Searcy, Arkansas through Shawsheen

SEARCY, ARKANSAS, May 18, 1864. 22nd Ohio Infantry. Colonel O. Wood of the 22nd Ohio reports that his regiment while on a scout was attacked by 250 Confederates near Searcy. The enemy was easily repulsed and scattered. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 779.


SEARCY, ARKANSAS, July 4, 1864. Detachment of the 3d Arkansas Cavalry. A detachment of 55 men from this regiment made a raid into Searcy, Arkansas, killed 7 Confederates, wounded 4, and captured 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, and S3 men, who were organized for General Shelby's command. They also captured a number of horses and mules, 15 stands of arms, and 1 stand of colors. Searcy Arkansas, (Note.) In addition to the engagements above noted, mention is made in the official records of skirmishes on June 3, August 13 and 27, and September 6 and 13, 1864. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 780.


SEARCY LANDING, ARKANSAS, May 19, 1862. Detachments of 4th Missouri Cavalry, 3d, 12th and 17th Missouri Infantry, and Battery B, 1st Missouri Light Artillery. In this spirited skirmish, near Searcy Landing, on the Little Red river, the 17th Missouri infantry did most of the fighting and suffered the greatest losses. The protecting forces at Searcy Landing were rather light, and Colonel Osterhaus, commanding the 3d division, had ordered his men forward from Camp Lyon to that point, as he had information of a contemplated attack by the Confederates south of the river. Before the arrival of Osterhaus, however, a severe and bloody fight had taken place. About 200 men, from the 17th Missouri infantry and 4th Missouri cavalry started on a foraging expedition on the south side of the Little Red river, and a few miles from the camp they encountered a large force of the enemy. The latter at once opened fire, and the Union infantry— parts of two companies—stood their ground, though completely enveloped by the enemy's line. Colonel Hassendeubel, who had command of the camp at Searcy Landing, heard the firing and immediately sent as reinforcements all the available companies of the 17th Missouri, who arrived in time to save their comrades. The enemy was soon afterward driven from the field, but, as a natural sequence of the conditions, the Federal loss was large in comparison. The force engaged did not exceed 300 men, while the enemy numbered between 700 and 1,200. The fight was at very close quarters and the wounds were consequently of unusual severity. The casualties in Cos. A, F, G, and H, 17th Missouri, were 14 killed, 31 wounded, 2 missing. The 4th Missouri cavalry had 1 killed and 1 wounded. After the first encounter the ambulances were sent out for the wounded, but the enemy did not forbear to fire upon those assigned to this humane duty and the surgeon of the 3d Missouri was taken prisoner. Osterhaus, immediately after his arrival, sent the available cavalry in pursuit of the retreating foe, and with his other forces followed, but they did not again encounter the enemy.


SEARS' FARM, MISSOURI, July 11, 1862. (See Pleasant Hill.)


SEARS' FORD, MISSOURI, August 9, 1862. Detachments of the 1st and 5th Missouri Militia Cavalry. Colonel James McFerran, commanding the detachments in pursuit of the Confederates under Porter, reported that about 4 p. m. they came up with the enemy's rear-guard at Sears' ford on the Chariton river and in the engagement that ensued the Union loss was 1 killed and 20 wounded. The Confederate casualties were not learned. Secessionville, South Carolina, June 16, 1862. U. S. Force under General Benham. After the Federals had taken a position on James island in the Stono river, it was decided to postpone for a time the attack on Charleston, of which this advance was only an incident. Accordingly Brigadier-General H. W. Benham with about 9,000 men was left on the island with direct orders not to attack the enemy or approach and nearer Charleston. Notwithstanding, on the 14th and 15th, fire was opened on the fort (Johnson) and the floating battery, the latter being silenced. Encouraged by this success Benham decided to attempt the taking of the fort on the 16th. His division commanders, Generals Wright, Stevens and Williams were very much opposed to the plan, but Benham was obdurate. At 2 a. m. of the 16th Stevens' division, consisting of about 3,500 men and 4 guns of Rockwell's battery, moved forward. The Confederate advance picket was captured and by 5 a. m. Stevens was immediately in front of the fort. A charge was ordered, which was led by the 8th Michigan and the 77th New York, closely supported by the 28th Massachusetts and the 7th Connecticut, and the whole force rushed upon the parapet. A galling fire was poured upon the charging troops by the Confederate infantry from behind hedges and dikes, and after holding the position for 20 minutes the command was given to retire in order to reform the line, and the troops withdrew in good order. Wright's division in the meantime had supported Stevens' left and prevented his flank from being turned. Stevens' division came back into line of battle after reforming. Protracted firing was kept up until 9 a. m., when the Federals retired to their camp, having suffered a loss of 107 killed, 487 wounded, and 89 captured or missing. The Confederate casualties were not reported. Benham's commission as brigadier general was revoked by President Lincoln for his part in the affair. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 780-781.


…in the latter year was chosen again for another full term. He was chairman of the committee on Indian affairs, and a member of the committee on territories. Mr. Sebastian was expelled for disloyalty on 11 July, 1861. but it was afterward claimed that he was loyal, and the Senate revoked the resolution of expulsion and paid his full salary to his children. He remained Quietly at Helena until the National troops occupied that place, and in 1864 moved to Memphis, Tennessee.


SECANT. (See TRIGONOMETRY.)


SECESSIONVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, July 2 and 16, 1863. Incidents during the siege of Fort Wagner. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 781.


SECOND CREEK, WEST VIRGINIA, November 8, 1863. 34th Ohio Mounted Infantry. Brigadier-General A. N. Duffie, in a report of an expedition to Lewisburg, says: "The 34th Ohio, being in advance, struck the rebel pickets at Second -creek, 8 miles from Union, capturing a few prisoners." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 781.


SECRETARY OF WAR. The principal officer of the Executive Department of War. (See DEPARTMENT OF WAR.) Mr. Attorney-general Wirt, in an opinion, dated Jan. 25, 1821, says, the Secretary of War “does not compose a part of the army, and has no duties to perform in the field.” The duties assigned by law for the Secretary of War are the following: 1. The act creating the new department (Act Aug. 7, 1789) gives to the Secretary, besides the custody of records, books, and papers of the old department, the record of military commissions, the care of warlike stores and other duties clearly ministerial. 2. Section 5, Act March 3, 1813, continued in force by the 9th section of the Act of April 24, 1816, delegates jointly to the President and Secretary of War the power to make regulations better defining and describing the respective powers and duties of staff officers. 3. Articles of War, 13, 18, and 19, intrust the Secretary of War with muster-rolls and returns, and give him authority over the forms of such papers, and to require stated returns. 4. The llth Article of War authorizes him to grant discharges to non-commissioned officers and soldiers; and the 65th of the same articles makes him the medium in passing proceedings of certain courts-martial, and the organ of the President's orders thereon 5. Another Article of War (the 95th) charges the Secretary with receiving accounts of the effects of deceased officers and soldiers. 6. Act “May 18, 1826, section 1, respecting clothing, &c., charges certain duties upon the Quartermaster-general” under the direction of the Secretary of War.” 7. Several acts authorize the Secretary to purchase sites for arsenals. 8. The Ordnance Department and its materiel are made subject to the Secretary by the Act February 8, 1815. 9. Under the Act March 2, 1803, Section 1, the Secretary of War is authorized to give direction to the State Adjutants-general, in order “ to produce uniformity “ in returns, and to lay abstracts of the same, &c. 10. The Secretary shall lay before Congress on the 1st of February in each year a statement of the appropriations of the preceding year showing the amount appropriated, and the balance remaining unexpended on the 31st of December preceding. He shall estimate the probable demands which may remain on each appropriation, and the balance shall be deducted from the estimates of his department for the service of the current year; (Act May 1, 1820.) He shall render annually accounts exhibiting the sums expended out of such estimates, together with such information connected therewith as may be deemed proper; (Act May 1, 1820.) 12. The Secretary of War shall cause to be collected and transmitted to him at the seat of Government all flags, standards, and colors, as may be taken by the army of the United States from their enemies; (Act April 18, 1814.) 13. The Secretary may employ for the office of the War Department one chief clerk, and such other clerks as may be authorized by law; (Acts April 20, 1818, and May 26, 1824.) 14. The Secretary of War may furnish to persons who design to emigrate to Oregon, California, or New Mexico, such arms and ammunition as may be needed to arm them for the expedition at the actual cost of such arms and ammunition; (Resolution March 2, 1849.) 15. All purchases and contracts for supplies or services for the military service of the United States, shall be made by or under the Secretary of War; (Act July 16, 1798.) 16. He shall annually lay before Congress a statement of all contracts, with full details; (Act April 21, 1808.)

Not one of the numerous acts of Congress relative to the War Department gives him authority to command troops. His lawful duties are all purely administrative, and as “ he does not compose a part of the army,” the President, in the exercise of his office of commander-in-chief, can of course only use the military hierarchy created by Congress. The English, from whom our system is borrowed, opposed to centralization of authority as adverse to freedom, have judiciously recognized the fact, in practice as well as theory, that the War Department is not of such a nature that it can be directed as other departments of the cabinet, or even be made to work by the simple play of constitutional changes in the ministry. They have consequently separated the action of the public force from the direction of financial matters. But as the safety of the state depends upon the stability of its military institutions, the steadfastness of the means at work, and the skilful direction of all details, the Minister of War, who is changed by every triumph of opposite opinion, is not a military officer, and not charged with military authority. The permanent military institutions of the country do not depend upon him. The army does not look to him for nominations to office, discipline, or military control. He is simply the great provider, the superintendant of accounts, the financier, the interpreter of the plans of the cabinet for exterior and politico-military operations. He is aided by under-secretaries, who do not go out of office with the cabinet, and who are charged with the administration and payments for materiel.

The commander-in-chief, on the contrary, is the conservator of discipline, the centre of nominations, the life-spring which animates and directs the army, the source of orders, the regulator of tactics. He occupies himself with improvements of all kinds, and with the destination of materiel. It is to him that the Minister of State 1 for War has recourse when he communicates to parliament or the cabinet the condition of the army, details of organization and other military information. Military finance and the support of armies are thus left with the Secretary of War, while command, discipline, and improvements are regulated by the commander-in-chief. The Minister of War thus follows the fortunes of a cabinet without the military institutions of the country being in any manner affected by party changes. Practice in the United States has widely diverged from this theory. (Consult BARDIN, Dictionnaire de L’Armee de Terre y Milice Anglaise Debates in Parliament.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, pp. 547-549).


SECTION, PROFILE, GROUND-PLAN. If a plane pass through work in any direction, the cut made by it is a section; if the cut be vertical and perpendicular to the face of the work, it is a ground-plan: thus, when the foundation of a house appears just above the ground, it shows the ground-plan of the building. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 549).


SEDALIA, MISSOURI, JUNE 5, 1862. Detachment of the 1st Missouri Cavalry. Lieutenant G. W. Nash, with 78 men, left Sedalia about noon in pursuit of some guerrillas who had attacked a wagon train the day before. Later in the day he came up with 12 of them, killed 2 and the rest escaped in the brush. Nash recaptured 18 horses, 3 mules, a wagon, and some other property, without casualty. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 781.


SEDALIA, MISSOURI, OCTOBER 15, 1864. Detachment of 7th Missouri Militia Cavalry. During Price's Missouri expedition Captain Oscar B. Queen, of the 7th Missouri militia cavalry, was sent out with 33 men from Company M, to meet and guard an ammunition train from Georgetown back to the command. 16 miles distant from that place. On reaching Georgetown Queen could find nothing of the train, but learned that Shelby was within 2 miles of the town and was advancing to attack Sedalia, to which point Queen at once hurried with his little company. He found the city well intrenched and garrisoned by some 600 or 800 men, under command of Colonel J. D. Crawford, who requested him to place his men in the trenches and aid in defending the town. Queen's men dismounted and had scarcely been stationed at a suitable point when the enemy appeared and began bombarding the town. A general stampede of citizens and home guards took place and Queen held an advancing column at a respectable distance until the enemy's remaining forces had taken possession of the town. They charged in Queen's rear and he was compelled to surrender his little squad. Of the 33 men 10, who had been left to guard horses, escaped. Queen and his remaining men were paroled. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 781.


SEDALIA ROAD, MISSOURI, June 26, 1864. Detachment of 4th Missouri State Militia Cavalry. Captain Joseph Parke with Company E, 4th Missouri, came -upon 7 bushwhackers on the road leading from Sedalia to Marshall. The outlaws were immediately attacked, 3 of them killed and 2 wounded. One of Parke's men received a slight wound. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 781.


SEDDON, James Alexander, lawyer, born in Falmouth, Stafford County, Virginia. 13 July, 1815; died in Goochland County, Virginia, 19 August, 1880. Thomas Seddon, his father, who was first a merchant and then a banker, was descended from John Seddon, of Lancashire, England, who settled in Stafford County, Virginia in colonial days. Susan Alexander, his mother, was a lineal descendant of the Earl of Sterling. Throughout his life Mr. Seddon was of a frail constitution, and, owing to his delicate health, his early education was much neglected. The knowledge of the ancient classics and literature, for which he was noted in after-life, was mainly self-acquired. At the age of twenty-one he entered the law-school of the University of Virginia, where he was graduated with the degree of B. L. He settled in Richmond in the practice of the law, and almost immediately advanced to the front rank of the bar. In 1845 he was nominated by the Democratic Party for Congress, and, though the district was a doubtful one, he was elected by a handsome majority. In 1847 he was renominated, but, not being in accord with the resolutions of the nominating convention, he declined, and the Whig candidate was elected. In 1849 he was re-elected, serving from 3 December, 1849, till 3 March, 1851. Owing to his health, he declined another nomination at the end of his term, and retired to Sabot Hill, his estate on James River above Richmond. While in Congress he took part in most of the important debates of the period, and was recognized as a leader of his party. In 1846 he participated actively in the debates upon the reform revenue bill, advocating the principles of free-trade. In 1860 the excitement of impending war brought him again into politics. On 19 January, 1861, he was appointed by the legislature of Virginia a commissioner with John Tyler and others to the Peace Convention, which met at, the call of Virginia in Washington on 4 February. He represented Virginia in the committee upon resolutions, and, in accordance with the instructions of his state, made a minority report recommending that the constitution should be amended according to the resolutions that had been introduced in the Senate by John J. Crittenden and by a further article expressly recognizing the right of any state peaceably to withdraw from the Union. He became a member of the first Confederate Congress, and in November, 1862, having been chosen by Jefferson Davis as Secretary of War, became a member of his cabinet. He devoted himself to the duties of his office until 1 January, 1865, when he retired finally from public life to his country estate. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 449.


SEDGWICK, John, soldier, born in Cornwall, Connecticut, 13 September, 1813; died near Spottsylvania Court House, Virginia. 9 Mav, 1864. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1837, 24th in a class of fifty members, among whom were General Joseph Hooker, General Braxton Bragg, and General Jubal A. Early. Immediately after his graduation he served in the Florida War against the Seminole Indians. His first engagement was a skirmish near Fort Clinch, 20 May, 1838. The same year he was employed in removing the Cherokees to their new home beyond the Mississippi. He was made 1st lieutenant of artillery, 19 April, 1839. In the Mexican War he was successively brevetted captain and major for gallant conduct at Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec. He also distinguished himself at the head of his command in the attack on the San Cosmo gate of the city of Mexico. He was made captain, 26 January, 1849, major of the 1st U.S. Cavalry, 8 March, 1855, and served in Kansas and on the western frontier At the beginning of the Civil War he was lieutenant-colonel of the 2d U.S. Cavalry. On 25 April, 1861, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the 4th U.S. Cavalry, and on 31 August was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers and placed in command of a brigade of the Army of the Potomac, which in the subsequent organization of the army was assigned to the 2d Corps, under General Sumner, General Sedgwick assuming command of the 3d Division. In this capacity he took part in the siege of Yorktown and the subsequent pursuit of the enemy up the Peninsula, and rendered good service at the battle of Fair Oaks. In all the seven days' fighting, and particularly at Savage Station and Glendale, he bore an honorable part, and at the battle of Antietam he exhibited conspicuous gallantry, exposing himself recklessly. On this occasion he was twice wounded, but refused for two hours to be taken from the field. On 23 December he was nominated by the president a major-general of volunteers, and in the succeeding February he assumed command of the 6th Army Corps. At the head of these troops he carried Marye's Heights in the rear of Fredericksburg during the Chancellorsville Campaign in May, 1863, and, after the retreat of General Joseph Hooker across the Rappahannock, succeeded only by very hard fighting in withdrawing his command in the face of a superior force, against which he had contended for a whole day, to the left bank of the river. He commanded the left wing of the Army of the Potomac during the advance from the Rappahannock into Maryland in June, and also at the succeeding battle of Gettysburg, where he arrived on the second day of the fighting, after one of the most extraordinary forced marches on record, his steady courage inspiring confidence among his troops. During the passage of Rapidan River on 7 November, 1863, he succeeded, by a well-executed manoeuvre, in capturing a whole Confederate division with guns and colors, for which he was thanked by General Meade in a general order. In command of his corps he took part in the spring campaign of the Wilderness under General Grant, and on 5 and 6 May had position on the National right wing, where the hardest fighting of those sanguinary engagements took place. Three days later, while directing the placing of some pieces of artillery in position in the intrenchments in front of Spottsylvania Court-House, he was struck in the head by a bullet from a sharpshooter and instantly killed. General Sedgwick was one of the oldest, ablest, and bravest soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, inspiring both officers and men with the fullest confidence in his military capacity. His simplicity and honest manliness endeared him, notwithstanding he was a strict disciplinarian, to all with whom he came in contact, and his corps was in consequence one of the best in discipline and morale in the army. He declined the command of the Army of the Potomac just before it was given to General Meade, but several times held it temporarily during that general's absence. A fine bronze statue of General Sedgwick stands on the plateau at West Point. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 449-450.


SEDGWICK, Arthur George, lawyer, born in New York City, 6 October, 1844, was graduated at Harvard in 1864, became 1st lieutenant in the 20th Massachusetts Regiment, was captured at Deep Bottom, Virginia, and confined in Libby Prison during the latter part of the summer of 1864. His confinement having produced an illness which incapacitated him for further service, he entered Harvard Law-School, and after graduation was admitted to the Boston Bar, where he practised law for several years, during part of this time editing the “American Law Review” with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Returning to New York in 1872, he practised, and was also for some time one of the editors of the “Evening Post,” and also of the “Nation,” to which he constantly contributed legal, political, and critical articles. He edited the 5th edition of his father's work on “Damages” (New York, 1869), and with G. Willett Van Nest the 7th (1880). He also published, with F. S. Wait, “A Treatise on the Principles and Practice governing the Trial of Title to Land” (1882). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 452.


SEGAR, Joseph E., member of Congress, born in King William County. Virginia, 1 June. 1804; died in 1885. He was educated at the public schools, and in 1836 was elected to the state house of representatives, where he served for several terms. He was elected to Congress as a Unionist from Virginia, serving from 6 May, 1862, till 3 March, 1864, and was chosen U. S. Senator from Virginia in the place of Lemuel J. Bowden, deceased, but was not admitted to a seat. He was appointed arbitrator on the part of the United States under the United States and Spanish Claims Convention of 1877. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 453.


SEIVERS' FORD, VIRGINIA, September 15, 1864. 1st Cavalry Division, Army of West Virginia. The only mention in the official records of the war concerning this affair is in the itinerary of the division, where it is stated: "Engaged and drove the enemy across Opequan creek at Seivers' ford, capturing a number of prisoners." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6,


SELECMAN'S FORD, VIRGINIA, March 22, 1863. Part of 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry. The outpost at the Violett farm was surprised and attacked by dismounted Confederate cavalry at 3 a. m., with the result that 3 of the 25 Union men were wounded. The enemy then retreated in the direction of Selecman's ford on the Occoquan, pursued by two companies of Captain Brinton, but could not be overtaken. Several men of the outpost were captured. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 781-782.


SELDEN, Samuel Lee, jurist, born in Lyme, Connecticut, 12 October, 1800; died in Rochester, New York, 20 September, 1876. His ancestors settled in the colony of Connecticut in 1636. He began to practise law in Rochester in 1825, was chancery clerk and first judge of common pleas in Monroe County for many years, and in 1847 was elected justice of the superior court. In 1856 he was elected judge of the court of appeals, which place he resigned in 1862. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 456.


SELDEN, Henry Rogers, 1805-1885, lawyer, jurist, abolitionist.  Republican Lieutenant Governor for New York State.  Opposed to the extension of slavery to the territories.  (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 456-457)


SELDEN, Henry Rogers, jurist, born in Lyme, Connecticut, 14 October, 1805; died in Rochester, New York, 18 September, 1885. In 1825 he moved to Rochester, New York, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1880. He began practice in Clarkson, Monroe County, but returned to Rochester in 1859; and was reporter of the court of appeals in 1851-'4. He was a Democrat, but, being opposed to the extension of slavery, aided in the formation of the Republican Party, and in 1856 was its successful candidate for the lieutenant-governorship. He attended the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1860, and concurred with his colleagues from New York in advocating the nomination of William H. Seward, but acquiesced in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln. In July, 1862, Mr. Selden was appointed a judge of the court of appeals to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of his brother, and he was afterward elected for a full term, but resigned in 1864. In 1872 he attended the Cincinnati Convention that nominated Horace Greeley for the presidency, and, though opposed to this course, reluctantly supported him in his canvass. He published “Reports, New York Court of Appeals, 1851-'4” (6 vols., Albany, 1853-'60). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V pp. 456-457.


SELFRIDGE, Thomas Oliver, naval officer, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 24 April, 1804. He entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman, 1 January, 1818, was promoted to lieutenant, 3 March, 1827, and served in the West Indies, Brazil, and the Mediterranean. He was commissioned commander, 11 April, 1844, and was assigned to the ship "Columbus," which was the flag-ship of the East India Squadron in 1845-6, and subsequently of the Pacific Squadron during the Mexican War, 1846-'7. In May. 1847, he was transferred to the sloop " Dale," in which he participated in the engagement and capture of Mazatlan and Guaymas; at the latter place he received a severe wound, in consequence of which he was obliged to relinquish the command of the " Dale," and returned home in June, 1848. He was then on leave and on duty at the Boston U.S. Navy-yard until 1861, when he had command of the steam frigate "Mississippi," in the Gulf Squadron, for a few months. His wound incapacitated him for sea service, and he had charge of the U.S. Navy-yard at Mare Island,  California , in 1862-'5. He was promoted to captain, 14 September, 1855, and to commodore, 16 July, 1862, and was retired on 24 April, 1866. He was president of the examining board in 1869-'70, lighthouse inspector at Boston, and also member of the examining board in 1870-'l, since which time he has been on waiting orders, and is now the senior officer of the navy on the retired list. He was promoted to rear-admiral, 25 July, 1866.—His son, Thomas Oliver, naval officer, born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, 6 February, 1837, was graduated at the U. S. Naval Academy at the head of his class in 1854. He was promoted to lieutenant, 15 February, 1860, and was 2d lieutenant of the "Cumberland" when she was sunk by the "Merrimac" in Hampton Roads, Virginia. He was detailed to command the " Monitor " after the engagement with the "Merrimac," but was transferred as flag-lieutenant of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, and commanded the iron-clad steamer " Cairo," which was blown up by a torpedo in Yazoo River, near Vicksburg. He had charge of a siege-battery in the capture of Vicksburg, and the steamers " Conestoga" and "Manitou." He commanded the iron-clad "Osage" in the Red River Expedition, during which he inflicted a loss of 400 killed and wounded on the Confederates at Blair's Plantation. He next commanded the " Vindicator" and the 5th Division of the Mississippi River Fleet until 1864. He had charge of the steamer "Huron " in both attacks on Fort Fisher, and commanded the 3d Division of the lauding party of sailors that stormed the fort. He was promoted to commander, 31 December, 1869, and in that year took charge of surveys for an interoceanic canal across the Isthmus of Darien. He surveyed the San Bias route in 1870, the lines near Caledonia Bay, the De Puydt route, and the Gorgoza route in 1871, and the Atrato River in 1871-'3. He was also a member of the International Congress at Paris on the subject of the canal in 1876. The official reports of these surveys were published by Congress. He commanded the steamer "Enterprise," North Atlantic Station, in 1877-80, during which cruise he surveyed Amazon River. He was commissioned captain, 24 February, 1881, and in January took charge of the torpedo station at Newport, Rhode Island, where he remained until 1885. During his service at the torpedo station he invented a device to protect a ship by suspending torpedoes to a net by which an attacking torpedo would be destroyed. In 1885-'7 he commanded the "Omaha," of the Asiatic Squadron, and in March, 1877, after he had engaged in target practice off the island of Ike-Sima, Japan, the bursting of an unexploded shell caused the death of four natives of the island. He was tried by court-martial for criminal carelessness in Washington in 1888, but was acquitted. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 457.


SELLERS, Coleman, dynamical engineer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 28 January, 1827. He was educated at common schools and studied for five years with Anthony Bolmar in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1846 he became draughtsman in the Globe Rolling-Mill in Cincinnati, Ohio, and he remained there for three years, during part of the time as superintendent. Mr. Sellers then engaged in the manufacture of locomotives, and served for five years as foreman in the works of Niles and Company. In 1856 he moved to Philadelphia, where he became chief engineer of William Sellers and Company (the senior partner of which firm was his second cousin), makers of machinists tools, and general millwrights. Since 1888 he has devoted himself chiefly to consulting practice. Mr. Sellers has obtained more than thirty letters-patent for inventions of his own, one of the first of which, a coupling device for shafting (1857), is the essential factor in the modern system of interchangeable shafting parts. His invention in 1866 of feed-disks for lathes or other machine tools was the first practical solution of the problem of the infinite gradation of feeds. His other patents relate chiefly to improved forms of tools or modifications of existing machines. The use of absorbent cotton for surgical operations was recommended by him as early as 1861, and he proposed the employment of glycerine in order to photographic plates wet. He was appointed professor of mechanics in the Franklin Institute in 1881, and non-resident professor of engineering practice in Stevens Institute of technology in 1888, both of which chairs he still (1888) holds. The order of St. Olaf was conferred on him by the king of Sweden in 1877, and the degree of doctor of engineering by Stevens Institute in 1888. He was president of the Franklin Institute during 1870–75, and of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1884, and he has also held that office in the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Photographic Society of Philadelphia. He is a member of other learned societies both at home and abroad. Mr. Sellers was chosen a member of the Seybert Commission to investigate the claims of Spiritualists, owing to his knowledge of sleight-of-hand. He been an expert in the practice of that art from his childhood. He was American correspondent of the “British Journal of Photography” in 1861–3, and, in addition, contributed many papers to technical journals. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 458.


SELLERS, William, mechanical engineer, born In Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, 19 September, 1824. He was educated at a private school, and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to his uncle, a machinist, with whom he remained for seven years. In 1845 he was called to the management of the shops of the Fairbanks and Bancroft machine-works in Providence, Rhode Island, and two years afterward he established himself independently in Philadelphia. He was then joined by his former employer, and in 1848 the firm of Bancroft and Sellers was formed, which continued until 1855, when, on the death of the senior member, the style became William Sellers and Company. Mr. Sellers has been active in the improvement of existing forms of tools and machines, as well as in the invention of new patterns, and from his first patent, for an improvement on turning-lathes in 1854, until 1888 he has received seventy patents. His inventions have received numerous medals, and at the World's fair in Vienna in 1873 he was awarded a grand diploma of honor. In 1868 he established the Edgemoor Iron Company, which now owns the largest plant in this country for building iron bridges and other structures of iron and steel. All of the iron-work for the buildings of the World's Fair in Philadelphia in 1876 were supplied by this company. He became president of the Midvale steel-works in 1873, and reorganized that concern, which is now one of the largest establishments in the vicinity of Philadelphia. Mr. Sellers was elected president of the Franklin Institute in 1864, and while holding that office proposed the first formula that was ever offered for a system of screws, threads, and nuts, which subsequently became the standard for the United States. He is a member of scientific societies both in this country and abroad, was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1864, to the National Academy of Sciences in 1873, and correspondent of the Societe d' Encouragement pour L'industrie Nationale in 1875. At the formation of the Fairmount Park Commission in 1867 he was appointed a commissioner for five years, during which time all of the land now comprised in this great park was purchased by the commission. He was active in the organization of the World's Fair in Philadelphia in 1876, and was at the beginning vice-president of the management. In 1868 he was elected a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, and he is a director of several railroads. His publications include short papers and discussions on technical subjects. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 458-459.


SELLING. (See AMMUNITION.)


SELMA, ALABAMA, April 2, 1865. Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi. During Wilson's raid his command encamped on the night of the 1st at Plantersville and at daylight marched for Selma on the Summerfield road, Long's division in advance. By 3 p. m. the Confederate pickets had been driven in and the Federals closed in on the defenses. A reconnaissance showed the Confederate position well intrenched and Upton's division was sent through an almost impassable swamp to attack the enemy in an exposed position. Before Upton could attack, however, Chalmers attacked Long's pickets. The latter, without waiting for the signal to advance, turned and with two dismounted regiments (1,160 men) charged the Confederates over an open field of 500 yards, tore up and destroyed the stockade in front of the works, rushed over the parapet and drove Armstrong's brigade, 1,500 strong, back into the inner line of works. The 4th U. S. cavalry under Lieutenant O'Connell then made a gallant charge on the inner works but could not penetrate them until the 17th Indiana, 4th Ohio and a battery had come to its assistance. By that time it was dark and a large part of the Confederate garrison managed to escape, although 2,700 were taken prisoners. The armament captured consisted of 26 field guns, a 30-pounder Parrott, 70 heavy guns and a large quantity of military stores in the arsenal. The Federal casualties amounted to 46 killed and 200 wounded. The Confederate losses were not reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 782.


SEMMES, Alexander Aldebaran, naval officer, born in Washington, D. C, 8 June, 1825; died in Hamilton, Virginia, 22 September, 1885. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 22 October, 1841, attended the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and became a passed midshipman, 10 August, 1847. He was promoted to master, 11 August, 1855, and to lieutenant, 15 September, 1855. During the Civil War he rendered creditable service in command of the steamer "Rhode Island" on the Atlantic Coast blockade in 1861, and in the steamer " Wamsutta" on the South Atlantic Blockade, during which he conducted numerous engagements with forts and batteries on the coasts of Georgia and Florida, where he captured several blockade-runners in 1862-'3. He commanded the monitor "Lehigh" in the bombardment of Fort Pringle, and participated in the operations at Charleston until that city surrendered. He cooperated with Grant's army, fought the Howlett house batteries, and was present at the fall of Richmond in 1865. He was commissioned a commander, 25 July, 1866, promoted to captain, 24 August, 1873, and stationed at the Pensacola U.S. Navy-yard in 1873-'5. In 1880 he was president of the Board of Inspection, after which he was commandant of the U.S. Navy-yard at Washington. He was commissioned commodore, 10 March, 1882, and was in command of the navy-yard at the time of his death, but had left the city on account of his health. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 459.


SEMMES, Raphael, naval officer, born in Charles County, Maryland, 27 September, 1809; died in Mobile, Alabama, 30 August, 1877. President John Quincy Adams appointed him a midshipman in the U. S. Navy in 1826, but he did not enter upon active service until 1832, the intermediate years being spent in study. In 1834, after returning from, his first cruise, he was admitted to the bar, but decided to remain a seaman. In 1837 he was promoted lieutenant, and in 1842 he moved to Alabama. At the beginning of the war with Mexico he was made flag-lieutenant under Commodore Conner, commanding the squadron in the Gulf, and in the siege of Vera Cruz he was in charge of one of the naval batteries on shore. He was in command of the U. S. brig " Somers " on the blockade of the Mexican Coast, when the brig foundered in a gale, and most of her crew were drowned. Lieutenant then served for several years as inspector of light-houses on the Gulf Coast, in 1855 was promoted commander, and in 1858 became secretary of the Light-House Board at Washington. On the secession of Alabama, 15 February, 1861, he resigned his commission in the U.S. Navy and reported to Jefferson Davis at Montgomery, who instructed him to return to the north and endeavor to procure mechanics skilled in the manufacture and use of ordnance and rifle machinery and the preparation of fixed ammunition and percussion-caps. He was also to buy war material. In Washington he examined the machinery of the arsenal, and conferred with mechanics whom he desired to go south. Within the next three weeks he made a tour through the principal workshops of New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, purchased large quantities of percussion-caps in New York, which were sent to Montgomery without any disguise, made contracts for light artillery, powder, and other munitions of war, and shipped thousands of pounds of powder to the south. He returned to Montgomery on 4 April, to find that he had been commissioned commander in the Confederate Navy, and placed in charge of the Light-House Bureau, which he relinquished within two weeks to go to New Orleans and fit out the “Sumter,” with which he captured eighteen merchantmen. After the blockade of that ship at Tangiers by two U.S. men-of-war, he sold her and went to England, having been promoted meantime to the rank of captain. There the fast steamer “Alabama” was built for him, and in August, 1863, he took command of her at the Azores Islands, put to sea, and captured sixty-two American merchantmen, most of which he burned at sea. Upon her loss in the battle with the “Kearsarge,” on 19 June, 1864 (see WINSLOW, John A.), he returned to England, and in London was presented by officers of the British Army and Navy with a sword to replace that which he had cast into the sea from the deck of his sinking ship. On 3 October, 1864, he sailed for Havana, whence he reached Bagdad, a Mexican port on the Gulf, and passed through Texas and Louisiana. He was appointed rear-admiral, and ordered to the James River Squadron, with which he guarded the water approaches to Richmond until the city was evacuated. At Greensboro’, North Carolina, on 1 May, 1865, he participated in the capitulation of General Johnston's army. He returned to Mobile and opened a law office. There, on 15 December, 1865, he was arrested by order of Secretary Gideon Welles and was imprisoned. The reason, as given by the Attorney-General of the United States, was his liability to trial as a traitor, which he had evaded by his escape after the destruction of the “Alabama.” From his prison he wrote to President Johnson a letter claiming immunity for all past deeds under the military convention, to which he was a party at Greensboro’, and the subsequent quarrel between Mr. Johnson and the Republican majority of Congress interrupted any proceedings looking to his trial. He was released under the third of the president's amnesty proclamations, and in May, 1866, was elected judge of the probate court of Mobile County, but an order from President Johnson forbade him to exercise the functions of the office. He then became editor of a daily paper in Mobile, which he gave up to accept a professor's chair in the Louisiana Military Institute. He afterward returned to Mobile and resumed the practice of law, in which he was occupied till his death. He published “Service Afloat arrival, and did not reach his headquarters at Fort and Ashore during the Mexican War” (Cincinnati, Douglas (now part of Winnipeg) until the spring 1851): “The Campaign of General Scott in the Valley of Mexico” (1852); “The Cruise of the Alabama and Sumter” (New York, 1864); and “Memoirs of Service Afloat during the War between the States” (Baltimore, 1869). The action of the British government in permitting the “Alabama” and other similar cruisers to be fitted out in its ports gave rise to the so-called “Alabama claims” on the court of the United States, settled by arbitration in 1872. (See GRANT, ULYSSES S.) Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 459-460.


SEMMES, Alexander Jenkins, surgeon, born in Georgetown, D.C., 17 December, 1828, was educated at Georgetown College, and graduated at the National Medical College, Washington, D.C., in 1854. He subsequently studied in Paris and London, and on his return settled in Georgetown, D.C., but moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. He was commissioned a surgeon in the Confederate Army in 1861, served in that capacity in General Thomas J. Jackson's corps in the Army of Northern Virginia, was surgeon in charge in the Jackson Military Hospital, Richmond, Virginia, became medical inspector of the Department of Northern Virginia in 1862, inspector of hospitals in the Department of Virginia in 1863, and president of the Examining Boards of the Louisiana, Jackson, Stuart, and Winder Hospitals, Richmond, Virginia, in 1865. He was visiting physician to the Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana in 1866–’7, moved to Savannah, Georgia, and in 1870–’6 was professor of physiology in the Savannah Medical College. Subsequently he took orders in the Roman Catholic Church, and in 1886 he became president of Pio Nono College, Macon, Georgia. He was a secretary of the American Medical Association in 1858–'9, a member of several professional societies, and the author of medical and other papers. His publications include “Medical Sketches of Paris” (New York, 1852): “Gunshot Wounds” (1864); “Notes from a Surgical Diary” (1866); “Surgical Notes of the Late War” (1867); “The Fluid Extracts” (1869); “Evolution the Origin of Life” (1873); and the “Influence of Yellow Fever on Pregnancy and Parturition” (1875). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 460.


SEMPLE, James, senator, born in Green County, Kentucky, 5 January, 1798; died in Elsah Landing, Illinois, 20 December, 1866. His educational advantages were limited to the common schools of Greensburg and the law-school at Louisville, Kentucky. After his graduation at the latter he moved at once to Edwardsville, Illinois, and practised his profession. At the beginning of the Black Hawk War he was commissioned brigadier-general. He represented Madison County several times in the legislature, and was twice speaker of the house. From 1837 till 1842 he was minister at Bogota, Colombia. In 1843 he was elected judge of the superior court, but he soon resigned to enter the U.S. Senate, where he served from 4 December, 1843, till 3 March, 1847, filling the unexpired term of Samuel McRoberts, deceased. He became an active advocate of the 54° 40' line in the Oregon question. Returning to his home in 1847, he declined to accept any political office. He expended considerable time and money during the last years of his life in experimenting on a steam road-wagon which he had made, but it proved a failure. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 460.


SENATOBIA, MISSISSIPPI, May 23, 1863. McCrillis' Cavalry Brigade. At noon of the 23d Colonel L. F. McCrillis, commanding the 2nd brigade of a cavalry expedition from La Grange to Senatobia, struck the Confederates under General Chalmers, 1,500 strong, on Basket creek, 2 miles from Senatobia. After 3 hours' fighting Chalmers was beaten and driven back into Panola. McCrillis suffered no loss while the enemy had 11 killed and 15 wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 782.


SENATOBIA, MISSISSIPPI, June 20, 1863. Cavalry of the Left Wing of the 16th Army Corps. The advance of a Federal detachment operating in northwestern Mississippi encountered Confederate skirmishers 3 miles out of Senatobia and drove them toward the Coldwater river. At Matthews' ferry the enemy was found in considerable force, and after a brief contest the Federals succeeded in silencing their opponents' fire. The casualties were not reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 782.


SENATOBIA, MISSISSIPPI, February 10, 1864. Meridian Expedition. Confederate reports state that 1,500 Federal infantry and 300 cavalry advanced as far as Senatobia, but were driven back by McCulloch. No mention is made of the affair in the Union The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 782.reports.


SENECA, MARYLAND, June 28, 1863. 6th Michigan Cavalry. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 782.


SENECA CREEK MARYLAND, September 16-17, 1861. Detachment of the 34th New York Infantry. Colonel La Dew, with part of his regiment, crossed the Potomac at the mouth of Seneca creek, where he encountered a Confederate force superior to his own, and in the skirmish that ensued the Union loss was 2 or 3 men. The next morning artillery was brought up and a few shells drove the Confederates from their position. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 782.


SENECA STATION, INDIANA TERRITORY, September 14, 1863. 1st Arkansas Infantry. Seneca Trace Crossing, West Virginia, September 25, 1863. 2nd West Virginia Infantry. Brigadier-General William W. Averell reported under above date as follows: "On the Seneca road's picket of the 2nd (West) Virginia infantry was Page 783 attacked and captured this morning about daylight by about too rebels. The officer in command of the picket had disregarded his orders. Our loss was about 30." This engagement occurred where the Seneca trace or road crosses Cheat river. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 782-783.


SENER, James Beverly, lawyer, born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 18 May, 1837. He received an academic preparation, attended lectures at the University of Virginia as a state student, and was graduated in several of the schools of the university. He then studied law at Lexington, Virginia, was admitted to the bar in March, 1860, and served as sergeant (or sheriff) of the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1863-'5. He was army correspondent of the Southern Associated Press, with General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in 1862-'5, and from 1865 till 1875 was editor of the Fredericksburg " Ledger." Mr. Sener was a delegate from Virginia to the National Republican Conventions of 1872 and 1876 and served on the National Republican Committee from 1876 till 1880. He was a member of Congress in 1873-'5, and was the chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice, being the first chairman of such a committee. He was chief justice of Wyoming Territory from 18 December, 1879, till 10 March, 1884. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 461.


SENIOR. Superior rank. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 549).


SENTENCE. (See COURT-MARTIAL.)


SENTRY OR SENTINEL. Any sentinel sleeping on post or leaving it before being regularly relieved, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as may be inflicted by sentence of a court-martial. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 549).


SERGEANT. Non-commissioned officer above corporal. There are various grades of sergeants: 1st. Sergeant-major, the first non-commissioned officer of a regiment, whose principal office is to assist the adjutant; 2d. Quartermaster-sergeant, assistant to the regimental quartermaster; 3d. Principal musicians of a regiment; 4th. Ordnance sergeant; 5th. First sergeant, or orderly sergeant of a company, and 6th. Sergeants, without prefix. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 549).


SERGEANT, John, 1779-1852, lawyer.  U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania.  Opposed extension of slavery into the territories.  Stated in Congressional debate of 1819:  “It is to no purpose, to say that the question of slavery is a question of state concern.  It affects the Union, in its interests, its resources, and character, permanently; perhaps forever.  One single State, to gratify the desire of a moment, may do what all the Union cannot undo; may produce an everlasting evil, shame and reproach.  And why?  Because it is a State right…  Sir, you may turn this matter as you will; Missouri, when she becomes a State, grows out of the Constitution; she is formed under the care of Congress, and admitted by Congress; and if she has a right to establish slavery, it is a right derived directly from the Constitution, and conferred upon her through the instrumentality of Congress.”  Further, Sergeant said, “If Missouri be permitted to establish slavery, we shall bring upon ourselves the charges of hypocrisy and insincerity, and upon the Constitution a deep stain, which must impair its lustre, and weaken its title to the public esteem.”  (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 462-463; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, p. 588; Dumond, 1961, pp. 103, 105, 107, 213-214, 383n24, 29; 16 Cong., 1 Sess., 1819-1820, II, p. 1201)

SERGEANT, John, lawyer, born in Philadelphia, 5 December, 1779; died there, 25 November, 1852, was graduated at Princeton in 1795, and, abandoning his intention to become a merchant, studied law, and was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in 1799. For more than half a century he was known throughout the country as one of the most honorable and learned members of his profession and its acknowledged leader in Philadelphia. He entered public life in 1801, when he was appointed commissioner of bankruptcy by Thomas Jefferson, was a member of the legislature in 1808-'10, and of Congress in 1815-'23, 1827-'9, and 1837-'42. In 1820 he was active in securing the passage of the Missouri Compromise. He was appointed one of the two envoys in 1826 to the Panama Congress, was president of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention in 1830, and Whig candidate for the vice-presidency on the ticket with Henry Clay in 1832. He declined the mission to England in 1841, and his last public service was that of arbitrator to determine a long-pending controversy. The question at issue concerned the title to Pea Patch Island as derived by the United States from the State of Delaware, and by James Humphrey claiming through Henry Gale from the State of New Jersey. This involved the question of the boundary between the two states, or, in other words, the claim to Delaware River, and the decision in favor of the United States incidentally decided the boundary dispute in favor of Delaware. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 462-463.


SERRELL, Edward Wellman, civil engineer, born in New York City, 5 November, 1826. He was educated at schools in his native city, and then studied surveying and civil engineering under the direction of an elder brother. In 1845 he became assistant engineer in charge of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and he subsequently served in a similar capacity on the construction of other roads. He accompanied the expedition that in 1848 located the route of the railroad between Aspinwall and Panama, and on his return, a year later, was engaged in building the suspension-bridge across the Niagara River at Lewiston; also that at St. Johns, New Brunswick. Mr. Serrell was in charge of the Hoosac Tunnel in 1858, and was concerned in the construction of the Bristol Bridge over Avon River, in England, which had the largest span of any bridge in that country at the time it was built. At the beginning of the Civil War he entered the 1st New York Volunteers as lieutenant-colonel, soon became its colonel, and served as chief engineer of the 10th Army Corps in 1863. He was chief engineer and chief of staff under General Benjamin F. Butler in 1864,and designed and personally superintended the construction of the "Swamp-angel" battery that bombarded Charleston. Many valuable improvements of guns and processes, that proved of practical service during the war were suggested by him, and the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers was conferred on him on 13 March, 1865. After 1865 he settled in New York, and engaged principally in the building of railroads, becoming in 1887 president and consulting engineer of the Washington County Railroad. In addition to papers on scientific and technical subjects, he has published nearly fifty reports on railroads and bridges. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 464.


SERVANTS. (See PAY, for the number allowed to officers.) Company officers only can take soldiers from the line as servants; (Act April 24, 1816.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 549).


SERVICE. The military art is the art of serving the state in war. All studies, acts, and efforts of the profession of arms have this end in view. To belong to the army and to belong to the land service, are the same thing. In a more restricted sense, service is the performance of military duty. In its general sense, service embraces all details of the military art. But in its restricted sense, actual service is the exercise of military functions. We say the Military Service; Cavalry, Artillery, or Infantry Service; Active Service; Regimental Service; Detached Service; Service on the Staff; Garrison Service; Camp Service; Campaign Service; Service in peace; Service in war; Daily Service; Service abroad; Service at home; Frontier Service; Service us captain, &c.; Armed Service; Actual Service. To see service implies actual combat with an enemy. Service in campaign, is service in the field; and in the French army, service in war or in colonies counts double, in estimating length of service, for promotions, pensions, retreat, and other remunerations. (See ABATIS; ADJUTANT-GENERAL; AIDE-DE-CAMP; ARMS, (Small;) ARTILLERY; ASSAULT; ATTACK AND DEFENCE; BARRICADES; BARRIER; BATTERIES; BATTLE; BAYONET; BLACKING; BLINDAGE; BLOCK-HOUSE; BOMBARDMENT; BRIDGES; CAMP; CAMPAIGN; CAPITULATION; CARPENTRY; CAVALRY; CHARGE; CONVOYS; COOKING; COUP D'CEIL; DEFENCE, ( Coast ;) DEFILE; DEFILEMENT; DISEMBARKATION; DRAGOONS.; EMBARKATION; ENGINEERS; ESCALADE; FASCINES; FIELD-WORKS; FIRING; FLAGS OF TRUCE; FLANK; FORAGING; GABIONS; GUNNERY; INFANTRY; LANCE; LAW,” (Martial;) LODGMENT; MANOEUVRES IN BATTLE; MARCH MINE  OBSTACLES; OVEN; OUTPOSTS; PARTISAN.; RECONNOISSANCE; RIFLEMEN; ROADS; SANITARY PRECAUTIONS; SAW-MILL; SIEGES; SQUARES; STADIA; STRATEGY; SURYEYS, (Military;) TACTICS; TARGET; TELEGRAPH; TOOLS; VETERINARY; WAGON; WAR; and Alphabetical list generally. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, pp. 549-550).


SESSIONS, Lucy Stanton Day, 1831-1910, African American, educator, author, abolitionist.  Graduate of Oberlin College.  Early African American woman writer. (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 10, p. 153)


SETON, William, author, born in New York City, 28 January, 1835, is son of William Seton, an officer in the U. S. Navy. He is recognized by Burke's " Peerage " as the head of the ancient family of the Setons of Parbroath, senior cadets of the Earls of Winton in Scotland. He was educated at Mount St. Mary's College, Emmettsburg, Maryland, and by private tutors, and served as captain of the 4th New York Volunteers, during the first part of the Civil War, until he was disabled by wounds that he received at Antietam. He is a frequent contributor to periodicals and journals, and has published " Romance of the Charter Oak" (New York, 1870); "The Pride of Lexington; a Tale of the American Revolution "(1871); "Rachel's Fate and Other Tales " (1882); "The Poor Millionaire, a Tale of New York Life " (1884); and " The Shamrock gone West, and Moida, a Tale of the Tyrol" (New York, 1884). He is also the author of " The Pioneer," a poem (1874). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 465.


SETTLE, Thomas, jurist, born in Rockingham County, North Carolina, in 1791; died there, 5 August, 1857. He received a common-school education, was admitted to the bar, and practised at Wentworth, North Carolina. He entered public life in 1816 as a member of the house of commons, and was in Congress in 1817—"21, having been elected as a Democrat. He was again in the legislature in 1826-'8, the last year was speaker of the house, and in 1832-'54 was a judge of the supreme court of North Carolina. Judge Settle was eminent for his virtues, learning, and legal ability.—His son, Thomas, jurist, born in Rockingham County, North Carolina, 23 January, 1831, was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1850, read law, served in the legislature in 1854-'9, was speaker of the house the latter year, and a Presidential Elector in 1850, casting his vote for James Buchanan. He supported Stephen A. Douglas for the presidency in 1860, and used his influence to prevent secession, but, when the Civil War began, entered the Confederate Army as captain in the 3d North Carolina Regiment. After a service of twelve months he returned to civil life and became solicitor of the 4th Judicial District. He united with the Republican Party in 1865, was elected to the state senate in that year, became its speaker, and took an active part in reconstruction measures. He was a judge of the state supreme court in 1868-'71, and resigned to become U. S. minister to Peru, but held office for only a few months on account of the failure of his health, was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1872, and in June of that year was president of the National Republican Convention, held in Philadelphia. He was reappointed a justice of the state supreme court in 1873, and was defeated for governor in 1876. In 1877 he became United States District Judge of the Northern District of Florida. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 466.


SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES, VIRGINIA, June 25—July 1, 1862. Army of the Potomac . Just at the close of the battle of Fair Oaks on June 1, 1862, General Robert E. Lee rode upon the field, accompanied by Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, and assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia. At that time the Federal Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major-General George B. McClellan, was stationed along both sides of the Chickahominy river, the advance being within 6 miles of Richmond. McClellan had been promised reinforcements, and this, with the almost impassable condition of the roads and the high stage of the water in the Chickahominy, which had destroyed nearly all the bridges, caused a delay in getting his army together on the south side of the river for an offensive movement. Lee promptly took advantage of this delay to put his army in condition to withstand an attack, or to assume the offensive if opportunity offered. By June 20 the flood had abated, new bridges had been constructed, the roads had improved and a portion of the promised reinforcements had arrived. The Army of the Potomac was then organized for the final advance on the Confederate capital as follows: The 2nd corps, commanded by Brigadier-General E. V. Sumner, consisted of two divisions, respectively commanded by Brigadier-Generals I. B. Richardson and John Sedgwick; the 3d corps, under command of Brigadier-General S. P. Heintzelman, included the divisions of Brigadier-Generals Joseph Hooker and Philip Kearny; the 4th corps, commanded by Brigadier-General E. D. Keyes, consisted of the two divisions under command of Brigadier-Generals Darius N. Couch and J. J. Peck; the 5th corps, Brigadier-General F. J. Porter commanding, embraced three divisions under Brigadier-Generals G. W. Morell, George Sykes and G. A. McCall; the 6th corps, commanded by Brigadier-General William B. Franklin, included two divisions, commanded by Brig.-Generals Henry W. Slocum and W. F. Smith. In addition to this infantry force there were the artillery reserve of five brigades, under the command of Colonel Henry J. Hunt, the cavalry reserve of two brigades, under Brigadier-General P. St . George Cooke, the volunteer engineer brigade of Brigadier-General D. P. Woodbury, and the headquarters guard and escort. Casey's division of Keyes' corps was on detached duty at the White House, guarding stores and preparing for the change of base to the James river. Lee's army was composed of the following commands: Jackson's corps, Major-General Thomas J. Jackson commanding, including the divisions of Whiting, Jackson and Ewell; D. H. Hill's division; Magruder's corps, including the divisions of D. R Jones, McLaws and Magruder; Longstreet's division; Huger's division; A. P. Hill's division; Holmes' division the reserve artillery under Brigadier-General W. N. Pendleton, and the cavalry under Brigadier-General J. E. B. Stuart. Various estimates have been made as to the relative strength of the two armies. General A. S. Webb, who served with McClellan in the Peninsular campaign, fixes it at 92,500 men of all arms for the Federal forces and 80,762 for the Confederates. From Richmond several road led to the Chickahominy river. Running nearly due north was the Meadow bridge road, which crossed the river near the Virginia Central railroad. Next was the Mechanicsville pike; then the Creighton, New Bridge and Williamsburg roads, the last named running almost due east and crossing the river at Bottom's bridge. Between the New Bridge and Williamsburg roads ran the Richmond & York River railroad. Leading toward the southeast were the Charles City and Darbytown roads, and the Osborne turnpike ran down the bank of the James river toward the south. Over the region traversed by these roads between the James and Chickahominy rivers and along the north bank of the latter stream were fought the Seven Days' battles. On the 25th Heintzelman, who occupied the line of works at Fair Oaks and Seven Pines, was ordered to drive the Confederate pickets from the woods in his front, preparatory to a general forward movement the next day. At 8 a. m. Hooker's division advanced with Sickles' brigade in the center on the Williamsburg road, Grover's on the left and Carr's in reserve. At the same time Kearny on the left and Richardson on the right were ordered to push forward their pickets. Hooker found himself confronted by a superior force and sent back for reinforcements. Heintzelman ordered Birney's brigade of Kearny's division to the front, but just as Birney reached the field orders were received from General Marcy, McClellan's chief of staff, directing Hooker to fall back. About 1 p. m. McClellan came to the front and ordered a renewal of the attack. Again Hooker advanced, this time supported by Palmer's brigade of Couch's division. De Russy's battery was run forward and opened with canister to the right and left of the road, forcing the enemy to retire from the woods and across an open field to another piece of timber some distance in the rear of his former position, closely pressed by the infantry who kept up a steady fire as they advanced. A strong picket line was then placed in the woods evacuated by the Confederates, but as it was almost dark further operations were postponed until the next morning. Hooker reported his loss as 28 killed, 262 wounded and 19 missing. This affair is known as the battle of Oak Grove, King's school-house or the Orchards. By a singular coincidence Lee had fixed on the same date as McClellan—June 26—for an aggressive movement. On the 16th he sent orders to Jackson to mask his withdrawal from the Shenandoah valley, move with all possible speed toward Richmond and strike the Federal right, then on the north bank of the Chickahominy in the vicinity of Mechanicsville. In support of this movement A. P. Hill was to cross the river at Meadow bridge, when it was known that Jackson's advance had passed that point, and move directly on Mechanicsville. As soon as the bridge on the Mechanicsville pike should be uncovered Longstreet and D. H. Hill were to cross there, after which the four commands were to sweep .down the north bank driving everything before them. Stuart's cavalry was thrown on the left to guard Jackson's flank. Huger and Magruder, with the artillery reserve, were left to guard Richmond, but under orders to follow McClellan if he should retreat. On the 19th McClellan had sent McCall's division, with five batteries of artillery, to the right to watch the bridges over the Chickahominy. On the morning of the 26th McCall occupied a position with his front along the east side of Beaver Dam creek, his left resting on the Chickahominy and his right extending to the woods north of the road running from Mechanicsville to Bethesda church, Reynolds' brigade on the right, Seymour's on the left, and Meade's, with Kern's and Easton's batteries, in reserve. His position was a strong one as the creek in his front was over waist deep in most places, bordered by swamps, and on the west side of it was an open plain, about half a mile in extent, over which the enemy must advance to the attack. The creek could be crossed by artillery at only two points—the bridge on the Bethesda road and the one at Ellison's mill about a mile below. These bridges were covered by the guns of Cooper's and Smead's batteries, while De Hart's battery was stationed a short distance below the upper bridge in a position to enfilade any line that might attempt to cross the plain in front. Jackson reached Ashland, 12 miles from Richmond, on the evening of the 25th, and received orders from Lee to move at 3 a. m. on the 26th and turn McCall's right. The march was longer than either he or Lee had anticipated and his progress was delayed by the Union skirmishers. A. P. Hill waited until noon, by which time he supposed that Jackson was in position, and then started to carry out his part of the program. When the head of his column approached Mechanicsville McCall recalled his infantry and artillery in front of the town, and ordered Meade to move his brigade forward in closer support. At 3 p. m. Hill became impatient, fearing the whole plan would fall to the ground, and ordered his division forward. Two of his brigades were sent to the left to flank a battery, while the other four came into line in front,-but they were met by a murderous fire from the Federal batteries that forced the Confederates back with heavy loss. After a time a heavy column was pressed forward on the road to Ellison's mill and a determined attack was made at that point. Again the advancing ranks of the enemy were met by that withering fire of artillery and musketry and again they recoiled. Fearing that an attempt would be made to turn his left flank, McCall sent Colonel Harvey, with the 7th Pennsylvania reserves to the extreme left of the line. About sunset Griffin's brigade of Morell's division, with Edwards' battery, arrived on the field and took position on the right, while Martindale's brigade of the same division was sent to the rear and right to guard against any approach of the enemy over the road from Hanover Court-House. Here he learned of Jackson's attempted flank movement and skirmished with his advanced guard until ordered by Porter to retire. The fight lasted until 9 p. m., when Hill, finding that the position could not be carried Dy direct assault, withdrew his forces from the field, and McCall was ordered to fall back to Gaines' mill. The Union loss at Mechanicsville was 49 killed, 207 wounded and 105 missing. The enemy's loss was included in the reports of the seven days' fighting, but it was estimated at 2,000, mostly in killed and wounded, as very few prisoners were taken during the engagement. Swinton quotes Longstreet as saying the aggregate loss was "between three and four thousand." At the time McCall took his position at Mechanicsville on the 19th, all the army except Porter's corps was moved to the south side of the Chickahominy. The affair at Oak Grove on the 25th developed the enemy's position and Franklin, supported by Sumner and Heintzelman, -was to attack the Confederate force at Old Tavern, about two miles northwest of Fair Oaks, on the 26th. Before that order could be carried out McClellan learned, late on the afternoon of the 25th, that Jackson was moving to join Lee and would probably attack Porter the next day. This anticipation was realized in the battle of Mechanicsville and caused McClellan to hurry forward his plan of changing his base to the James river. During the night of the 26th Porter's wagon trains and heavy ordnance were taken to the south side of the Chickahominy and he was ordered to fall back nearer the bridges to hold in check the Confederates on the north side of the river until the preparations for the removal could be completed. Porter's new position was similar to that of McCall at Mechanicsville. His line of battle was semi-circular in form. Morell's division was on the left, behind a small stream, with Butterfield's brigade on the left, Martindale's in the center and Griffin's on the right. Sykes' division was on the right, Warren's brigade connecting with Griffin's right near the road to New Cold Harbor, Lovell's in the center and Buchanan's on the right near the McGehee house, east of the Old Cold Harbor road. Reynolds' brigade of McCall's division was sent to Barker's mill, further down the river, to guard the road leading to the Grapevine bridge, while Meade's and Seymour's brigades were held in reserve. Between Morell's left and the river was an almost impassable morass known as Boatswain's swamp, and the right of the line was protected to some extent by Elder swamp. Sykes occupied an elevation known as Turkey hill, the crest of which was about 60 feet higher than the plain in front, over which the enemy must advance for about a quarter of a mile after emerging from the dense woods along the creek. The siege guns that had been taken across the river were placed in position opposite Morell's left, where, protected by Smith's division of Sumner's corps, they were used to enfilade the enemy's lines that moved against Morell. Jackson's delay on the 26th was occasioned by the destruction of the bridge over Totopotomy creek, which he was compelled to rebuild before he could get his artillery across the stream. That night he bivouacked at Hundley's corner and at daylight the next morning resumed his march with Ewell's division in the lead. Through a mistake of the guide Ewell took the road leading to Walnut Grove Church, to the west of Gaines' mill, instead of the direct road to Old Cold Harbor. At the church Ewell met A. P. Hill's advance coming up from Mechanicsville on the road that crossed Beaver Dam creek at Ellison's mill. Jackson then inclined to the left toward Cold Harbor, but the confusion in the movement of troops resulted in a delay of several hours before the attack could be commenced. Longstreet followed A. P. Hill nearly to Gaines' mill, where he took the road leading to Duane's bridge over the Chickahominy and formed on the extreme right of the Confederate line. D. H. Hill marched from Mechanicsville via the Bethesda road, passed Jackson's rear, and formed on the Confederate left in front of Buchanan's brigade. When A. P. Hill reached Powhite creek at Gaines' Mill, about a mile from Porter's main line, he found the 9th Massachusetts under Colonel Thomas Cass, drawn up to dispute the passage of the stream. For some time Cass held the Confederates on the west bank, and even after they had succeeded in crossing he kept up such an obstinate resistance as he fell back through New Cold Harbor that Hill was compelled to employ a large part of his div1sion to force back a single regiment. This affair gave the name of Gaines' Mill to the whole battle which followed. About 2:30 p. m. the Confederate skirmishers began feeling for the weak point in the Federal position and soon afterward the entire line moved forward to the attack. Porter's force was out-numbered three to one, but his men were determined and his small, compact line withstood the shock. Twenty batteries belched forth their showers of canister upon the advancing foe, strewing the ground with dead and wounded. Still on they came until within musket range, when a deadly fire was opened along the whole Union front that drove the enemy back to the cover of the woods. Again they rallied and renewed the attack, the supporting columns in the rear forcing their way through the disorder of the front lines as they fell back before that terrific fire. On the right D. H. Hill was particularly aggressive. As he advanced on the east of the Old Cold Harbor road one of the Federal batteries began to enfilade his line. Garland made a desperate charge with his brigade, captured the battery and held it for 10 minutes, when he was driven away from the guns with a loss of 70 killed and 202 wounded. At the beginning of the fight Porter sent back to McClellan for reinforcements. Slocum's division was ordered to cross the Chickahominy at Alexander's bridge and hasten to Porter's assistance. He arrived on the field a little after 4 p. m. and his division was divided, different brigades and even different regiments being sent to strengthen the weak places along the line. The arrival of these troops turned the tide of battle for a time in favor of the Federal arms and the hope was entertained that, if the enemy could not be driven back he could at least be held in check until nightfall, by which time the army on the opposite side of the Chickahominy would be safe. For over four hours the Union line held fast against all attempts to break it, but the persistent hammering of the enemy, who was constantly bringing up fresh troops, began to tell on the endurance of Porter's men. About 7 o'clock the Confederates advanced in deployed lines and battalions closed in mass, one directly behind the other, each line discharging its fire as soon as it was unmasked by the line in its front. The center of the attack was directed against Martindale's brigade, at a point where Porter thought his line was the strongest, as Martindale was well supported by part of McCall's and Slocum's divisions. Shortly after sunset the line broke, the Confederates pressed forward into the breach and two regiments were captured. The confusion was augmented by a charge of Rush's cavalry and for a moment it looked like an utter rout. But the regulars and zouaves held their ground and brought up the rear in good order. Just at this critical moment the brigades of French and Meagher, of Richardson's division, arrived on the field and were greeted with cheers. With steady front these two brigades advanced against the enemy, while behind them the line was reformed to resist further assaults should any be attempted. The Confederate generals, under the impression that heavy reinforcements had reached Porter, withdrew from the field. Had French and Meagher arrived a few minutes sooner the result might have been different. During the night all the troops on the north side of the Chickahominy were withdrawn across the river, the 4th U. S. infantry crossing at Woodbury's bridge a little after daylight on the morning of the 28th, after which the bridges were all destroyed. The Union loss in the battle of Gaines' mill was 894 killed, 3,107 wounded and 2,836 missing. No report of losses was made by either Longstreet or A. P. Hill. In the remainder of the Confederate army the casualties amounted to 589 killed, 2,671 wounded and 24 missing, according to the reports of the division commanders. As A. P. Hill's division was in the severest part of the fight it is probable that it sustained the heaviest losses, and the casualties in his and Longstreet's commands would doubtless bring the aggregate above that of Porter's. This engagement is also known as Cold Harbor and the Chickahominy. While the battle was in progress Magruder made a number of feints against various portions of the Union line south of the river, but the only serious result produced by his demonstrations was to prevent reinforcements being sent to Porter. By McClellan's holding the north side of the Chickahominy as long as he did Lee came to the conclusion that the Federal commander was solicitous about his line of supplies via the White House on the Pamunkey river, and that all of his efforts would be directed to regain the old depots. As a matter of fact the reverse was true, for General Casey had received orders on the 25th to defend the White House to the last moment, when he was to destroy such stores as could not be removed, embark his troops on the transports, drop down the York river and ascend the James to the new base. Earlier in the month the topographical engineers had mapped the country between White Oak swamp and the James, and on the 18th a number of transports, with supplies of all kinds, were ordered to be sent up the James under protection of the gunboats. On the night of the 27th, after the battle of Gaines' mill, McClellan called his corps commanders to his headquarters, explained his plans and gave them their orders. Keyes was directed to move his command at once across White Oak swamp and take position to cover the movement of the rest of the army. By noon on the 28th he was on the south side of the swamp, covering all the roads by which a flank attack was likely to be made. That morning Franklin's corps was subjected to a severe cannonade from the enemy's guns across the river and from a battery that had been established during the night at Garnett's farm. To get out of range he withdrew his command to the edge of the wood on Golding's farm, where his left division connected with Sumner's line. Soon afterward he was charged by two Georgia regiments, but the attack was repulsed with a loss of several killed and wounded and about 25 captured. During the day a detachment of Cobb's Georgia legion had a skirmish with the pickets of the 8th Illinois cavalry at Despatch Station, on the Richmond & York River railroad. At 8 o'clock that evening McCall was ordered to cross the swamp and join Keyes. Franklin, Sumner and Heintzelman were directed to evacuate the intrenchments at Fair Oaks and fall back to a position near Savage Station, where Slocum's division was already in reserve, hold that line until dark on the evening of the 29th to cover the withdrawal of trains, and then relieve Keyes and McCall, who would move to a new position in advance. Early on the morning of the 29th Magruder discovered that the works at Fair Oaks were abandoned and immediately moved forward to attack. About 9 o'clock he came up with Sumner's rear-guard at Allen's farm, 2 miles west of Savage Station, and opened fire with both artillery and musketry. Sumner threw Kirby's, Pettit's and Hazzard's batteries into position in a few minutes to return the fire, which they did with such good effect that in a short time the enemy's guns were silenced. The fight lasted for two hours, during which time Magruder made three desperate charges, but each time he was repulsed with heavy loss. Sumner reached Savage Station at noon and soon afterward learned that the enemy was advancing against him in force. He sent Heintzelman to hold the Williamsburg road and a skirt of timber between it and the railroad, and then formed his own and Franklin's corps in line of battle, with Smith's division on the right to hold the railroad. At 4 p. m. the Confederates advanced on the Williamsburg road, where they met with no resistance, as Heintzelman, through some misunderstanding of orders, had withdrawn his command and was then on his way across White Oak swamp by the Brackett's Ford road. The assault was met by Burns' brigade of Sedgwick's division, reinforced by two lines in reserve and the 69th N. Yv, the famous Irish regiment. A little while before sunset the enemy made an assault along the whole lines. Hazzard's, Tompkins', Pettif’s, Kirby's, Osborn's and Bramhall's batteries met the rush with a murderous fire of canister, followed by a steady and continuous roar of musketry for half an hour, when the Federals made several charges in quick succession that forced Magruder to give way, leaving the road to the swamp open. No detailed report of the loss at Savage Station was made. The Confederates admitted a loss of 4,000, and claimed that Sumner lost 3,000. That night Sumner and Franklin crossed the swamp and destroyed the bridge about 5 a. m. on the 30th. Lee's uncertainty as to McClellan's movements and the destruction of the bridges over the Chickahominy caused the Confederates to remain inactive for 24 hours. But on the morning of the 29th, when it became certain that the Federals were moving toward the James, Longstreet and A. P. Hill crossed the Chickahominy at New bridge, passed within sight of Richmond, and that night went into bivouac within striking distance of the center of the retreating column. The next morning Jackson crossed farther down and followed directly upon McClellan's rear. Magruder moved down from Savage Station between the swamp and the Chickahominy to effect a junction with Jackson, and Huger was sent along the Charles City road. Holmes, who was stationed at Fort Darling on the south side of the James, was ordered to cross over with his 'division to the north bank, where he was joined by Wise's command and proceeded down the Osborne pike to strike the line of retreat at Malvern hill. Thus the entire Confederate force about Richmond was bent upon the capture or annihilation of McClellan's army. About 10 a. m. on the 30th the enemy appeared at Brackett's ford and tried to rebuild the bridge, but he was repulsed by Slocum's division and part of Hexamer's battery. At noon Jackson's advance reached White Oak bridge, which he found destroyed and the approaches guarded by Smith's division with several pieces of artillery, under the command of Capt. Ayers. An attempt was made to repair the bridge, but the severe fire drove the workmen away. Jackson then placed 31 guns in position and opened a terrific cannonade, forcing Smith to fall back a short distance and form a new line. D. H. Hill then sent over Munford's cavalry and some skirmishers, but they were driven back across the stream by the fire of Ayers' guns, which had been placed under cover of a wood. The enemy continued his artillery firing until after dark, but made no further effort to cross the creek. In his report Jackson says: "A heavy cannonading in front announced the engagement of General Longstreet at Frazier's farm and made me eager to press forward; but the marshy character of the, soil, the destruction of the bridge, and the strong position of the enemy for defending the passage prevented my advancing until the following morning." South of the White Oak swamp, at a place called Glendale, several roads came together, the junction being known as Charles City or New Market cross-roads. The Long bridge road ran nearly east, the Charles City road northwest toward Richmond, the New Market road southwest and the Quaker road south toward Malvern hill. It was at this point that Lee hoped to strike a telling blow on McClellan's right flank. McClellan realized the danger that threatened him there and disposed his forces to guard against an attack or to meet it if it came. Franklin, with the divisions of Smith and Richardson and Naglee's brigade of Peck's division, was charged with the defense of the roads leading to White Oak bridge; Slocum held the ground between Franklin and the Charles City road; Kearny's division was placed between the Charles City and New Market roads; McCall's division was on the left and front of Kearny; Hooker, with Thompson's and Kirby's batteries, was in the rear of McCall, his left extending to the Quaker road; Sedgwick's division was stationed at Nelson's farm in the rear of Kearny and McCall; Porter was at Malvern hill, and Keyes at Turkey bridge. About noon Huger, Mahone's brigade in advance, drove in the Federal pickets on the Charles City road, and about 2:30 p. m. Mahone's advance appeared in the edge of the timber across Brackett's field from Slocum. Seeing that Slocum's line was well protected by fallen trees with the open field in front, Mahone wisely deemed the position too strong to attack and ordered up Moorman's battery to open the engagement. Battery K, 4th U. S., and Battery E, 1st Rhode Island, responded with such spirit that Mahone withdrew his infantry to the shelter of the woods, but continued the artillery fire until late in the evening. This was the beginning of the battle of Glendale— also called Frazier’s farm, Nelson's farm, White Oak swamp, Charles City Cross-roads and New Market Cross-roads. When Longstreet, over on the New Market road, heard the sound of Huger's artillery he supposed it to be the signal for the general attack and ordered his own batteries to open fire. A little later his infantry advanced in heavy columns and fell upon Seymour's brigade of McCall's division. McCall hurried reinforcements to Seymour in time to prevent his left flank from being turned, but six companies of the 12th Pennsylvania, under the command of Colonel Taggart, posted some distance in advance of the main line, were cut off and to avoid capture the men fell back in some confusion on Hooker's line, where they were rallied by Taggart and served on Hooker's right, reporting to Hooker for orders. Two German batteries (Diedrich's and Knierim's) were also forced back, and as the disorganized medley of men and horses rushed back upon Hooker it looked for a little while as though the Federal line would break. But Hooker's men stood firm and as the victorious Confederates rushed forward in pursuit they were greeted by a well-directed fire in front and on either flank that sent them flying back to the woods. As they gave way General Grover, with the 1st Massachusetts, followed and at the same time Colonel Owen, with the 69th Pennsylvania, advanced into the open field on Longstreet's flank. Grover was met by a heavy fire from the enemy's reserves, but he was quickly reinforced by the 26th Pennsylvania and 2nd New Hampshire, and the attack on the left was effectively repulsed. The fight was now transferred to Kearny's front and McCall's right. The enemy, heavily reinforced, made a determined charge upon Randol's battery near the New Market road, and although the heavy charges of canister tore great gaps in the advancing line the Confederates came on with a momentum that was irresistible. The 4th Pennsylvania, which was supporting the battery, gave way—all except Company B—and before the battery could be withdrawn it was overrun by an overwhelming force, the horses killed and the guns overturned. Around the one company that had stood its ground men of other commands rallied and a fierce hand-to-hand encounter ensued, in which bayonets and clubbed muskets were the principal weapons. But the gallant company and its meager support were swept to the rear, followed by a horde of yelling Confederates. McCall's right was now broken and his entire line borne back, with a loss of several pieces of artillery. It was now nearly sunset and since 4 p. m. Kearney had repulsed three attacks on his position. He now formed two lines in the woods on the right of the road and threw Taylor's brigade into the gap caused by McCall's defeat. While engaged in this work he met McCall and asked him to form another line to cooperate with Kearny's men in stopping the rushes of the enemy. There was a slight lull in the battle just then and McCall rode forward to gather some of his men for the new line suggested by Kearny, when in the gathering dusk he fell into the lines of the 47th Virginia and was captured. The arrival of Taylor's brigade proved sufficient, however, to hold the enemy in check, and as it was now too dark for another assault the battle ended. Lee's object in bringing on this engagement was to cut McClellan's army in two at the Charles City road and destroy it in detail. Had Slocum not been strong enough to hold back Huger at this point, or if Jackson had been able to force a crossing at White Oak bridge and attack the rear of the retreating column, the result would have been disastrous. Lee had figured confidently on both these possibilities becoming certainties, but both failed and the Army of the Potomac was thereby saved from destruction. About the time that the battle of Glendale was at its height an attempt was made by Holmes and Wise to turn the Federal rear at Malvern hill. In his report Holmes says: "About 4 o'clock Major Meade, of the engineers, rode up and reported that the enemy was retreating in considerable confusion along the road leading over Malvern hill. * * * I accordingly at once directed my chief of artillery, Colonel Deshler, to proceed to the point indicated, some 2 miles down the river road, with three sections, of 2 rifled guns each, selected from the different batteries, and dispatched the 30th Virginia regiment, Colonel Harrison commanding, of Walker's brigade, as a supporting force. Soon afterward, feeling solicitous for the safety of this detachment, I put the remainder of the division in motion for the same point and proceeded to reconnoiter the ground in person." On his way to the position selected Holmes met Lee, who approved of the movement, and as the forces of Holmes and Wise numbered about 7,000 men, he directed that the batteries at once open fire on the Federal position. Sykes' division had reached Malvern hill about 11 a. m. and had taken a position to guard the approaches in front. Part of Buchanan's brigade occupied a grove of pines on the right, the remainder of it supporting Weed's battery; Lovell's brigade prolonged the line to the left, covering the guns of Edwards', Smead's, Carlisle's and Voegelee's batteries; Warren's brigade was in the valley to the left of Lovell, to watch the river road. It was against this line that Holmes opened fire, but before he could get his artillery fairly at work the Union batteries were playing on his guns, while a gunboat in the river began dropping huge shells among his infantry. Sykes reports that "The concentrated fire of our artillery smashed his batteries to pieces, compelled him to leave two guns and six caissons on the ground, and drove his infantry and cavalry ignominiously in retreat. He was not again heard from in that direction." During the night following the battle of Glendale McClellan concentrated his forces at Malvern hill, near the north bank of the James river about 15 miles below Richmond. This hill rises some 60 feet above the surrounding plain and on the summit is a plateau of sufficient extent to allow the maneuvering of an army of considerable size. It was on this plateau that McClellan marshalled his army for the last of the Seven Days' battles, with his line fronting toward the north, where the hill rises somewhat abruptly; his right protected by a small stream called Western run, along which was a thick undergrowth; his left covered by forests and swamps, difficult for the passage of cavalry or artillery; and in the rear was Turkey Island creek and the lowland between the hill and the James river, fully covered by the fire of the Union gunboats. Up the northern slope ran the Quaker road, which forked near the base of the hill, not far from the Crew house, the left hand or western branch running to the Darbytown road and the other to Willis Church, about 2 miles distant. East of this road was a heavy growth of timber, broken only by a clearing on the Poindexter farm along the left bank of Western run. Two roads led from the plateau to Harrison's landing on the James. McClellan's line was arranged in the form of a semi-circle, Morell on the left with his headquarters at the Crew house; Couch's division joined Morell's right and extended nearly to the West house, east of the Quaker road, the right resting on a ravine; Heintzelman's corps was to the right and rear of Couch, with Kearny's division on the left and Hooker's on the right, and in the rear of Heintzelman was Sumner. Warren's brigade of Sykes' division was sent to guard the river road south of the hill, and the other two—Buchanan's and Lovell's—were formed in the rear of Morell. Keyes, with Peck's division, was assigned to the duty of guarding the bridge at Carter's mill and the trains at Haxall. Franklin's corps was posted along Turkey creek on the right, within easy supporting distance of Sumner, and McCall's division, now commanded by Seymour, was stationed in front of the Malvern house, near the southern border of the plateau, where Porter had his headquarters. Berdan's sharpshooters were thrown forward across the Quaker road as skirmishers. Lee formed his line with D. H. Hill and Whiting east of the Willis Church road on the left; then two brigades of Huger's division, the rest of this division and Magruder's command being on the right across the road leading to the Darbytown road. The rest of Jackson's corps was in reserve behind D. H. Hill and Whiting; A. P. Hill was in reserve behind Magruder; Longstreet was further to the rear along the New Market road, and Holmes occupied his position of the day previous. When the line was formed the following order was sent to the various commanders in the front line: "Batteries have been established to rake the enemy's line. If it is broken, as is probable, Armistead, who can witness the effect of the fire, has been ordered to charge with a yell. Do the same." At 1 p. m. the Confederate batteries opened and about the same time Whiting and D. H. Hill were seen advancing across the open field on the Poindexter farm, where they were exposed to a galling fire from Couch's batteries until they forded the creek and gained the shelter of the woods, when they halted to wait for Armistead's yell. Armistead had formed his brigade in a ravine at the edge of the woods directly in front of the Crew house, and when the artillery fire commenced he sent forward Colonel Edmonds with the 38th Virginia to make a reconnaissance. Edmonds reported the Federals in force at the Crew house and Armistead asked that artillery be placed on the hill in his front before he attempted to advance. Grimes' and Pegram's batteries were sent to him, but their guns were silenced by those On Morell's front. A little after 3 o'clock Armistead ordered forward three regiments to drive back the Federal skirmish line. To quote his report: "In their ardor they went too far, but fortunately gained some protection by a wave of the ground between our position and that of the enemy." Here they were compelled to lie until after dark before they could be withdrawn. Artillery seemed to be in demand at all points along the enemy's line. Magruder asked for 30 rifled guns, but none came. D. H. Hill in his report says: "Instead of ordering up 100 or 200 pieces of artillery to play on the Yankees, a single battery (Moorman's) was ordered up and knocked to pieces in a few minutes. One or two others shared the same fate of being beaten in detail." Hill sent to Jackson for more cannon and received in reply a repetition of the order to advance upon hearing Armistead's signal. About 5:30 Hill heard shouting on his right and, believing this to be the signal, ordered his men to advance. Concerning this movement he says: "We advanced alone; neither Whiting, on the left, nor Magruder nor Huger, on the right, moved forward an inch. The division fought heroically and well, but fought in vain." Garland and Gordon, the latter in command of Rodes' brigade, made gallant charges, but their ranks were literally mowed down by the charges of shrapnel, grape and canister of the Union batteries, and they were forced to retire in disorder. In his report Hill states that the "front line of the Yankees was twice broken and in full retreat, when fresh troops came to its support." No other officer mentions anything of such an occurrence, and what he thought was a break in the line was probably some of Sedgwick's men changing places with Couch's to give the latter an opportunity to replenish their cartridge boxes. He is also in error about none of the other Confederate commands engaging the Federal troops, for about the time he made his advance Magruder made a desperate charge against the Union position at the Crew house, where the heavy siege guns were planted, and where a line of rifle-pits, which Kearny had dug in front of his division, commanded the salient points. Magruder sent forward in quick succession the brigades of Wright, Mahone, Cobb, Ransom and Barksdale, his plan being to charge with 15,000 men, to be followed up by fresh troops, and if repulsed to hold a position as far to the front as possible until another assault could be organized. His troops met the same fate as those of Hill. The converging fire of the artillery near the Crew house checked his advance and the line showed signs of going to pieces, when it was rallied and reinforced by McLaws' division, which was ordered by Lee to attack on the right, and again advanced. Once more the Federal cannon sent their deadly rain of canister into the lines of the Confederates, causing them to retreat in confusion. Magruder then gave his attention to securing a position somewhat in advance of his former one, and as darkness was at hand no further attempts were made to carry McClellan's position on the hill. That night the Federal army withdrew to Harrison's landing, where reinforcements and supplies could be received by way of the James. The losses of the Union army during the entire Seven Days' fighting were 1,734 killed, 8,062 wounded and 6,053 missing. The Confederates lost 3,286 killed, 15,909 wounded and 940 missing. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 783-793.


SEVEN MILE CREEK, DAKOTA TERRITORY, June 24-30, 1865. Detachment of the 1st Colorado Cavalry. Captain Luther Wilson, commanding the post at Fort Collins, Colonel, received information on the 24th that the Indians were committing depredations some 20 miles north of the fort, and immediately started for the scene of the trouble. Upon arriving at Stonewall Station he heard of an attempt of the Indians to run off the stock at Rock Creek Station and pushed forward to that place, to find that the savages had been defeated by the guard at the station, commanded by Corporal Ashley. From this point he followed the Indians to Seven-mile creek, about 7 miles north of the Little Laramie river, where he overtook them and after a sharp skirmish recaptured a herd of stock that they had taken from a train a short time before. The Indians were well mounted and made their escape without severe punishment. The place where this affair occurred is about 20 miles northwest of Laramie City, in what is now the State of Wyoming. Wilson returned to Fort Collins on the 30th. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 793.


SEVEN PINES, VIRGINIA, May 24, 1862. Reconnaissance of the 4th Army Corps. The reconnaissances by Colonels Gregg, Russell and Neill on the 23d discovered the enemy in force on the Williamsburg road, and Brigadier General E. D. Keyes, commanding the 4th corps, ordered General Casey, commanding the 3d division, to send five regiments of infantry, two batteries and the 8th Pennsylvania cavalry to develop the enemy's strength and position. Pursuant to this order the 52nd and 104th Pennsylvania of the 1st brigade; the 85th Pennsylvania of the 2nd; the 85th and 98th New York of the 3d, with Regan's and Spratt's batteries, all under the command of Brigadier-General H. H. Naglee, left camp near Bottom's bridge about 9 a. m. and moved out on the Williamsburg road toward Savage Station. Just beyond the station the enemy was found posted in the edge of a wood on the left of the road. Regan's battery was placed in the edge of the timber on the other side of the road and shelled the enemy's position at a range of about 600 yards. Under cover of this fire the 52nd Pennsylvania was deployed toward the woods on the left, advancing until it reached the protection of some buildings and a fence, when it opened fire at a range of 300 yards. The 104th Pennsylvania was then pushed forward in front, driving the Confederates from the woods and back beyond the cross-roads at Seven Pines, where the enemy was discovered in line of battle. Naglee was preparing to attack when he received orders from Keyes to stop the pursuit for fear of bringing on a general engagement. He was ordered to hold the crossroads, however, and Casey sent five regiments to reinforce him at that point. Naglee's loss was 1 man killed and several wounded; that of the enemy was not learned. Some skirmishing occurred in the vicinity on the 25th and 26th, but without important results to either side. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 793.


Seven Pines, Virginia, May 31-June 1, 1862. (See Fair Oaks.)


SEVEN PINES, VIRGINIA, June 15, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 3d Army Corps. During the morning several shells were thrown toward the Union works, most of them being directed against a tree that was used as a lookout, and the 73d New York, under Major Moriarty, was sent forward to reinforce the pickets. Toward noon a body of Confederate cavalry advanced against the pickets on the Williamsburg road and at the same time a considerable force of the enemy's infantry appeared on the right and front of a new redoubt that was under construction. The working party gave way and the pickets retired under cover. Four companies were then moved to the Williamsburg road on the left, and the enemy fell back without making any further demonstration. The Federal loss was 1 killed, 8 wounded and 1 missing. General Ripley reported the Confederate loss as being 3 killed, 4 wounded and 8 missing. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 794.


SEVERENCE, Caroline M. Seymour, 1820-1914, Canandaigua, New York, abolitionist, suffragist, women’s rights activist.  Member of the Boston Anti-Slavery Society.  Married to abolitionist Theodore C. Severence.  (Elwood-Akers, 2010; Severence, 1906)


SEVERENCE, Theodore C., abolitionist, husband of abolitionist Caroline Severence.  (Severence, 1906)


SEVIERVILLE, TENNESSEE, January 13-14, 1864. Detachment of the 15th Pennsylvania and 10th Ohio Cavalry. On the 13th a Confederate force under General Vance made a raid toward Sevierville, where they captured a forage train of 23 wagons. Colonel Palmer, with portions of the 9th Ohio and 15th Pennsylvania, gave prompt pursuit and overtook the enemy on the 14th after a march of 30 miles. Palmer charged and completely routed the Confederates, recapturing the train, together with 52 prisoners, including Vance,, 150 horses and saddles, an ambulance filled with medical stores, a quantity of provisions and 100 stands of arms. The Union force did not suffer any casualty. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 794.


SEWARD, William Henry, 1801-1872, statesman, U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, U.S. Senator from New York, abolitionist, member of the Anti-Slavery Wing of the Republican Party. 

(Baker, 1884; Dumond, 1961, pp. 292, 302, 355-356; Gienapp, 1987; Holt, 1999; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 9, 10, 54, 119-121, 160, 162, 165-167, 168, 177, 191-192, 198, 247; Pease, 1965, pp. 177-181, 483-485; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 52, 62, 136, 138, 240, 513, 634-636; Sewell, 1976; Van Deusen, 1976; Wilson, 1872, Vol. 2, pp. 164-166; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 470-472; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, p. 615; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 19, p. 676; Hinks, Peter P., & John R. McKivigan, Eds., Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition.  Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood, 2007, Vol. 2, pp. 613-616)


SEWARD, William Henry, statesman, born in Florida, Orange County, New York, 16 May, 1801; died in Auburn, New York, 10 October, 1872. His father, Dr. Samuel S. Seward, descended from a Welsh emigrant to Connecticut, combined medical practice with a large mercantile business. His mother was of Irish extraction. The son was fond of study, and in 1816 entered Union, after clue preparation at Farmers' Hall Academy, Goshen, New York. He withdrew from college in 1819, taught for six months in the south, and after a year's absence returned, and was graduated in 1820. After reading law with John Anthon in New York City, and John Duer and Ogden Hoffman in Goshen, he was admitted to the bar at Utica in 1822, and in January, 1823, settled in Auburn, New York, as the partner of Elijah Miller, the first judge of Cayuga County, whose daughter, Frances Adeline, he married in the following year. His industry and his acumen and power of logical presentation soon gave him a place among the leaders of the bar. In 1824 he first met Thurlow Weed at Rochester, and a close friendship between them, personal and political, continued through life. In that year also he entered earnestly into the political contest as an advocate of the election of John Quincy Adams, and in October of that year drew up an address of the Republican Convention of Cayuga County, in which he arraigned the “Albany Regency” and denounced the methods of Martin Van Buren's supporters. He delivered an anniversary address at Auburn on 4 July, 1825. He was one of the committee to welcome Lafayette, and in February, 1827, delivered an oration expressive of sympathy for the Greek revolutionists. On 12 August, 1827, he presided at Utica over a great convention of young men of New York in support of the re-election of John Q. Adams. He declined the anti-Masonic nomination for Congress in 1828, but joined that party on the dissolution of the National Republican Party, with which he had previously acted, consequent upon the setting aside of its candidate for Andrew Jackson. In 1830 he was elected as the anti-Masonic candidate for the state senate, in which body he took the lead in the opposition to the dominant party, and labored in behalf of the common schools and of railroad and canal construction. He proposed the collection of documents in the archives of European governments for the “Colonial History of New York,” advocated the election of the mayor of New York by the direct popular vote, and furthered the passage of the bill to abolish imprisonment for debt. At the close of the session he was chosen to draw up an address of the minority of the legislature to the people. On 4 July, 1831, he gave an address to the citizens of Syracuse on the “Prospects of the United States.” On 31 January, 1832, he defended the U.S. Bank in an elaborate speech in the state senate, and at the close of that session again prepared an address of the minority to their constituents. In 1833 he travelled through Europe, writing home letters which were afterward published in the “Albany Evening Journal.” In January, 1834, he denounced the removal of the U. S. bank deposits in a brilliant and exhaustive speech. He drew up a third minority address at the close of this his last session in the legislature. On 16 July, 1834, he delivered a eulogy of Lafayette at Auburn.

The Whig Party, which had originated in the opposition to the Jackson administration and the “Albany Regency,” nominated him for governor on 13 September, 1834, in the convention at Utica. He was defeated by William L. Marcy, and returned to the practice of law in the beginning of 1835. On 3 October of that year he made a speech at Auburn on education and internal improvements. In July, 1836, he quitted Auburn for a time in order to assume an agency at Westfield to settle the differences between the Holland land Company and its tenants. While there he wrote some political essays, and in July, 1837, delivered an address in favor of universal education. He took an active part in the political canvass of 1837, which resulted in a triumph of the Whigs. He was again placed in nomination for governor in 1838, and after a warm canvass, in which he was charged with having oppressed settlers for the benefit of the land company, and was assailed by anti-slavery men, who had failed to draw from him an expression of abolitionist principles, he was elected by a majority of 10,421. The first Whig governor was hampered in his administration by rivalries and dissension within the party. He secured more humane and liberal provisions for the treatment of the insane, a mitigation of the methods of discipline in the penitentiary, and the improvement of the common schools. His proposition to admit Roman Catholic and foreign-born teachers into the public schools, while it was applauded by the opposite party, drew upon him the reproaches of many of the Protestant clergy and laity, and subjected him to suspicion and abuse. His recommendations to remove disabilities from foreigners and to encourage, rather than restrict, emigration, likewise provoked the hostility of native-born citizens. His proposition to abolish the court of chancery and make the judiciary elective was opposed by the bench and the bar, yet within a few years the reform was effected. At his suggestion, specimens of the natural history of the state were collected, and, when the geological survey was completed, he prepared an elaborate introduction to the report, reviewing the settlement, development, and condition of the state, which appeared in the work under the title of “Notes on New York.” In the conflict between the proprietors and the tenants of Renselaerwyck he advocated the claims of the latter, but firmly suppressed their violent outbreaks. He was re-elected, with a diminished majority, in 1840. A contest over the enlargement of the Erie Canal and the completion of the lateral canals, which the Democrats prophesied would plunge the state into a debt of forty millions, grew sharper during Governor Seward's second term, and near its close the legislature stopped the public works. His projects for building railroads were in like manner opposed by that party.

In January, 1843, Seward retired to private life, resuming the practice of law at Auburn. He continued an active worker for his party during the period of its decline, and was a frequent speaker at political meetings. In 1843 he delivered an address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Union College on the “Elements of Empire in America.” He entered largely into the practice of patent law, and in criminal cases his services were in constant demand. Frequently he not only defended accused persons gratuitously, but gave pecuniary assistance to his clients. Among his most masterly forensic efforts were an argument for freedom of the press in a libel suit brought by J. Fenimore Cooper against Horace Greeley in 1845, and the defence of John Van Zandt, in 1847, against a criminal charge of aiding fugitive slaves to escape. At the risk of violence, and with a certainty of opprobrium, he defended the demented Negro Freeman, who had committed a revolting murder, emboldened, many supposed, by Seward's eloquent presentation of the doctrine of moral insanity in another case. In September, 1847, Seward delivered a eulogy on Daniel O'Connell before the Irish citizens of New York, and in 1848 a eulogy on John Quincy Adams before the New York Legislature. He took an active part in the presidential canvass, and in a speech at Cleveland described the conflict between freedom and slavery, saying of the latter: “It must be abolished, and you and I must do it.”

In February, 1849, Seward was elected U. S. Senator. His proposal, while governor, to extend suffrage to the Negroes of New York, and many public utterances, placed him in the position of the foremost opponent of slavery within the Whig Party. President Taylor selected Seward as his most intimate counsellor among the senators, and the latter declined to be placed on any important committee, lest his pronounced views should compromise the administration. In a speech delivered on 11 March, 1850, in favor of the admission of California, he spoke of the exclusion of slavery as determined by “the higher law,” a phrase that was denounced as treasonable by the southern Democrats. On 2 July, 1850, he delivered a great speech on the compromise bill. He supported the French spoliation bill, and in February, 1851, advocated the principles that were afterward embodied in the homestead law. His speeches covered a wide ground, ranging from a practical and statistical analysis of the questions affecting steam navigation, deep-sea exploration, the American fisheries, the duty on rails, and the Texas debt, to flights of passionate eloquence in favor of extending sympathy to the exiled Irish patriots, and moral support to struggles for liberty, like the Hungarian Revolution, which he reviewed in a speech on “Freedom in Europe,” delivered in March, 1852. After the death of Zachary Taylor many Whig Senators and representatives accepted the pro-slavery policy of President Fillmore, but Seward resisted it with all his energy. He approved the nomination of Winfield Scott for the presidency in 1852, but would not sanction the platform, which upheld the compromise of 1850. In 1853 he delivered an address at Columbus, Ohio, on ”The Destiny of America,” and one in New York City on “The True Basis of American Independence.” In 1854 he made an oration on “The Physical, Moral, and Intellectual Development of the American People” before the literary societies of Yale College, which gave him the degree of LL. D. His speeches on the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and on the admission of Kansas made a profound impression. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1855, in spite of the vigorous opposition of both the Native American Party and the Whigs of southern sympathies. In the presidential canvass of 1856 he zealously supported John C. Frémont, the Republican candidate. In 1857 he journeyed through Canada, and made a voyage to Labrador in a fishing-schooner, the “Log” of which was afterward published. In a speech at Rochester, New York, in October, 1858, he alluded to the “irrepressible conflict,” which could only terminate in the United States becoming either entirely a slave-holding nation or entirely a free-labor nation. He travelled in Europe, Egypt, and Palestine in 1859.

In 1860, as in 1856, Seward's pre-eminent position in the Republican Party made him the most conspicuous candidate for the presidential nomination. He received 173½ votes in the first ballot at the convention, against 102 given to Abraham Lincoln, who was eventually nominated, and in whose behalf he actively canvassed the western states. Lincoln appointed him Secretary of State, and before leaving the Senate to enter on the duties of this office he made a speech in which he disappointed some of his party by advising patience and moderation in debate, and harmony of action for the sake of maintaining the Union. He cherished hopes of a peaceful solution of the national troubles, and, while declining in March, 1861, to enter into negotiations with commissioners of the Confederate government, he was in favor of evacuating Fort Sumter as a military necessity and politic measure, while re-enforcing Fort Pickens, and holding every other post then remaining in the hands of the National government. He issued a circular note to the ministers abroad on 9 March, 1861, deprecating foreign intervention, and another on 24 April, defining the position of the United States in regard to the rights of neutrals. Negotiations were carried on with European governments for conventions determining such rights. He protested against the unofficial intercourse between the British Cabinet and agents of the Confederate States, and refused to receive despatches from the British and French governments in which they assumed the attitude of neutrals between belligerent powers. On 21 July he sent a despatch to Charles F. Adams, minister at London, defending the decision of Congress to close the ports of the seceded states. When the Confederate Commissioners were captured on board the British steamer “Trent” he argued that the seizure was in accordance with the British doctrine of the “right of search,” which the United States had resisted by the war of 1812. The release of these prisoners, at the demand of the British government, would now commit both governments to the maintenance of the American doctrine; so they would be “cheerfully given up.” He firmly rejected and opposed the proposal of the French emperor to unite with the English and Russian governments in mediating between the United States and the Confederate government. He made the Seward-Lyons Treaty with Great Britain for the extinction of the African slave-trade. The diplomatic service was thoroughly reorganized by Secretary Seward; and by his lucid despatches and the unceasing presentation of his views and arguments, through able ministers, to the European cabinets, the respect of Europe was retained, and the efforts of the Confederates to secure recognition and support were frustrated. In the summer of 1862, the army having become greatly depleted, and public proclamation of the fact being deemed unwise, he went to the north with letters from the president and Secretary of War, met and conferred with the governors of the loyal states, and arranged for their joint proffer of re-enforcements, to which the president responded by the call for 300,000 more troops. Mr. Seward firmly insisted on the right of American citizens to redress for the depredations of the “Alabama,” and with equal determination asserted the Monroe Doctrine in relation to the French invasion of Mexico, but, by avoiding a provocative attitude, which might have involved his government in foreign war, was able to defer the decision of both questions till a more favorable time. Before the close of the Civil War he intimated to the French government the irritation felt in the United States in regard to its armed intervention in Mexico. Many despatches on this subject were sent during 1865 and 1866, which gradually became more urgent, until the French forces were withdrawn and the Mexican empire fell. He supported President Lincoln's proclamation liberating the slaves in all localities in rebellion, and three years later announced by proclamation the abolition of slavery throughout the Union by constitutional amendment. In the spring of 1865 Mr. Seward was thrown from his carriage, and his arm and jaw were fractured. While he was confined to his couch with these injuries President Lincoln was murdered and on the same evening, 14 April, one of the conspirators gained access to the chamber of the secretary, inflicted severe wounds with a knife in his face and neck, and struck down his son, Frederick W., who came to his rescue. His recovery was slow and his sufferings were severe. He concluded a treaty with Russia for the cession of Alaska in 1867. He negotiated treaties for the purchase of the Danish West India Islands and the Bay of Samana, which failed of approval by the Senate, and made a treaty with Colombia to secure American control of the Isthmus of Panama, which had a similar fate. Secretary Seward sustained the reconstruction policy of President Johnson, and thereby alienated the more powerful section of the Republican Party and subjected himself to bitter censure and ungenerous imputations. He opposed the impeachment of President Johnson in 1868, and supported the election of General Grant in that year. He retired from office at the end of eight years of tenure in March, 1869. After a brief stay in Auburn, he journeyed across the continent to California, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alaska, returning through Mexico as the guest of its government and people. In August, 1870, he set out on a tour of the world, accompanied by several members of his family. He visited the principal countries of Asia, northern Africa, and Europe, being received everywhere with great honor. He studied their political institutions, their social and ethnological characteristics, and their commercial capabilities. Returning home on 9 October, 1871, he devoted himself to the preparation of a narrative of his journey, and after its completion to a history of his life and times, which was not half finished at the time of his death. The degree of LL. D. was given him by Union in 1866. He published, besides occasional addresses and numerous political speeches, a volume on the “Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams” (Auburn, 1849). An edition of his “Works” was published, which contains many of his earlier essays, speeches, and addresses, with a memoir by George E. Baker, reaching down to 1853 (3 vols., New York, 1853). To this a fourth volume was added in 1862, and a fifth in 1884, containing his later speeches and extracts from his diplomatic correspondence. His official correspondence during the eight years was published by order of Congress. The relation of his “Travels Around the World” was edited and published by his adopted daughter, Olive Risley Seward (New York, 1873). Charles F. Adams published an “Address on the Life, Character, and Services of Seward” (Albany, 1873), which was thought by some to have extolled him at the expense of President Lincoln's fame, and elicited replies from Gideon Welles and others. Mr. Seward's “Autobiography,” which extends to 1834, has been continued to 1846 in a memoir by his son, Frederick W., with selections from his letters (New York, 1877). The vignette portrait represents Governor Seward in early life, and the other illustration is a view of his residence at Auburn. There is a bronze statue of Mr. Seward, by Randolph Rogers, in Madison square, New York.—His son, Augustus Henry, soldier, born in Auburn, New York, 1 October, 1826; died in Montrose, New York, 11 September, 1876, was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1847, served through the Mexican War as lieutenant of infantry, afterward in Indian territory till 1851, and then on the coast survey till 1859, when he joined the Utah Expedition. He was made a captain on 19 January, 1859, and on 27 March, 1861, a major on the staff. He served as paymaster during the Civil War, receiving the brevets of lieutenant-colonel and colonel at its close.—Another son, Frederick William, lawyer, born in Auburn, New York, 8 July, 1830, was graduated at Union in 1849, and after he was admitted to the bar at Rochester, New York, in 1851, was associate editor of the Albany “Evening Journal” till 1861, when he was appointed assistant Secretary of State, which office he held for the eight years that his father was secretary. In 1867 he went on a special mission to Santo Domingo. He was a member of the New York legislature in 1875, and introduced the bill to incorporate the New York elevated Railroad and the amendments to the constitution providing for a reorganization of the state canal and prison systems, placing each under responsible heads, and abolishing the old boards. He was assistant Secretary of State again in 1877-'81, while William M. Evarts was secretary. Union conferred on him the degree of LL. D. in 1878. His principal publication is the “Life and Letters” of his father (New York, 1877), of which the second volume is now (1888) in preparation. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 470-472.

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

Just one year from the disappearance of Mr. Adams from the theatre on which he had borne so prominent and important a part were elected to the Senate of the United States William H. Seward of New York and Salmon P. Chase of Ohio. Both were deeply inspired by the spirit of freedom, and had labored earnestly in its behalf. Both were men of large capacity, superior culture; laudable ambition; and tireless industry; and their entrance upon this new and broader sphere of action was welcomed by the antislavery men of the nation with high and exciting hopes that they" would prove worthy champions of a noble cause. Nor were these hopes doomed to disappointment.

In the election of 1848, the Democratic Party of New York had been riven iii twain and completely routed. The Whigs had elected all but one of its thirty-four members of Congress. They had secured four fifths of the legislature, and Hamilton Fish had been elected governor by a plurality of one hundred thousand. . Mr. Seward had done much to retain the antislavery Whigs of that and other Northern States, notwithstanding the rejection of the Wilmot proviso by the national convention. During the presidential canvass he said little of platforms or candidates, but spoke with signal ability in behalf of the Union, equal rights, the diffusion of knowledge, the development of the country, and the abolition of slavery.

During this canvass he addressed a convention in Cleveland, Ohio, and presented the issues growing out of the existence of slavery with singular boldness and distinctness of utterance. At the same time he described with philosophic accuracy and with marvelous force and felicity of language the distinction between the party of freedom and the party of slavery. He declared the antagonistic elements of American Society to be freedom and slavery. “Freedom," he said,” is in harmony with our system of government and with the spirit of the ages and' is therefore passive and quiescent. Slavery is in conflict with that system, with justice, and with humanity, and is therefore organized, defensive, active, and perpetually aggressive. Freedom insists on the emancipation and elevation of labor; slavery demands soil moistened with tears and blood." Resulting from these elements, the American people were divided, he affirmed, into the party of freedom and the party of slavery. “The party of slavery,'' he said,” upholds an aristocracy founded on the humiliation of labor as necessary to the existence of a chivalrous republic. The party of freedom maintains universal suffrage, which makes men equal before the laws, as they are in the sight of a common Creator. The party of slavery cherishes ignorance because it is the only security for oppression. . The party of liberty demands the diffusion of knowledge because it is the safeguard of republican institutions. The party of slavery declares that institution munificent and approved of God, and therefore inviolable. The party of freedom seeks complete and universal emancipation."

Admitting that the Whig Party had fallen from its ancient faith and was comparatively unsound, he claimed that it was the truest and most faithful of the two parties, the one or the other of which must prevail. He gave expression to the pregnant thought that the Whig Party was as faithful to the interests of freedom as the “inert conscience " of the American people would permit it to be, and he urged the duty of making it more faithful. " Slavery," he said,” can be limited to its present bounds, it can be ameliorated, it can be and must be abolished; and you and I can and must do it." Maintaining that the strength of slavery did not lie in the Constitution of the United States, nor in the constitutions and laws of the slaveholding States, but in the erroneous sentiments of the American people, he urged the men of Ohio to " inculcate " the " law of freedom and equal rights of man under the paternal roof, and to see to it that they are taught in the schools and in the churches. “Reform your own code," he continued; "extend a cordial welcome to the fugitive who lays his weary limbs at your door, and -defend him as you would your paternal gods ; correct your own error, that slavery bas any constitutional guaranty which may not be released and ought not to be relinquished. Say to slavery, when it shows its ' bond ' and demands its ' pound of flesh,' that if it draws one drop of blood its life shall be the forfeit."

These sentiments, thus decided, not to say defiant, were expressed in dignified language, with forensic art and the adroitness of the statesman, who made the manner strengthen and enforce the matter of his discourse. He counselled, too, their inculcation with a spirit of moderation and benevolence, and not of retaliation and fanaticism; and he expressed the be­lief that by so doing they would bring the friends of the country into an effective aggression upon slavery, and that when the public mind should will its abolition a way would be opened to do it. He urged them not to overlook· the attainable in their efforts to secure the unattainable, and to “remember that no human work is done without preparation."

Source:  Wilson, Henry, History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, Vol. 2.  Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1872, 164-166.

—Another son, William Henry, soldier, born in Auburn, New York, 18 June, 1839, was educated by a private tutor, and in 1861 engaged in banking at Auburn. He entered the volunteer service as lieutenant-colonel of the 138th New York Infantry, and was afterward made colonel of the 9th New York heavy Artillery. In 1863 he was sent on a special mission to Louisiana. Colonel Seward was engaged at Cold Harbor and the other battles of the Wilderness Campaign. He afterward commanded at Fort Foote. Maryland, and took part in the battle of Monocacy, where he was wounded, but retained his command. He was commissioned as brigadier-general on 13 September, 1864, was commandant for some time at Martinsburg, Virginia, and resigned his commission on 1 June, 1865, returning to the banking business at Auburn. He is president of the Auburn city Hospital, and an officer in various financial and charitable associations.—William Henry's nephew, Clarence Armstrong, lawyer, born in New York City, 7 October. 1828, was brought up as a member of his uncle's family, his parents having died when he was a child. He was graduated at Hobart in 1848, studied law, and began practice in Auburn as a partner of Samuel Blatchford, whom he assisted in the compilation of the "New York Civil and Criminal Justice" (Auburn, 1850). In 1854 he established himself in New York City. He was judge-advocate-general of the state in 1856-'60. After the attempted assassination of Secretary Seward and his son, Frederick W., he was appointed acting assistant Secretary of State. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention of 1878, and a presidential elector in 1880. His practice has especially related to railroads, express companies, patents, and extraditions. — Another nephew of William Henry, George Frederick, diplomatist, born in Florida, New York, 8 November, 1840, was prepared for college at Seward Institute in his native village, and entered Union with the class of 1860, but was not graduated. In 1861 he was appointed U. S. consul at Shanghai, China. In the exercise of extra-territorial jurisdiction he had to pass judgment on river pirates claiming to be Americans, who infested the Yang-tse-Kiang during the Taeping rebellion, and by his energy and determination checked the evil. In 1863 he was made consul-general, and introduced reforms in the consular service in China. He returned to the United States in 1866 to urge legislation for the correction of abuses in the American judicial establishment in China, which he was only able to effect on a second visit to the United States in 1869. He went to Siam in 1868 to arrange a difficulty that had arisen in regard to the interpretation of the treaty with that country. He was appointed U. S. minister to Corea in 1869, but at his suggestion the sending of a mission to that country was deferred, and he did not enter on the duties of the office. In 1873 he landed the crews of two American vessels-of-war, and, as dean of the consular corps, summoned a force of volunteers for the suppression of a riot which endangered the European quarter. On 7 January, 1876, he was commissioned as minister to China. During his mission he was called home to answer charges against his administration, in Congress, and was completely exculpated after a long investigation. He declined to undertake the task of negotiating a treaty for the restriction of Chinese immigration, and, in order to carry out the views that prevailed in Congress, he was recalled, and James B. Angell was appointed his successor on 9 April, 1880. After his return to the United States, Mr. Seward became a broker in New York City. He was president of the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1865-'6. Besides his official reports and diplomatic correspondence, he has written a book on " Chinese Immigration in its Social and Economical Aspects," containing arguments against anti-Chinese legislation (New York. 1881).


SEWELL, Louisa, Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS), Boston, Massachusetts (Yellin, 1994, p. 50)


SEWELL, William Grant, journalist, born in Quebec in 1829; died there, 8 August, 1862, was educated for the bar, but preferred journalism, and in 1853 moved to New York City and became translator and law reporter for the " Herald." He was afterward connected for six years with the New York "Times," becoming one of its principal editors. Infirmity of health compelled him to pass three winters in the West Indies, and, while there, he studied the results of emancipation, which he reviewed dispassionately in "The Ordeal of Free Labor in the West Indies" (New York, 1861). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 474.


SEWELL, William Joyce, senator, born in Castlebar, Ireland, 6 December, 1835. He was left an orphan, came to the United States in 1851, was for a time employed in mercantile business in New York City, made several voyages as a sailor on merchant vessels, afterward engaged in business in Chicago, Illinois. At the beginning of the Civil War, being in the eastern part of the country, he entered the army as a captain in the 5th New Jersey Regiment. He rose to be colonel in October, 1862, and commanded a brigade at Chancellorsville, where he led a brilliant charge and was badly wounded. He was wounded also at Gettysburg, and served creditably on other battlefields. On 13 March, 1865, he received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers for bravery at Chancellorsville, and that of major-general for his services during the war. He served for nine years in the New Jersey Senate, of which he was president for three years. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1876, 1880, 1884, and 1888. He entered the U. S. Senate on 4 March, 1881, and served till 3 March, 1887. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 474.


SEWELL'S POINT, VIRGINIA, May 18-19, 1861. U. S. S. Monticello. Confederate reports state that the steamer Monticello opened fire upon the unfinished batteries at Sewell's point, and that General Gwynn hurried 5 pieces of artillery down from Norfolk, placed them in position and returned the fire on the 19th, when the vessel was disabled and withdrew. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 794.


SEWELL'S POINT, VIRGINIA, May 8, 1862. Union Gunboats. A Confederate account states that on this date the Union gunboats, including the monitor, attacked the batteries on Sewell's point, and that the Merrimac, upon hearing the guns, proceeded with all possible speed from the navy yard, when the Federal vessels took refuge under the guns of Fortress Monroe. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 794.


SEXTANT. An instrument for measuring the angular distances of objects by reflection. It is a segment of a circle of 60. The quadrant and reflecting circle are instruments which depend on the same principle of optics, viz.: if an object be seen by reflection from two mirrors which are perpendicular to the same plane, the angular distance of the object from its image is double the inclination of the mirrors. The purpose, then, of the sextant, quadrant, and reflecting circle, is the adaptation of a convenient method for measuring the angle between two mirrors perpendicular to the same plane, and thus ascertaining the angle between two objects. This is accomplished by a contrivance which enables the mirrors to be so arranged that an object seen directly is brought to coincide with the image of another object seen by reflection, and the angle is shown by an index. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 550).


SEXTON, Pliny, Palmyra, New York, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1852-1864.


SEYMOUR, Aseph, New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971).


SEYMOUR, Horatio, statesman, born in Pompey Hill, Onondaga County, New York, 31 May, 1810; died in Utica, New York, 12 February, 1886. He attended school in his native village until he was ten years of age, when he was sent to Oxford Academy. In the spring of 1824 he entered Geneva Academy (now Hobart College), and remained there a year, going thence to Partridge's Military School at Middletown, Connecticut. He studied law with Greene C. Bronson and Samuel Beardsley, and was admitted to the bar in 1832, but he never practised his profession, the care of the property he had inherited taking up much of his time. He became military secretary of Governor William L. Marcy in 1833, and held the place until 1839. In 1841 he was elected to the state assembly as a Democrat, and in 1842 was elected mayor of Utica by a majority of 130 over Spencer Kellogg, the Whig candidate. In 1843 he was renominated, but was beaten by Frederick Hollister by sixteen votes. In the autumn of the same year he was elected again to the assembly, and in the session that began in 1844 he distinguished himself among men like John A. Dix, Sanford E. Church, and Michael Hoffman. He was chairman of the committee on canals, and presented an elaborate report, which was the basis of the canal policy of the state for many years. He advocated the employment of the surplus revenue to enlarge the locks of the Erie Canal and proceed with the construction of the Black River and Genesee Valley canals, and he showed thorough confidence in the development of trade with the west. He was once more elected to the assembly in the autumn of 1844, and was chosen speaker in the legislature of 1845. In 1850 he became the candidate of the Democratic Party for governor, as a man acceptable to all its factions; but he was defeated by the Whig candidate, Washington Hunt, by a majority of 262, though Sanford E. Church, his associate on the Democratic ticket, was elected lieutenant-governor. In 1852 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Baltimore, and did all in his power to have the vote of the New York delegation cast wholly for William L. Marcy, but failed. The same year he was again nominated as the Democratic candidate for governor, and was elected by a majority of 22,596 over his former competitor, Washington Hunt. During his term there was a strong temperance movement in the state, and the legislature passed a prohibitory law, which Governor Seymour vetoed, declaring its provisions to be unconstitutional, and denying its good policy. In 1854 he was renominated for the governorship, and received 156,495 votes, to 156,804 cast for Myron H. Clark, the Whig and temperance candidate, 122,282 for Daniel Ullman, the " Know-Nothing " candidate, and 33,500 for Greene O. Bronson, the candidate of the "Hard-shell" Democrats. The vetoed law was again passed by the legislature, approved by Governor Clark, and afterward declared unconstitutional by the court of appeals. In 1856 Mr. Seymour was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Cincinnati, and he supported the Democratic candidates, Buchanan and Breckinridge, actively in the presidential canvass of that year. In a speech delivered at Springfield, Massachusetts, 4 July, 1856, he set forth the political principles that he had previously followed and afterward adhered to. It gives the key to his whole political career. He argued against centralization and for local authority: "That government is most wise which is in the hands of those best informed about the particular questions on which they legislate, most economical and honest when controlled by those most interested in preserving frugality and virtue, most strong when it only exercises authority which is beneficial to the governed." He argued against the attempt to reform by legislative restraint, instancing a prison as a type of society perfectly regulated and yet vicious. He argued for a liberal policy in regard for immigration, saying that it was bringing acquisitions of power, peacefully and easily, such as no conqueror had ever won in war: but he did not deny the right of the people of this country to regulate immigration or even to forbid it altogether, which he asserted many years afterward in regard to the importation of Chinese. He argued that the growth of the north was so much more rapid than that of the south that political supremacy had passed into the hands of the free states. He argued for the right of the people of the territories to settle the slavery question for themselves, assuming that under such a policy there would be a rapid increase of free states. In 1857 Mr. Seymour received from President Buchanan the offer of a first-class foreign mission, but declined it; and he took no prominent part in politics again until the secession movement began. He was a member of the committee on resolutions at the convention held in Tweddle Hall, Albany, 31 January, 1861, after the secession of six states, to consider the feasibility of compromise measures; and he delivered a speech designed mainly to show the peculiar dangers of civil war. When the war began in 1861, Mr. Seymour was in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Democratic members of the legislature, then in session, called him into consultation as to the proper course of political action. He counselled the simple duty of loyalty, to obey the laws, and maintain the national authority, and he was active in raising one of the first companies of Wisconsin volunteers. When he returned home in the autumn he spoke at a Democratic ratification meeting held in Utica, 28 October, 1861, saying: "In common with the majority of the American people, I deplored the election of Mr. Lincoln as a great calamity; yet he was chosen in a constitutional manner, and we wish, as a defeated organization, to show our loyalty by giving him a just and generous support.'' He was an active member of the committee appointed by Governor Edwin D. Morgan to raise troops in Oneida County, and he contributed liberally to the fund for the volunteers. In the following winter he delivered at Albany an address on the state and national defences; at a meeting of representative Democrats, held in the state capital in the disastrous summer of 1862, he introduced a resolution that "we were bound in honor and patriotism to send immediate relief to our brethren in the field "; and, at the request of the adjutant-general of the state, he became chairman of the committee to take charge of recruiting in his own neighborhood. On 10 September, 1862, the Democratic State Convention nominated him for governor. In his address to that body, accepting the nomination, he intimated that compromise measures might have prevented the war, justified the maintenance of party organization, criticised the spirit of congress as contrasted with that of the army as he had found both during a visit to the national capitol and the camps, and argued that the Republican Party could not, in the nature of things, save the nation. After a canvass in which he asserted on all occasions the right of criticising the administration and the duty of sustaining the government, he was elected, defeating General James S. Wadsworth by a majority of 10,752 votes. Perhaps the fairest statement of his position in regard to the war at that period is to be found in the following passage from his inaugural message of 7 January, 1863: "The assertion that this war was the unavoidable result of slavery is not only erroneous, but it has led to a disastrous policy in its prosecution. The opinion that slavery must be abolished to restore our Union creates an antagonism between the free and the slave states which ought not to exist. If it is true that slavery must be abolished by the force of the Federal government, that the south must be held in military subjection, that four millions of Negroes must for many years be under the direct management of the authorities at Washington at the public expense, then, indeed, we must endure the waste of our armies in the field, further drains upon our population, and still greater burdens of debt. We must convert our government into a military despotism. The mischievous opinion that in this contest the north must subjugate and destroy the south to save our Union has weakened the hopes of our citizens at home and destroyed confidence in our success abroad." This argument against the probability of success along the path that finally led to it was of course supplemented by an unequivocal declaration in favor of the restoration of the Union and the supremacy of the constitution. On 23 March, 1863, President Lincoln wrote to Governor Seymour a letter seeming to suggest a personal pledge of co-operation, and the governor sent his brother to Washington to convey assurances of loyal support, but along with them a protest against the policy of arbitrary arrests. On 13 April, 1863, Governor Seymour sent to the legislature a message suggesting a constitutional amendment as a necessary preliminary to a law allowing soldiers in the field to vote; and on 24 April he vetoed a bill " to secure the elective franchise to qualified voters of the army and navy of the state of New York," on the ground that it was unconstitutional. The amendment that he had recommended was afterward adopted. In everything pertaining to the raising of troops Governor Seymour's administration showed conspicuous energy and ability, but especially in the effort to meet Lee's invasion of the north in the early summer of 1863. On 15 June the Secretary of War telegraphed to Governor Seymour asking for help, and within three days 12,000 state militia, " well equipped and in good spirits," were on their way to Harrisburg. The good-will for such an achievement was not rare during the war, but it was not often joined with the necessary executive ability, and President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton both sent their thanks to Governor Seymour for his promptitude. On 2 July, Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, telegraphed for aid, and on the two following-days troops were sent to his assistance. During the absence of the New York Militia the draft riots began. They had their pretext, if not their origin, in two grievances, which were afterward abolished. One was the commutation clause in the draft law, which provided that any drafted man might obtain exemption by paying the government three hundred dollars. The poor regarded this as a fraud upon them in the desperate lottery of life and death. The other was a discrimination against New York State, and especially New York City, in the allotment of quotas. Governor Seymour had been anxious to have this injustice corrected, and to have the draft postponed; but it began in the metropolis on Saturday, 11 July, 1863. On Sunday the names of those drawn were published, and on Monday the rioting began. The rioters stopped at no outrage, not even the murder of the innocent and helpless. That night the governor reached the city, and the next day he issued two proclamations, the first calling upon all citizens to retire to their homes and preserve the peace, and the second declaring the city in a state of insurrection. The same day he took measures for enrolling volunteers and gathering all available troops. On Tuesday he also spoke to a mob in front of the city-hall. Then, and ever afterward, his impromptu speech was the subject of bitter criticism. It seems clear, from various conflicting and imperfect reports of it, that he promised the crowd that if they had grievances they would be redressed, declared himself their friend, and urged the necessity of obedience to law and the restoration of order. The design of the speech was twofold—to persuade the crowd to disperse, and, in any event, 'to gain time for the concentration of the forces within reach to suppress the riot. Under the direction of General John E. Wool, with but slight aid from the National forces, order was restored within forty-eight hours. The rioting lasted from Monday afternoon until Thursday evening, cost about a thousand lives, and involved the destruction of property estimated at from half a million to three million dollars in value. Shortly afterward Governor Seymour wrote to President Lincoln, pointing out the injustice done in the enrolment, and asking to have the draft stopped, in order that New York might fill her quota with volunteers. The president conceded that there was an apparent unfairness in the enrolment, but refused to stop the draft. A commission, appointed by the War Department to investigate the matter, declared that the enrolment under the act of 3 March, 1863, was imperfect, erroneous, and excessive, especially with reference to the cities of New York and Brooklyn. On 16 April, 1864, a Republican legislature passed a resolution thanking Governor Seymour for his "prompt and efficient efforts" in pointing out the errors of the enrolment and procuring their correction. He took an active part in the state canvass of 1863, making many speeches in defence of his own record and the principles of his party, and attacking the policy of the administration; but in the election the state gave a Republican majority of about 29,000. On 22 April, 1864, the governor sent to the legislature a message urging the payment of interest on the state debt in gold; and this action was construed by political opponents as a covert attack on the national credit. On 3 August, 1864, the Democratic National Convention met in Chicago, and Governor Seymour presided, refusing to be a candidate for the presidential nomination. But he became a candidate for the governorship that year, and was defeated by Reuben E. Fenton, Republican, by a majority of 8,293. After the close of the war Mr. Seymour remained a leader in politics. He made speeches in the state canvasses of 1865, 1866, and 1867, opposing strongly the reconstruction policy of the Republican Party, and criticising sharply its financial methods. He presided over the state conventions of his party, 3 October, 1867, and 11 March, 1868, and over the National Convention that met in New York City, 4 July, 1868. In spite of previous declarations that he would not be a candidate before that body, and in spite of his protestations during its proceedings, the convention nominated him for the presidency, and he allowed himself, against his better judgment, to be over persuaded into accepting the nomination. In the election of 3 November, 1868, he carried the states of Delaware. Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon; Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas did not vote; and the rest of the states voted for General Grant, the Republican candidate. The electoral vote stood 214 for Grant and 80 for Seymour; the popular vote, 3,015,071 for Grant and 2,709,213 for Seymour. This defeat virtually closed Mr. Seymour's political career, for, though mentioned in connection with the presidency regularly every four years, offered the senatorship, and nominated for the governorship, he refused steadily to have anything more to do with public office. The remote origin of his last illness was a sunstroke, which he suffered in 1876 while overseeing the repairing of the roads in Deerfield, near Utica, where he had settled in 1864. See the accompanying view of his residence at Deerfield on the left bank of the Mohawk River. Mr. Seymour was of fair stature, lithely and gracefully built, and had a refined face, lighted up by dark, glowing eyes. In social intercourse he was simple in manner and considerate in spirit. As an orator he was easy, agreeable, and powerful, plausible and candid in ordinary argument, and yet rising often into true eloquence. He made many speeches on other than political occasions; he loved farming, and often delivered addresses at agricultural gatherings; he was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and frequently took part in its conventions as a lay delegate; he was a member of the commission for the state survey, and was in an especial way the £ of the canal system. It may be said broadly that he was master of everything connected with the history, topography, and institutions of New York. Mr. Seymour married, 31 May, 1835, Mary Bleecker, of Albany, who survived him only twenty days. They had no children. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 475-478.


SEYMOUR, Origen Storrs, jurist, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, 9 February, 1804; died there, 12 August, 1881, was the son of Ozias Seymour, who was for many years sheriff of Litchfield County. He was placed in a mercantile house in New York at the age of fourteen, but illness forced him to return home, and he then entered Yale. An affection of the eyes compelled him to learn his lessons by hearing them read to him, and the training that this gave to his memory had much influence on his subsequent career. He was graduated in 1824, read law, was admitted to the bar in 1826, and engaged in active practice. He was county clerk in 1836-'44, served in the legislature in 1842, 1849, and 1850, and in the last year was speaker of the house. In the same year he was chosen to Congress as a Democrat, serving two terms. He was one of the small number of anti-Nebraska Democrats whose opposition nearly defeated the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, but in the contest that followed he adhered to the Democratic Party. In 1855 he became a judge of the state superior court, but in 1863 the Republican legislature refused to re-elect him and his Democratic colleague, through fear that they might interfere with the National draft with writs of habeas corpus, though they had been War Democrats. In 1864 he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor, and in 1870 a legislature whose majority was Republican chose him to the bench of the state supreme court. In 1873 he succeeded to the chief judgeship and in 1874, by constitutional limitation of age, he retired. After that he was employed chiefly as committee and arbitrator in the trial of causes. In one county the majority of the cases on the superior court docket were referred to him by agreement for decision. In 1876 he was chairman of the commission that settled the long-standing boundary dispute between Connecticut and New York, and in 1878 he was at the head of the one that prepared the new state practice act. From 1876 till his death he delivered an annual course of lectures at Yale law-school. He was elected to office for the last time in 1881, when he was again a member of the legislature. Judge Seymour was an active member of the Protestant Episcopal Church and a delegate to every general convention from 1868 till his death. Trinity gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1866, and Yale in 1873. A memorial of him was printed privately (Hartford, 1882). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 478.


SEYMOUR, Thomas Hart, governor of Connecticut, born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1808; died there, 3 September, 1868. His early education was obtained in the schools of his native city, and he was graduated at Captain Alden Partridge's Military Institute at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1829. He was, for some time after his return to Hartford, the commanding officer of the Hartford Light-Guard. He then studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Hartford about 1833. He soon attained to a fair practice, but never aspired to a high position in his profession. In 1837-'8 he became editor of a Democratic paper, " The Jeffersonian," and about the same time was judge of probate for the district. His popular manners and address soon threw him into politics, and in 1843 he was elected to Congress from the Hartford District. At the expiration of his term he declined a renomination. In March, 1846, he was commissioned major of the 9th or New England Regiment of Volunteers in the Mexican War. On 13 October, 1847, Colonel Hansom, its commander, having fallen in the assault on Chapultepec, Major Seymour led the troops, scaled the eight, and with his command was the first to enter that fortress. He was promoted to the command of the regiment, and took part in the capture of Mexico. In 1849 he was nominated for governor, but, though gaining largely over the vote of the preceding year, he was not elected. The next year he was again a candidate, and was chosen by a handsome majority, and re-elected in 1851, 1852, and 1853. In 1852 he was presidential elector. In the autumn of 1853 President Pierce appointed him U. S. minister to Russia, and, resigning the governorship, he filled the office for four years. He formed a warm personal friendship for both the Czar Nicholas and his son, and received from them many costly tokens of their regard. After nearly a year of European travel he returned to the United States in 1858. When the Civil War began, his sympathies were largely with the south, and he continued his opposition to the war until its close as the leader of the Connecticut Peace Democrats. In 1862 the state senate voted that his portrait, with that of Isaac Toucey. should bo moved from the chamber till the comptroller should be satisfied of his loyalty. In 1863 he was again a candidate for governor, but was defeated by William A. Buckingham, after an exciting contest. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 478-479


SEYMOUR, Truman, soldier, born in Burlington, Vermont, 25 September, 1824. His grandfather was first cousin to Moses, noticed above. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1846, assigned to the 1st U.S. Artillery, and in the war with Mexico won the brevet of 1st lieutenant for gallantry at Cerro Gordo, and that of captain for Contreras and Churubusco. He was promoted 1st lieutenant, 26 August, 1847, and in 1850-3 was assistant professor of drawing at West Point. He served against the Seminoles in Florida in 1856-'8, was made captain, 22 November, 1860, and took part in the defence of Fort Sumter in 1861, for which he received the brevet of major. He commanded the 5th U.S. Artillery and the U. S. camp of instruction at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from December, 1861, till March, 1862, and was then chief of artillery of General George A. McCall's division till 28 April, 1862, when he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. He served in the various campaigns in Virginia and Maryland in 1862, commanding the left wing at Mechanicsville, 26 June, leading a division at Malvern Hill, 1 July, and gaining the brevets of lieutenant-colonel and colonel for South Mountain and Antietam respectively. After 18 November, 1862, he was in the Department of the South, serving as chief of staff to the commanding general from 8 January till 23 April, 1863, leading a division on Folly Island, South Carolina, on 4 July taking part in the attack on Morris Island on 10 July, and commanding the unsuccessful assault on Fort Wagner on 18 July, when he was severely wounded. He was in charge of an expedition to Florida in February, 1864, and took possession of Jacksonville on 7 February He left that town with 5,000 men on the 18th, and on the 20th met the enemy under General Joseph Finegan near Olustee. After a three-hours battle, General Seymour was forced to retire to Jacksonville. He returned to Virginia after commanding the District of Florida till 28 March, 1864, led a brigade in the 6th Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and was taken prisoner in the battle of the Wilderness, 6 May, 1864. After being taken to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was exposed, by order of General Samuel Jones, to the fire of the National batteries on Morris Island, he was exchanged on 9 August, and led a division in the Shenandoah Valley and the Richmond Campaign, being engaged in the assault on the Confederate picket-lines at Petersburg, on 26 March, 1865, and the general attack of 2 April, which ended the siege of that place. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers "for ability and energy in handling his division, and for gallantry and valuable services in action," and brigadier-general, U. S. Army, for gallantry at the capture of Petersburg, both commissions to date from 13 March, 1865. He was present at Lee's surrender, was mustered out of volunteer service, 24 August, 1865, and became major of the 5th U.S. Artillery, 13 August, 1866. After the war he commanded forts in Florida, Fort Warren, Massachusetts, in 1869-'70, and Fort Preble, Maine, in 1870-'5. and on 1 November, 1876, he was retired from active service. Since his retirement he has resided in Europe, chiefly in Florence. Williams College gave him the degree of A. M. in 1865. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 479.


SHACKELFORD, James M, soldier, born in Lincoln County, Kentucky, 7 July, 1827. After receiving an education in private schools, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1854, and practised in Kentucky. He served in the war with Mexico as a lieutenant. During the Civil War he was colonel of the 25th Kentucky Volunteers, and subsequently of the 8th Kentucky Cavalry, and was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers on 2 January, 1863. His command captured General John H. Morgan in Columbiana County, Ohio, in July, 1863. Since the war he has practised his profession in Evansville, Indiana. In 1880 he was a Republican presidential elector for Indiana. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 479.


SHADD, Abraham Doras, 1801-1882, Chester County, Pennsylvania, African American, abolitionist leader.  Manager, 1833-1837, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Member of the Underground Railroad.  (Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 10, p. 163)


SHADD-Cary, Mary Ann Camberton, 1823-1893, see Cary, Mary Ann Camberton Shadd


SHADNA CHURCH, GEORGIA, October 2, 1864. (See Fairburn, same date.)


SHADY GROVE, GEORGIA, December 1, 1864. 1st Brigade, 3d Cavalry Division, General Sherman's Army. As the army was marching from Atlanta to the sea the brigade, commanded by Colonel E. H. Murray, was moving from Louisville to Waynesboro, and about 10:30 a. m. found two brigades of Confederate infantry drawn up at Shady grove. The 5th Kentucky opened the fight and was being hard pressed, when Colonel Jones, of the 8th Indiana, threw a battalion of his regiment on each flank of the Kentuckians and pushed the third one forward into line. The Confederates soon gave way and were pursued for 3 miles. No casualties reported. (Also called Millen's grove.) The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 794.


SHADY SPRINGS, WEST VIRGINIA, August 28, 1862. 2nd West Virginia Cavalry. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 794.


SHADY SPRINGS, WEST VIRGINIA, July 14, 1863. 2nd West Virginia Cavalry. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 794.


SHAFT in mining, is a perpendicular excavation. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 550)


SHAFFNER, Taliaferro Preston, inventor, born in Smithfield, Fauquier County, Virginia, in 1818; died in Troy, New York, 11 December, 1881. He was chiefly self-educated, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but gave much time to invention. He was an associate of Samuel F. B. Morse in the introduction of the telegraph, built the line from Louisville, Kentucky, to New Orleans, and that from St. Louis to Jefferson City in 1851, and held office in various telegraph companies. He was a projector of a North Atlantic cable via Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Scotland, and was the inventor of several methods of blasting with nitroglycerine and other high explosives, for which twelve patents were issued. In 1864 he was in the service of Denmark during the Dano-Prussian War. He was a member of various scientific societies of Europe. Mr. Shaffner published the "Telegraph Companion: devoted to the Science and Art of the Morse American Telegraph" (2 vols., New York, 1855); “The Telegraph Manual” (1859); “The Secession War in America” (London, 1862); “History of America” (2 vols., 1863); and “Odd-Fellowship” (New York, 1875). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 479-480.


SHALER, Alexander, soldier, born in Haddam, Connecticut, 19 March, 1827. He was educated in private schools, entered the New York Militia as a private in 1845, and became major of the 7th New Work Regiment, 13 December, 1860. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 65th New York Volunteers in June, 1861, became colonel, 17 July, 1862, and commanded the military prison at Johnson's Island, Ohio, during the winter of 1863–4. He served with the Army of the Potomac, participating in all its battles, until 6 May, 1864, when he was taken Prisoner at the battle of the Wilderness, and was held in Charleston, South Carolina, during the summer of that year. After his exchange, he commanded a division in the 7th Corps and the post of Duval's Bluffs, Arkansas, serving in the southwest until he was mustered out on 24 August, 1865. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers on 26 May, 1863, and brevetted major-general of volunteers on 27 July, 1865. From 1867 till 1870 he was president of the board of commissioners of the Metropolitan Fire Department, and commissioner of the Fire Department of New York City in 1870–3. He was consulting engineer to the Chicago Board of Police and Fire in 1874–5, being charged with the reorganization and instruction of the Fire Department in that city. From 1867 till 1886 he was major-general of the 1st Division of the National Guard of New York, and was an organizer and president of the National Rifle Association of the United States. While a member of the board for the purchase of sites for armories, he was accused of bribery; but, although he was tried twice, the jury disagreed. General Shaler published a “Manual of Arms for Light Infantry using the Rifle Musket” (New York, 1861). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 480.


SHALLOW FORD, NORTH CAROLINA, April 11, 1865. Cavalry Division, Stoneman's Expedition. Brigadier-General Alvan C. Gillem, commanding the cavalry operating with Stoneman in his expedition into southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina, reports that he arrived at Shallow ford of the Yadkin river at daylight and surprised the guard stationed there. The Confederates made but a weak resistance, and then fled, leaving 100 new muskets in Gillem's hands. The casualties, if any, were not reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 794.


SHALLOW FORD, GAP, TENNESSEE, September 22, 1863. (See Missionary Ridge, same date.)


SHANGHAI, MISSOURI, September 27, and December 1, 1861. Shanghai, Missouri, May 27, 1864. Citizen Guards. Colonel James McFerran, of the 1st Missouri state militia cavalry, in a despatch to Brigadier-General Egbert B. Brown, says: "Citizen guards and bushwhackers had a skirmish this evening near Shanghai. The most of the citizen guards were absent at the time. The bushwhackers captured the place, and it is reported burned it." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 794.


SHANKS, William Franklin Gore, author, born in Shelbyville. Kentucky, 20 April, 1837. He was educated in Louisville, and wrote for the Louisville "Journal " and the "Courier." At the beginning of the Civil War he became a correspondent of the New York " Herald," and joined its staff in 1865. In 1866 he contributed regularly to Harper's "Weekly " and " Monthly," and prepared an index of the contents of the latter for the first forty volumes. On the death of Henry J. Raymond, he transferred his services from the "Times" to the "Tribune," remaining there until 1880. While city editor of the "Tribune" he was imprisoned for contempt of court for refusal to divulge the name of the writer of an article in the paper, taking the ground that he was a privileged witness. After his release on a writ of habeas corpus he brought charges against District Attorney Winchester Britton, who was removed by Governor Dix. In 1880 he instituted suit, for the first time in this country, against the vendor of a libel, recovering two judgments, and the court of appeals sustained the legal point at issue. In 1885 he organized the National Press Intelligence Company, of which he is now (1888) president, and he is still a contributor to various newspapers. He has published " Recollections of Distinguished Generals " (New York, 1865); edited " Bench and Bar" (1868); and printed privately " A Noble Treason," a tragedy (1876). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 481.


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


SHANNON, Wilson, governor of Ohio and of Kansas, born in Belmont County, Ohio, 24 February, 1802; died in Lawrence, Kansas, 31 August, 1877. He was graduated at Athens College, Ohio, and at Transylvania University, Kentucky, and became a lawyer. He began practice at St. Clairsville, Ohio, and in 1835 was prosecuting attorney for the state. He was governor of Ohio in 1838-'40, and again in 1842-'4. and in 1844 he went as U. S. minister to Mexico. He was a representative in Congress in 1853-'5, and territorial governor of Kansas in 1855-'6. During Governor Shannon's administration in Kansas the troubles between the free-state and pro-slavery parties began to assume a threatening aspect. The governor favored the latter, though he tried to be cautious. He succeeded in peacefully terminating the "Wakarusha War" in 1855, but hostilities were resumed in the following year, ending in the burning of the town of Lawrence by a band of "border ruffians" that had been gathered as a U. S. marshal's posse. Shannon was finally removed, and succeeded by John W. Geary. He subsequently practised law in Lawrence. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 481-482.


SHANNON'S CROSS ROADS, VIRGINIA, May 4, 1863. Detachment of the 5th United States Cavalry. As an incident of the Stoneman raid, the detachment, commanded by Captain J. E. Harrison, took possession of the cross-roads about 2:30 a. m. Shortly after 6 o'clock the rear pickets were attacked by some of Hampton's cavalry. Harrison sent Lieut . Hastings, with 14 men, to reinforce the pickets and drew up the remainder of his command to receive an attack. Hastings charged the advance and drove it back upon the main body, which then came forward in column, yelling like demons. Upon seeing Harrison's line ready to receive them they slackened their speed and Harrison gave the command to charge. Although his force was outnumbered ten to one, the impetuosity of the charge somewhat disconcerted the enemy, and before they could rally Harrison wheeled about and retreated on the road to Yanceyville. The Union loss was 1 killed, 3 wounded and 32 captured; Confederate loss not reported. Sharon, Mississippi, February 27, 1864. According to the report of Confederate General W. H. Jackson, his cavalry reached Sharon on this date, and detached regiments engaged in skirmishing with Union foraging parties of 30 to 50 men each during the day. In these brushes a number of the Federals were killed and wounded, some taken prisoners, and several wagons captured. He does not state his own losses. The affairs were incidents of Sherman's Meridian expedition. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 795.


SHARKEY, William Lewis, senator, born in Mussel Shoals, Tennessee, in 1797; died in Washington, D. C, 29 April, 1873. He moved with his parents to the territory of Mississippi in 1804, and, as a substitute for his uncle, was present at the battle of New Orleans. After graduating at Greenville College, Tennessee, he studied law, was admitted to the bar of Mississippi in 1822, and began practice at Warrenton. He moved to Vicksburg in 1825, was elected a member of the legislature in 1827, and was chief justice of the court of errors and appeals in 1832-50. In 1865 he was appointed provisional governor, and in 1866 was elected U. S. Senator. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 482.


SHARON, William, capitalist, born in Smithfield. Ohio, 9 January, 1821; died 13 November, 1885. He received a good education and studied law, but relinquished it to engage in banking in Nevada. He became largely interested in silver-mines in that state, and amassed great wealth. He afterward became a trustee of the Bank of California, in San Francisco, and during the troubles of that institution, arising out of the death of its president, he brought its affairs to a satisfactory settlement. He was United States Senator from Nevada from 1875 till 1881. He gained notoriety as defendant in a case for divorce that was instituted against him by Sarah Althea Hill, who, claiming to be his wife, gained her suit, and married Judge David S. Terry, who was her counsel in the case. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 482.


SHARP, George, Stamford, Connecticut, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1841-53


SHARP, George, Stratford, Connecticut, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1836-1837, 1841-1853.


SHARPE, George Henry, lawyer, born in Kingston, N. Y„ 26 February, 1828. He was graduated at Rutgers in 1847, studied law at Yale College, was admitted to the bar in 1854, and practised until he entered the army in 1861 as captain in the 20th New York Infantry. He became colonel of the 120th New York Infantry in 1862, and took part in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac. He served upon the staffs of Generals Hooker, Meade, and Grant, and was brevetted brigadier-general in 1864, and major-general in 1865. He was attached to the U. S. legation at Vienna in 1851, and was a special agent of the State Department in Europe in 1867. In 1870-73 he was U. S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York, and took the census that demonstrated the great election frauds of 1868 in New York City, which led to the enforcement of the Federal Election Law for the first time in 1871. He was surveyor of customs for New York from 1873 till 1878. He was a member of the assembly in 1879-83, and in 1880-'l was the speaker. He delivered addresses at Kingston on the centennial anniversary of the organization of the state government in 1877, and before the Holland Society on its visit to Kingston in 1886, both of which were published. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 482.


SHARPE, Hezekiah D., New York, New York, American Abolition Society, Executive Committee, 1855-59, Auditor, 1858-59


SHARPS, Christian, inventor, born in New Jersey in 1811; died in Vernon, Connecticut, 13 March, 1874. He early developed a talent for mechanics, became a machinist, and was conversant with every department of his trade. His principal invention was the Sharps breech-loading rifle. In 1854 he moved to Hartford, Connecticut, to superintend the manufacture of this rifle, and he subsequently invented other fire-arms of great value, and patented many ingenious implements of various kinds. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 483.


SHARPSBURG, KENTUCKY, December 31, 1864. Detachment of 121st U. S. Colored Infantry. Major W. R. Gerhart, commanding the post at Sharpsburg, reported that he was attacked on the morning of the 31st by a force which came from the direction of Owingsville. The Union casualties were 1 man killed and 1 wounded. The Confederates retired very slowly, but for lack of horses Gerhart was unable to pursue them. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 795.


SHARPSBURG, MARYLAND, September 17, 1862. (See Antietam.)


SHAVER MOUNTAIN, VIRGINIA, September 20, 1863. Brigadier-General W. W. Averell reported from Beverly on the 21st, as follows: "Pickets on Seneca road encountered a party of rebels yesterday on Shaver mountain; killed 1, wounded another, and captured 2 others." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 795.


SHAVER'S RIVER, WEST VIRGINIA, May 30, 1862. A report of Major-General John C. Fremont, commanding the Mountain Department, says: "Col . Latham, with a detachment of the 2nd Virginia, and a company of Connecticut cavalry under Captain Fish, who were sent to Shaver's river, surprised and routed a gang of guerrillas at that place, killing their captain and 3 men, wounding several others, and capturing and destroying more than 30 guns." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 795.


SHAW, Albert Duane, consul, born in Lyme, Jefferson County, New York, 27 December 1841. He was educated at St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York, served in the 35th New York Regiment in 1861-'3, and was elected to the legislature in 1867. He was appointed U. S. consul at Toronto. Canada, in 1868, and in 1878 promoted to Manchester, England, where he served till 1885. Mr. Shaw is known for his valuable consular reports to the State Department, on foreign manufactures, and tariff and revenue reform. On his retirement from office in Manchester the citizens gave him a public reception in the city-hall, and presented him, through the mayor, with a silver casket and address. He has been active in politics as a Republican orator. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 484-485.


SHAW, Benjamin, Vermont, abolitionist leader, National Convention of Friends of Immediate Emancipation, Albany, New York, 1840 (Dumond, 1961, p. 297)


SHAW, Robert Gould, merchant, born in Gouldsborough, Maine, 4 June, 1776; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 3 May, 1853, was the son of Francis Shaw, who, with his father, Francis, was interested in founding the town of Gouldsborough, Maine, and lost much money when the enterprise failed. Robert went to Boston about 1789, and was apprenticed to his uncle William. When he came of age he entered into business for himself, which he continued till 1810 in various partnerships. From the latter year till his death he conducted his affairs alone. He resided for several years in London, and in 1807 invested largely in lands in Maine. He accumulated a fortune, and bequeathed $110,000 to be put at interest until it should amount to $400,000. This is to be designated the “Shaw fund,” and is to be devoted to the support of an asylum for mariners' children. He also left $10,000 to purchase a site for the institution. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 486.


SHAW, Francis George, 1809-1882, humanitarian, reformer, abolitionist.  Father of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.  (Rodriguez, 2007, p. 707; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 486; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 19, p. 751)

SHAW, Francis George, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 23 October, 1809; died in West New Brighton, Staten Island, New York, 7 November, 1882, entered Harvard in 1825, but left in 1828 to enter his father's counting-room, and engaged actively in business. In 1841, his health being impaired, he withdrew to West Roxbury, near Brook Farm, where an experiment in associative life, in which he was interested, was begun under the leadership of George Ripley. In 1847 he left West Roxbury, and, after living more than three years upon the north shore of Staten Island, he went to Europe with his family. After four years he returned in 1855 to Staten Island, where he resided until his death. While living at West Roxbury he was a member of the school committee and one of the overseers of the poor, a justice of the peace, and president of the first common council of Roxbury when that town became a city. He was also foreman of the jury of Norfolk County that first proposed the establishment of the State reform-school of Massachusetts. During his residence on Staten Island he was a trustee of the village in which he lived, a trustee of the Seaman's Retreat and of the S. R. Smith Infirmary, treasurer of the American Union of Associationists and of the Sailor's Fund, president of the Freedman's Relief Association and of the New York branch of the Freedman's Union commission, and connected with various local organizations. He was also a hereditary member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati. Possessed of an ample fortune, he held it as a trust for the unfortunate. All good causes, the help of the poor, the ignorant, the criminal, and the enslaved, had always his ready sympathy and his hearty support. He was the author of several translations from George Sand, Fourier, and Zschokke. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 486. 


SHAW, Robert Gould, 1837-1863, abolitionist, Colonel Commanding, 54th Massachusetts Infantry, U.S. Colored Troops, killed in action in the assault on the Confederate fortification, Fort Wagner.  He is featured prominently in the memorial to the 54th Massachusetts Regiment in from of the Massachusetts state-house in Boston.  Son of abolitionist Francis George Shaw.  (Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 67, 144; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 486; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 19, p. 751)

SHAW, Robert Gould, soldier, born in Boston, 10 October, 1837; died at Fort Wagner, South Carolina, 18 July, 1863, entered Harvard in 1856, but left in March, 1859. He enlisted as a private in the 7th New York Regiment on 19 April, 1861, became 2d lieutenant in the 2d Massachusetts on 28 May, and 1st lieutenant on 8 July. He was promoted to captain, 10 August, 1862, and on 17 April, 1863, became colonel of the 54th Massachusetts, the first regiment of colored troops from a free state that was mustered into the U. S. service. He was killed in the assault on Fort Wagner while leading the advance with his regiment. A bust of him has been made by Edmonia Lewis, the colored sculptor, a portrait by William Page is in Memorial Hall at Harvard, and it is proposed to place a memorial of him, consisting of an equestrian figure in high relief, on the front wall of the state-house yard in Boston. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 486.


SHAW, Thompson Darrah, naval officer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 20 August. 1801; died in Germantown. Pennsylvania, 20 July, 1874. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 20 May, 1820, was commissioned lieutenant, 17 May, 1828, and served in the West Indies in 1831-'2. He was transferred to the “ Natchez " in April, 1833, and then to the " Lexington " as flag-lieutenant of the Brazil Squadron, and subsequently as an officer of that ship until 1885. He was on leave at Philadelphia for two years, and was then 1st lieutenant of the frigate "Constitution," of the Pacific Squadron, in 1888-'41. During the Mexican War he commanded the schooner "Petrel," and was highly complimented for his conduct in engagements at Tampico, Vera Cruz, and Tuspan in 1846-'7. Upon his return to Philadelphia a committee of citizens presented him with a sword and epaulets. He was commissioned commander, 7 August, 1850, had charge of the naval rendezvous at Philadelphia in 1852—'4, and in 1854—'5 commanded the sloop "Falmouth" in the Home Squadron. He was placed on the reserved list in 1855, but claimed that this did him an injustice, and was restored to his rank by a naval court in 1857. He was then on leave until the Civil War began, when he took command of the steamer " Montgomery," in the Gulf Blockading Squadron. He was retired, 26 February, 1862, on his own application, after more than forty years' service. He was continued on special duty at New York, Philadelphia, and Boston in 1863-'7, and was promoted to commodore on the retired list on 4 April, 1867, after which he was unemployed. See "Defence of Thompson Darrah Shaw before the Naval Court of Inquiry," by his counsel Robert K. Scott (Washington, 1857). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 487.


SHAWNEETOWN, KANSAS, June 6, 1863. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 795.


SHAWSHEEN, U. S. Gunboat, Capture of, May 7, 1864. (See Turkey Island.) Shelbina, Missouri, September 4, 1861. Detachment of 3d Iowa and 2nd Kansas Infantry. During the operations of the Federal army in northeastern Missouri a detachment returning from an expedition to Paris was fired upon as it was entering Shelbina and 1 man was killed. Next day (4th) the Confederates appeared in force before the town with 2 pieces of artillery and commenced .shelling it. After receiving about 40 shots from the enemy's guns the Federal infantry boarded the trains in waiting and left the town. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 795.