volunteer army as major of an Iowa regiment. He was engaged at Shiloh and Vicksburg, but first became prominent in Sherman's march to the sea, receiving promotion as brigadier-general on 80 July, 1804 and as major general on 18 March, 1865. After the War he was collector of internal revenue in Iowa from 1865 till 13 October 1869, when he was appointed Secretary of War. This office he retained during General Grant's second administration until 7 March, 1876, when, in consequence of charges of official corruption, he resigned. He was impeached and tried before the Senate for receiving bribes for the appointment of post-traders, and was acquitted on the technical ground of want of jurisdiction. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 225.


BELL, CHARLES H., naval officer, born in New York, 15 August, 1798; died in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 19 February, 1875. He entered the U. S. Navy as mid- shipman, 12 June, 1812, and served with Commodore Decatur in 1813 and in Commodore Chauncey's squadron on Lake Erie in 1814. In the war with Algiers he was again with Decatur on board the "Macedonian." He became a lieutenant in 1820, and in 1824 commanded the schooner "Ferret" which capsized at sea. After remaining twenty-one hours on the wreck, he was saved, with other survivors, by Commodore McKeever. He was attached to the "Erie," in the West Indies, in 1829, and commanded one of the boats that cut out the piratical schooner "Federal" from under the guns of the forts at Guadeloupe. In 1839 he commanded the brig " Dolphin," which ascended an African river and compelled a chief to pay for goods taken from an American vessel. He was promoted commander on 20 September, 1840, and in 1844-'6 commanded the sloop "Yorktown," on the coast of Africa, and captured three slavers, one of them with 903 slaves on board. He was commissioned captain in 1854. He commanded at Norfolk Navy yard in 1859, in 1800 was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron, and was ordered home at the beginning of the Civil War. After the capture of the British mail-steamer "Trent," in November, 1861, he was sent to Panama to take command of the Pacific Squadron, in anticipation of difficulties with England, and there he remained for nearly three years. The rank of commodore was given him 16 July, 1862. He returned shortly before the close of the war, and was assigned to special duty on the James River. He took command of the Brooklyn Navy-yard in May, 1865, and held it three years. He was commissioned rear-admiral, 25 July, 1866, and placed on the retired list after sixty-two years and eight months' service. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 225.


BELL, GEORGE, soldier, born in Maryland, about 1832. He was graduated at West Point in 1853. During the Civil War he served as assistant in the organization of the subsistence department for the Manassas Campaign, as principal assistant commissary to the Army of the Potomac, and in charge of subsistence depots, and as chief of commissariat of the Departments of Washington and the Potomac. On 9 April, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier-general for services during the war. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 226.


BELL, HENRY HAYWORTH, naval officer, born in North Carolina, about 1808; drowned at the mouth of Osaka River, Japan, 11 January, 1868. He was appointed a midshipman from North Carolina in August, 1823, and during more than forty-five years of service saw much severe fighting. He was on board of the “Grampus” when she was engaged in clearing the coast of Cuba of pirates. He was connected with the East India Squadron for many years, and commanded one of the vessels of the squadron which, in November, 1856, captured and destroyed the four barrier forts near Canton, China. Early in the Civil War he was assigned to the command of one of the first-rates forming the Western Gulf Squadron, took an active part in the capture of New Orleans, and the siege of Vicksburg, and in the blockade rendered essential service. For a time, in 1863, he was in command of the Western Gulf Squadron, and when Rear-Admiral Thatcher was ordered to other duty the command of it again devolved on him. In July, 1865, he was ordered to the command of the East India Squadron, his rank being then that of commodore. In July, 1866, he was promoted to be rear-admiral, and in 1867 he was retired; but Rear-Admiral S. C. Rowan, who was to have relieved him, had not arrived when he was drowned in attempting to enter the Osaka River in a boat from the “Hartford,” his flagship. His widow died in 1886. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 226.


BELL, HIRAM PARKS, lawyer, born in Jackson County, Georgia, 27 January, 1827. He received an academic education, taught school for two years, read law, was admitted to the bar in 1849, and has since practised at Cumming, Georgia He was a candidate for presidential elector on the Bell ticket in 1860, and opened the secession ordinance in the convention of 1861. He was a member of the state senate in 1861, and resigned to enter the Confederate Army, being commissioned captain in March, 1862. He became colonel of the 43d Georgia Regiment, was dangerously wounded at the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi, 29 December, 1862, and resigned soon afterward. He was a member of the Confederate Congress in 1864 and 1865, and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1873 till 1875, and again from 1877 till 1879. He was a delegate to the St. Louis Convention of 1876, which nominated Mr. Tilden for the presidency. In Congress Mr. Bell favored using the proceeds of the sale of public lands for educational purposes. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 226.


BELL, JAMES MADISON, 1826-1902, African American abolitionist, poet, lecturer.  Member of African American community in Chatham, Ontario, Canada.  Supported John Brown on his raid on the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.  Supported African American civil rights before and after the Civil War. (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 1, p. 463.  American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 2, p. 502.)


BELL, JOHN, statesman, born near Nashville, Tennessee, 15 February, 1797; died at Cumberland Iron Works, Tennessee, 10 September, 1869. His father was a farmer in fair circumstances. He was graduated at Cumberland College (now the University of Nashville) in 1814, studied law, settled at Franklin, Tennessee, and was elected to the state senate in 1817. Declining a re-election, he adhered to his profession until 1827, when, after an excited canvass, he was elected to Congress over Felix Grundy, by a thousand majority, although Grundy had the support of General Jackson, then a presidential candidate. Bell was re-elected six times, serving in the House of Representatives until 1841, and for ten years he was chairman of the Committee on Indian affairs. He was at first a free- trader, but changed his views and became an earnest protectionist. He was opposed to nullification, and, although voting against the bill to charter the United States bank in 1832, he protested against the removal of the deposits, and this course led to a breach between him and President Jackson. He was one of the founders of the Whig Party. This change was marked by his election in 1834 to the speakership of the house, in opposition to James K. Polk, whom the Democrats supported. He joined with Judge White in the anti-Van Buren movement in Tennessee, which completed his sins in the estimation of President Jackson, who could not, however, prevent his return to Congress, as his popularity in his district remained unshaken. When petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia were resented in the House of Representatives in 1836, Mr. Bell voted to receive them, and he also opposed the “Atherton gag” in 1838. In this course he was supported by his constituents, though assailed in his position. President Harrison made him Secretary of War in 1841, but he resigned with the rest of the cabinet (Mr. Webster only excepted) when President Tyler separated from the Whigs. Declining the U. S. senatorship, offered him by the Tennessee legislature, he remained in retirement until 1847, when he was chosen to the state senate and immediately afterward to the national senate, where he remained until 3 March, 1859. He was prominent in his opposition to the policy of annexation. When the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was brought forward, in 1854, Mr. Bell opposed its passage with all his power, not only as violating the Missouri compact, to which the honor of the south was pledged, but as unsettling the compromise of 1850 to which both the great parties had solemnly subscribed. Four years later he was equally earnest in his opposition to the Lecompton constitution that had been framed for Kansas. In 1860. Mr. Bell was nominated for the presidency of the “constitutional union” party, Edward Everett receiving the nomination for the vice-president. This ticket had no chance of success, but it was well supported, receiving the electoral votes of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. At the beginning of the Civil War, Mr. Bell was one of those who condemned secession, but were also opposed to all “coercion.” On 18 April, 1861, with seven other citizens of Tennessee, he issued an address recommending his state to preserve an armed neutrality, and on 23 April, in a speech at Nashville, he favored standing by the southern states. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 226-227.


BELL, PHILIP ALEXANDER, 1808-1889, African American abolitionist, editor, journalist, civic leader.  Member of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS).  Subscription Agent for abolitionist newspaper, Liberator.  Active in Underground Railroad.  Editor, “Weekly Advocate” and later assisted with “Colored American” early Black newspapers.  Founded “National Council of Colored People,” one of the first African American civil rights organizations. (American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 2, p. 516)


BELL, SAMUEL DANA, jurist, born in Francestown, New Hampshire, 9 October, 1798; died in Manchester, New Hampshire, 31 July, 1868. He was graduated at Harvard in 1816, read….   add here Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 227.


BELL, LUTHER VOSE was born in Chester, New Hampshire, 20 December, 1806; died in camp near Budd's Ferry, Maryland, 11 February, 1862. He was graduated at Bowdoin in 1823, and, after studying medicine with his elder brother John in New York City, received his diploma from Dartmouth in 1826. He began to practice in New York, but returned to New Hampshire after his brother's death in 1830. He became noted as a practitioner and writer, taking two Cambridge Boylston prizes by his essays before he was thirty years of age. One of his earlier operations, the amputation of the femur, was successfully performed, in default of any other accessible instruments, with the patient's razor, a tenon-saw, and a darning-needle for a tenaculum. Dr. Bell early became interested in the establishment of hospitals for the insane, and was elected twice to the legislature for the defence of his favorite plan. Although he was not successful, he brought himself into public notice, and in 1837 was chosen superintendent of the McLean Insane Asylum at Charlestown, Massachusetts In 1845, at the request of the trustees of the Butler hospital for the insane, at Providence, Rhode Island, he visited Europe for the purpose of  recent improvements in lunatic asylums, and, after three months' absence, completed the plan of their present building. While at Charlestown, he brought to notice a form of disease peculiar to the insane, which is now known as “Bell's disease,” and was also called upon frequently to testify in the courts as an expert. In 1850 he was a member of the state council, and in 1853 of the convention for revising the state constitution. In 1852 he was nominated by the Whigs for Congress, and in 1856 for governor of the state, but was defeated both times. In 1856 he resigned his place in Charlestown, and when the Civil War began he entered the army as surgeon of the 11th Massachusetts Volunteers. At the time of his death he was medical director of Hooker's division. Dr. Bell published “An Attempt to investigate some Obscure Doctrines in Relation to Small-Pox” (1830), and “External Exploration of Diseases” (1836), and also described is investigations of alleged spiritual manifestations. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 228.


BELL, LOUIS, soldier, was born in Chester, New Hampshire, in 1836; died near Fort Fisher, North Carolina, 16 January, 1865. He was graduated at Brown in 1853, and began the practice of law at Farmington, New Hampshire. In 1860 he was appointed solicitor for Strafford County In April, 1861, he was offered the captaincy of a company of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment of three months men, and served his term of enlistment. Returning home, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 4th New Hampshire Volunteers, and became colonel in March, 1862. Colonel Bell was for some time a member of General Thomas W. Sherman's staff, and was inspector-general of the Department of the South from November, 1861, till March, 1862. Prior to the Wilmington Expedition he had been several times temporarily a brigade commander, and had participated in the engagements at Pocotaligo (21 October, 1862) and Fort Wagner (July, 1863). In the attack on Fort Fisher (15 January, 1865), he commanded a brigade of General Ames's division, and was mortally wounded while leading his men in an assault upon one of the traverses of that work. He died on the day following the engagement. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. I, pp. 228.


BELLE PRAIRIE, LOUISIANA, May 16, 1864. (See Mansura, same date.)   The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 108.


BELLER'S MILLS, VIRGINIA, September 2, 1861. 13th Massachusetts Infantry.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 108.


BELLE ST. LOUIS, ATTACK ON, October 27, 1864. (See Fort Randolph, Tennessee)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 108.


BELL MINES, KENTUCKY, July 13, 1864.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 108.


BELL SPRING, CALIFORNIA, June 4, 1861. 14 men of the 7th U. S. Infantry. At daylight this party came upon some Indians on Eel River, nearly opposite Bell Spring, attacked them, killed 16 and wounded 1. Among the number killed were three squaws, but owing to the hour of the attack it was impossible for the soldiers to distinguish these from the braves.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 108.

BELMONT, MISSISSIPPI, June 18, 1863. 3d Michigan Cavalry. In connection with the military operations in Northeastern Mississippi, the 3d Michigan cavalry on this date came upon an outpost of the enemy at Belmont. A charge was ordered and 6 of the enemy captured, the others scattering in confusion. The regiment camped that night at Belmont.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 108.


BELMONT, MISSOURI, September 26, 1861. (See Hunter's Farm.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 108.


BELMONT, MISSOURI, November 7, 1861. McClernand's and Dougherty's Brigades, District of Southeast Missouri. Columbus, Kentucky, across the Mississippi river from Belmont, was occupied by Confederate General Polk with 21 regiments of infantry, 8 field batteries, a battery of siege guns, 2 battalions and 6 unattached companies of cavalry, all in three divisions, commanded by Generals Pillow, Cheatham and Bowen. The latter was at Camp Beauregard, 15 miles distant. The 13th Arkansas (Colonel Tappan) Beltzhoover's Louisiana battery of 6 guns and two troops of Miss, cavalry under Colonel Miller, had been stationed at Belmont, a hamlet of 3 houses. Grant had sent Colonel Oglesby in pursuit of Jeff. Thompson, with subsequent orders to change his course and march toward New Madrid, halting to communicate with Grant at Belmont from the nearest point on the road; and he had sent a small force under Colonel W. H. L. Wallace, 8th Illinois, to Charleston, Missouri, to ultimately join Oglesby. On the evening of the 6th Grant left Cairo in steamers with McClernand's and Dougherty's brigades to make a demonstration against Columbus. Early on the morning of the 7th he was informed by Colonel Wallace that the enemy had, the day before, crossed troops from Columbus to Belmont, with a view to cutting off Oglesby. To save the troops under Oglesby and Wallace and prevent the reinforcement of General Price, Grant changed his immediate purpose, and, instead of making a demonstration on Columbus, attacked Belmont with great vigor, knowing that should he be repulsed he could easily reembark his troops under protection of the gunboats. He disembarked his troops (3,114 men) on the Missouri shore, just out of range of the Confederate batteries at Columbus, marched beyond some cornfields in front of the landing and awaited the moment for advance. It was now about 8:30 a. m. The cavalry scoured the woods along the road to Belmont and reported frequently to General McClernand. Polk was advised of the landing of the forces under Grant and ordered Pillow to cross the river with the 12th and 22nd Tennessee He was soon reinforced by the 2nd and 15th Tennessee, which with Tappan's regiment, Beltzhoover's battery and two cavalry companies, gave Pillow a force slightly greater than that of Grant. The remainder of McClernand's command followed his cavalry, the 27th Illinois in front; the 30th Illinois next, supported by a section of Taylor's battery; the 31st Illinois and the remainder of Taylor's battery next; then the 7th la. and the 22nd Illinois When the rear of the column had reached a road a mile and a half from the abatis surrounding Tappan's camp, the line of battle was formed on ground which McClernand had previously selected. The 27th and 30th Illinois constituted the right wing; a section of Taylor's battery was placed on the left of the 30th and 200 feet in the rear of the line; the 31st Illinois constituted the center; the 7th la. and the 22nd Illinois the left wing, masking two sections of artillery. To the right and in advance of the Federal line, Dollins' cavalry early skirmished with the enemy's pickets. The heavy fire of the Confederate batteries at Columbus, which had been directed upon the Federal gunboats, was now turned almost harmlessly upon Grant's advancing line. Two companies of each regiment of both McClernand's and Dougherty's brigades were advanced to develop the enemy's position. The skirmishers of the 30th and 31st Illinois soon became sharply engaged and troops were sent forward to their support. McClernand chose a new position and ordered an advance of the remainder of his command. In his front lay a depression parallel to the river, the bed of a chain of sloughs. Most of these sloughs were dry, but the 27th Illinois, the right of the front line, had to make a detour to pass around a slough that contained much water and thus made an opening in the line that Dougherty's brigade advanced and filled. Thus the attack was made in a single line. Pillow's line of battle was on open ground behind the timber. The troops of both armies were undisciplined and new to the battlefield and the engagement was in the simplest form, that of two forces of about equal numerical strength facing each other in parallel lines. The 30th and 31st Illinois and the artillery advanced promptly, relieved the skirmishers and were soon fighting a heavy force of Confederate infantry and cavalry. The combat was fierce and obstinate and in half an hour the Federal ranks fell into temporary disorder, but the men were rallied and pressed the enemy back, the Confederate cavalry leaving this part of the field and not reappearing until later when Dollins attacked it on the river bank and drove it out of sight. After advancing a quarter of a mile further the line came up with the enemy, reinforced by three infantry regiments and a company of cavalry and again ready to fight. An attempt to turn the Federal left flank was frustrated by the extension of the line by a flank movement of Logan's regiment, the place of which in the line was filled by a section of Taylor's battery. Now a deadly fire from both infantry and artillery assailed the Confederates. They put up a desperate resistance, but were a third time driven back and forced to seek cover in the woods under the protection of the heavy guns at Columbus. Meanwhile, the 27th Illinois skillfully guided by Colonel Buford, approached the abatis on the right and rear of Tappan's tents and began a terrific attack on his camp in which the 7th la. and 22nd Illinois soon joined. A combined movement was made upon three sides of the enemy's defenses; he was driven across them and followed into the clear space round his camp and soon the entire Federal force was within the enclosure. Taylor and Schwartz now brought their battery up to within 300 yards of the camp and open fire, driving the enemy out of the tents to the shelter of buildings near the river and into the woods above the camp, under protection of the artillery at Columbus. The Federal lines on the right and left pressed up to the line of fire of the battery, which now became silent, and then the bluecoats rushed among the tents and chased the fleeing Confederates to their hiding places by the river. The Confederate flag was hauled down; the United States flag was run up; under the fire of the Confederate guns across the river the Federals destroyed the captured camp, after which the order was given to retire to the landing. Meantime the enemy had been reinforced by seven regiments and now interposed a line of battle between the Federals and their transports. But Grant's men, who had fought their way in, were able to fight their way out. Taylor reversed his guns and opened fire on the enemy in his new position. Colonel Logan ordered his flag in front of his regiment, which moved toward the enemy followed by the whole force except Dollins' cavalry and the 27th Illinois, which had set out to return by the route over which they had come. On passing into the wood the 30th and 22nd Illinois and 7th la. encountered a heavy fire on their right and left successively, which threw the 7th and 22nd into temporary disorder, but they were soon rallied and the fire was so vigorously and effectively returned as to drive back the superior force of the enemy and silence his firing. Forcing the Confederates back on either side, the Federals moved on toward the transports, occasionally exchanging shots with straggling parties of the enemy. At this stage of the contest, as admitted by Confederate officers, reinforcements had given the enemy more than 13 regiments of infantry and about 2 squadrons of cavalry, exclusive of his artillery. Four of his guns were in Federal possession; 2 were brought off the field and 2 were spiked and, with a part of a Federal caisson, left on the field for lack of horses. At the landing, McClernand noted the absence of the 27th Illinois, Dollins' cavalry and of detachments of the 7th la. and 22nd Illinois, which had been left to guard the boats, and ordered Delano's cavalry to the rear to watch the enemy. Within an hour all the troops which had arrived had embarked. Soon afterward the enemy in strong force came within range of the Federal musketry, and a terrible fire was opened upon him by the gunboats. Taylor's battery and the infantry on the decks of the transports. In this closing scene of the 6-hours' battle many Confederates were killed and wounded. The 27th Illinois and Dollins' cavalry arrived after the fleet was in motion, but arrangements for their embarkation had been made. During the engagement the gun-boats Tyler and Lexington several times took part. Losses: Federal, 80 killed, 322 wounded; Confederate. 105 killed. 419 wounded.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 108-110.


BELMONT, TENNESSEE, March 29-30. 1863. 6th Illinois Cavalry. A detachment of 250 men under Colonel Loomis, started at noon on the 28th  in pursuit of some guerrillas, who had that morning temporarily captured a train on the Memphis & Charleston railroad, between Lafayette and Moscow. Understanding that the 7th Illinois cavalry would follow the marauders' trail from the scene of the railroad incident, Loomis went to Summerville, where he killed 1 and captured some 15 soldiers and suspicious persons. He camped that night 5 miles further on the Memphis road. About 50 of his men, some of them sick and fatigued, returned to camp with the prisoners. Learning that the prisoners captured from the train the night before had passed through Oakland, Loomis with the remainder of his command, pursued the guerrillas through that place and north to Murray's bridge, on the Loosahatchie, where he found 15 Confederates of Colonel Richardson's command, trying to destroy the bridge. He charged on them and drove them off before they had done any damage and after chasing them 5 miles captured 7 of them. About 2 miles further in the direction of Richardson's camp, he came upon a large part of Richardson's command, drawn up in line of battle; but upon the approach of the Union advance guard the Confederates fled. After a tiresome pursuit Loomis captured Captain Burrow and several men and wounded others. He then destroyed the buildings and everything of value at Richardson's camp. Still hoping for the appearance of the 7th Illinois, Loomis camped that night 2 miles southeast of Belmont, where at midnight he was surprised by Richardson with 400 to 600 of his men. The Confederates dismounted, approached through a ravine and poured a murderous fire upon the sleeping Federals at close range, but within 5 minutes Loomis repulsed them with heavy loss. Richardson was wounded, his major was wounded and captured, his adjutant and several other officers were killed, wounded or captured. Federal loss, 1 officer and 12 men killed, 4 officers and 34 men wounded, 1 man missing.  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, pp. 110-111.


BELMONT, VIRGINIA, January 29, 1862. (See Lee's House, same date.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 5, p. 111.


BELT. (See ACCOUTREMENTS.)