Shea through Simsport, Louisiana

SHEA, George, lawyer, born in Cork. Ireland, 10 June, 1826. emigrated to the United States in early life and settled in New York, where he studied law. After being called to the bar, he attained distinction in his profession, and was appointed corporation attorney of New York from 1865 to 1867. He became chief justice of the Marine Court of New York in 1870, and held the position up to 1882. He was associate counsel with Charles O'Conor in defending Jefferson Davis, and was counsel for the Kings County Elevated Railroad in Brooklyn, establishing its charter by a decision of the court of appeals, reversing the special and general terms in Brooklyn. He wrote "Hamilton, a Historical Study" (New York, 1877). An enlarged edition was issued under the title "The Life and Epoch of Alexander Hamilton, a Historical Study " (Boston, 1880). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 488.


SHEAFER, Peter Wenrick, mining engineer, born in Halifax, Pennsylvania, 31 March, 1819. He completed his education in the academy at Oxford, New York, in 1837, and was associated with Henry D. Rogers in the first geological survey of Pennsylvania in 1838. In this connection he was specially engaged in tracing the geological features of the range of mountains that extends from near Pottsville to beyond Shamokin and Tamaqua. In 1848 he settled in Pottsville and devoted his attention to mining engineering, and he has been specially active in the development of the coal and iron interests of that district. The management of the coal-mines of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, and of those that were bequeathed by Stephen Girard to Philadelphia, were for a long time confided to him. He has been consulted frequently in complicated questions of mining law, and has testified in court as an expert in these subjects. In 1849 he secured the passage of a bill for completing the first state survey, and in 1873 he was influential in securing the appointment of J. P. Lesley (q. v.) to undertake the charge of the second survey of Pennsylvania. Mr. Sheafer is a member of various societies, including the American Institute of Mining Engineers, to whose transactions he has contributed professional papers. He issued in 1875, under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, a map of Pennsylvania as it was in 1775. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 489.


SHEDD, James A., Iowa, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1854-1857.


SHEERS. (See DERRICK; GIN.) By removing the pry pole of the gin, it may be used as sheers. When thus used, a block of wood of the same dimensions as the head of the pry pole with a hole in it large enough to receive the clevis blot, must be inserted in place of the pry pole. (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 550).


SHELBINA, MISSOURI, July 26, 1864. Brigadier-General Clinton B. Fisk, commanding the district of North Missouri, reported from St. Joseph, that some 800 Confederates entered Shelbina, tore up the railroad track, burned two trains of cars and destroyed some other property. No mention of any fighting. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 795.


SHELBURNE, MISSOURI, September 15, 1862. Missouri Militia. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 795.


SHELBY DEPOT, TENNESSEE, October 22, 1862. 6th Illinois Cavalry. While on a scout from Memphis the regiment, commanded by Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, approached the bridge over the Loosahatchee river north of Shelby and found it in flames. The advance was fired upon by some of Burrow's guerrillas, who were secreted on the opposite side of the stream. Grierson dismounted one battalion, which soon drove the enemy from his covert, when a portion of the command was crossed over on foot, while the rest turned their attention to saving the bridge. Seeing that they were about to be defeated the Confederates mounted their horses and scattered. As soon as the horses could be brought over, Grierson mounted his men and pursued the largest party, which had gone up the river. They were soon overtaken and scattered in all directions, several being killed and wounded and some taken prisoners. No casualties on the Union side. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 796.


SHELBYVILLE, TENNESSEE, June 27, 1863. Reserve Corps, Army of the Cumberland. At 6 a. m. Major-General Gordon Granger received an order from Major-General W. S. Rosecrans to feel the Confederates at Guy's gap and accordingly the corps was advanced from its camp near Christiana. Mitchell's cavalry division moved with the corps, Stanley's brigade, with Baird's infantry division supporting, having the advance. Two miles north of Guy's gap the enemy's skirmishers were met in the open fields and for more than 2 hours sharp skirmishing was kept up, when the enemy fell back to the gap. Stanley with his cavalry cleared the gap with little trouble, the Confederates retreating hastily and in some confusion toward Shelbyville. Portions of the cavalry followed in an exciting chase of 7 miles to where the enemy's rifle-pits intersected the road 3 miles north of Shelbyville. Although Granger's orders did not contemplate an advance beyond the gap, when it was learned that the Confederates were retreating he determined to strike their rear and ordered Stanley to start the attack. With little resistance the cavalry and the advance infantry charged over the rifle-pits, turning the point where the enemy had planted 2 guns and causing the Confederates to retreat hastily toward the town. Three-quarters of a mile from the center of the village the enemy made another stand with 3 guns in position, checking for a time Granger's advance. The Union column was closed up, Stanley again effectually cleared the field and in 30 minutes Granger's men were in full possession of the place. Three brass pieces were captured and a fourth which the enemy attempted to carry away broke through the bridge over Duck river, thereby hindering and obstructing the Confederate retreat, which by this time had become a rout, many of the troops in their attempt to swim the stream being drowned. The total loss of the enemy (estimated by Granger) was between 200 and 250 killed, drowned or wounded and more than 700 captured. The Federal casualties were about 50 in killed and wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 796.


SHELBYVILLE, TENNESSEE, October 7, 1863. Cavalry, Army of the Cumberland. In the pursuit of the Confederates under Wheeler and Roddey, during their raid in east Tennessee, the enemy was overtaken at Sims' farm, a short distance west of Shelbyville. Colonel Long, commanding the 2nd1 brigade, 2nd division, charged, and at the same time Colonel Miller, commanding Wilder's brigade of mounted infantry, came up on another road and also charged with the 17th Indiana and 98th Illinois, dismounted. The Confederates resisted for a little while, when they gave way and fled, closely pursued. As they were passing through a narrow lane, closely massed, the 17th Indiana poured in a galling fire that threw them into confusion and the retreat became a rout. The pursuit was continued for 3 or 4 miles. (See Farmington.) The Union loss was not definitely stated. Long reported 10 wounded, 2 mortally, and Miller says his loss in killed and wounded was nearly 100. Of the enemy 86 were left dead on the field and nearly 300 were captured, together with 4 pieces of artillery. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, pp. 796-797.


SHELBYVILLE, TENNESSEE, November 28, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 5th Cavalry Division, Military Division of the Mississippi. About 2 p. m. the enemy opened fire on the pickets on the Shelbyville road, and through a glass the Confederates could be seen in force about 2 miles distant. This was the cavalry of Cobb and Ross, and Colonel Coon, commanding the brigade, fearing an attack, sent a battalion of the 2nd la. under Captain Foster to the support of the pickets, after which he commenced removing his trains to Huey's cross-roads. As soon as the trains were well under way he withdrew his command and fell back to the cross-roads, where he went into bivouac for the night. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 797.


SHELBYVILLE PIKE, TENNESSEE, January 5, 1863. 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Army of the Cumberland. After the retreat of Bragg's army from Murfreesboro Colonel Lewis Zahm, commanding the 2nd cavalry brigade, was ordered to make a reconnaissance on the Shelbyville pike. Very little actual fighting occurred, but a number of Confederate stragglers were captured and brought into camp. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 797.


SHELBYVILLE PIKE, TENNESSEE, June 6, 1863. Davis' Division, Army of the Cumberland. Brigadier-General Jefferson C. Davis in a report of June 6 states that his division advanced as far as Colonel Lytle's house, and encountered a Confederate battery. The Federal artillery was brought up and after a brisk skirmish the enemy was compelled to retire. Davis had 1 man killed and several wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 797.

SHELBYVILLE PIKE, TENNESSEE, October 7, 1863. (See Farmington, same date.)


SHELDON, George William, author, born in Summerville, South Carolina, 28 January, 1843. He was graduated at Princeton in 1863, and served during 1864 at City Point, Virginia, in charge of the sick and wounded of General Grant's army. In 1865 he was appointed tutor in Latin and belles-lettres in Princeton, and in 1869 he became instructor in the oriental languages at Union Theological Seminary, New York, where he remained until 1873, after which he studied for two years in the British Museum. Mr. Sheldon then devoted himself to journalistic work and was art critic of the New York "Evening Post" in 1876-'82. and dramatic critic and city editor of the New York " Commercial Advertiser in 18846. He has published "American Painters" (New York, 1879); "The Story of the Volunteer Fire Department of the City of New York" (1882); "Hours with Art and Artists " (1882); "Artistic Homes" (1882); "Artistic Country Seats" (1886); "Selections in Modern Art" (1886); and "Recent Ideals of American Art" (1888). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 493.


SHELDON, Lionel Allen, soldier, born in Otsego County, New York, 30 August, 1829. He was brought up on a farm in Ohio, educated at Oberlin, taught for several years, and after attending the law-school in Poughkeepsie, New York, was admitted to the bar in 1851, and settled in Elyria, Ohio. He served one term as judge of probate, supported John C. Fremont for the presidential nomination in the Philadelphia Republican Convention in 1856, was commissioned brigadier-general of militia in 1860, and actively engaged in raising recruits for the National Army at the beginning of the Civil War. He became captain of cavalry in August, 1861, was chosen major soon afterward in the 2d Ohio Cavalry, transferred as lieutenant-colonel to the 42d Ohio Infantry, became colonel in 1862. and commanded the latter regiment in West Virginia, Kentucky, and eastern Tennessee. In November of that year, when his regiment was placed under General William T. Sherman at Memphis, he commanded a brigade which participated in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post. He led a brigade in the 13th Army Corps in 1863, was wounded at the battle of Fort Gibson, and participated in the capture of Vicksburg and in subsequent skirmishes. In March, 1855, he was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers. After the war he settled in New Orleans, Louisiana, practised his profession, and in 1869-'75 was in Congress, having been elected as a Republican. During this service he was chairman of the committee on militia. He was appointed governor of New Mexico in 1881, served till 1885, and was receiver of the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1885-'7. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 493.


SHELDON'S PLACE, INDIAN TERRITORY, December 18, 1863. Detachments of 1st, 2nd and 3d Indian Home Guards. Captain A. C. Spilman, commanding the detachment of Indians, came upon a Confederate force drawn up in line of battle three-quarters of a mile beyond Sheldon's, on Barren fork. Spilman's howitzers opened fire upon the enemy and soon drove him to the top of the hill, when the Cherokee Indians, under Lieutenant Parsons, charged and drove him a quarter of a mile farther. Spilman then got his command together again and started to get better position when the enemy attacked. For more than 2 hours the fighting lasted at this point, when the Federals by a trick managed to dislodge the Confederates. The Union casualties were only 2 wounded. Spilman's report places the enemy's loss at 12 killed and 25 wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 797.


SHELLS. A shell is a hollow shot with a hole to receive the fuze. They are usually fired from mortars and howitzers, and are charged with a sufficient quantity of powder to burst them, when they reach the end of their range. When fired at troops, the shells should be pre pared to burst over their heads; or if the ground be favorable, to ricochet in front and plunge into the column. When fired at works or buildings, the shells should burst after penetration. (See AMMUNITION; FUZE; RIFLED ORDNANCE; SABOT; SPHERICAL CASE.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 551).


SHELLABARGER, Samuel, Congressman, born in Clark County, Ohio, 10 December, 1817. He was graduated at Miami in 1842, studied law under General Samson Mason, was admitted to the bar in 1847, was a member of the first legislature in Ohio that met under the present constitution, and in 1860 was elected to Congress as a Republican. He took his seat in the special session that met in accordance with President Lincoln's call, on 4 July, 1861, and served in 1861-3, in 1865-'9, and in 1870-'3. He was chairman of the Committees on Commerce, that on charges by Prey against Roscoe Conkling, and that on the Provost-Marshal's Bureau, and was on the Special Committees on the Assassination of President Lincoln, Civil Service, and the New Orleans riots. He was U. S. minister to Portugal in 1869-70, and in 1874-'5 was one of the civil service commission. He then resumed the practice of his profession in Washington, D. C. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 483.


SHELLMOUND, TENNESSEE, August 21, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 14th Army Corps. The itinerary of the brigade contains the following statement for this date: "Ordered to break the enemy's railroad communications by the Chattanooga & Nashville railroad with Bridgeport at Shellmound. Moved the 75th Indiana infantry and a section of the 19th Indiana battery to Tennessee river, opposite Shellmound. Shelled the enemy out after dark. Crossed a small party in a canoe and burned Nickajack Bridge and captured the ferryboat." Shellmound, Tennessee, August 28, 1863. Detachment of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 14th Army Corps. Colonel Edward A. King, commanding the brigade, with 200 of the 101st, four companies of the 75th Indiana infantry, and a few mounted men of the 19th Indiana battery, crossed the Tennessee river at Shellmound for the purpose of making a reconnaissance and breaking up a Confederate camp at the Narrows. The mounted men went up the Running Water to a cross-road, while the infantry pushed on—the last half-mile at the double-quick—to the enemy's camp. The Confederates hurriedly evacuated and scattered through the timber, the darkness making it impossible to pursue. Six prisoners, 11 horses, 7 saddles, 12 muskets and some other property fell into King's hands. His detachment sustained no loss whatever. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 797.


SHELTER COVE, CALIFORNIA, May 9, 1863. Detachment of the 2nd California Infantry. On April 30 a government pack train was ambushed and captured by Indians about 13 miles from Fort Gaston. Captain Hull, with 20 men of Company D, started in pursuit from Fort Bragg on May 3. On the 9th he overtook the Indians at Shelter Cove, k1lled 4 wounded 3 and brought in a boy and 5 squaws as prisoners. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 798.


SHEPARD, Charles O., New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)


SHEPARD, Elliott Fitch, lawyer, born in Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York, 25 July, 1833. He was educated at the University of the city of New York, admitted to the bar in 1858, and for many years in practice in New York. In 1861 and 1862 he was aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Edwin D. Morgan, was in command of the depot of volunteers at Elmira, New York, and aided in organizing, equipping, and forwarding to the field nearly 50,000 troops, he was instrumental in raising the 51st New York Regiment, which was named for him the Shepard Rifles. He was the founder of the New York State Bar Association in 1876, which has formed the model for the organization of similar associations in other states. In March, 1888, he purchased the New York " Mail and Express." Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 494.


SHEPARD, Irving, educator, born in Marcellus, Onondaga County, New York, 5 July, 1843. He received his primary education in the public schools in Michigan, entered the National Army in 1862, and served nearly three years in the 17th Michigan Volunteers. He commanded the party that burned the Armstrong House in the enemy's lines, in front of Knoxville, Tennessee, in November, 1863, was promoted captain for bravery in that action, and wounded in the battle of the Wilderness in May, 1864. He was graduated at Olivet College in 1871, was superintendent of city schools and principal of the high school, Charles City, Iowa, in 1871-'5, occupied a similar office at Winona, Michigan, from the latter date till 1879, and has since been president of the Michigan Normal School. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 494.


SHEPARD, Isaac Fitzgerald, soldier, born in Natick, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 7 July, 1816. He was graduated at Harvard in 1842, was principal of a Boston grammar-school in 1844-'57, and served in the legislature in 1859-60. He became lieutenant-colonel and senior aide-de-camp to General Nathaniel G. Lyons in 1861, colonel of the 3d Missouri Infantry in 1862, and in 1863 colonel of the 1st Regiment of Mississippi Colored Troops, commanding all the colored troops in the Mississippi Valley. On 27 October, 1863, he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, he was adjutant-general of Missouri in 1870-'l, and U. S. consul at Swatow and Hankow, China, in 1874-'86. He was chairman of the Missouri State Republican Committee in 1870-'l, and department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic at the same time. He edited the Boston " Daily Bee" in 1846-'8, the "Missouri Democrat" in 1868-'9, the "Missouri State Atlas" in 1871-2. and has published "Pebbles from Castalia," poems (Boston, 1840); "Poetry of Feeling" (1844); "Scenes and Songs of Social Life" (1846); "Household Tales" (1861); and several single poems and orations. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 494-495.


SHEPHERD, Nathaniel Graham, author, born in New York City in 1835; died there, 23 May, 1869. He studied art in New York, taught drawing in Georgia for several years, returned to his native city, and engaged in the insurance business, devoting his leisure to study and to writing poems. At the beginning of the Civil War he became a war correspondent for the New York "Tribune." He contributed largely to periodicals and journals, and was the author of "The Dead Drummer-Boy." "The Roll-Call," " A Summer Reminiscence," and other poems, which were widely circulated. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 495.


SHEPHERD, Oliver Lathrop, soldier, born in Clifton Park, Saratoga County, New York, 15 August, 1815. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1840, and assigned brevet 2d lieutenant, 4th U.S. Infantry, was promoted 2d lieutenant, 3d U.S. Infantry, on 2 October, 1840, served in the Seminole War, and became 1st lieutenant in the 3d U.S. Infantry, 3 November, 1845. In 1846 he was selected by General Zachary Taylor as commissary of the supply train in its march from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande, and served in the war with Mexico, receiving the brevet of captain for gallant and meritorious conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, and that of major for Chapultepec. He was appointed captain on 1 December, 1847, served on the frontier, and commanded Fort Defiance, New Mexico, which he defended with three companies against a night attack of the Navajo Indians, with about 2,500 braves, on 30 April, 1860, and was afterward stationed at Fort Hamilton, New York. He then commanded a battalion of the 3d U.S. Infantry in the defences of Washington, became lieutenant-colonel of the 18th U.S. Infantry. 14 May, 1861, served in the Tennessee and Mississippi Campaign in the Army of the Ohio, and was engaged in the pursuit of the Confederates to Baldwin, Mississippi, 30-31 May, 1862, receiving the brevet of colonel for service during the siege of Corinth, 17 May, 1862. He participated in General Don Carlos Buell's movement through Alabama and Tennessee to Louisville. Kentucky, in July and September, and also in General William S. Rosecrans's Tennessee Campaign, serving with the Army of the Cumberland from November, 1862, till April, 1863, and commanding a brigade of regular troops from 31 December, 1862, till 3 January, 1863. He became colonel of the 15th Infantry on 21 January, 1863, and was brevetted brigadier general on 13 March, 1865. for service at Stone River. He became colonel of the 15th Infantry on 21 January, 1863, and from 7 May, 1863, till 13 February, 1866, he was superintendent of the regimental recruiting service at Fort Adams, Rhode Island, and he afterward commanded the 15th Regiment in Alabama during the reconstruction of that state in 1868, in which he performed an important part, and was also a commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for Alabama. Consolidating the 15th and 35th Infantries, he marched with them to New Mexico in 1869. He was retired from the army on 15 December, 1870. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 495.


SHEPHERDSTOWN FORD, VIRGINIA, September 19, 1862. (See Blackford's Ford.)


SHEPHERDSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, October 1, 1862. 8th Illinois, 8th Pennsylvania, and 3d Indiana Cavalry, and Pennington's Battery. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 798.


SHEPHERDSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, October 16-17, 1862. 1st Massachusetts Cavalry. In a reconnaissance from Sharpsburg, Maryland, to Smithfield, Virginia, the regiment encountered the enemy's pickets about a mile from Shepherdstown on the 16th and drove them back toward Kearneysville. The Martinsburg road from Shepherdstown was held by a detachment of 150 men, under Captain Crowninshield, who advanced under orders to a cross-road connecting the Martinsburg and Smithfield pikes, where he met the enemy's pickets and drove them back until checked by a heavy force of Confederate cavalry with 2 pieces of artillery. At sunrise on the 17th the command advanced, occupied Leetown and a detachment reconnoitered toward Smithfield, which place was found to be occupied by the enemy's cavalry. The regiment then returned to Shepherdstown, the Confederates following and shelling the rear, but without doing any serious damage. No casualties reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 798.


SHEPHERDSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, July 16, 1863. 2nd Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac. In the pursuit of the Confederates from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Brigadier-General D. McM. Gregg, commanding the division, occupied Shepherdstown with the 1st and 3d brigades on the 15th and halted for the 2nd brigade to come up. About noon on the 16th firing was heard on the Winchester road, announcing that the pickets had been attacked, and a little later a large force of the enemy made an effort to get in Gregg's rear. The 3d brigade, Colonel J. I. Gregg, was quickly thrown into position to meet the movement, and in a short time the engagement became general, the Confederates bringing 6 pieces of artillery to the assistance of their dismounted cavalry. The 4th and 16th Pennsylvania and 1st Maine met the attack in front, and the 10th New York was thrown to the right to cover the Martinsburg road, while Mcintosh's brigade (1st) was placed on the south side of the town to hold the roads leading to Harper's Ferry and Charlestown, with instructions to take position so as to move to the assistance of the 3d brigade if necessary. Subsequently the 1st Pennsylvania and Randol's battery were sent to the aid of Gregg and the fighting was kept up until after dark. At 7 p. m. Huels brigade (2nd) arrived, having been delayed by skirmishing with the enemy oh the Harper's Ferry road, and orders were given to retire to Harper's Ferry early the next morning. Gregg's loss was 8 killed, 72 wounded and 24 captured or missing. The enemy's loss was not ascertained. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 798.


SHEPHERDSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, July 30, 1864. Colonel William L. Jackson, commanding a brigade of Confederate cavalry, reported from the Martinsburg road about 2 miles from Shepherdstown, as follows: "By maneuvering more than fighting, the enemy's infantry and cavalry (about 1,500, so far as I can learn) compelled me to fall back to this point, and they are now in possession of Shepherdstown and still moving to flank me." This is the only official mention of the affair. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 798.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, August 25, 1864. (See Kearneysville.)


SHEPHERDSVILLE, KENTUCKY, September 7, 1862. Detachment of the 54th Indiana Infantry. The detachment, commanded by Captain Tinker, was engaged in guarding the bridge over Salt river, when a Confederate force commanded by Colonel Hutcheson appeared before the stockade and demanded an unconditional surrender. As the enemy outnumbered Tinker's force more than three to one, and were armed with artillery, his men were surrendered and paroled. One man was killed by a shell which was thrown into the Federal stockade during the parley. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 798-799.


SHEPHERDSVILLE, KENTUCKY, September 21, 1862. Colonel Granger's command. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 799.


SHEPHERDSVILLE, KENTUCKY, October 1, 1862. (See Bardstown Pike.)


SHEPHERDSVILLE, KENTUCKY, October 3, 1862. (See Cedar Church.)


SHEPLEY, George Forster, soldier, born in Saco, Maine, 1 January, 1819; died in Portland, Maine, 20 July, 1878, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1837, and, after studying law at Harvard, began practice in Bangor, Maine, in 1840, but in 1844 moved to Portland. From 1853 till 1861 he was U. S. District Attorney for Maine, during which period he argued important cases in the U. S. Supreme Court. In 1860 he was a delegate at large to the National Democratic Convention in Charleston, and attended its adjourned session in Baltimore. He was commissioned colonel of the 12th Maine Volunteers at the beginning of the Civil War, and participated in General Benjamin F. Butler's expedition against New Orleans, commanding as acting brigadier-general a brigade at Ship Island, and at the capture of New Orleans he led the 3d Brigade, Army of the Gulf. On the occupation of that city he was appointed military commandant and acting mayor, and assigned to the command of its defences, resigning in June, 1862, when he was appointed military governor of Louisiana, serving until 1864. On 18 July, 1862, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers. After the inauguration of a civil governor of Louisiana, General Shepley was placed in command of the Military District of Eastern Virginia, became chief of staff to General Godfrey Weitzel, and for a short time during the absence of that officer commanded the 25th Army Corps. He continued with the Army of the James to the end of the war, entered Richmond on 3 April, 1865, and was appointed the first military governor of that city. Resigning his commission on 1 July, 1865, he declined the appointment of associate judge of the Supreme Court of Maine, but in 1869 accepted that of U. S. Circuit Judge for the First Circuit of Maine, which office he held until his death. Dartmouth gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1878. His decisions are reported in Jabez S. Holmes's " Reports" (Boston. 1877). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 496.


SHEPPARD, Moses, 1771-1857, Baltimore, Maryland, businessman, philanthropist.  American Friends (Quaker).  Member of the Protective Society of Maryland to protect free African Americans.  The American Anti-Slavery Society.  Society of Friends Indian Affairs Committee.  Lobbied Maryland General Assembly to block legislation to keep free Blacks out of the state.  Sheppard was a Manager of the American Colonization Society (ACS), 1833-1834.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 496-497; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961.


SHERATT, W. R., New York, American Abolition Society (Radical Abolitionist, Vol. 1, No. 1, New York, August 1855).


SHERIDAN, Philip Henry, soldier, born in Albany, New York, 6 March. 1831; died in Nonquitt, Massachusetts, 5 August, 1888. After attending the public school he was entered as a cadet in the United States Military Academy, 1 July, 1848. On account of a quarrel with a cadet file-closer in 1850, whose conduct toward him he deemed insulting, he was suspended from the academy for a year, but returned, and was graduated, 1 July, 1853, standing thirty-fourth in a class of fifty-two, of which James B. McPherson was at the head. General John M. Schofield and the Confederate General John B. Hood were also his classmates. On the day of his graduation he was appointed a brevet 2d lieutenant in the 3d U.S. Infantry. After service in Kentucky, Texas, and Oregon, he was made 2d lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Infantry, 22 November, 1854, 1st lieutenant, 1 March, 1801, and captain in the 13th U.S. Infantry, 14 May, 1861. In December of that year he was chief quartermaster and commissary of the army in southwestern Missouri. In the Mississippi Campaign from April to September, 1862, he was quartermaster at General Halleck's headquarters during the advance upon Corinth. It then became manifest that his true place was in the field. On 20 May, 1862, he was appointed colonel of the 2d Michigan Cavalry, and on 1 July was sent to make a raid on Booneville, Mississippi. He did excellent service in the pursuit of the enemy from Corinth to Baldwin, and in many skirmishes during July, and at the battle of Booneville.

In reward for his skill and courage he was appointed, 1 July, a brigadier-general of volunteers, and on 1 October was placed in command of the 11th Division of the Army of the Ohio, in which capacity he took part in the successful battle of Perryville, on 8 October, between the armies of General Buell and General Bragg, at the close of which the latter retreated from £ In this action Sheridan was particularly distinguished. After the enemy had driven back McCook's corps and were pressing upon the exposed left flank of Gilbert, Sheridan, with General Robert B. Mitchell, arrested the tide, and, driving them back through Perryville, re-established the broken line. His force marched with the army to the relief of Nashville in October and November. He was then placed in command of a division in the Army of the Cumberland, and took art in the two days' battle of Stone River (or Murfreesboro), 31 December, 1862, and 3 January, 1863. Buell had been relieved from the command of the army on 30 October, and Rosecrans promoted in his lace. The Confederate army was still under Bragg. The left of Rosecrans was strong, and his right comparatively weak. So the right was simply to hold its ground while the left should cross the river. The project of Bragg, well-conceived, was to crush the National right, and he almost succeeded. Division after division was driven back until Cheatham attacked him in front, while Cleburne essayed to turn his flank, and Sheridan was reached; the fate of the day seemed to be in his hands. He resisted vigorously, then advanced and drove the enemy back, changing front to the south (a daring manoeuvre in battle), held the overwhelming force in check, and retired only at the point of the bayonet. This brilliant feat of arms enabled Rosecrans to form a new line in harmony with his overpowered right. Sheridan said laconically to Rosecrans, when they met on the field, pointing to the wreck of his division, which had lost 1,630 men: “Here are all that are left.” After two days of indecision and desultory attempts, Bragg abandoned Murfreesboro and fell back to Tullahoma, while Rosecrans waited for a rest at that place.

Sheridan's military ability had been at once recognized and acknowledged by all, and he was ap£ a major-general of volunteers, to date from 31 December, 1862. He was engaged in the pursuit of Van Dorn to Columbia and Franklin during March, and captured a train and many prisoners at Eaglesville. He was with the advance on Tullahoma from 24 June to 4 July, 1863, taking part in the capture of Winchester, Tennessee, on 27 June. He was with the army in the crossing of the Cumberland mountains and of the Tennessee River from 15 August to 4 September, and in the severe battle of the Chickamauga, on 19 and 20 September The National right, under McCook, was driven off the field, and in #eat danger of being cut off, but General George H. Thomas held the centre with an iron grip, and General Thomas L. Crittenden commanded the left. Bragg maneuvered to turn the left and cut Rosecrans off from Chattanooga. During the battle there was a misconception of orders, which left a gap in the centre of the line which the enemy at once entered. The right being thus thrown out of the fight, the centre was greatly imperilled. For some time the battle seemed irrecoverably lost, but Thomas, since called “the Rock of Chickamauga,” held firm; Sheridan alone rallied many soldiers of the retreating centre, and joined Thomas; and, in spite of the fierce and repeated attacks of the enemy, the entire force fell slowly back in good order within the defences of Chattanooga, whither Crittenden and Rosecrans had gone. Rosecrans was superseded by Thomas, to whom was presented a problem apparently incapable of solution. He was ordered to hold the place to the point of starvation, and he said he would. The enemy had possession of the approaches by land and water, men and animals were starving, and forage and provisions had to be hauled seventy-five miles.

General Grant was then invested with the command of all the southern armies contained in the new Military Division of the Mississippi, embracing the departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee. He reached Chattanooga on 23 October, and the condition of affairs was suddenly changed. He ordered the troops relieved by the capture of Vicksburg to join him, and Sherman came with his corps. Sheridan was engaged in all the operations around Chattanooga, under the immediate command and personal observations of General Grant, and '' an important part in the battle of Mission Ridge. From the centre of the National line he led the troops of his division from Orchard Knob, and, after carrying the intrenchments and rifle-pits at the foot of the mountain, instead of using his discretion to pause there, he moved his division forward to the top of the ridge and drove the enemy across the summit and down the opposite slope. In this action he first attracted the marked attention of General Grant, who saw that he might be one of his most useful lieutenants in the future—a man with whom to try its difficult and delicate problems. A horse was shot under him in this action, but he pushed on in the pursuit to Mission Mills, with other portions of the corps of Thomas harassing the rear of the enemy, for Bragg, having abandoned all his positions on Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga Valley, and Missionary Ridge, was in rapid retreat toward Dalton.

After further operations connected with the occupancy of east Tennessee, Sheridan was transferred by Grant to Virginia, where, on 4 April, 1864, he was placed in command of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac, all the cavalry being consolidated to form that command. Here he seemed in his element; to the instincts and talents of a general he joined the fearless dash of a dragoon. Entering with Grant upon the overland Campaign, he took part in the bloody battle of the Wilderness, 5 and 6 May, 1864. Constantly in the van, or on the wings, he was engaged in raids, threatening the Confederate flanks and rear. His fight at Todd's Tavern, 7 May, was an important aid to the movement of the army; his capture of Spottsylvania Court-House, 8 May, added to his reputation for timely dash and daring; but more astonishing was his great raid from the 9th to the 24th of May. He cut the Virginia Central and the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroads, and made his appearance in good condition near Chatfield station on 25 May. In this raid, having under him kindred spirits in Merritt, Custer, Wilson, and Gregg, he first made a descent upon Beaver Dam on 10 #. where he destroyed a locomotive and a train, and recaptured about 400 men who had been made prisoners. At Yellow Tavern, on 11 May, he encountered the Confederate cavalry under J. E. B. Stuart, who was killed in the engagement. He next moved upon the outer defences of Richmond, rebuilt Meadow's bridge, went to Bottom's bridge, and reached Haxall's on 14 May. He returned by Hanovertown and Totopotomoy creek, having done much damage, created fears and misgivings, and won great renown with little loss. He led the advance to Cold Harbor, crossing the Pamunky at Hanovertown on 27 May, fought the cavalry battle of Hawes's Shop on the 28th, and held Cold Harbor until General William P. Smith came up with the 6th Corps to occupy the place. The bloody battle of Cold Harbor was fought on 31 May and 3 June. Setting out on 7 June, Sheridan made a raid toward Charlottesville, where he expected to meet the National force under General Hunter. This movement, it was thought, would force Lee to detach his cavalry. Unexpectedly, however. Hunter made a detour to Lynchburg, and Sheridan, unable to join him, returned to Jordan's point, on James River. Thence, after again cutting the Virginia Central and Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroads and capturing 500 prisoners, he rejoined for a brief space the Army of the Potomac. In quick succession came the cavalry actions of Trevillian station, fought between Wade Hampton and Torbert. 11 and 12 June, and Tunstall station, 21 June, in which the movements were feints to cover the railroad-crossings of the Chickahominy and the James. There was also a cavalry affair of a similar nature at St. Mary's Church on 24 June. Pressed by Grant, Lee fell back on 28 July, 1864. The vigor, judgment, and dash of Sheridan had now marked him in the eyes of Grant as fit for a far more important station. Early in August, 1864, he was placed in command of the Army of the Shenandoah, formed in part from the army of Hunter, who retired from the command, and from that time till the end of the war Sheridan seems never to have encountered a military problem too difficult for his solution. His new army consisted at first of the 6th Corps, two divisions of the 8th, and two cavalry divisions, commanded by Generals Torbert and Wilson, which he took with him from the Army of the Potomac. Pour days later, 7 August, the scope of his command was constituted the Middle Military Division. He had an arduous and difficult task before him to clear the enemy out of the valley of Virginia, break up his magazines, and relieve Washington from chronic terror. Sheridan grasped the situation at once. He posted his forces in front of Berryville, while the enemy under Early occupied the west bank of Opequan Creek and covered Winchester. In his division, besides the 6th Corps under Wright and the 8th under Crook, Sheridan had received the addition of the 19th, commanded by Emory. Torbert was placed in command of all the cavalry. Having great confidence in Sheridan, Grant yet acted with a proper caution before giving him the final order to advance. He went from City Point to Harper's Ferry to meet Sheridan, and told him he must not move till Lee had withdrawn a portion of the Confederate force in the valley. As soon as that was done he gave Sheridan the laconic direction, “ Go in." He says in his report: " He was off promptly on time, and I may add that I have never since deemed it necessary to visit General Sheridan before giving him orders." On the morning of 19 September, Sheridan attacked Early at the crossing of the Opequan, fought him all day, drove him through Winchester, and sent him "whirling up the valley," having captured 5,000 prisoners and five guns. The enemy did not stop to reorganize until he had reached Fisher's hill, thirty miles south of Winchester. Here Sheridan again came up and dislodged him, driving him through Harrisonburg and Staunton, and in scattered portions through the passes of the Blue Ridge. For these successes he was made a brigadier-general in the regular army on 10 September Returning leisurely to Strasburg, he posted his army for a brief repose behind Cedar creek, while Torbert was despatched on a raid to Staunton, with orders to devastate the country, so that, should the enemy return, he could find no subsistence, and this was effectually done. To clear the way for an advance, the enemy now sent "a new cavalry general," Thomas L. Rosser, down the valley; but he was soon driven back in confusion. Early's army, being re-enforced by a part of Longstreet's command, again moved forward with celerity and secrecy, and, fording the north fork of the Shenandoah, on 18 October approached rapidly and unobserved, under favor of fog and darkness, to within 600 yards of Sheridan's left flank, which was formed by Crook's corps. When, on the early morning of the 19th, they leaped upon the surprised National force, there was an immediate retreat and the appearance of an appalling disaster. The 8th Corps was rolled up, the exposed centre in turn gave way, and soon the whole army was in retreat. Sheridan had been absent in Washington, and at this juncture had just returned to Winchester, twenty miles from the field. Hearing the sound of the battle, he rode rapidly, and arrived on the field at ten o'clock. As he rode up he shouted to the retreating troops: "Face the other way, boys; we are going back!" Many of the Confederates had left their ranks for plunder, and the attack was made upon their disorganized battalions, and was successful. A portion of their army, ignorant of the swiftly coming danger, was intact, and had determined to give a finishing blow to the disorganized National force. This was caught and hurled back by an attack in two columns with cavalry supports. The enemy's left was soon routed; the rest followed, never to return, and the valley was thus finally rendered impossible of occupancy by Confederate troops. They did not stop till they had reached Staunton, and pursuit was made as far as Mount Jackson. They had lost in the campaign 16,952 killed or wounded and 13,000 prisoners. Under orders from Grant, Sheridan devastated the valley. He has been censured for this, as if it were wanton destruction and cruelty. He destroyed the barns and the crops, mills, factories, farming-utensils, etc., and drove oft5 all the cattle, sheep, and horses. But, as in similar cases in European history, although there must have been much suffering and some uncalled-for rigor, this was necessary to destroy the resources of the enemy in the valley, by means of which they could continually menace Washington and Pennsylvania. The illustration is a representation of "Sheridan's Ride," a statuette, by James E. Kelly. The steel portrait is taken from a photograph made in 1884. The terms of the president's order making Sheridan a major-general in the army were: "For personal gallantry, military skill, and just confidence in the courage and patriotism of his troops, displayed by Philip H. Sheridan on the 19th of October at Cedar Run, where, under the blessing of Providence, his routed army was reorganized, a great national disaster averted, and a brilliant victory achieved over the rebels for the third time in pitched battle within thirty days, Philip H. Sheridan is appointed major-general in the United States Army, to rank as such from the 8th day of November, 1864." The immediate tribute of Grant was also very strong. In an order that each of the armies under his command should fire a salute of one hundred guns in honor of these victories, he says of the last battle that "it stamps Sheridan, what I have always thought him, one of the ablest of generals." On 9 February, 1865, Sheridan received the thanks of Congress for " the gallantry, military skill, and courage displayed in the brilliant series of victories achieved by his army in the valley of the Shenandoah, especially at Cedar Run." During the remainder of the war Sheridan fought under the direct command of Grant, and always with unabated vigor and consummate skill. In the days between 27 February and 24 March, 1865, he conducted, with 10,000 cavalry, a colossal raid from Winchester to Petersburg, destroying the James River and Kanawha Canal, and cutting the Gordonsville and Lynchburg, the Virginia Central, and the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroads. During this movement, on 1 March, he secured the bridge over the middle fork of the Shenandoah, and on the 2d he again routed Early at Waynesboro, pursuing him toward Charlottesville. He joined the Army of the Potomac and shared in all its battles. From Grant's general orders, sent in circular to Meade, Ord, and Sheridan, on 24 March, 1865, we learn that a portion of the army was to be moved along its left to turn the enemy out of Petersburg, that the rest of the army was to be ready to repel and take advantage of attacks in front, while General Sheridan, with his cavalry, should go out to destroy the Southside and Danville Railroad and take measures to intercept the enemy should he evacuate the defences of Richmond. On the morning of 29 March the movement began. Two corps of the Army of the Potomac were moved toward Dinwiddie Court-House, which was in a measure the key of the position to be cleared by Sheridan's troops. The court-house lies in the fork of the Southside and Weldon Railroads, which meet in Petersburg. A severe action took place at Dinwiddie, after which Sheridan advanced to Five Forks on 31 March. Here he was strongly resisted by the bulk of Lee's column, but, dismounting his cavalry and deploying, he checked the enemy's progress, retiring slowly upon Dinwiddie. Of this General Grant says: "Here he displayed great generalship. Instead of retreating with his whole command, to tell the story of superior forces encountered, he deployed his cavalry on foot, ... he despatched to me what had taken place, and that he was dropping back slowly on Dinwiddie." There re-enforced, and assuming additional command of the 5th Corps, 12,000 strong, he returned on 1 April with it and 9,000 cavalry to Five Forks and ordered Merritt. to make a feint of turning the enemy's right, while the 5th struck their left flank. The Confederates were driven from their strong line and routed, fleeing westward and leaving 0,000 prisoners in his hands. Sheridan immediately pursued. Five Forks was one of the most brilliant and decisive of the engagements of the war. and compelled Lee's evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. Sheridan was engaged at Sailor's Creek, 6 April, where he captured sixteen guns, and in many minor actions, 8-9 April, harassing and pursuing the Army of Northern Virginia, and aiding largely to compel the final surrender. He was present at the surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April. He made a raid to South Boston. North Carolina, on the river Dan on 24 April, returning to Petersburg on 3 May, 1865. After the war Sheridan was in charge of the Military Division of the Gulf from 17 July to 15 August, 1866, which was then created the Department of the Gulf, and remained there until 11 March, 1867. From 12 September to 16 March he was in command of the Department of the Missouri, with headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Thence he conducted a winter campaign against the Indians, after which he took charge of the Military Division of the Mississippi, with headquarters at Chicago. When General Ulysses S. Grant became president. 4 March, 1869. General William T. Sherman was made general-in-chief and Sheridan was promoted to lieutenant-general, with the understanding that both these titles should disappear with the men holding them. In 1870 Sheridan visited Europe to witness the conduct of the Franco-Prussian War. He was with the German staff during the battle of Gravelotte, and presented some judicious criticisms of the campaign. He commanded the western and southwestern Military Divisions in 1878. On the retirement of Sherman in 1883, the lieutenant-general became general-in-chief. In May, 1888, he became ill from exposure in western travel, and, in recognition of his claims, a bill was passed by both houses of Congress, and was promptly signed by President Cleveland, restoring for him and during his lifetime the full rank and emoluments of general. He was the nineteenth general-in-chief of the United States army. Sheridan never was defeated, and often plucked victory out of the jaws of defeat. He was thoroughly trusted, admired, and loved by his officers and men. He bore the nickname of "Little Phil," a term of endearment due to his size, like the "petit corporal" of Napoleon I. He was below the middle height, but powerfully built, with a strong countenance indicative of valor and resolution. Trustful to a remarkable degree, modest and reticent, he was a model soldier and general, a good citizen in all the relations of public and private life, thoroughly deserving the esteem and admiration of all who knew him. In 1879 Sheridan married Miss Rucker, the daughter of General Daniel H. Rucker, of the U. S. army. He was a Roman Catholic, and devoted to his duties as such. He was the author of " Personal Memoirs" (2 vols., New York, 1888). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 497-500.


SHERIDAN'S VIRGINIA RAID, February 27-March 25, 1865. (See Petersburg, same date.)


SHERWOOD, MISSOURI, March 9, 1863. 6th Kansas Cavalry. Captain David Mefford, during the course of a scout, encountered a few Confederate pickets near Sherwood and drove them back. Later in the day his advance came upon some of Livingston's guerrillas and was repulsed, but when the Confederates came to the main body they were charged and were driven in turn. Mefford had 1 man wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 799.


SHERMAN, Buren Robinson, governor of Iowa, born in Phelps, New York, 28 May, 1830. In 1849 the family moved to Elmira, where he attended the public schools, and in 1852 was apprenticed to a jeweler. In 1855 the family emigrated to Iowa, where he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1859, and began practice in Vinton in January, 1860. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in the 13th Iowa Infantry, was promoted lieutenant, was severely wounded at Shiloh, and advanced to captain for gallant conduct on the field, but in the summer of 1863 his wounds compelled him to resign. On his return he was elected county judge of Benton County, which post he resigned in 1866 to accept the office of clerk of the district court, to which he was three times re-elected. He was chosen auditor of the state in 1874, and twice reelected, retiring in January, 1881. In 1882-'6 he was governor of Iowa. During his two terms of service many new questions were presented for settlement, among which was that of total prohibition of the liquor traffic, which Governor Sherman favored in letters and speeches. He held public officers to strict accountability, and removed a high state official for willful misconduct. In 1885 he received the degree of LL. D. from the University of Iowa. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 501.


SHERMAN, Henry, lawyer, born in Albany, New York, 6 March, 1808; died in Washington, D. C, 28 March, 1879. After graduation at Yale in 1829 he studied theology and then law, returning in 1832 to Albany. He soon moved to New York City, and in 1850 to Hartford, Connecticut, and was employed in the U. S. Treasury Department in Washington from 1861 till 1868, when he resumed his law-practice in that city. He was a personal friend of President Lincoln, who on the morning before his assassination offered him the chief justiceship of New Mexico. He was afterward commissioned by President Johnson, but soon resigned. Mr. Sherman was the author of " An Analytical Digest of the Law of Marine Insurance to the Present Time" (New York. 1841); "The Governmental History of the United States of America" (1843; enlarged ed., Hartford, 1860); and " Slavery in the United States of America" (Hartford, 1858). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 501.


SHERMAN, Jarvis, New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)


SHERMAN, Thomas West, soldier, born in Newport, R. I., 26 March, 1813; died there, 16 March, 1879. He was graduated at the U S. Military Academy in 1836, assigned to the 3d U.S. Artillery, served in the Florida War until 1842, became 1st lieutenant on 14 March, 1838, and subsequently was employed in recruiting and garrison service until 1846. He became captain on 28 May, 1846, engaged in the war with Mexico, and was brevetted major for gallant, and meritorious conduct at Buena Vista, 23 February, 1847. He served again on garrison and frontier duty from 1848 till 1861, during which time he engaged in quelling the Kansas border disturbances, and commanded an expedition to Kettle Lake, Dakota. On 27 April, 1861, he became major, and until 10 May, 1861, commanded a battery of U. S. U.S. Artillery and a battalion of Pennsylvania volunteers at Elkton, Maryland. From 21 May till 28 June he was chief of light artillery in the defence of Washington, D. C, having been made lieutenant-colonel, 5th U.S. Artillery, on 14 May, and brigadier-general, U. S. volunteers, on 17 May, 1861. He organized an expedition for seizing and holding Bull's Bay, South Carolina, and Fernandina, Florida, for the use of the blockading fleet on the southern coast, commanded the land forces of the Port Royal Expedition from 21 October, 1861, till 31 March, 1862, and led a division of the Army of the Tennessee from 30 April till 1 June, 1862. He participated in the siege of Corinth. Mississippi, commanded a division in the Department of the Gulf from 18 September, 1862, till 9 January, 1863, and in the defences of New Orleans from 9 January till 19 May, 1863, when he joined the expedition to Port Hudson, Louisiana, commanding the 2d Division of the 19th Army Corps, which formed the left wing of the besieging army. While leading a column to the assault on 27 May he lost, his right leg, in consequence of which he was on leave of absence until 15 February, 1864. He was made colonel of the 3d U.S. Artillery on 1 June, 1863. On his return to duty he was in command of a reserve brigade of artillery in the Department of the Gulf, of the defences of New Orleans, and of the southern and eastern Districts of Louisiana. On 13 March, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier-general, U. S. Army, for gallant services at the capture of Port Hudson, and also major-general of volunteers and major-general. U. S. Army, for gallant and meritorious services during the war. After the war, he commanded the 3d U.S. Artillery at Fort Adams, Rhode Island, the Department of the East, and the post of Key West, Florida. He was retired from active service as major-general on 31 December, 1870, for disability. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 502.


SHERMAN, William Tecumseh, soldier, born in Lancaster, Ohio, 8 February, 1820. His branch of the family is traced to Samuel Sherman, of Essex, England, who came to this country in 1634 with his brother, the Reverend John Sherman, and his cousin, Captain John Sherman. Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence, traces his lineage to the captain, and General Sherman to that of the Reverend John, whose family settled in Woodbury and Norwalk, Connecticut, whence some of them moved to Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1810. The father of General Sherman was a lawyer, and for five years before his death in 1829 judge of the supreme court. His mother, who was married in 1810, was Mary Hoyt. They had eleven children, of whom William was the sixth and John the eighth. William was adopted by Thomas Ewing, and attended school in Lancaster till 1836. In July of that year he was sent as a cadet to West Point, where he was graduated in 1840 sixth in a class of forty-two members. Among his classmates was George H. Thomas. As a cadet, he is remembered as an earnest, high-spirited, honorable, and outspoken youth, deeply impressed, according to one of his early letters, with the grave responsibility properly attaching to "serving the country." He also at that time expressed a wish to go to the far west, out of civilization. He was commissioned as a 2d lieutenant in the 3d U.S. Artillery, 1 July, 1840, and sent to Florida, where the embers of the Indian War were still smoldering. On 30 November, 1841, he was made a 1st lieutenant, and commanded a small detachment at Picolata. In 1842 he was at Fort Morgan, Mobile Point. Alabama, and later at Fort Moultrie, Charleston Harbor, where he indulged in hunting and society, the immediate vicinity of the fort being a summer resort for the people of Charleston. In 1843, on his return from a short leave, he began the study of law, not to make it a profession, nut to render himself a more intelligent soldier. When the Mexican War began in 1846 he was sent with troops around Cape Horn to California, where he acted as adjutant general to General Stephen W. Kearny, Colonel Mason, and General Persifer F. Smith. Returning in 1850, on 1 May he married Miss Ellen Boyle Ewing, at Washington, her father, his old friend, then being Secretary of the Interior. He was appointed a captain in the commissary department, 2 September, 1850, and sent to St. Louis and New Orleans. He had already received a brevet of captain for service in California, to date from 30 May, 1848. Seeing little prospect of promotion and small opportunity for his talents in the army in times of peace, he resigned his commission, 6 September, 1853, the few graduates of West Point being at that period in demand in many walks of civil life. He was immediately appointed (1853) manager of the branch bank of Lucas, Turner and Company, San Francisco,  California. When the affairs of that establishment were wound up in 1857 he returned to St. Louis and lived for a time in New York as agent for the St. Louis firm. In 1858-'9 he was a counsellor-at-law in Leavenworth, Kansas, and in the next year became superintendent of the State Military Academy at Alexandria, Louisiana, where he did good work; but when that state seceded from the Union he promptly resigned and returned to St. Louis, where he was for a short time president of the Fifth street Railroad.

Of the Civil War he took what were then considered extreme views. He regarded President Lincoln's call for 75,000 three-months' men in April, 1861, as trifling with a serious matter, declaring that the rising of the secessionists was not a mob to be put down by the posse comitatus, but a war to be fought out by armies. On 13 May he was commissioned colonel of the 13th Infantry, with instructions to report to General Scott at Washington. That officer had matured a plan of campaign, and was about to put it into execution. Sherman was put in command of a brigade in Tyler's division of the army that marched to Bull Run. His brigade comprised the 13th, 69th, and 79th New York and the 2d Wisconsin Regiments. The enemy's left had been fairly turned, and Sherman's brigade was hotly engaged, when the Confederates were re-enforced; the National troops made fatal delays, and, struck by panic, the army was soon in full retreat. Sherman's brigade hall lost 111 killed, 205 wounded, and 293 missing. On 3 August, 1861, he was made a brigadier-general of volunteers, to date from 17 May, and on 28 August he was sent from the Army of the Potomac to be second in command to General Robert Anderson in Kentucky. Few persons were prepared for the curious problem of Kentucky politics. What has been called the "secession juggle" was at least partially successful. On account of broken health, General Anderson soon asked to be relieved from the command, and he was succeeded by Sherman on 17 October It was expected by the government that the men, to keep Kentucky in the Union, could be recruited in that state, and that the numbers required would be but few; but this expectation was doomed to be disappointed. Sherman looked for a great war, and declared that 60,000 men would be required to drive the enemy out of the state and 200,000 to put an end to the struggle in that region. Most men looked upon this prophetic sagacity as craziness. He was relieved from his command by General Buell on 12 November and ordered to report to General Halleck, commanding the Department of the West. He was placed in command of Benton Barracks. At this time General Ulysses S. Grant was in command of the force to move on Forts Henry and Donelson in February, 1862, and just after the capture of these strongholds Sherman was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee. It consisted of six divisions, of which Sherman was in command of the 5th. In the battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, 6 and 7 April (see Grant, Ulysses S.), Sherman’s men were posted at Shiloh Church, and the enemy were so strong that all the detachments were hotly engaged, and Sherman served as a pivot. When the Army of the Ohio came up, during the night, Grant had already ordered Sherman to advance, and when the combined forces moved, the enemy retreated rapidly upon Corinth. The loss in Sherman's division was 2,034. He was wounded in the hand, but did not leave the field, and he richly deserved the praise of General Grant in his official report: "I feel it a duty to a gallant and able officer, Brig.-General W. T. Sherman, to make mention. He was not only with his command during the entire two days of the action, but displayed great judgment and skill in the management of his men. Although severely wounded in the hand on the first day, his place was never vacant." And again: "To his individual efforts I am indebted for the success of that battle." General Halleck declared that " Sherman saved the fortunes of the day on the 6th, and contributed largely to the glorious victory of the 7th." After the battle General Halleck assumed command of all the armies, and advanced slowly upon Corinth, acting rather with the caution of an engineer than with the promptness of a strategist. In the new movement General Sherman was conspicuous for judgment and dash. He was employed constantly where promptness and energy were needed. Two miles in advance of the army, as it was ranged around Corinth, he captured and fortified Russell's house, which is only a mile and a half from Corinth. Deceiving Halleck, the enemy were permitted to evacuate the town and destroy its defences. Sherman was made a major-general of volunteers, to date from 1 May, 1862. On 9 June he was ordered to Grand Junction, a strategic point, where the Memphis and Charleston and the Mississippi Central Railroads meet. Memphis was to be a new base. He was to repair the former road, and to guard them both and keep them in running order. General Halleck having been made general-in-chief of the armies of the United States, Grant was, on 15 July, appointed to command the Department of the Tennessee, and he at once ordered Sherman to Memphis, which had been captured by the National Flotilla, 6 June, with instructions to put it in a state of defence. Sherman, to secure himself against the machinations of the rebellious inhabitants, directed all who adhered to the Confederate cause to leave the city. He allowed them no trade in cotton, would not permit the use of Confederate money, allowed no force or intimidation to be used to oblige Negroes, who had left their masters, to return to them, but made them work for their support. He also effectually suppressed guerilla warfare.

The western armies having advanced to the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, the next step was to capture Vicksburg and thereby open to navigation the Mississippi River. Vicksburg was strongly fortified and garrisoned and was covered by an army commanded by General Pemberton posted behind the Tallahatchie. Grant moved direct from Grand Junction via Holly Springs, McPherson his left from Corinth, and Sherman his right from Memphis to Wyatt, turning Pemberton's left, who retreated to Grenada behind the Yalabusha. Then Grant detached Sherman with one of his brigades back to Memphis to organize a sufficient force out of the new troops there and a division at Helena to move in boats escorted by Admiral Porter's gun-boat fleet to Vicksburg to capture the place while he, Grant, held Pemberton at Grenada. The expedition failed from natural obstacles and the capture of Holly Springs by the enemy, and at the same moment General McClernand arrived to assume command of the expedition by orders of President Lincoln, and the Army of the Tennessee was divided into the 13th, 15th, 16th, and 17th Corps, of which Sherman had the 15th. To clear the flank, the expeditionary force before Vicksburg under McClernand returned in their boats to the mouth of the Arkansas, ascended that river a hundred miles, and carried by assault Fort Hindman, capturing its stores and five thousand prisoners, thereby making the Mississippi safe from molestation. In this movement Sherman bore a conspicuous part. The expedition then returned to the Mississippi River, and General Grant came in person from Memphis to give direction to the operations against Vicksburg from the river, which resulted in its capture, with 31,000 prisoners, on 4 July, 1863, thereby opening the Mississippi and fully accomplishing the original purpose. During this brilliant campaign General Sherman was most active, and therefore was appointed a brigadier-general in the regular army, to date 4 July, 1803. Meantime Rosecrans, having expelled the enemy from middle Tennessee, had forced him to evacuate Chattanooga, fought the bloody battle of Chickamauga, and fell back into Chattanooga, where he was in a precarious condition. On 4 October Sherman was ordered to take his corps, the 15th, from the Big Black via Memphis, with such other troops as could be spared from the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railway, toward Chattanooga. He moved, repairing the road as he went, according to the express orders of General Halleck. But on the 27th he received orders from General Grant to discontinue all work and inarch rapidly toward Bridgeport on the Tennessee. He lost no time in doing so. Sherman's 15th Corps, with other commands, by the rapid movement for Chattanooga, was now getting into position; he was preparing to cross the river from the west bank, below the mouth of the Chickamauga, with the purpose of attacking the northern end of Mission ridge, while a division of cavalry was sent to the enemy's right and rear to cut the railroad behind him. At 1 o'clock, on the morning of 24 November, Sherman crossed on pontoon bridges, and by 3 o'clock P. St. he was intrenched at the north end of Mission ridge. Thus the disposal of troops in Grant's line of battle was: Sherman on the left, in front of Tunnel Hill; Thomas in the centre, at Fort Wood and Orchard Knob: while Hooker was to come up from Wauhatchie. take Lookout mountain, and, crossing to Rossville, advance upon the ridge, to complete the organization. There was open communication between these bodies by special couriers. While preparations were making for the centre attack under Thomas, it was evident that the enemy's design was to crush Sherman. Pierce assaults were made upon him in quick succession, which he resisted, and thus performed good service in drawing the foe to his flank, while Thomas was making the main attack upon the ridge, which was successful. On the morning of the 25th Sherman pursued the enemy by the roads north of the Chickamauga, arriving at Ringgold on that day. and everywhere destroying the enemy's communications. During these operations General Burnside was besieged by Longstreet in Knoxville, Tennessee. and was in great straits. On 3 December, under orders from Grant, which another commander was slow to obey, Sherman made forced marches to Burnside's relief, and reached Knoxville not a minute too soon, and after supplying Burnside with all the assistance and re-enforcements he needed marched back to Chattanooga. Toward the end of January. 1864. he returned to Memphis and Vicksburg, whence with parts of McPherson's and Hurlburt's corps, then unemployed, he marched to Jackson and Meridian, where he broke up the Confederate combinations and destroyed their communications. On 2 March. Grant had been made lieutenant-general: on the 12th he assumed command of all the armies of the United States, with the purpose of conducting in person the campaign of the Army of the Potomac. On 12 March he assigned Sherman to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, comprising the Departments of the Ohio, the Tennessee, the Cumberland, and the Arkansas—in a word, of the entire southwestern region, with temporary headquarters at Nashville. In a letter of 4 March, 1864, Grant acknowledges to Sherman his great gratitude for the co-operation and skill which so largely contributed to his own success, and on 19 February. 1864, Sherman received the thanks of Congress for his services in the Chattanooga Campaign. On 25 March he began to prepare his command for action, to put the railroads in good condition, and protect them and to make provision for the supplies of the army in its approaching campaign. On 10 April he received his final instructions from Grant to move against Atlanta. Ordering his troops to rendezvous at Chattanooga, he made it his headquarters on 28 April. His force consisted of the armies of the Cumberland, General George H. Thomas; the Tennessee. General James B. McPherson; and the Ohio, General John M. Schofield. It was 09,000 strong, with 254 guns, while the Confederate army, under Johnston, about 41,000 strong, soon re-enforced up to 62,000 men. was prepared to resist his advance, and if Sherman had the advantage of attack, Johnston had that of fighting behind intrenchments and natural obstacles. Moving from Chattanooga, Sherman came up with him at Dalton, 14 May, and turned his position at Buzzard's Roost by sending McPherson through Snake Creek gap, when Johnston fell back to Resaca, After an assault. 15 May, Johnston retreated to Cassville and behind the Etowah on the 17th. After the turning of Allatoona pass, which he made a secondary base, and fierce battles near New Hope Church, in the neighborhood of Dallas. Johnston still further retreated to a strong position on Kenesaw mountain, having contracted and retired his flanks to cover Marietta. Sherman advanced his line with each retrograde movement of the enemy and pressed operations, continually gaining ground. Both armies habitually fought from behind log parapets until Sherman ordered an attack on the fortified lines, 27 June, but did not succeed in breaking through. He then determined to turn the position, and moved General James B. McPherson's army on 3 July toward the Chattahoochee, which compelled Johnston to retire to another intrenched position on the northwest bank of that river, whence he fell back on Atlanta as Sherman began to cross the river, threatening to strike his rear with a part of the army, while the rest lay intrenched in his front. On 17 July began the direct attack on Atlanta. General John B. Hood, who had superseded General Johnston on 17 July, made frequent sorties, and struck boldly and fiercely. There was a severe battle at Peach Tree creek on 20 July, one on the east side of the city two days later, and on the 28th one at Ezra Church, on the opposite side of Atlanta, in all of which the National forces were victorious. After an ineffective cavalry movement against the railroad. General Sherman left one corps intrenched on the Chattahoochee and moved with the other five corps on the enemy's only remaining line of railroad, twenty-six miles south of Atlanta, where he beat him at Jonesboro', occupied his line of supply, and finally, on 1 September, the enemy evacuated the place. Here Hood's presumption led to his own destruction. Leaving the south almost defenceless, he moved upon Nashville, where he was disastrously defeated by Thomas.

Sherman had sent Thomas to that city purposely to resist his advance, and with the diminished army he moved upon Savannah, threatening Augusta and Macon, but finding little to oppose him m his inarch to the sea. Sherman moved steadily forward until he reached the defensive works that covered Savannah and blocked Savannah River. These were promptly taken by assault, and communications were opened with the fleet, which furnished ample supplies to his army. Savannah thus became a marine base for future operations. Sherman announced in a brief note to President Lincoln the evacuation of the city. "I beg to present you," he writes," as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns, plenty of ammunition, and 25,000 bales of cotton." His army had marched 300 miles in twenty-four days, through the heart of Georgia, and had lived in plenty all the way. The value of this splendid achievement cannot be overestimated. On 12 August he had been appointed major-general in the U. S. army, and on 10 January he received the thanks of Congress for his "triumphal march." After the occupation of Savannah the question arose whether Sherman should come north by sea or march with his army through the Atlantic states. He preferred the latter plan. Schofield, leaving Thomas in Tennessee, was sent by rail and steamers to the coast of North Carolina with his corps (23d) to march upon Goldsboro', North Carolina, to co-operate with him. Sherman left Savannah in February, moved through the Salkehatchie swamp, flanked Charleston, compelled its evacuation, and entered Columbia on the 17th. Thence he moved on Goldsboro' by way of Winnsboro', Cheraw, and Fayetteville, opening communication by Cape Fear River with Schofield on 12 March, fighting at Averysboro and Bentonville, where the enemy resisted

Lee's surrender on the 12th, and on the 14th sent a flag of truce to Sherman to know upon what terms he would receive his surrender. "I am fully empowered," Sherman wrote to him, " to arrange with you any terms for the suspension of hostilities, and am willing to confer with you to that end. That a base of action may be had, I undertake to abide by the same conditions entered into by Generals Grant and Lee at Appomattox Court-House, Virginia, on the 9th inst." After considerable correspondence and a long interview with General Johnston, having in view an immediate and complete peace, Sherman made a memorandum or basis of agreement between the armies, which was considered by the government as at once too lenient and exceeding his powers. It included in terms of capitulation not only the army of Johnston, but all the Confederate troops remaining in the field. By the 7th article it was announced in general terms " that the war is to cease; a general amnesty so far as the executive of the United States can command, on condition of the disbandment of the Confederate army, the distribution of arms, and the resumption of peaceful pursuits by officers and men hitherto composing said armies." In order to secure himself against the assumption of power, the article is thus continued: "Not being fully empowered by our respective principals to fulfil these terms, we individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly obtain authority, and will endeavor to his advance vigorously. At Averysboro' on the 16th General Henry W. Slocum with four divisions attacked the intrenched position of General William J. Hardee, and, turning his left flank, compelled him to fall back, while the cavalry, under General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, were attacked and driven back by the Confederate Infantry of General Lafayette McLaws on the road to Bentonville. At the latter point General Johnston's force was attacked in a strongly intrenched position on the 19th by the left wing of Sherman's army, under General Slocum, whose right flank had been broken and driven back. After an obstinate combat, the Confederates withdrew in the night. Sherman and Schofield met at Goldsboro' on 23 and 24 March as originally planned. Leaving his troops there, he visited President Lincoln and General Grant at City Point, returning To Goldsboro' on the 30th. The interview on board the "Ocean Queen" is represented in the accompanying vignette copy of a painting by G. P. A. Healy, entitled " The Peacemakers," the fourth member of the group being Admiral Porter. Sherman is shown at the moment that he said to Mr. Lincoln: "If Lee will only remain in Richmond till I can reach Burkesville. we shall have him between our thumb and Angers." suiting the action to the word. He was now ready to strike the Danville road, break Lee's communications, and cut off his retreat, or to re-enforce Grant in front of Richmond for a final attack. He would be ready to move on 10 April. Johnston at Greensboro' received news of carry out the above programme." It was an honest effort on the part of a humane commander to put an end to the strife at once. Perhaps affairs were somewhat complicated by the assassination of President Lincoln on 14 April, which created great indignation and sorrow. It not only affected the terms between Johnston and Sherman, but it caused the latter to fall under the suspicion of the Secretary of War. On their arrival in Washington they were promptly and curtly disapproved by a despatch sent, not to Sherman, but to General Grant, on the morning of 24 April, directing him to go at once to North Carolina, by order of Secretary Stanton, to repudiate the terms and to negotiate the whole matter as in the case of Lee. General Sherman considered himself rebuked for his conduct. It was supposed that in the terms of agreement there was an acknowledgment of the Confederate government and a proposed re-establishment of the state authorities and that it might furnish a ground of claim for the payment of the Confederate debt in the future. Such certainly was not its purpose, nor does it now appear that such could have been its effect. Sherman was a soldier treating with soldiers, and deserved more courteous and considerate treatment from the government authorities, even if in his enthusiasm he had exceeded his powers. On 10 March. Sherman set out for Alexandria, Virginia, and arrived on the 19th. He determined then not to revisit Washington, but to await orders in camp; but he afterward, at the president's request, went to see him. He did not complain that his agreement with Johnston was disapproved. It was the publication that constituted the gravamen of the offence, its tone and style, the insinuations it contained, the false inferences it occasioned, and the offensive orders to the subordinate officers of General Sherman which succeeded the publication. These he bitterly resented at the time, but before Mr. Stanton's death they became fully reconciled. Preliminary to the disbandment of the National armies they passed in review before President Johnson and cabinet and Lieutenant-General Grant—the Army of the Potomac on 23 May. and General Sherman's army on the 24th. Sherman was particularly observed and honored. He took leave of his army in an eloquent special field order of 30 May. From 27 June, 1865, to 3 March, 1869, he was in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, with headquarters at St. Louis, embracing the Departments of the Ohio, Missouri, and Arkansas. Upon the appointment of Grant as general of the army on 25 July, 1806, Sherman was promoted to be lieutenant-general, and when Grant became president of the United States, 4 March, 1869, Sherman succeeded him as general, with headquarters at Washington. From 10 November, 1871, to 17 September, 1872, he made a professional tour in Europe, and was everywhere received with the honors due to his distinguished rank and service. At his own request, and in order to make Sheridan general-in-chief, he was placed on the retired list, with full pay and emoluments, on 8 February, 1884. He has received many honors, among which may be mentioned the degree of LL. D. from Dartmouth, Yale. Harvard, Princeton, and other universities, and membership in the Board of regents of the Smithsonian institution, 1871-'83. A thorough organizer, he is also prompt in execution, demanding prompt and full service from all whom he commands. He is an admirable writer, and goes at once to the very point at issue, leaving no one in doubt as to his meaning. His favorites are always those who do the best work in the truest spirit, and his written estimate of them is always in terms of high commendation. Without being a natural orator, he expresses himself clearly and forcibly in public, and as he is continually called out, he has greatly developed in that respect since the war. In personal appearance he is a typical soldier and commander, tall and erect, with auburn hair carelessly brushed and short-cropped beard, his eyes dark hazel, his head large and well-formed; the resolution and strong purpose and grim gravity exhibited by his features in repose would indicate to the stranger a lack of the softer and more humane qualities, but when he is animated in social conversation such an estimate is changed at once, and in his bright and sympathizing smile one is reminded of Richard's words:

“Grim-visaged War has smoothed his wrinkled front." His association with his friends and comrades is exceedingly cordial, and his affection for those allied to him is as tender as that of a woman. A life of General Sherman has been written by Colonel Samuel M. Bowman and Lieutenant-Colonel Richard B. Irwin (New York. 1865), and he has published " Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, by Himself" (2 vols., New York, 1875; new ed.,'1885). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 502-506.


SHERMAN, John, 1823-1900, statesman.  Whig U.S. Congressman, 1855.  Republican U.S. Senator.  Brother of General William T. Sherman.  Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery.  Brother of Union commander, (Appletons’, 1888, pp. 506-508; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 84; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 19, p. 813; Congressional Globe)

SHERMAN, John, statesman, born in Lancaster, Ohio, 10 May, 1823, after the death of their father in 1829, leaving the large family with but limited means, the boy was cared for by a cousin named John Sherman, residing in Mount Vernon, where he was sent to school. At the age of twelve he returned to Lancaster and entered the academy to prepare himself for college. In two years he was sufficiently advanced to enter the sophomore class, but a desire to be self-supporting led to his becoming junior rodman in the Corps of Engineers engaged on the Muskingum. He was placed in charge of the section of that work in Beverly early in 1838, and so continued until the summer of 1839, when he was removed because he was a Whig. The responsibilities attending the measurements of excavations and embankments, and the levelling for a lock to a canal, proved a better education than could have been procured elsewhere in the same time. He began the study of law in the office of his brother Charles, and in 1844 was admitted to the bar. He formed a partnership with his brother in Mansfield, and continued with him until his entrance into Congress, during which time his ability and industry gained for him both distinction and pecuniary success.

Meanwhile, in 1848, he was sent as a delegate to the Whig Convention, held in Philadelphia, that nominated Zachary Taylor for the presidency, and in 1852 he was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention that nominated Winfield Scott. His attitude as a conservative Whig, in the alarm and excitement that followed the attempt to repeal the Missouri Compromise, secured his election to the 34th Congress, and he took his seat on 3 December, 1855. He is a ready and forcible speaker, and his thorough acquaintance with public affairs made him an acknowledged power in the house from the first. He grew rapidly in reputation as a debater on all the great questions agitating the public mind during that eventful period: the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the Dred-Scott Decision, the imposition of slavery upon Kansas, the Fugitive-Slave Law, the national finances, and other measures involving the very existence of the republic. His appointment by the speaker, Nathaniel P. Banks, as a member of the committee to inquire into and collect evidence in regard to the border-ruffian troubles in Kansas was an important event in his career. Owing to the illness of the chairman, William A. Howard, of Michigan, the duty of preparing the report devolved upon Mr. Sherman. Every statement was verified by the clearest testimony, and has never been controverted by any one. This report, when presented to the house, created a great deal of feeling, and intensified the antagonisms in Congress, being made the basis of the canvass of 1856. He acted with the Republican Party in supporting John C. Frémont for the presidency because that party resisted the extension of slavery, but did not seek its abolition. In the debate on the submarine telegraph he showed his opposition to monopolists by saying: “I cannot agree that our government should be bound by any contract with any private incorporated company for fifty years; and the amendment I desire to offer will reserve the power to Congress to determine the proposed contract after ten years.” All bills making appropriations for public expenditures were closely scrutinized, and the then prevalent system of making contracts in advance of appropriations was denounced by him as illegal. At the close of his second congressional term he was recognized as the foremost man in the house of representatives. He had from deep and unchanged conviction adopted the political faith of the Republican Party, but without any partisan rancor or malignity toward the south.

He was re-elected to the 36th Congress, which began its first session amid the excitement caused by the bold raid of John Brown. In 1859 he was the Republican candidate for the speakership. He had subscribed, with no knowledge of the book, for Hinton R. Helper's “Impending Crisis,” and this fact was brought up against him and estranged from him a few of the southern Whigs, who besought him to declare that he was not hostile to slavery. He refused, and after eight weeks of balloting, in which he came within three votes of election, he yielded to William Pennington, who was chosen. Mr. Sherman was then made chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. He took a decided stand against in drafting new legislation upon appropriation bills, saying: “The theory of appropriation bills is, that they shall provide money to carry on the government, to execute existing laws, and not to change existing laws or provide new ones.” In 1860 he was again elected to Congress, and, when that body convened in December, the seceding members of both houses were outspoken and defiant. At the beginning of President Buchanan's administration the public indebtedness was less than $20,000,000, but by this time it had been increased to nearly $100,000,000, and in such a crippled condition were its finances that the government had not been able to pay the salaries of members of Congress and many other demands. Mr. Sherman proved equal to the occasion in providing the means for the future support of the government. His first step was to secure the passage of a bill authorizing the issue of what are known as the treasury-notes of 1860.

On the resignation of Salmon P. Chase, he was elected to his place in the Senate, and took his seat on 4 March, 1861. He was re-elected senator in 1867 and in 1873. During most of his senatorial career he was chairman of the Committee on Finance, and served also on the committees on agriculture, the Pacific Railroad, the Judiciary, and the Patent Office. After the fall of Fort Sumter, under the call of President Lincoln for 75,000 troops he tendered his services to General Robert Patterson, was appointed aide-de-camp without pay, and remained with the Ohio regiments till the meeting of Congress in July. After the close of this extra session he returned to Ohio, and received authority from Governor William Denison to raise a brigade. Largely at his own expense, he recruited two regiments of infantry, a squadron of cavalry, and a battery of artillery, comprising over 2,300 men. This force served during the whole war, and was known as the “Sherman Brigade.” The most valuable services rendered by him to the Union cause were his efforts in the Senate to maintain and strengthen the public credit, and to provide for the support of the armies in the field. On the suspension of specie payments, about the first of January, 1862, the issue of United States notes became a necessity. The question of making them a legal tender was not at first received with favor. Mainly through the efforts of Senator Sherman and Secretary Chase, this feature of the bill authorizing their issue was carried through Congress. They justified the legal-tender clause of the bill on the ground of necessity. In the debates on this question Mr. Sherman said: “I do believe there is a pressing necessity that these demand-notes should be made legal tender, if we want to avoid the evils of a depreciated and dishonored paper currency. I do believe we have the constitutional power to pass such a provision, and that the public safety now demands its exercise.” The records of the debate show that he made the only speech in the Senate-in favor of the National-Bank Bill. Its final passage was secured only by the personal appeals of Secretary Chase to the senators who opposed it. Mr. Sherman's speeches on state and national banks are the most important that he made during the war. He introduced a refunding act in 1867, which was adopted in 1870, but without the resumption clause. In 1874 a committee of nine, of which he was chairman, was appointed by a Republican caucus to secure a concurrence of action. They agreed upon a bill fixing the time for the resumption of specie payment at 1 January, 1879. This bill was reported to the caucus and the Senate with the distinct understanding that there should be no debate on the side of the Republicans, and that Mr. Sherman should be left to manage it according to his own discretion. The bill was passed, leaving its execution dependent upon the will of the Secretary of the Treasury for the time being.

Mr. Sherman was an active supporter of Rutherford B. Hayes for the presidency in 1876, was a member of the committee that visited Louisiana to witness the counting of the returns of that state. He was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Hayes in March, 1877, and immediately set about providing a redemption fund by means of loans. Six months before 1 January, 1879, the date fixed by law for redemption of specie payments, he had accumulated $140,000,000 in gold, and he had the satisfaction of seeing the legal-tender notes gradually approach gold in value until, when the day came, there was practically no demand for gold in exchange for the notes. In 1880 Mr. Sherman was an avowed candidate for the presidential nomination, and his name was presented in the National Convention by James A. Garfield. During the contest between the supporters of General Grant and those of James G. Blaine, which resulted in Mr. Garfield's nomination, Mr. Sherman's vote ranged from 90 to 97. He returned to the Senate in 1881, and on the expiration of his term in 1887 was re-elected to serve until 1893. At present (1888) he is chairman of the committee on foreign relations, and is an active member of the committees on Expenditures of Public Money, Finance, and Rules. In December, 1885, he was chosen President of the Senate Pro Tem, but he declined re-election at the close of his senatorial term in 1887. His name was presented by Joseph B. Foraker in nomination for the presidency at the National Convention held in 1884, but the Ohio delegation was divided between him and James G. Blaine, so that he received only 30 votes from this state. Again in 1888 his name was presented by Daniel H. Hastings, in behalf of the Pennsylvania delegation at the National Convention, and on the first ballot he received 229 votes and on the second 249, being the leading candidate, and continued so until Benjamin Harrison received the support of those whose names were withdrawn. Mr. Sherman has published “Selected Speeches and Reports on Finance and Taxation, 1859–1878" (New York, 1879). See “John Sherman, What he has said and done: Life and Public Services,” by Reverend Sherlock A. Bronson (Columbus, Ohio, 1880). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 506-508.


SHERWOOD, MISSOURI, May 5-9, 1863. 2nd Kansas Cavalry and 1st Kansas Colored Infantry. Adjt. M. M. Ehle with detachments of the two regiments, numbering about 200 men, attacked and broke up a guerrilla camp on Center creek near Sherwood. Subsequently he surprised another outlaw band near the town and captured some prisoners. No casualties were reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 799.


SHERWOOD, MISSOURI, May 18, 1863. Detachments of 1st Kansas Colored Infantry and 2nd Kansas Battery. A foraging party of about 60 men was attacked by Livingston's guerrillas in the vicinity of Sherwood and 3 Union men were killed. The Confederates sustained no loss. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 799.


SHIELDS, James, soldier, born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1810; died in Ottumwa, Iowa, 1 June, 1879. He emigrated to the United States in 1826, studied law, and began practice at Kaskaskia, Illinois, in 1832. He was sent to the legislature in 1836, elected state auditor in 1839, in 1843 appointed a judge of the state supreme court. and in 1845 made commissioner of the general land office. When the war with Mexico began he was appointed a brigadier-general, his commission dating from 1 July, 1846, and was assigned to the command of the Illinois. He served under General Zachary Taylor on the Rio Grande under General John E. Wool in Chihuahua and through General Winfield Scott's campaign. At Cerro Gordo he gained the brevet of major-general, and was shot through the lung. After his recovery he took part in the operations in the valley of Mexico, commanding a brigade comprised of Marines and of New York and South Carolina volunteers, and at Chapultepec he was again severely wounded. He was mustered out on 20 July, 1848, and in the same year received the appointment of governor of Oregon Territory. This office he resigned on being elected U.S. Senator from Illinois as a Democrat, and served from 3 December, 1849, till 3 March, 1855. After the expiration of his term he moved to Minnesota, and when the state government was organized he returned to the U.S. Senate as one of the representatives of the new state, taking his seat on 12 May, 1858, and serving till 3 March, 1859. At the end of his term he settled in California, and at the beginning of hostilities in 1861 was in Mexico, where he was engaged in superintending a mine. Hastening to Washington, he was appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers on 19 August. He was assigned to the command of General Frederick W. Lander's brigade after the latter's death, and on 23 March, 1862, at the head of a division of General Nathaniel P. Banks's army in the Shenandoah Valley, he opened the second campaign with the victory at Winchester, Virginia, after receiving a severe wound in the preparatory movements on the preceding day. He was in command at Port Republic on 9 June, and was defeated by General Thomas J. Jackson. Resigning his commission on 28 March, 1863, he settled in California, but soon moved to Carrollton, Missouri, where he resumed the practice of law. He served as a railroad commissioner, and was a member of the legislature in 1874 and 1879. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 509.


SHILLING'S BRIDGE, SOUTH CAROLINA, February 11-12, 1865. 15th Army Corps. In the Carolina campaign this corps, commanded by Major-General John A. Logan, moved to Shilling's bridge over the North Edisto river on the 12th, and there found the Confederates intrenched to resist a crossing. J. E. Smith's division crossed on pontoons about dark and Hazen's division crossed at three points on fallen trees. Once across the river the two divisions turned the enemy's position, completely routing him with a loss of 3 killed, several wounded and 80 captured, together with 200 stands of arms which the Confederates abandoned in their hasty retreat. Logan reported a loss of 1 killed and 5 wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 799.


SHILOH, MISSOURI, April 11, 1862. Detachments of the 1st Iowa Cavalry and 26th Indiana Infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel C. E. Moss, with 130 men, moved from Osceola to break up a Confederate camp at Shiloh. When within 2 miles of the camp the Confederate captain and 30 of his men were found in a house and a sharp skirmish ensued, in which the enemy was defeated with a loss of 6 killed, 4 wounded and 7 captured, with a number of mules and horses, etc. The camp was found evacuated. Not a man was injured on the Union side. Shiloh, Tennessee, April 6-7, 1862. Army of the Tennessee; Army of the Ohio; Gunboats Tyler and Lexington. Immediately after the fall of Fort Donelson, General A. S. Johnston, commanding the Confederate armies in the west, began the work of establishing a new line farther south. He evacuated Nashville on February 23 and fell back to Murfreesboro, where he was joined by the troops from Bowling Green, those who had escaped from Fort Donelson, and General Crittenden's command, giving him about 17,000 men. With this force he moved to Corinth, Mississippi, where he was joined by General Bragg with 10,000 seasoned troops from Pensacola; Ruggles' brigade from New Orleans; General Polk, with Cheatham's division from Columbus, Kentucky; the troops that had left Island No. 10 with McCown on March 17; General Van Dorn's command from Missouri, and several small outlying garrisons. New recruits also came in from different states, so that by April 1 he had an army of some 40,000 men. Beauregard's forces were stationed at Island No. 10, Forts Pillow and Randolph, Memphis, and at various points in Mississippi. As Johnston was falling back from Nashville to Corinth Major-General Henry W. Halleck, commanding the department, conceived the idea of breaking the railroad connections to prevent Beauregard from forming a junction with Johnston. A base of operations was then to be established on the Tennessee river, from which the army would move on Corinth. Florence, Alabama, was originally selected, but owing to the failure of the expedition to destroy the railroad bridge at' Eastport, Mississippi, and the rapid mobilization of Johnston's forces at Corinth and Humboldt, it was deemed advisable to establish a depot lower down. The selection of a place was left to Major-General Charles F. Smith, who commanded the advance division. He decided in favor of Savannah, on the right bank of the river, 120 miles from Nashville and 23 from Corinth, and designated Pittsburg Landing, 9 miles above Savannah, as the point for assembling the army. In anticipation of a movement of this sort, Beauregard, in the latter part of February, sent a battery, supported by two regiments of infantry, to occupy the bluff overlooking Pittsburg Landing. This force was driven away by the two Federal gunboats, Tyler and Lexington, on March 1, and on the 5th the first of the steamboats bringing troops and supplies landed at Savannah. The Tennessee river at Pittsburg Landing runs almost due north, the landing being on the left or western bank. A little more than 2 miles above the landing Lick creek flows into the river, and Snake creek about a mile below. The principal tributary of the latter is Owl creek, the course of which is almost parallel to that of Lick creek. Some 2 miles from the river are Oak creek and Locust Grove creek, near together, the former flowing into Owl creek and the latter into Lick creek. The ground enclosed by these several streams is a rolling plateau, broken in places by ravines, and from 80 to 100 feet above the river. Its form is that of an irregular triangle, approximately 4 miles on each side, and it was on this plateau that the battle of Shiloh was fought. Several roads crossed the field in different directions, the principal ones being the eastern Corinth, or Bark road; the western Corinth road, on which stood Shiloh church, about 2 miles from the landing; the Purdy road, which crossed the Corinth road a short distance north of the church; the Hamburg road, running up the river bank to Hamburg and from there to Corinth, and the river-road to Crump's landing, which crossed Snake creek a little way below the mouth of Owl creek. Almost parallel with the road, and a little west of it, ran Tillman's creek. By March 18 this field was occupied by the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Major-General U. S. Grant, and organized as follows: 1st division, Major-General John A. McClernand, including the brigades of Colonels A. M. Hare, C. C. Marsh and Julius Raith; 2nd division, Brigadier-General W. H. L. Wallace, consisting of the brigades of Colonel James M. Tuttle, Brigadier General John McArthur, and Colonel T. W. Sweeny; 3d division, Major-General Lewis Wallace, including the brigades of Colonels M. L. Smith, J. M. Thayer and Charles Whittlesey; 4th division, Brigadier-General Stephen A. Hurlbut, consisting of the brigades of Colonels N. G. Williams and J. C. Veatch, and Brigadier-General J. G. Lauman: 5th division, Brigadier-General William T. Sherman, embracing the divisions of Colonels J. A. McDowell, David Stuart, Jesse Hildebrand and R. P. Buckland; 6th division, Brigadier-General B. M. Prentiss, including the brigades of Colonels Everett Peabody and Madison Miller. The artillery and cavalry were distributed among the several divisions, and two regiments of infantry and five batteries were unassigned. According to the field returns on April 4-5, just before the battle, the total present for duty numbered 44,895 officers and men, with 62 pieces of artillery. Major-General Don Carlos Buell, with the Army of Ohio, had occupied Nashville immediately upon its evacuation by the Confederates, and early in March he tendered his aid to Halleck, who urged him to join Grant at Savannah. On the l0th Buell telegraphed: "I can join you almost, if not quite as soon, by water, in better condition and with greater security to your .operations and mine. * * * I shall advance in a very few days, as soon as our transportation is ready." The next day the Department of the Mississippi was created by the president's War Order No. 3, giving Halleck authority over the Army of the Ohio, and he at once sent orders to Buell to march his army to Savannah. On the 15th Buell began his march with four divisions, viz.: The 2nd, under Brigadier-General Alexander McD. McCook, was composed of three brigades commanded by Brigadier-General L. H. Rousseau, Colonel E. N. Kirk and Colonel W. H. Gibson; the 4th division, Brigadier-General William Nelson, included the brigades of Colonels Jacob Ammen, William B. Hazen and S. D. Bruce; the 5th division Boyle and Colonel William S. Smith; the 6th division, Brigadier-General T. J. Wood, consisted of the brigades of Brigadier-General James A. Garfield and Colonel George D. Wagner. The four divisions numbered about 25,000 men. With the command were three batteries of artillery and two regiments of cavalry, the latter going in advance of the main column to secure the bridges. The bridge over the Duck river at Columbia was found in flames and the water at flood stage. This occasioned a delay of several days while a new bridge was being constructed. Nelson's division crossed on the 29th and the rest of the army the next day, when the march was resumed with all possible speed toward Pittsburg Landing. Nelson's division, which was in advance, reached Savannah on April 5, Crittenden's camped within a few miles of the place that night, and Buell himself reached the town late in the evening. Johnston's army, the Army of the Mississippi, with Beauregard second in command, was divided into four corps. The 1st, under Major-General Leonidas Polk, was composed of the divisions of Clark and Cheatham; the 2nd, Major-General Braxton Bragg, included the divisions of Ruggles and Withers; the 3d, Major-General William J. Hardee, consisted of three brigades under Hindman, Cleburne and S. A. M. Wood; the reserve corps, Brigadier-General John C. Breckenridge, embraced the brigades of Trabue, Bowen and Statham. Altogether the army contained 72 regiments and 10 battalions, numbering, according to Confederate reports, 35,953 infantry and artillery and 4,382 cavalry. Each brigade was accompanied by at least one battery, and several had two. On March 26 Lee wrote to Johnston: "I need not urge you, when your army is united, to deal a blow at the enemy in your front, if possible, before his rear gets up from Nashville. You have him divided, and keep him so, if you can." Pursuant to these instructions Johnston hastened forward his arrangements for an attack on Grant before Buell could come up, and when, on the night of April 2, he learned that Buell had passed Columbia, he immediately issued orders for the troops to be held ready to move at a minute's notice, each man to be provided with 5 days' rations and 100 rounds of ammunition. The arrangements were completed in a few hours and on the afternoon of the 3d the advance against Grant was commenced, Hardee's corps in advance, the intention being to have the troops in line by 7 o'clock on the morning of the 5th, and the attack to begin an hour later. As usual in the movement of large bodies of troops, unavoidable delays occurred, so that the attack was not made until 24 hours behind the schedule time. Notwithstanding the enemy had been encountered at various places by reconnoitering parties on Friday and Saturday, the 4th and 5th, it seems that no general attack was anticipated by the Union commander, as on Saturday Grant telegraphed Halleck that "The main force of the enemy is at Corinth, with troops at different points east." In another despatch the same day, announcing the arrival of Buell's advance division at Savannah, he said: "It is my present intention to send them to Hamburg, some four miles above Pittsburg, when they all get here. From that point to Corinth the road is good, and a junction can be formed with the troops from Pittsburg at almost any point." The same day he sent Colonel McPherson to examine the ground about Hamburg, with instructions to mark out the position of a camp there, if it should be decided to occupy that place. In a visit to Nelson's camp at Savannah, Grant said to that officer: "There will be no fighting at Pittsburg Landing; we will have to go to Corinth, where the rebels are fortified." Holding these views it is not surprising that no defensive works were thrown up at Pittsburg Landing, and that only ordinary pickets were thrown out short distances from the camp. The positions of the different commands on Saturday evening, April 5, were as follows: Stuart's brigade of Sherman's division was at the junction of the Hamburg and Bark roads; the rest of the division was on the right of the line, the left resting on Shiloh church, the camp extending westward; McClernand's left was near the crossing of the Corinth and Purdy roads, his line extending northwest; Prentiss lay between Sherman and Stuart, near the headwaters of Oak creek; Hurlbut and W. H. L. Wallace were farther in the rear to the east of Tillman creek; Lewis Wallace was down the river, about half way between Pittsburg Landing and Savannah, his 1st brigade being at Crump's Landing, the 2nd at a place called Stony Lonesome, about 2 miles from the river on the Purdy road, and his 3d at Adamsville, some 2 miles farther on the same road. About 3 o'clock on Sunday morning Prentiss sent Colonel Moore, of the 21st Missouri, with five companies, to the front on a reconnaissance. Just at daybreak the advance pickets were driven in, when Moore moved forward and was soon engaged with Hardee's column advancing to the attack. Moore sent back for reinforcements and the remainder of his regiment was sent forward to his assistance. Peabody's brigade was formed in line and advanced well to the front. About 6 o'clock Moore was severely wounded, the regiment fell back, closely pressed by the enemy, and soon the entire division was under fire. This was the beginning of the battle of Shiloh. It was the intention of the Confederates to surprise the Federals, and probably the only thing that prevented the surprise was the action of Prentiss in sending out a reconnaissance at such an early hour. Hardee's line continued to advance, widening the space between the brigades as they came forward until Cleburne was in front of Sherman's division, driving the advance guard back on the main body. The brigades of McDowell and Hildebrand formed on their color lines, Taylor's battery was posted near the church and Waterhouse's on a ridge to the left, between the 53d and 57th Ohio, the former, under Colonel Appler, forming the left of the line. Sherman sent to McClernand, asking him to support Appler, and McClernand formed his division so that Raith's brigade connected with Sherman's left. The Confederates opened with a battery in the woods, to which Taylor and Waterhouse promptly responded. After a short artillery duel the enemy's infantry advanced and the battle became general. Raith ordered a charge, which drove the enemy from the front, though he fell mortally wounded while leading his brigade, which was thrown into some confusion, but Lieutenant-Colonel Engelmann assumed command and righted the line, changing his two flank regiments to repulse attacks by Polk and Bragg, who had come up on his right and left. About  3 a. m. the 53d Ohio broke in disorder, soon followed by the 57th, but Engelmann held on until his flanks were again threatened, when he was ordered to fall back and form a new line in front of division headquarters. During this action 3 guns of Waterhouse's battery were captured. When the new line was formed McClernand brought up Burrows' battery in the center, Schwartz's was sent to the right in support of Sherman, and McAllister's to the left to command the approach across a field. All opened a spirited fire and in a few minutes Schwartz succeeded in silencing the guns in his front, but the enemy charged in force and he was compelled to retire with the loss of a caisson. Nearly all the horses belonging to Burrows' battery were killed and the guns had to be abandoned. They were recaptured, however, the next day. McAllister kept up the fire until almost surrounded, when he withdrew three of his guns, one being left behind for want of horses to bring it off. This gun was also recovered the next day. Each of the battery commanders was wounded during the action. Hildebrand's brigade had practically disappeared from the field by 10 a. m. and Sherman ordered McDowell and Buckland to fall back to the Purdy and Hamburg road, where they were to form a new line to connect with McClernand's. Half an hour later the Confederates made a furious assault on McClernand, and McDowell was sent against the enemy's left flank, driving him back some distance, after which McDowell took position in a wooded valley to his right, where, under cover of rocks, logs and trees, his men held on until about the middle of the afternoon. All through the day Sherman and McClernand acted in concert. Five times they were compelled to retire before the determined assaults of the enemy. About 4 p. m. the sixth line was established to cover the bridge and road over which Lew Wallace's division was expected to come from Crump's landing. This line was in the skirts of a wood, on the east side of a field, McClernand's division in the center, the remnant of Sherman's division on the right, two regiments of Veatch's brigade on the left, McAllister's battery near the middle of the line and the 7th Illinois formed as a reserve. A lull of half an hour occurred, during which time the men replenished their cartridge boxes and seized the opportunity to enjoy a brief but much needed rest. Then the enemy's cavalry were seen advancing across the field to a charge. When they were within 30 yards of the Union line McAllister's guns belched forth from their brazen throats a shower of canister, followed immediately by a well directed volley of musketry that threw the Confederates into confusion and caused them to beat a hasty retreat, leaving behind a large number of dead and wounded. After several attempts to turn the flanks of this position the enemy advanced in heavy columns, the Louisiana Zouaves in the lead, against the center. Again the Federals waited in silence until the enemy was at close range, when fire was opened with destructive effect . The artillery, double shotted with canister, literally mowed down the column, while the coolness of the infantry made every shot tell. All attempts to rally the line were futile, and after a few moments the whole body fled in disorder. This ended the fighting on that part of the field for the day. Shortly after Prentiss became engaged in the morning, the second line of Confederates swept around to his right flank, forcing him back to his color line, where he held on until about 9 o'clock, when a fresh body of troops was brought up against him and he was driven back to the position held by Hurlbut and W. H. L. Wallace. The three divisions now formed a new line, with Prentiss in the center, Hurlbut on the left and Wallace on the right. Prentiss occupied an old, washed out road running along the top of a ridge about half a mile to the eastward of the church, with Hickenlooper's battery in position to the right of the Corinth road. Many of Prentiss' men had become panic-stricken and fled toward the river. Wallace sent the 8th la., under Colonel Geddes, to his assistance, and Colonel Tindall came up with the 23d Missouri, which had just disembarked from a transport, thus strengthening the new line. This formation had hardly been completed when Gladden's brigade of Withers' division made a terrific assault on the center. Prentiss' men, lying down in the old sunken road, waited until the enemy was within close range, when they poured in a murderous volley that drove him back out of range. A. P. Stewart's brigade of Clark's division next essayed to drive Prentiss from his position, but was twice repulsed with heavy slaughter. Bragg then ordered Gibson's brigade of Ruggles' division to carry the ridge. Gibson made one of the most gallant charges of the day, but in the meantime a battery had been so placed as to enfilade the slope, and this cross-fire, with the deadly line of infantry in the old roadway, quickly drove him back. Gibson asked for artillery to silence the battery, but none was at hand and another charge' was ordered. Four regimental commanders tried to persuade Bragg that the position was invulnerable without artillery. To one of these he replied somewhat petulantly, "I want no faltering now," and again a desperate dash was made up the slope, only to be met by that relentless fire. Four times Gibson charged, but each time the Federal line held firm. Hindman's command, flushed with the success it had won against Sherman and McClernand, next confidently advanced against the ridge, but it was shattered into fragments by the battery and the musketry fire from the steadfast line of Wallace and Prentiss. To this fatal slope the Confederates gave the name of the "Hornets' Nest." While these events were transpiring on the right and center of the Union line, the left had not been permitted to remain idle. About 7:30 a. m. Stuart's pickets brought in word that the enemy was advancing in force on the Bark road. Stuart communicated this information to Hurlbut, who sent forward Mann's battery, supported by the 41st Illinois Stuart then formed his line to the left of the battery, and facing toward the west and south, in the expectation that Hurlbut would extend his line to connect with the battery on the right. Four companies were thrown forward as skirmishers and were soon engaged with a force of the enemy which was trying to plant a battery on the opposite side of the ravine. The skirmishers were forced to retire and the Confederate battery commenced shelling Stuart's position, their infantry at the same time advancing. Stuart went to the battery to order it to change its position, but found it and the supporting regiment had been withdrawn to connect with Williams' brigade, to which they belonged. This left a wide gap in the line, and Stuart, seeing that he was about to be outflanked by an overwhelming force, hurried back to his brigade, which was already engaged, the 71st Ohio having retreated from the field to return no more that day. The gap in the line was filled by McArthur, with two regiments of his brigade, and as soon as possible Stuart extricated his command, after which he withdrew to a hill some distance in the rear. Here he repulsed an attack by Chalmers' brigade of Withers' division and held the enemy in check until Clanton's cavalry gained his left flank, when he again fell back to another hill, reformed his line and held this position until his men had exhausted their ammunition. Stuart was wounded and went to the landing, turning over the command to Colonel Smith, of the 54th Ohio. Smith and Colonel Malmborg, of the 55th HI., succeeded in rallying about 3,000 of the retreating troops and held on until about 3 p. m., when the whole brigade retired gradually toward the landing. When Hurlbut withdrew Mann's battery from Stuart he placed it at the corner of a field, along the southern side of which was Williams' brigade, Lauman continuing the line at an obtuse angle to the right of the battery to connect with Prentiss left. Ross' battery was placed about the middle of Williams' line and Myers' was with Lauman. This position was held until the withdrawal of Stuart's command made it necessary for Hurlbut to send Lauman's' brigade to the left to prevent a flank movement, and during this period of five hours several heavy attacks were repulsed. Gladden's brigade, after its effort to force Prentiss from the old roadway, reformed and commanded by Colonel Adams, moved against Lauman. When within about 400 yards Mann's and Ross' batteries opened, while the 17th and 25th Kentucky were thrown forward to strike the advancing column on the flank. Under this cross-fire the enemy broke and sought the cover of the wood. Three times Adams rallied his men and led them to the attack, but with no better success, Mann's battery being particularly effective in repelling the assaults. Meantime Jackson's brigade of Withers' division assailed McArthur, but was unable to withstand the steady fire. A second attack, in which Jackson was well supported by artillery, proved more successful, and after a severe struggle McArthur withdrew his two regiments in good order to a new position. Soon after Hardee had opened the fight against Sherman and McClernand, Johnston rode to the right of the Confederate line and ordered Breckenridge to send Trabue's brigade to Beauregard, who was then near the church. Then, seeing the difficulty that Withers was having in trying to carry the Federal position in the "Hornet's Nest," he ordered Breckenridge's other two brigades to be put in. Bowen was first engaged and driven back, after which Statham deployed under cover of a ridge and marched up the slope directly in front of the 32nd and 41st Illinois which formed the left of Hurlbut's line. This time the Confederates succeeded in reaching the summit, where they were met by a withering fire at close range. Statham's line broke and fled down the hill in disorder, the 45th Tennessee refusing to again make the attempt until Johnston rode forward and offered to lead the charge in person. The line was again formed and with the Confederate general at the head charged up the slope with such impetuosity that the Illinois troops were forced to give way. They retired slowly, however, halting now and then to fire, thus checking pursuit. On one of these occasions a bullet struck General Johnston in the thigh, cutting an artery, and in a few minutes he bled to death, as no surgeon was near to attend to the wound. The news of his death spread quickly through the Confederate ranks, and caused a lull in the battle. Then Bragg assumed command of the Confederate right. He assembled what was left of Withers' and Cheatham's divisions and Breckenridge's two brigades and prepared for a general advance. Hurlbut saw the movement forming and took steps to meet the assault when it came. Cartridge boxes were replenished, Willard's battery was brought forward and posted near the Hamburg road, 2 of Cavender's 20-pounders were brought up and placed in position with Williams' brigade, and the line strengthened wherever it was possible. About 4 p. m. Bragg moved forward. Willard opened with telling effect on two Texas regiments which were moving to the left, and this was followed by a charge by Lauman that drove the Texans back some distance. Bragg now commenced to move a heavy force between Hurlbut and the river with a view to cutting off the retreat, but Hurlbut gave the order to fall back in time to prevent its success, and his command retired steadily to Webster's battery of siege guns near the river, where a new line was formed behind the artillery. Here the fight continued until almost dark, Bragg making a desperate but vain effort to capture the guns. Hurlbut's withdrawal left Prentiss in an exposed position, where he soon found himself surrounded by an overwhelming force. He held on, however, until about 5:30, when he surrendered himself and 2,20o men as prisoners of war. About 5 o'clock Beauregard gave the order to retire and go into bivouac. Some delay occurred in the transmission of the order to the different commands, Jackson and Chalmers continuing the fight after all the others had retired. The fortunes of the day were with the Confederates. The Federals held possession of the camps of W. H. L. Wallace's and Hurlbut's divisions of the preceding night, but Sherman's, Prentiss' and McClernand’s were in the hands of the enemy. Many of the Union troops were here subjected to actual fire for the first time, with the result that they became panic-stricken and crowded to the river bank, all efforts to rally them having proved of no avail. Darkness found them a hungry, disorganized mob in the vicinity of the landing, where they were not only useless, but also in the way of those who were willing to fight. When the battle began in the morning Grant was seated at breakfast in Savannah. Hearing the firing he sent an order to Nelson to march his division up the river to a point opposite Pittsburg Landing, after which he hurried to the despatch boat and was soon on his way to the scene of action. At Crump's landing he found Lew Wallace waiting to see him and halted long enough to order Wallace to have his troops in readiness to move at a moment's notice. Wallace immediately ordered his division to concentrate at the camp of the 2nd brigade. Upon arriving on the field Grant soon learned the condition of affairs and sent an order to Wallace to move his division and take position on the right of the army. This order was received by Wallace about 11:30 a. m. He marched his command out on the road that crossed the Purdy road a little west of Owl creek, but before he reached his destination he was met by Captain Rowley, of Grant's staff, who brought the information that the Union right had been beaten back toward the landing, and that the road upon which the division was then moving led to the rear of the Confederate position. This necessitated a countermarch to the river road, in order to form a junction with the right of the line as then established, and this so delayed the movement that it was dark before Wallace reached the field. A similar delay occurred in the case of Nelson's division. It was past 1 p. m. when he started from Savannah. The roads had been overflowed and in some places were almost impassable. Although the men were eager to join in the combat the march was necessarily slow and the command did not reach the field in time to take part in the first day's engagement. Crittenden's division arrived about 9 p. m. and the boats were sent back to Savannah to bring up McCook's division, which arrived at the landing at 5 o'clock on Monday morning. The early part of the night was spent by the Federal generals in collecting their stragglers and forming their lines for the next day's battle. The fresh troops of Nelson and Crittenden were formed near the landing, in a line perpendicular to the river and extending to the Corinth road. Across the road were Hurlbut, McClernand and Sherman, in the order named, and among whom had been apportioned the remnant of Prentiss' division. On the extreme right was the division of Lew Wallace, near Snake creek. Toward midnight a heavy rain began to fall, but the men maintained their places in the line, many lying on the bare ground without shelter. On the Confederate side conditions were no better, and possibly worse. Those who occupied the captured camps availed themselves of the shelter of the tents, but by far the greater part of the army passed the night in the open air. Although they were the victors in Sundays action they had suffered severely. Jackson's brigade was completely disintegrated in Bragg' s last attack; Hindman's was also broken to pieces; Gladden's, or what was left of it, bivouacked near the Hamburg road; Trabue's occupied McDowell's camp; the other two brigades of Breckenridge's command lay between the church and the river; part of Clark's division was between Breckenridge and the church, in which Beauregard had established his headquarters; Hardee, with Cleburne's brigade occupied Prentiss' camp; Wood's siept in McClernand's, while Cheatham's division and one regiment of Clark's left the field under command of Polk and returned to their camp of the preceding night. All through the night the two Union gunboats threw shells at intervals of 10 or 15 minutes into the enemy's lines, making it impossible for the exhausted men to get the sleep they so sorely needed, and in some instances driving them from the captured camps. The arrival of Wallace's division and the Army of the Ohio gave great excitement to the Union troops, and the army now assumed the offensive. On Monday morning the attack was begun as soon as it was light enough to see and commenced on both flanks almost simultaneously. On the left Nelson moved out on the river road in line of battle, Ammen on the left, Bruce in the center and Hazen on the right, followed by Crittenden's division in column. About 5:20 the enemy was encountered and Nelson halted until Crittenden could come into line on his right. McCook's division, just then arriving from Savannah, was pushed forward and formed on the right of Crittenden. Thus formed the line advanced and soon forced back the Confederates until the position abandoned by Hurlbut and Wallace at 4 p. m. the day before was regained. The "Hornets' Nest" was in front of Crittenden's left and the place where Johnston fell was directly in front of Nelson. Here a larger force of the enemy appeared, before which Nelson was forced to retire, as he had no artillery. Buell ordered Mendenhall's battery to his assistance, the enemy's guns were quickly silenced, after which Hazen's brigade made a dashing charge, capturing the guns and driving the supporting infantry from the field. But Bowen's brigade, which was moving to the support of the battery, charged Hazen in front, while two batteries, one on each flank, sent an enfilading fire into his lines. In a few minutes the brigade lost 90 killed and 558 wounded, and the rest fell back in confusion, leaving a gap in the line that exposed Bruce to the danger of a flank movement. At the same time Ammen's brigade was heavily engaged to prevent an effort to turn the left of the line. Terrill's battery was brought up and held the enemy tack until part of McDowell's brigade moved around to Ammen's left, when the Confederates fell back to their original position in the woods. This ended the fighting on Nelson's front. Crittenden's skirmishers were forced to retire, while a battery on a ridge opposite his front did considerable damage to his line. Bartlett's battery responded with an accurate fire, forcing the enemy's battery to change its position several times, and finally to withdraw. The skirmishers were again ordered forward, but just then it was seen that the enemy was forming line in the timber, as if preparing for a charge. Bartlett turned his guns and poured a shower of shrapnell and canister into the timber, throwing the Confederates into some confusion, and this advantage was promptly followed up by Boyle's brigade, which charged through the brush, driving the enemy from cover and back across a field in their rear. Further to the right McCook deployed Rousseau's brigade facing toward the church, with Kirk's brigade so disposed as to protect Rousseau's right. Skirmishers were thrown forward, but they soon encountered part of Trabue's brigade and were forced back. Rousseau then advanced his line, firing as he went, and drove Trabue back to an open field, where he received reinforcements and made a furious charge. Rousseau's line received the shock without a quiver and after a desperate struggle of half an hour Trabue gave way, leaving the Federals in possession of 2 pieces of artillery and McClernand's old headquarters. In executing this movement Rousseau drew away from Crittenden, leaving a break in the line. McCook sent Colonel Willich, with the 32nd Indiana, into this gap to support Rousseau's left. Willich charged with the bayonet and drove the enemy back into the timber. He then deployed his men in line of battle and opened fire, but unfortunately the regiment was so placed that its skirmishers received the fire of friend and foe alike. As they beat a hasty retreat from their exposed position Willich rallied them, withdrew his command into a ravine, where he exercised his men for a few moments in the manual of arms to overcome their nervousness, then formed again in double column to the center and by a gallant charge drove the Confederates from his front. Kirk now relieved Rousseau, whose ammunition was gone, and about this time Gibson's brigade arrived and took position on the left of Kirk. When Rousseau's brigade had received a new supply of ammunition it was again ordered into line, and the whole division advanced, McCook connecting with the forces, on his right . On the right Lew Wallace at daybreak discovered a battery on the bluff across Tillman's (or Brier) creek. This was Ketchum's Alabama battery, supported by Pond's brigade of Ruggles' division. Wallace ordered Thompson's 9th Indiana battery to open fire, which was promptly answered by Ketchum. The presence of Wallace was unknown to Pond until the artillery was brought into action. As he was nearly a mile from his nearest support, he retired after a brief engagement, leaving Wharton's Texas rangers to support the battery. A spirited artillery duel ensued between Thompson and Ketchum until Wallace ordered Thurber's Missouri battery into position to assist Thompson by a cross-fire. This had the desired effect, and the Confederates withdrew from the bluff. Wallace's whole command then pushed across the creek in pursuit. When the enemy was thus driven from the bluff it left his flank exposed and Wallace changed front by a left half wheel to turn the Confederate left. While the movement was in course of execution Wallace discovered a heavy column moving rapidly to reinforce Pond, who was still falling back. Thompson opened on this column with his battery, but was shortly afterward compelled to turn his guns on a battery planted in a field on his right. His ammunition soon gave out and Thurber was ordered up to take his place, the change being made without any cessation in the fire. An attempt was made to charge the battery, but it was handsomely repulsed by Morgan L. Smith's brigade. Grant's orders were for Sherman's right to connect with Wallace's left, but the former was slow in getting into position, so that it was 100'clock before the line of battle was complete and the general advance commenced. From that time until noon the battle around Shiloh church was equally as furious as any part of Sunday's engagement. McCook had driven back the forces on the Corinth road, where Beauregard in person was in command, and after effecting a junction with McClernand the whole Union army formed a curved line, concentrating their fire upon the force composed of Cheatham's, Ruggles' and part of Clark's divisions, Wood's and Trabue's brigades and several batteries, and for two hours hammered the Confederates back. As one brigade would exhaust its ammunition and fall back for a new supply another would take its place in the line and the fight went on without cessation. Shortly afternoon Beauregard saw that his men were beginning to flag. The work of the previous day and a sleepless night were beginning to tell upon their constitutions, and the knowledge that they were confronted by about 25,000 fresh troops added to the strain. Whole regiments dropped out of line, completely worn out, and all efforts to rally them met with failure. Under these circumstances Beauregard gave the order to retreat and sent word to his right to retire the troops in alternate lines, while the left continued the fight to secure the withdrawal of the army. About 500 yards east of the church was a grove of water oaks, filled with a dense undergrowth, in and behind which the enemy made his last stand. One battery near the church and another on the Hamburg road were so placed as to pour a deadly fire on any column that might try to advance against that piece of timber. Nevertheless Willich's regiment moved forward and succeeded in entering the timber, but after a sharp fight of about 20 minutes was compelled to retire. Two 24-pounders belonging to McAllister's battery and 3 guns of Wood's battery were brought up and after a heavy cannonade silenced the enemy's guns. Rousseau's brigade then advanced, deployed, and entered the woods. Sherman sent forward T. K. Smith's and Buckland's brigades to Rousseau's support. Rousseau swept everything before him, and by 4 p. m. the Union army had recovered every inch of ground that had been lost the day before. The charge of Rousseau was the last straw. Of the retreat which followed immediately after this charge, Lew Wallace says in his report: "About 4 o'clock the enemy to my front broke into rout and ran through the camps occupied by General Sherman on Sunday morning. Their own camp had been established about 2 miles beyond. There, without halting, they fired tents, stores, &c. Throwing out the wounded, they filled their wagons full of arms (Springfield muskets and Enfield rifles) ingloriously thrown away by some of our troops the day before, and hurried on. After following them until nearly nightfall I brought my division back to Owl creek and bivouacked it."  The Union loss at Shiloh was 1,754 killed, 8,408 wounded and 2,885 captured or missing. Most of the captured belong to Prentiss' division. On the Confederate side the loss was reported as being 1,728 killed, 8,o12 wounded and 959 missing. The effect of the battle is well summed up by General M. F. Force in his "From Fort Henry to Corinth," wherein he says: "The battle sobered both armies. The force at Pittsburg Landing saw rudely dashed aside the expectation of a speedy entry into Corinth. The force at Corinth, that marched out to drive Grant into the river, to scatter Buell's force in detail, and return in triumph to Nashville, was back in the old quarters, foiled, disheartened." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 799-809.


SHIP ISLAND, MISSISSIPPI, January 20, 1861. Lieutenant F. E. Prime, of the U. S. corps of engineers, reported on the 30th that a body of armed men "took forcible possession of the works and engineer property at Ship island." This was in line with the action of the state governments in seizing United States posts, arsenals, etc., prior to passing an ordinance of secession. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 809


SHIP ISLAND, MISSISSIPPI, July 9, 1861. Lieutenant Warley, of the Confederate navy, commanding at Ship island, reported that on the morning of the 9th a "two-masted steam propeller, supposed to be the Massachusetts," was discovered lying at anchor off the island. A shot from an 8-inch gun caused her to run up the Stars and Stripes and stand in for the Confederate batteries, opening fire with her bow gun and later delivering a broadside, but without doing any damage. The Confederate batteries fired 17 shots, most of which fell short, and the vessel withdrew. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 809.


SHIP'S GAP, GEORGIA, October 16, 1864. Army of the Tennessee. In an attempt to cut off Hood's retreat by moving directly toward La Fayette, General Howard's corps came up with the Confederates intrenched at Ship's gap. The advance division (Woods) carried the outposts, making the two companies composing the garrison prisoners. The remainder of the enemy managed to escape to the main body near La Fayette. The casualties were not reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 810.


SHIPLEY, Judith, Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS), Boston, Massachusetts (Yellin, 1994, p. 61)


SHIPLEY, Simon B., Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist.  Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Counsellor, 1840-1844.


SHIPPEN, Edward, surgeon, born in New Jersey, 18 June, 1826, is the son of Richard Shippen. He was graduated at Princeton in 1845, and at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1848, entered the U.S. Navy as assistant surgeon, 7 August, 1849, and was commissioned surgeon, 26 April, 1861. He was on the "Congress" when she was destroyed by the "Merrimac" at Newport News, Virginia, and was injured by a shell, and in 1864-'5 was on the ironclad frigate " New Ironsides " in both attacks on Fort Fisher and the operations of Bermuda Hundred. He made the Russian cruise under Admiral Farragut, was commissioned medical inspector in 1871, was fleet-surgeon of the European Squadron in 1871-3, in charge of the Naval Hospital in 1874-'7, commissioned medical director in 1876, and was president of the Naval Medical Examining Board at Philadelphia in 1880-'2. Dr. Shippen has contributed largely to Hamersley's "Naval Encyclopaedia," the "United Service Magazine," and to kindred publications. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 513.


SHIRAS, Alexander Eakin, soldier, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 10 August, 1812; died in Washington, D. C, 14 April, 1875. His grandfather emigrated from Petershead, Scotland, about 1765. The son was appointed to the U. S. Military Academy through his uncle, Major Constantine M. Eakin, and was graduated there in 1833. He was assigned to the 4th U.S. Artillery, and served on frontier and garrison duty till 1839, when he was assistant professor of mathematics at West Point till 1843. He was made commissary of subsistence, 3 March, 1847, with the staff rank of captain, and served in the Subsistence Bureau in Washington till his death, rising to the head of his department, with the rank of brigadier-general, which he attained on 23 June. 1874. A large share of the credit for the manner in which the National Armies were supplied during the Civil War is due to General Shiras. At the close of the war he was brevetted brigadier-general and major-general, U. S. Army. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 513.


SHIRLEY, Paul, naval officer, born in Kentucky, 19 December, 1820; died in Columbus, Ohio, 24 November, 1876. He entered the U.S. Navy in 1839 became master, 3 December, 1853; lieutenant, 21 July, 1854; commander, 5 November, 1863; and captain, 1 July, 1870. While in command of the sloop "Cyane," of the Pacific Squadron, he captured the piratical cruiser "J. M. Chapman " in 1863, for which service he was complimented by Rear-Admiral Charles H. Bell. He also, while in command of the "Suwanee," took the piratical steamer "Colon," at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California, and thereby saved two mail steamers that would have been captured. He was fleet-captain of the North Pacific Squadron, and commanded the flag-ship " Pensacola in 1867-8, and was in charge of the receiving-ship "Independence," at Mare Island, California, in 1869-'70. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 514


SHIRLEY, VIRGINIA, July 31—August 1, 1862. Army of the Potomac. While General McClellan's army lay encamped at Shirley and Harrison's landing, after the battle of Malvern hill, the Confederates planted a battery at Coggins' point, on the opposite side of the James river, under cover of darkness, and opened fire on the camp, killing 10 and wounding about 15 of the Union soldiers. The next day McClellan sent a detachment across the river, destroyed the Cole house and cut down the timber to prevent a repetition of the maneuver. (See Coggins' Point.) The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 810.


SHIRLEY'S FORD, MISSOURI, September 20, 1862. 2nd Kansas Indian Home Guard. The pickets of the home guard camp under Colonel John Richie were attacked by the enemy in superior force about 8 a. m., causing a stampede of the women and children into the camp. The Indian infantry rushed to the aid of the pickets, who were closely pursued, and a terrific firing ensued, resulting in the rout of the enemy. Richie was soon afterward informed that he was about to be surrounded and immediately threw out companies to avoid this. He then started for the field of action, after ordering a force to pass around and gain the enemy's rear if possible. The infantry was concealed in a ravine and Richie then took about 100 cavalry near enough to draw out the enemy. In this movement he was ably seconded by Major Wright, in charge of the detachment sent to the rear of the enemy, who were thus effectually routed. Their flag-bearer was killed, the colors captured, and about 20 others were killed, including 2 officers. Richie reported his casualties as from 12 to 20 killed. Two negro teamsters and a 6-mule team were captured by the enemy. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 810.


SHOAL CREEK, ALABAMA, October 31, 1864. U. S. Troops, Department of the Cumberland. The day following General John T. Croxton's futile attempt to prevent General S. D. Lee (Confederate) from crossing the Tennessee at Raccoon ford, Lee turned on Croxton and compelled him to cross to the east bank of Shoal creek. No casualties were reported. The affair was part of the campaign in north Alabama and middle Tennessee. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 810.


SHOAL CREEK, ALABAMA, November 5-9, 1864. Cavalry, Military Division of the Mississippi. The skirmishes along Shoal creek were incidents of Hood's advance into Tennessee. On the 5th a reconnoitering party of Croxton's brigade was driven back by some Confederate infantry of Johnston's division. At 10 a. m. the enemy attacked Croxton at Shoal creek, but failing to drive him away sent two brigades across at a ford lower down and flanked him from his position. The next day a junction was formed with Hatch's (5th) division, the enemy checked and the lines reestablished along the creek (For the action of the 9th see Bough's Ford.)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 810.


SHOAL CREEK, ALABAMA, November 16-20, 1864. 5th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi. The division, commanded by Brigadier General Edward Hatch, was stationed along Shoal creek to watch the movements of the Confederate army under General Hood. On the 14th Hatch received information that the enemy was preparing to move northward and immediately set his command to work felling timber across the roads to impede Hood's march. On the 19th Coon's brigade crossed the creek at Cowpen ford, drove in the enemy's pickets on the Butler creek road, and soon became engaged with Chalmers' and Buford's divisions of Forrest's cavalry. The 2nd la. and part of the 9th Illinois held the enemy in check until Major Whitsit, with the 6th Illinois, conducted the train and artillery to the rear and prepared a crossing place over the creek. The two regiments then fell back alternately and recrossed the creek. Captain Mock, who was patrolling the Waynesboro road with a detachment of the 9th Illinois, was cut off and 30 of his men were captured. A few prisoners were taken from the enemy and the trains of Buford's and Chalmers' divisions were captured. The Union loss was not reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, pp. 810-811.


SHOAL CREEK, Tennessee, December 12, 1863. Detachment 7th Illinois Mounted Infantry. This regiment, Colonel Richard Rowett commanding, started from Pulaski on the morning of the 11th, in the direction of Lamb's ferry, Alabama En route he detached one squadron for special duty and moved onward with the remainder. At Rogersville, Alabama, his command was augmented by 100 home guards. On Shoal creek, 3 miles from Wayland springs, Rowett encountered Moreland's battalion and 100 of the 4th Alabama cavalry, 350 in all. Through a mistake of the guide Rowett passed the enemy's camp, and this brought about an attack in his rear. The rear-guard held the enemy in check until the regiment was dismounted and after a fight lasting about 45 minutes the enemy was driven from the field, leaving 8 dead and 22 prisoners. The Federal casualties were confined to the wounding of 1 man and 3 horses killed. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 811.


SHOCK, William Henry, naval officer, born in Baltimore, Maryland, 15 June, 1821. He entered the U.S. Navy as 3d assistant engineer. 18 January, 1845, and served in the Mexican War. He was promoted 2d assistant engineer. 10 July. 1847, became 1st assistant engineer, 31 October, 1848, was senior engineer of the coast-survey steamer "Legaree " in 1849, and superintended the construction of the machinery of the steamer "Susquehanna " at Philadelphia in 1850-'l. He was promoted to chief engineer, 11 March, 1851, superintended the construction of the machinery of the steamer "Princeton" at Boston in 1851-2, and, after a year's service as engineer inspector of U. S. Mail Steamers, made a cruise as chief engineer of the "Princeton" and superintended the construction of marine-engines at West Point, New York, in 1854-'5. He was president of the Examining Board of Engineers in 1860-'2, after which he superintended the building of river monitors at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1862-'3. He was fleet engineer under Admiral Farragut during the operations at Mobile, where he rendered valuable services, as also under Admiral Thatcher in 1863-'5. In the summer of 1870 he was temporarily appointed chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering, which post he filled again in 1871, and received the written thanks of the department for the efficient manner in which he had discharged the duties. In 1873 he went to Europe to inspect foreign dock-yards and to represent the Bureau of Steam Engineering at the Vienna Exhibition, and was appointed one of the American judges of award by the president. He was appointed engineer-in-chief of the U.S. Navy, 3 March, 1877, in which capacity he served until 15 June, 1883, when he was retired. He has been for many years an active member of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia and a contributor to the journal of that institution. In 1868 he designed and constructed projectiles to have a rotary motion when fired from smooth bore guns, the experiments with which resulted satisfactorily. He has also invented and patented a relieving cushion for wire rigging for ships, which has been adopted in the navy (1869), a projectile for small arms, improving the efficiency of muskets (1870), and steam radiators and attachments for heating purposes (1874). He is the author of "Steam Boilers: their Design, Construction, and Management" (New York, 1881). This became the text-book of the U.S. Naval Academy on the subject and is a standard work. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 514-515.


SHOEMAKER, George Washington, inventor, born near Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 14 December, 1861. He received his education at Keystone Academy, Factoryville, Pennsylvania, and then entered his father's woollen mill. Having mechanical ability, he made various improvements in the plant, and in 1886 invented a ring-machine, by which wool-spinning may be carried on continuously. With the Crompton mule, now in general use, an output of 150 pounds is obtained in ten hours with 250 spindles, while the new system, with an equal number of spindles, has given during the same time 640 pounds of yarn. It is estimated that, under favorable conditions, from 800 to 1,000 pounds of yarn can be produced in ten hours. The cost of a machine of the Shoemaker type is much less than that of the other. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 515.


SHOLES, Charles Clark, journalist, born in Norwich, Connecticut, 8 January, 1816; died in Kenosha, Wisconsin, 5 October, 1867. He was brought up in Danville, Pennsylvania, and there learned the trade of printing, after which he went to Harrisburg and engaged as a journeyman in the newspaper office of Simon Cameron. In 1836 he went to Wisconsin and conducted in Green Bay the first journal in that part of the west. Mr. Sholes was soon appointed clerk of the territorial district court, and in 1837 was elected to the territorial legislature from Brown County. In 1838 he purchased in Madison the "Wisconsin Inquirer," and early in 1840 the "Kenosha Telegraph," but subsequent business engagements compelled him to relinquish these journals. He fixed his residence in Kenosha in 1847, of which place he was several times mayor, frequently represented Kenosha County both in the assembly and senate of the state, and in one session was chosen speaker of the former body. In 1856 he was the Republican candidate for lieutenant-governor, but failed of election. Mr. Sholes was one of the early organizers of what afterward grew into the Northwestern Telegraph Company, with which corporation he was connected at the time of his death. He was an active abolitionist and zealous promoter of the cause of popular education. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 515.


SHOLES, Christopher Latham, inventor, born in Mooresburg, Pennsylvania, 14 February, 1819, was educated in private schools in Columbia and Northumberland Counties, Pennsylvania, and then followed the printer's trade. In 1819 he went to Wisconsin and was postmaster of Kenosha during Polk's administration. He was a member from Racine County, of the first state senate in 1848, and was elected to the assembly in 1851-'2, and again to the senate in 1856-'8. During the administrations of Lincoln and Johnson he held the office of collector of customs of the port of Milwaukee and he was commissioner of public works for Milwaukee in 1869-'73, and again in 1876-'8. Mr. Sholes was a member of the school board of Milwaukee in 1870-'l, part of which time he was its president. In addition to his work as a journalist, which has been his profession when not holding office, he has interested himself in inventions, the most important of which is the typewriting machine that was introduced through the firm of E. Remington and Sons. It was begun in 1866, and when patented in 1868 was about the size of a sewing-machine. It is worked with lettered keys arranged in four rows, each type-carrier being thrown up as its key is struck. The type letters are engraved on the ends of steel bars, which are pivoted in the circumference of a circle, so that the end of each bar will strike at the same point in the centre of the circle. An inked ribbon passes over the centre of the circle, and over the whole a cylinder carries the paper to receive the impression. The cylinder, by a spring and ratchet movement, revolves the width of a letter, and when a line is completed it is also given a lateral movement. In 1873 this invention passed into the hands of the Remingtons for manufacture, since which time many minor improvements have been added to it, increasing its usefulness. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 515.


SHORT MOUNTAIN CROSS-ROADS, August 29, 1862. Detachment of 18th Ohio and 9th Michigan Infantry. While this detachment was eating dinner in a grove 100 yards distant from a newly erected stockade it was attacked by the enemy, estimated by the Federal commander, Captain Henry R. Miller, as being 1,500 strong. A rush was made for the stockade, the Federals succeeding in gaining it first. The Confederates then approached on three sides, but the rapid and well directed fire of the garrison finally caused their withdrawal with a loss of 12 killed and 41 wounded, all left on the field. The Union loss was 9 wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 811.


SHORTER. James Alexander, A. M. E. bishop, born in Washington, D. C, 4 February, 1817. He is of African descent. After entering the itinerant ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in April, 1846, he held a pastorate in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1863, and organized the women of his church into bands for the relief of the freedmen that, flocked thither. He was elected bishop in 1868, and sent more fully to organize the church in the extreme southwest, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. He was one of the delegates to the Methodist Ecumenical Council in London, England, in 1881, and continued his travels into France and Switzerland. As president of the missionary society of his church, he has succeeded in opening the work in Hayti and Africa, whither missionaries have been sent. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 516


SHORTER, John Gill, governor of Alabama, born in Jasper County, Georgia, in 1818; died in Eufaula, Alabama, 29 May, 1872. He was graduated at the University of Georgia in 1837, and soon afterward began the practice of law in Eufaula, Alabama. In 1842 he was appointed state's attorney, and he subsequently was a member of both branches of the legislature. He was appointed circuit judge in 1852, and continued in this office for nine years. At the beginning of the Civil War he was appointed commissioner from Alabama to Georgia, and in 1861 he was a member of the Provisional Confederate Congress. In the same year he was elected governor of the state, serving till 1863. He was an active member of the Baptist denomination. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 516.


SHOT, (SOLID OR ROUND.) Made of cast iron and used as projectiles when great accuracy, range, and penetration are required. (See BREACH; SABOT.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p.551 ).


SHOTWELL, William, New York, New York, abolitionist.  American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, Treasurer, 1841-46, Executive Committee, 1846-47.


SHOUP, Francis Asbury, soldier, born in Laurel, Franklin County, Indiana, 22 March, 1834. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1855, and assigned to the artillery, but resigned, 10 January, I860. He then studied law, was admitted to the bar at Indianapolis, and moved to St. Augustine, Florida, early in 1861. He erected a battery at Fernandina under orders of the governor of Florida, was appointed lieutenant in the Confederate Army, became major of artillery in October, 1861, and was assigned to duty with General Hardee in the Trans Mississippi Department. He was afterward with General Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh as senior artillery officer of his army, and massed the artillery against General Prentiss’s position. He was inspector of artillery under General Beauregard after the latter's succession to the command, subsequently served under Hindman as chief of artillery, commanded a division, as major, at the battle of Prairie Grove, and was appointed brigadier general, 12 September, 1862, and ordered on duty at Mobile, Alabama. Afterward he commanded a Louisiana brigade at Vicksburg, and received the first attack of the National forces. He surrendered at that place, and after his exchange was chief of artillery to General Joseph E. Johnston, and constructed the defensive works on Chattahoochee River. On the succession of General John B. Hood to the command of the army in July, 1864, General Shoup was made chief of staff. He was relieved at his own request, and prepared a pamphlet, which was submitted to the Confederate Congress, recommending the enlistment of Negro troops. After the close of the war in 1866 he was elected to the chair of applied mathematics in the University of Mississippi. He then studied for the ministry, took orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and has been rector of churches in Waterford, New York, Nashville, Tennessee, Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. He was professor of metaphysics in the University of the South in 1888-'8. He is the author of "Infantry Tactics" (Little Rock, Arkansas, 1862); "Artillery Division Drill" (Atlanta, 1864); and "Elements of Algebra" (New York, 1874). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 516-517.


SHREYE, Henry Miller, inventor, born in Burlington County, New Jersey, 21 October, 1785; died in St. Louis, Missouri, 6 March, 1854. He was educated in western Pennsylvania, and as a boy became interested in the navigation of western rivers. In 1810 he carried the first cargo of lead that was taken by an American from Galena River to New Orleans, thus establishing a business that previously had been exclusively in the hands of the British. During the war of 1812 he conveyed supplies to Fort St. Philip past the British batteries by protecting his vessel with cotton-bales. At the battle of New Orleans he had charge of one of the fieldpieces that proved so destructive to that column of the British army that was led by General Sir John Keane. In May, 1815, he ascended the Mississippi to Louisville in the " Enterprise," the first steam vessel that ever performed that voyage, and subsequently he built the "Washington " on a plan of his own invention, with improvements that made it superior to Robert Fulton's boat. By using a cam cut-off that he devised, he was able to save three fifths of the fuel. In March, 1817, his vessel made its first trip laden with passengers and freight, and demonstrated its superiority. When its success was thoroughly shown, Fulton and his associates, having the exclusive right "to navigate all vessels propelled by fire and steam in the rivers of said territory," entered suit against him and seized his boats; but the case was decided in his favor. In 1826 he was appointed superintendent of western river improvements, which place he held until 1841. During that time he had charge of the removal of the great Red River raft, "consisting of an accumulation of trees, logs, and driftwood of every description firmly imbedded in its channel for more than 160 miles," and in consequence the river was opened for a distance of 1,200 miles. He built the snag-boat "Heliopolis" in 1829 for removing snags and "sawyers " from Ohio River, and during the same year invented a steam marine battering-ram for harbor defence. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 517.


SHUBRICK, William Branford, naval officer, born on Bull's Island. South Carolina, 31 October, 1790; died in Washington, D. C, 27 May, 1874, entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman, 19 August, 1806, was commissioned lieutenant, 5 January, 1813, commanded a gun-boat in Hampton Roads in 1813, and assisted in defending Norfolk against the British. He was 3d lieutenant of the " Constitution " at the capture of the " Cyane” and “Levant,” 23 February, 1815, and executive in her subsequent escape from a British fleet. He received a silver medal, and was included in the vote of thanks by Congress to Stewart and his officers, and South Carolina gave him thanks and a sword for his services. He was commissioned master-commandant, 28 March, 1820, and captain, 21 February, 1831, commanded the West India Squadron in 1838–'40, and was chief of the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing in 1845–’6. On 22 January, 1847, he arrived on the coast of California in the “Independence” and assumed command-in-chief of the U. S. naval force in the Pacific. He captured the city of Mazatlan, 11 November, 1847, and, landing the naval brigade, held it against superior forces. He also took Guaymas, La Paz, and San Blas, which laces, together with other ports in Mexico and California, he held until the close of the war. He commanded the “Princeton” in 1853, with a small squadron, to protect the fisheries in a dispute with the British, was chief of the Bureau of Construction in 1853, chairman of the Light-House Board in 1854–8, and in 1858 was appointed to command a fleet of 19 vessels with 200 guns and 2,500 men, flying the flag of a vice-admiral, to operate against Paraguay for firing upon the U.S. steamer “Water Witch.” He reached Asuncion, 25 January, 1859, and by display of force obtained apologies and pecuniary indemnity on 10 February. The president highly commended his zeal and ability in the conduct of this mission, and the president of the Argentine Confederation presented him with a sword. In 1861 unsuccessful efforts were made to induce him to join the Confederates in behalf of his native state. In December, 1861, he was placed on the retired list, but he continued on duty as chairman of the Light-House Board from 1860 till 1870. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 517-518.


SHUFELDT, Robert Wilson, naval officer, born in Red Hook, Dutchess County, New York, 21 February, 1822. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 11 May, 1839, was attached to the naval school at Philadelphia in 1844-'5, and became a passed midshipman, 2 July, 1845. He was promoted to master, 21 February, 1853, and to lieutenant, 26 October, 1853, but resigned from the navy, 20 June, 1854, and was connected with the Collins Line of Liverpool Steamers as chief officer for two years. He then commanded the steamers " Black Warrior" and " Catawba" on the line between New York and New Orleans, and had charge of the party that surveyed the Isthmus of Tehuantepec for a railroad and interoceanic canal. When the Civil War began he was in command of the steamer "Quaker City," of the New York and Havana line of steamers, and was appointed U. S. consul-general at Havana. In April, 1863, he resigned, and was reinstated in the navy with a commission of commander, dated 19 November, 1862. He was given the steamer "Conemaugh," on the blockade at Charleston, where he participated in the engagements on Morris Island. He commanded the steamer " Boteus," of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron, in 1864-'6. After the war he had the "Hartford," of the East India Squadron, in 1865-'6, and the " Wachusett," of the Asiatic Squadron, in 1866-'8. He was commissioned captain, 31 December, 1869, and commanded the monitor " Miantonomoh " in 1870, after which he had charge of the Tehuantepec and Nicaraguan Surveying Expeditions of 1870-'l. He was chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting in the Navy Department in 1875-8, and was commissioned commodore, 21September,1876. In 1879-'80 he sailed in the "Ticonderoga" on a special mission to Africa and the East Indies, to ascertain and report on the prospects for the revival of American trade with those countries. While he was on this expedition the Sultan of Zanzibar, Said Barghash, presented him with a sword. He was promoted to rear-admiral on 7 May, 1883, and was retired, 21 February, 1884. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 519.


SHUMWAY, Henry Cotton, artist, born in Middletown, Connecticut, 4 July, 1807; died in New York, 6 May, 1884. He studied at the Academy of Design, New York, during 1828-'9, and was one of the early members of the academy, being elected an associate in 1831, and academician the following year. For many years he followed his profession as a miniature-painter successfully in New York and other cities. Among the numerous eminent men that sat to him were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Prince Napoleon (afterward Napoleon III.), whose portraits he painted in 1838. He was for many years a captain in the New York 7th Regiment and a member of the veteran corps. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 519


SHURTLEFF, Roswell Morse, artist, born in Rindge, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, 14 June, 1838. About 1857 he went to Buffalo, where for two years he studied drawing. In 1859 he was in Boston, studying at the Lowell Institute, and drawing on wood for John Andrew. In 1861 he enlisted in the National Army, and he afterward continued to furnish drawings to various periodicals and to the wood-engravers. About 1870 he began to devote himself entirely to painting. His animal paintings first gained him distinction, and of these the best known are "The Wolf at the Door" and " A Race for Life" (1878). Among his later works in oil, most of which are scenes in the Adirondacks, are " On the Alert" (1879); "Autumn Gold " (1880); "Gleams of Sunshine " (1881); and "A Song of Summer Woods" (1886). His watercolors include "Harvest Time," "Basin Harbor, Lake Champlain," and "The Morning Draught" (1881), and " A Mountain Pasture" (1882). He was elected an associate of the National Academy in 1880. and is a member of the Water-Color Society. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 520.


SHUT IN GAP, MISSOURI, September 26-27, 1864. (See Fort Davidson.)


SIBLEY, Henry Hopkins, soldier, born in Nachitoches, Louisiana, 25 May, 1816; died in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 23 August, 1886. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1838, served in the Florida War as 2d lieutenant of U.S. Dragoons, was promoted 1st lieutenant on 8 March, 1840, took part in the expedition against the Seminoles in the Everglades, and served as adjutant of his regiment till 1846. He was engaged in the military occupation of Texas, was made a captain on 16 February, 1847, and took part in all the principal operations of the Mexican War, gaining the brevet of major for gallantry in the affair at Medelin, near Vera Cruz. He served for several years on the Texas frontier against the Indians, was stationed in Kansas during the antislavery conflict, took part in the Utah Expedition and in the Navajo Expedition of 1860, and, while stationed in New Mexico, was promoted major, but resigned on the same day, 13 May, 1861, in order to join the Confederate Army. He soon received a commission as brigadier-general, and on 5 July was assigned to the command of the Department of Mexico, and intrusted with the task of driving therefrom the National forces. He raised a brigade in northwestern Texas, left Fort Bliss in January, 1862, to effect the conquest of New Mexico, appeared before Fort Craig on 16 February, and on 21 February fought with Colonel Edward R. S. Canby the engagement of Valverde, which resulted in the withdrawal of the National troops. He occupied Albuquerque and Santa Fe, but in April was compelled to evacuate the territory. Subsequently he served with his brigade under General Richard Taylor and General E. Kirby Smith. In December, 1869, he entered the service of the Khedive of Egypt with the rank of brigadier-general, and was assigned to the duty of constructing sea-coast and river defences. At the termination of his five years' contract he returned, with broken health, to the United States. He was the inventor of a tent for troops modelled after the wigwams of the Sioux and Comanche Indians. He obtained letters-patent, and the U. S. government, while he was in its service, contracted for the use of the tent. At the close of the Civil War the U. S. officials refused to carry out the terms of the contract, and after his death the claim was brought before Congress in the interest of his family. He occasionally lectured on the condition of the Egyptian fellaheen. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 520-521.


SIBLEY, Hiram, financier, born in North Adams, Massachusetts, 6 February, 1807; died in Rochester, New York, 12 July, 1888, received a common-school education. He practised the shoemaker's trade without preparatory training, and, emigrating to western New York at the age of sixteen, worked as a journeyman machinist in a manufactory of carding-machines in Lima, and mastered three other trades before he was twenty-one years old. He carried on the wool-carding business at Sparta and Mount Morris, next established a foundry and machine-shop at Mendon, and in 1843 moved to Rochester, on being elected sheriff of Monroe County. He was instrumental in obtaining from Congress an appropriation in aid of Samuel F. B. Morse's experiments, and interested himself in telegraphy from the beginning. When the invention came into practical use, the business being divided between many companies, Mr. Sibley, who, with other citizens of Rochester, was interested in two of the largest—viz., the Atlantic, Lake, and Mississippi Valley and the New York, Albany, and Buffalo—conceived the plan of uniting the scattered plants and conflicting patents in the hands of a single corporation. Lines that had proved unprofitable were purchased at nominal prices, and the telegraphs that extended over parts of thirteen states were consolidated under the name of the Western Union Telegraph Company, of which Sibley was president for seventeen years, during which period the value of the property grew from $220,000 to $48,000,000. He was unable to interest his associates in a line to the Pacific Coast, and constructed it alone in 1861, transferring it to the company after its completion. With the other managers, he distrusted the practicability of submarine telegraphy, and entered into the project of telegraphic communication with Europe by way of Bering Strait and Siberia. He visited St. Petersburg in 1864, and obtained a promise of co-operation from the Russian government. The Western Union Company expended $3,000,000 in building 1,500 miles of the projected line, but abandoned the enterprise as soon as the first message was sent over the Atlantic cable. Mr. Sibley was the principal promoter of the Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana Railroad. He purchased large tracts of land in Michigan, and was interested in the lumber and salt manufacturing business at Saginaw. After the Civil War he engaged largely in railroad building and various industrial enterprises in the southern states, and did much to revive business activity. He has become the largest owner of improved lands in the United States, and has in recent years engaged in fanning operations on a great scale. The Burr Oaks farm, of nearly 40,000 acres, in Illinois, the Howland Island Farm, comprising 3,500 acres, in Cayuga, New York, and many others, are mainly devoted to seed-culture. Mr. Sibley gave $100,000 for a building to hold a public library and the collections of Rochester University, and a like sum for the establishment of the Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and the Mechanic Arts connected with Cornell University. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 521-522.


SIBLEY, Henry Hastings, pioneer, born in Detroit, Michigan, 20 February, 1811, received a classical education, and began the study of law, but abandoned it to engage in mercantile business at Sault Sainte Marie, soon afterward entered the employment of the American Fur Company, became a partner, and on 7 November, 1834, during one of his trips, reached the mouth of the Minnesota River, and was so delighted with the spot that he made it his permanent home, building at Mendota the first stone house within the present limits of the state of Minnesota. He devoted much of his time to the sports of the frontier, which he described in graphic style in the "Spirit of the Times" and "Turf, Field, and Farm," over the pen-name of "Hal, a Dacotah." When the State of Wisconsin was admitted into the Union, 29 May, 1848, the western boundary was fixed at St. Croix River, leaving an area of about 23,000 square miles, on the east of Mississippi River, including some organized counties, without a government. The acting governor of the territory issued a proclamation providing for the election of a delegate to represent this district in Congress, and Mr. Sibley was chosen in November, 1848. After much delay and discussion, he was admitted to his seat, 15 January, 1849, and secured the passage of an act creating the territory of Minnesota, which embraced the rest of Wisconsin and a vast area west of the Mississippi. He was elected a delegate to Congress from Minnesota in 1849, and reelected in 1851, when he declined longer to be a candidate. He was a member of the Democratic branch of the convention that framed in 1857 the state constitution that was adopted bv the people in November of the same year. The state was admitted to the Union on 11 May, 1858, and he was inaugurated as governor in the same month. He opposed the loan of state credit to railroad companies, and. when a constitutional amendment was carried authorizing the issue of bonds, he refused to send them out except on security of trust deeds from the companies giving a priority of lien upon all their property. But this ruling was negatived by the decision of the supreme court, thus leaving the way open for the issue of an indefinite amount of first mortgage bonds, and resulting in the bankruptcy of the companies and the repudiation of the bonds by the people of Minnesota. When the great Sioux rising occurred on the Iowa and Minnesota frontier in 1862 (see Little Crow) he commanded the white forces composed of volunteer citizens. Notwithstanding the delay in procuring arms and ammunition, only five weeks elapsed before the decisive battle of Wood Lake, 23 September, broke the power of the [Indians]. Their capture followed two days later. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, and afterward brevetted major-general. He was appointed a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners during President Grant's administration, and in 1871 was elected to the legislature, where, during the ensuing session, he made a vigorous speech against the repudiation of the state railroad bonds, being thus instrumental in restoring the credit of Minnesota. He received the degree of LL. D. from Princeton in 1888. General Sibley has held the offices of president of the Chamber of Commerce of St. Paul, where he resides, of the board of regents of the State University, and of the State Historical Society, to whose "Collections" he has made many contributions. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 522.


SIBLEY, MISSOURI, October 6, 1862. 5th Missouri Militia Cavalry. Captain D. H. David, with four companies of the regiment, while scouring the country in search of bushwhackers, reached Sibley on the 6th and learned that some of Quantrill's and Childs' guerrillas were in the vicinity. David started to take position on an eminence known as Big hill, about a mile and a half from town, and await reinforcements. Before reaching the hill his command was fired upon by the guerrillas, who immediately fled to the brush, according to their custom. David dismounted his men and pursued and a fight of 40 minutes at close quarters ensued, in which the enemy was driven from the field. The Union loss was 1 killed, 1 mortally and 1 slightly wounded, and 12 horses disabled or captured. The Confederate loss in killed and wounded was not learned definitely, though it was afterward reported by citizens that Quantrill pressed several vehicles into service to remove his dead and disabled. A number of the guerrillas were captured, among them Colonel Childs, who was severely wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 811.


SIBLEY, MISSOURI, June 23, 1863. Detachment of 4th Missouri State Militia Cavalry. On entering Sibley the advance of this detachment was fired upon by a number of bushwhackers. The fire was vigorously returned and when the main body came up the enemy retreated precipitately, leaving 2 dead and 4 wounded. The town was burned by the Federals before they withdrew. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 811.


SIBLEY'S LANDING, Missouri, March 28, 1863. Detachment of the Missouri Militia. The steamer Sam Gaty was attacked by guerrillas near Sibley's landing and 2 soldiers and 20 negroes were killed. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 811.


SICKEL, Horatio Gates, soldier, born in Belmont, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 3 April, 1817. He was educated at the Friends' school in Byberry, engaged in the business of coach-making, invented in 1848 a now method of producing artificial light, and became an extensive manufacturer of lamps. Before the Civil War he was connected with various militia organizations. He entered the U. S. service on 17 June, 1801, as colonel of the 3d Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, and succeeded General George G. Meade in the command of the brigade. He commanded a brigade in General George Crook's Kanawha Valley Expedition of 1864, and afterward one in the 5th Army Corps till the close of the war. He participated in the principal battles of the Army of the Potomac, lost his left elbow-joint, besides receiving two other wounds in the service, and was brevetted brigadier-general on 21 October, 1864, and major-general on 13 March, 1865. He was health officer of the port of Philadelphia in 1865-'9, in 1869-71 collector of internal revenue, and in 1871-'84 U. S. pension-agent. He has been an officer in banking and railroad corporations, was for eight years a member of the Philadelphia School Board, and since 1881 has been president of the Board of Health of Philadelphia. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp 522-523.


SICKLES, Daniel Edgar, soldier, born in New York City, 20 October, 1823. He was educated at the University of the City of New York, but left to learn the printer's trade, which he followed for several years. He then studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1844, and began practice in New York City. In 1847 he was elected to the legislature, in which body he took rank as a leader of the Democrats. In 1853 he was appointed corporation counsel of New York City, and on 30 July of the same year he was commissioned as secretary of legation at London, and accompanied James Buchanan to England. He returned in 1855, was elected, after an energetic canvass, to the state senate in the autumn, and a year later was chosen a member of Congress, taking his seat on 7 December, 1857. Discovering a guilty intimacy between his wife, who was the daughter of Antonio Bagioli, and Philip Barton Key, U. S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, he shot the latter in the street on 27 February, 1859. He was indicted for murder, and after a trial of twenty days was acquitted. He had been elected for a second term in 1858, and served till 3 March, 1861. At the beginning of the Civil War he raised the Excelsior Brigade of U. S. volunteers in New York City, and was commissioned by the president as colonel of one of the five regiments. On 3 September, 1861, the president nominated him brigadier-general of volunteers. The Senate rejected his name in March, 1862, but confirmed a second nomination. He commanded a brigade under General Joseph Hooker, and gained distinction at Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, and Malvern Hill. His brigade saw severe service in the seven days' fight before Richmond and in the Maryland Campaign, and bore a conspicuous part at Antietam. He succeeded General Hooker in the command of the division, and was engaged at Fredericksburg. On the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac he was assigned to the command of the 3d Army Corps, and was appointed major-general on 7 March, 1863, his commission dating from 29 November, 1862. At Chancellorsville he displayed gallantry and energy, gaining the first success of the day by cutting off an ammunition-train of the enemy, arresting a general panic by rallying the retreating artillery, and withstanding the force of Stonewall Jackson's attack with determination after the line was formed. At Gettysburg his corps was posted between Cemetery hill and Little Round Top. He advanced to an elevation which he thought desirable to hold, and in this position was assailed by General James Longstreet's column, while General John B. Hood endeavored to gain the unoccupied slope of Little Round Top. In the desperate struggle that followed, the 3d Corps effectively aided in preserving that important position from the enemy, but was shattered bv the onset of overwhelming numbers. After the line was broken. General Ambrose P. Hill followed the Confederate advantage with an attack on Sickles's right, during which General Sickles lost a leg. He continued in active service till in the beginning of 1865, and was then sent on a confidential mission to Colombia and other South American countries. On 28 July, 1866, he joined the regular army as colonel of the 42d Infantry. On 2 March, 1867, he was brevetted brigadier-general for bravery at Fredericksburg, and major-general for gallant and meritorious service at Gettysburg. He commanded the Military District of the Carolinas in 1865-'7, and carried out the work of reconstruction so energetically that President Johnson relieved him from his command, after first offering him the mission to the Netherlands, which he declined. He was mustered out of the volunteer service on 1 January, 1868, and on 14 April, 1869, was placed on the retired list of the U. S. Army with the full rank of major-general. He was active in promoting the candidacy of General Ulysses S. Grant for the presidency, and on 15 May, 1869, was appointed minister to Spain. He relinquished this post on 20 March, 1873, and resumed his residence in New York City. He is president of the New York State Board of Civil Service Commissioners, and likewise of the Board of Commissioners for the Erection of New York Monuments at Gettysburg. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 523.


SIDELL, William Henry, soldier, born in New York City, 21 August, 1810; died there, 30 June, 1873. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1833, and assigned to the artillery, but resigned in order to follow the profession of civil engineering, he was successively city surveyor of New York, assistant engineer of the Croton Aqueduct, and division engineer of railroads in Massachusetts and New York. In the construction of the Panama Railroad he acted as chief engineer. He was employed by the U. S. government on surveys of the delta of Mississippi River. In 1849-'55 he was chief engineer of the railroad between Quincy and Galesburg, Illinois. He was appointed in 1859 chief engineer of the projected Tehuantepec Railroad, and had completed the surveys when the political troubles in the United States caused the abandonment of the enterprise. He volunteered at the beginning of the Civil War, but before he received an appointment he was restored to the regular army on its enlargement, with the rank of major, 14 May, 1861. He mustered and organized recruits in Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee, was also disbursing officer, and planned a system by which more than 200,000 soldiers were mustered in, and at the end of their terms of service disbanded, without errors or delays. From May, 1863, till the close of the war he was acting assistant provost-marshal for Kentucky. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the 10th Infantry on 6 May, 1864, and received the brevets of colonel and brigadier-general on 30 March, 1865, and on 15 December, 1870, was retired from service, in consequence of a paralytic attack. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 523.


SIDNEY, MISSOURI, September 16, 1862. Missouri State Militia. Detachments from several companies of militia stationed at Hannibal, under command of Colonel J. T. K. Hayward. started on a scout through Ralls county, Missouri Near Sidney Hayward was captured by the enemy and the command of the expedition devolved upon Captain George H. Nettleton, who at once put the column in motion, with a view of pursuing the Confederates, about 80 men, that had captured Hayward. Two miles east of Sidney Nettleton was joined by two companies of London militia under Captain Johnson, who assumed command. About an hour before the meeting of the two commands Johnson had been attacked by the same troops that captured Hayward and the enemy had 1 man killed and 2 wounded. One of Johnson's men was wounded. The Confederates fled to the brush and made their escape. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, pp. 811-812.


SIEGES. An army, to undertake the siege of a fortress, must have superiority in the field, so that while some of the corps are occupied in besieging the place, others are employed in covering this operation, or in repulsing the enemy whenever he endeavors to succor the place. The army covering the siege is called an Army of Observation, and that which endeavors to give aid to the place is called the Succoring Army. The Besieging Army is that which, protected by the army of observation, throws up all the works necessary to take the place, such as trenches, batteries, &c. It begins its operations by investing the fortress; that is, it will advance with the greatest secrecy and rapidity, and occupy positions on every side, to cut off all communication with the adjacent country, and confine the garrison entirely to their own resources. The positions thus occupied are strengthened by field-works, and a sure communication is kept up between them.

It is absolutely necessary to invest the fortress attacked, so as to prevent the garrison holding any intercourse with the neighboring country; for if this precaution be not taken, the defenders will be able to draw fresh supplies of men, provisions, and ammunition from the country, increasing greatly the duration of the siege, and reducing the chances of ultimate success. At the late siege of Sebastopol, the ground being intersected by the inlet of the harbor of Sebastopol, the allied army was unable to complete the investment. Thus the fortress on the northern side was left open to receive all the reinforcements of men and materiel which could be furnished by the resources of Russia. Fresh officers, fresh troops, fresh provisions were continually poured in; the defences were enlarged and multiplied; and the besiegers, attacked in their own lines, held at one period a very critical position. The siege was thus prolonged beyond that of any other of modern times, and success was ultimately attained by a loss of men and materiel altogether unprecedented. Ground was broken on the 10th October, 1854, and on the 10th September, 1855, the Russians, having sunk their ships, retreated from the southern to the northern side of the harbor, leaving the works on the southern side in the hands of the allies, exactly eleven months after the commencement of their attack.

A place may sometimes be reduced by investment or blockade alone, and where it is possible suddenly to blockade a place ill provisioned and filled with a numerous garrison and population, it may be the most ready and bloodless mode of proceeding. Indeed, many other circumstances may render it desirable to endeavor to reduce a place by blockade. When the defenders have been driven within their works, and the place invested, the ground before the fronts to be attacked is carefully examined, and the most suitable situations selected for the park of artillery, and the engineer's park: the former to receive all the ordnance stores and ammunition; the latter all the engineers' stores and materials to be used in the construction of the trenches, batteries, &c. These parks should be placed in secure localities, behind the slopes of hills or in ravines, beyond the general range of the guns of the fortress, but with a ready access to the trenches and batteries of attack, for the use of which they are formed.

The artillery and engineer parks having been duly established, and an adequate supply of ordnance, ammunition, and materials collected in them, for a week's or ten days' consumption, the actual work of the siege begins. The objects of the besiegers are three: 1st. By a superior fire of artillery to dismount the guns and subdue the artillery fire of the place. 2d. To construct a secure and covered road by which his columns may march to assault the defensive works, so soon as they are sufficiently destroyed to justify the attempt. 3d. To breach or batter down the escarp revetments of the fortress in certain spots, causing the fall of the rampart and parapet supported by them, and thus exposing the interior of the place to the assaulting columns.

Now, before any means can be taken to attain any one of these objects, a strong force must be placed under cover, close at hand to the spots on which the necessary operations are to be commenced, whose duty it is to repel any sortie of the enemy, and drive back any parties which issue from the place to destroy or interrupt the works of the attack. The cover provided for this guard of the trenches is usually a trench and parapet called the first parallel, formed around the whole of the fronts attacked: its distance from the advanced works has usually been between 600 and 700 yards. In the late siege of Sebastopol, the first parallel was opened at a distance of 1,200 yards; and doubtless, in future sieges, owing to the increased range of fire-arms, the first parallel will seldom be less, and may probably be considerably more distant. This parallel is formed by approaching the place secretly in the night with a body of men; part carrying intrenching tools, and the remainder armed. The former dug a trench in the ground parallel to the fortifications to be attacked, and with the earth excavated from the trench raise a bank on the side next the enemy, while the latter remain under arms, usually in a recumbent posture, in readiness to protect the working party, should the garrison sally out. During the night, this trench and bank are made of sufficient depth and extent to cover from the missiles of the place the number of men requisite to cope with the garrison, and the besiegers remain in the trench throughout the following day, in despite of the fire or of the sorties of the besieged. This trench is afterwards progressively widened and deepened, and the bank of earth raised till it forms a covered road, called a parallel, embracing all the fortifications to be attacked; and along this road, guns, wagons, and men securely and conveniently move, equally sheltered from the view and the missiles of the garrison. So soon as the first parallel is established, the engineers select positions for the batteries to silence the defensive artillery. In the positions of these batteries lies one of the principal advantages of the besiegers.

Batteries of guns and mortars are now constructed a little in advance of this parallel, in positions, such that their guns enfilade all the faces of the works attached. The crest lines of these batteries are therefore made perpendicular to the prolongations of the faces of the ravelins and bastions of the fronts attacked, and so great is the advantage to the besieger arising from such positions of his batteries, that with an equal or sometimes smaller number of guns he is able speedily to subdue the artillery fire of the defence. These enfilading batteries on the first parallel should be completed and ready to open fire on the third morning after breaking ground.

After the fire of the defensive artillery has been sufficiently subdued, the approaches are commenced. These, like the first parallel, are trenches dug in the ground and protected by a parapet formed of the excavated earth, thrown up on the side of the enemy's works. The approaches are made on the capitals of the ravelins and bastions attacked, but not in a straight line directly towards the salients, as in that case they could be enfiladed from end to end, but in a zigzag direction, alternately to the right and to the left of the capitals, in such a manner that their prolongations fall clear of the fortress, and the possibility of enfilading them is entirely removed.

The heads of these approaches are pushed forward by small parties of men, who, from their great numerical inferiority, are quite unable to contend with sorties issuing from the place. To prevent the repeated destruction of the approaches, and the continual loss of the working parties engaged in their construction, a guard of sufficient strength must always be stationed within a distance from these works not exceeding the distance of these works from the covered-way of the place: so that a sortie issuing from the place for the purpose of destroying the approaches may be met and repulsed by the guard of the trenches before they can have time to carry their object into effect; and as the approaches themselves, from their limited dimensions, afford no accommodation for a guard of the trenches, a parallel must always be established at least as near to the head of the approaches as the heads of approaches to the covered-way of the place.

It may then be considered a general principle of the attack that a new parallel or place of arms becomes necessary when the approaches have advanced half way between the last formed parallel and the covered-way of the fortress. So soon, therefore, as the approaches have advanced half the distance between the first parallel and covered way of the fortress, a second parallel must be established to accommodate a guard of the trenches, or the working parties at the heads of the approaches will be liable to be swept off by parties of cavalry issuing from the covered-way, before aid can reach them from the first parallel. The approaches are then pushed forward, parallels being made according to the principles just laid down, wherever required, until they reach nearly the crest of the covered way. Here a trench of greater magnitude is formed, and in it batteries of heavy guns are constructed to silence the remaining artillery of the defence, and to breach in certain selected spots the escarp revetment wall, thus destroying the formidable obstacle to assault presented by the high perpendicular sides of the ditches of the fortress.

The order for the assault is given when the breach has been rendered practicable by the overthrow of the parapet upon the ruins of its walls; and after a gallery has been opened for descending into the ditch, across which a good epaulement has been made joining the breach to the gallery. The troops for the assault are held in the ditch, in the crowning of the covered-way, and in the third parallel. These detachments are to sustain each other and to do it with strong arms. At the concerted signal, the 'first detachment mounts the breach, driving back the defenders, and seeking to establish themselves firmly upon the height by constructing with gabions a lodgement in the angle of the bastion. This is a little intrenchment, called by the French nid de pie, which crowns the breach, and under shelter of which the soldiers fire upon all who present themselves. The sappers are charged with its construction, and in sufficient numbers for this purpose, accompany the assaulting party, each carrying a shovel, a pick-axe, and a gabion. The second detachment aids the first in surmounting the breach, and relieves it if the struggle is obstinate. The third detachment lines the trenches upon the glacis, and sweeps with its fire the parapets and top of the breach, and wherever else there is resistance, but care must also be taken, before coming to close quarters, to facilitate the assault by directing upon the work attacked, as many pieces of artillery as possible. When the close combat begins, the artillery ceases, as it would otherwise fire upon friend and foe.

Frequently the taking of the first works brings about the surrender of the place, but again it often happens that their resistance is but a foretaste of the obstinate defence to be made, and it is necessary to grasp, step by step, the fortifications of the besieged. Sometimes, again, the possession of the ramparts does not put an end to the fighting, but courageous citizens, willing to sacrifice their property to the honor and independence of their country, dispute inch by inch the possession of the streets and houses. The defence of Saragossa in 1808 is a heroic instance of such devotedness. The Spaniards, after losing their fortifications, sustained during twenty-three days attacks in streets and from houses. They capitulated for want of powder, and only after the enormous loss of fifty-four thousand persons of all ages and sexes.

A commanding officer, defending the approaches of a fortress threatened by armed enemies, declares it in a state of siege, and from that moment martial law prevails; or, in other words, the military authority alone governs. Every thing is brought into the place necessary for defence, in the shape of wood, fascines, gabions, animals, grain, and eatables of all kinds. All useless mouths are sent out of the place, and those inhabitants who remain are required to provide themselves with wheat, dried vegetables, oil, salt meats, &c., for many months, in order that the garrison may not be obliged to share their provisions with them. The place is put in a state of defence by arming and repairing the fortifications, planting palisades, clearing away the incumbrances in the communications, &c., &c.

When the garrison is sufficiently numerous, and that is the case here supposed, it guards against being entirely shut up in the place, by disputing all approaches. Positions are taken in advance of the suburbs, and far from destroying the suburbs as a smaller garrison must do, they should be covered by intrenchments, in the double aim of preserving them, and sparing the rear as long as possible.

Besides the preceding intrenchments, advantageous points are selected for solid redoubts and small posts. The most exposed passages are closed by abatis or deep cuts. Walls are pierced with embrasures, the different stories of houses made defensible, and all means whatever resorted to that can prolong the defence.

Upon a field of battle thus prepared, a long resistance may be expected, and the attacking force will experience great losses before they can open their trenches and begin the ordinary labors of the siege. Perhaps even during this exterior struggle, political events or other warlike operations may extricate the garrison from the impending siege, and its glorious struggle will then have freed the place committed to it from many horrors.

If the moment at last comes when it is necessary for the garrison to shut itself up, then follows that series of operations properly called a siege. The defence has a thousand means of prolonging its duration, because his exterior defence has given time to prepare them. Knowing the point of attack indicated by the first operations, the defence will have redoubled his intrenchments. The garrison will have been made warlike by frequent combats. It occupies, it is true, a post hard pressed, but its force is the more concentrated from that cause, and is still imposing notwithstanding the losses that it has experienced.

It is by sorties that we retard the operations of the besiegers. Large sorties are executed by numerous corps, and are generally made by day to avoid confusion. Small sorties are made at night, and consist of but few men. The first are designed to overthrow the trenches, fire the batteries, and spike the pieces, and they are consequently always followed by a sufficient number of workmen, provided with the necessary instruments. The smaller sorties are only directed against the workers of the sap; they present themselves unexpectedly and frequently drive away the workmen, and break up the gabions. The sap thus interrupted progresses but slowly.

Defensive mines are also a powerful means of prolonging the defence, as they force the besieger to make works that require much time in their preparation. As soon as the point of attack is known the besieged prepare under the glacis chambers of mines, which threaten the batteries of the besieger and constrain him to dig under the ground. The defence has in this subterranean war a great advantage, as he expects the attack in galleries previously prepared. The attack has no other resource than to prepare his chambers at a great distance in order to destroy those of the defenders, and for this purpose globes of compression are employed. These overcharged chambers, however, require a great deal of powder, and also much time for their preparation.

The besieged has also an advantage in the defence of breaches, because the attacking force may be surrounded, and can only reach their object by a narrow and difficult ascent. In defending a breach, therefore, all the energies of the defence should be brought into action. Preparations should be made in advance for this period of the siege, and some pieces of artillery should be carefully preserved, to arm at the moment of the assault these works which take in flank and reverse the columns of attack. At the top of the breach loaded shells are kept ready to roll down upon the assailants; a large fire should be lighted at the foot of the breach, and kept up by fagots. Or, if the enemy has only partially beaten down the wall, the foothold may be cleared away during the night in such a manner as to make the breach impracticable. Mines may be dug under the ruins by which the assailants may be overthrown. Long arms, as pikes, may be given to the soldiers who defend the breach, and those in the front ranks may be protected by cuirasses. If the work attacked has much capacity, reserves may be held in the interior to charge the enemy when he shows himself, and cavalry may also be brought up at this decisive moment. Such are, in general, the steps to be taken to defend a work; but success will at last depend upon the character, firmness, and skill of the governor, and upon the intrepidity of his soldiers.

The army of observation ought not to be too far from that engaged in the siege, because it may be necessary to call for reinforcements from the latter, and they should be able to return to their camps after the action. Such aid furnished at the opportune moment is precious, and may contribute powerfully to defeat or repulse an enemy. When Napoleon covered the siege of Mantua he did not confine himself to drawing battalions from the besieging army, in order to fight the numerous troops striving to surround him, but he marched the whole besieging army, and uniting it with the army of observation, he gained the celebrated battle of Castiglione.

Besides, if the army of observation be too far off, there is nothing to prevent the enemy from unexpectedly attacking the besieging army, which, occupying a long line of investment, is rarely in a condition to repulse such an attack, and may therefore, without aid, be compelled to raise the siege, with the loss of ordnance and other materiel. General rules cannot be laid down for the position to be taken by an army of observation. It must possess mobility of action, and seek concentrations as much as circumstances admit. It must not consider itself tied to the besieging army, and yet be always ready to succor the latter as well as repel a succoring army: conditions which demand much consideration, and which will be fulfilled only by varying dispositions according to circumstances.

In 1640, Prince Thomas of Savoy and the Spaniards held the city of Turin, whose citadel was defended by a French garrison. At the beginning of May, the Count d'Harcourt, celebrated for his courage and his military talents, set himself down before the place, but it was scarcely invested before the Marquis de Lenages arrived with heavy forces to blockade him in his lines. Turin, invested in this manner, presented the singular spectacle of a citadel besieged by the city, of the city besieged by a French army, and the latter surrounded by a Spanish army. In this position the Prince of Savoy corresponded with Lenages by means of shells without fuzes, in which letters were enclosed. The same means were used to introduce into the city a little salt and medicine, of which they were much in want. Count d'llar court, obliged to defend himself from continual sorties made by Prince Thomas, as well as from reiterated attacks of the Spanish army, covered himself by double lines as a protection against both. At length after a siege of four months and a half, after having endured in his camp every privation, he forced the city to capitulate. the Prince of Savoy marched out with the honors of war, and the Spanish army retired; (Memoirs of the House of Savoy, par le Marquis DE COSTA.)

Marshal Soult, at the siege of Badajoz, being occupied with an army larger than his own, nevertheless found an occasion by which he ably profited to establish an equilibrium of forces. Ten thousand Spaniards, to avoid being an encumbrance, went oat from Badajoz to encamp upon the heights separated from the French army by the Gaudiana, and covered by the Gebora. Howitzers of long range were fired by the French army upon the Spanish camp, in order to drive it as far as possible from the works of Badajoz, from which it was separated by a valley of 600 toises in breadth. An hour before day, the Gaudiana was crossed in boats, the torrent of Gebora forded, and while Marshal Mortier directed a front attack upon the heights and sent his cavalry to turn the right, two or three thousand infantry placed themselves in the valley between the fortress and the camp, and facing both ways cut off all communication. Complete success crowned these beautiful dispositions. Eight thousand Spaniards grounded their arms, five or six hundred were killed, arid the remainder escaped. Such was the brilliant combat of Gebora fought Feb. 10, 1811; (Victoires et conquetes.)

These dissimilar instances, with hundreds that might be cited, show that no rules can determine the conduct of an army in the field, but genius in war may derive instruction from the memoirs of able commanders. (Consult DUFOUR; HYDE. See BATTARDEAU; BATTERY; DITCH; FIELD-WORKS; FORTIFICATIONS.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, pp. 551-558).


SIERRA BONITO, NEW MEXICO, April 7, 1864. Detachments of 1st California Infantry and 1st California Cavalry. This command under Captain James H. Whitlock overtook a band of Indians at the foot of the Sierra Bonito and immediately attacked. The affair resulted in the killing of 21 Apaches and the capture of 45 head of stock, with no casualties among the troops. Signal, U. S. S., May 5, 1864. (See Alexandria, Louisiana)  The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 812.


SIGEL, Franz, soldier, born in Sinsheim, Baden, 18 November, 1824. After completing his studies at the gymnasium of Bruchsal, he entered the military school at Carlsruhe, and was graduated in 1843. While a lieutenant, stationed at Mannheim, he assailed the standing army in public writings, and thus became involved in quarrels with his brother officers. Toward the close of 1847, after a duel that terminated fatally for his antagonist, he resigned. When the Baden revolution began, in February, 1848, he raised a corps of volunteers, organized the Lake District at Constance, led a body of more than 4,000 volunteers against Freiburg, and was beaten in two encounters  with the royal troops. He escaped across the French border, 28 April, and made his way into Switzerland. The insurrection of May, 1849, recalled him to Baden. He was made commandant of the Lake and Upper Rhine District, then placed in charge of the army of the Neckar, met the royal forces at Heppenheim on 30 May, became minister of war, and finally succeeded to the chief command of the troops. He fought in several battles under General Louis Mieroslawski, whom he succeeded, conducted the army of 15,000 men in retreat through three hostile army corps, and crossed the Rhine with the remnant into Switzerland on 11 July. While residing at Lugano he was arrested by the Federal authorities in the spring of 1851 and delivered over to the French Police, who conducted him to Havre with the intention of placing him on a ship bound for the United States. He, however, went to England, lived in London and Brighton, and in May, 1852, sailed for New York. After his marriage to a daughter of Rudolf Dulon, he taught in the latter's school, at the same time translating manuals of arms into German, and conducting- “Die Revue," a military magazine, till 1858, when he was called to St. Louis, Missouri, as teacher of mathematics and history in the German Institute. He was elected a director of the public schools of that city, edited a military journal, and during the secession crisis defended northern principles in newspaper articles. At the beginning of the Civil War he organized a regiment of infantry and a battery, which rendered efficient service at the occupation of the arsenal and the capture of Camp Jackson. In June, 1861, he was sent with his regiment and two batteries to Rolla, whence he marched to Neosho, compelled the retreat of General Sterling Price into Arkansas, then turned northward in order to confront Claiborne Jackson, at Carthage sustained a long conflict on the open prairie with a force much greater than his own, and finally retreated in good order, with constant fighting, to Springfield and Mt. Vernon. He took part in the fight at Dug Springs, and after the battle of Wilson's Creek conducted the retreat of the army from Springfield toward Rolla, He was commissioned as brigadier-general, to date from 17 May, 1861. In the autumn campaign of General John C. Fremont he had command of the advance-guard, and in the retreat from Springfield he commanded the rear-guard, consisting of two divisions. He took command of the right wing of the troops assembled under General Samuel R. Curtis at Rolla, and gained the battle of Pea Ridge by a well-timed assault. He was thereupon made a major-general, dating from 21 March, 1862, and was ordered to the east and placed in command of the troops at Harper's Ferry. He cooperated in the movement against General Thomas J. Jackson at Winchester. When General John Pope was placed in command of the newly created army of Virginia, Sigel, in command of the 1st Corps, took part in the engagements beginning with Cedar Creek and ending with Bull Run, where he commanded the right wing, and won in the first day's fight a decided advantage over Jackson. After the battle he covered the retreat to Centreville. His corps held the advanced position at Fairfax Court House and Centreville. He commanded the 4th Grand Reserve Division until that organization was abolished, when he resumed command of the 11th Corps, took leave of absence on account of failing health, and was superseded by General Oliver O. Howard. In June, 1863, he took command of the reserve army of Pennsylvania, and organized a corps of 10,000 men to aid in repelling Lee's invasion. In February, 1864, President Lincoln appointed him to the command of the Department and the Army of West Virginia. He fitted out an expedition that operated under General George Crook in the Kanawha Valley, and led a smaller one of 7,000 men through the Shenandoah Valley against Lynchburg and Staunton, but was defeated by General John C. Breckinridge at New Market. He was thereupon relieved, and in June, 1864, put in command of the division guarding Harper's Ferry. He repelled the attack of General Jubal A. Early on Maryland Heights, but was relieved of his command soon afterward, and retired to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to recruit his health. He resigned his commission on 4 May, 1865, and became editor of the Baltimore "Wecker." In September, 1867, he moved to New York City. In 1869 he was the Republican candidate for Secretary of State in New York. He was appointed collector of internal revenue in May, 1871, and in October was elected register of the city of New York. After his three years' term expired he lectured, and edited a weekly paper. Since 1876 he has been an adherent of the Democratic Party, and in 1886 he was appointed pension-agent in New York City. He contributed a memoir of his part in the German revolution to Friedrich Hecker's " Erhebung des Volkes in Baden fur die deutsche Republic " (Basel, 1848), and while in Switzerland published a republican brochure entitled "Furstenstaat und Volkstaat" (St. Gall, 1848), the circulation of which was forbidden in Germany, and the author was sentenced in contumaciam to four years' imprisonment.—His brother, Albert, soldier, born in Sinsheim, Baden, 13 November, 1827; died in St. Louis, Missouri, 15 March, 1884, was graduated at the Military Academy at Carlsruhe in 1845, and served as an officer in the grand-ducal army. He was sentenced to a year's confinement in the fortress of Kislau for his sympathy with the revolutionary movement, but was liberated in time to take part in the general uprising of the army and people in 1849 in command of a regiment of volunteers. He emigrated to England, and in 1852 came to the United States. Joining the 2d New Jersey Volunteers at the beginning of the Civil War, he was elected captain. After taking part in the battle of Bull Run, he assisted in organizing a New York regiment, and afterward organized and commanded a regiment of Missouri cavalry militia, and was stationed for some time at Waynesville, Missouri, in command of a brigade. He was made U. S. land recorder after the war, and was appointed adjutant-general of Missouri by Governor Gratz Brown. He was connected with the press as editorial writer and correspondent, and published a volume of German poems (St. Louis, 1863; enlarged ed., 1885). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p.524-525.


SIGHT. A small piece of brass or iron, fixed on a gun at its muzzle, to serve as a point of direction, and also to hold fast the bayonet on the firelock. (See HAUSSE.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 558).


SIGNAL. To attract the notice of a division of your party, five or even ten miles off, glitter a bit of looking-glass in the sun towards where you expect them to be, (Fig. 209.) It is quite astonishing at how great a distance its flashes will catch the sharp eyes of a bushman who has learnt to know what it is. It is now a common signal in American prairies. The sparks from a well-struck flint and steel can be seen at an equal distance.


If, instead of flashing with the mirror, the glare be steadily directed to where the party are, it will be seen at a far greater distance, and appear as a brilliant star; but it requires some practice to do this well. The rays from the mirror, whatever its size may be, form a cone whose vertical angle is no greater than that subtended by the diameter of the sun, and it is therefore necessary that the signaler should be satisfied that he throws his flash within that degree of accuracy. Moreover, a rapidly passing flash has far less brilliancy than one that dwells steadily for a fraction of a second.

An instrument, called a “ hand heliostat,” has been contrived by Galton for ascertaining the direction of the flash. Mr. Galton says: The instrument is perfectly easy to manage, and letters can be signaled by a combination of flashes, which I need not here describe. Its power is perfectly marvellous. On a day so hazy that colors, on the largest scale such as green fields and white houses are barely distinguishable

at seven miles' distance, a looking-glass no larger than the finger-nail, transmits signals clearly visible to the naked eye.

The result of several experiments in England showed that the smallest mirror visible (under atmospheric conditions such that the signaller's station was discernible, but dim) subtended an angle of one-tenth of a second. It is very important that the mirror should be of truly parallel glass, such as instrument-makers procure. There is loss of power in more than one way from a slight irregularity. A plane mirror only three inches across, reflects as much of the sun as a globe of 120 feet diameter, and looks like a dazzling star at 10 miles' distance.

There are makeshift ways of directing the flash of the mirror; as, by observing its play on an object some paces off, nearly in a line with the station it is wished to communicate with. In doing this, be careful to bring the eye to the very edge of the mirror; there should be as little “ dispart “ as possible, as artillerymen would say. The aim must be a very true one, or the flash will never be seen. An object, in reality of a white color but apparently dark, owing to its being shaded, shows the play of a mirror's flash better than any other. The play of a flash, sent through an open window, on the walls of a room, can be seen at upwards of 100 yards. It is a good object by which to adjust the above-mentioned instrument. Two bits of paper and a couple of sticks, arranged as in Fig. 210, serve pretty well to direct a flash. Sight the distant object through the holes in the two bits of paper, A and B, at the ends of the horizontal stick; and, when you are satisfied that the stick is properly adjusted and quite steady, take your mirror and throw the shadow of A upon B, and further endeavor to throw the white speck in the shadow of A, corresponding to its pin-hole in it, through the centre of the hole in B. Every now and then lay the mirror aside, and bend down to see that A B continues to be properly adjusted.

In short reconnoitring expeditions with a small detachment of a party, the cattle or dogs are often wild, and certain to run home to their comrades on the first opportunity; and, in the event of not being able to watch them, owing to accident or other cause, advantage may be taken of their restlessness, by tying a note to one of their necks, and letting them go and serve instead of postmen or carrier-pigeons.

Fire-beacons, hanging up a lantern, setting fire to an old nest high up in a tree make night-signals; but they are never to be depended on without previous concert, as bushes and undulations of the ground may often hide them entirely. The smoke of fires by day is seen very far, and green wood and rotten wood make the most smoke. It is best to make two fires 100 yards. apart. In the old-fashioned semaphores, or telegraphs, with arms to them, it is a common rule to allow, for the length of the arms, one foot for every mile it is intended to be seen from, and the eye is supposed to be aided by a telescope.

A line of men can be turned into a line of semaphores, by making them each hold a cap or something black and large in their hands, and mimic the movements of one another. Only a few simple signals could be transmitted in this way with any certainty. There are four elementary signals, which deserve general adoption. I fear the use of more would perplex. Men should be practised at these four, (Fig. 211.) Fig. 211. No.  No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. NO. SIGNAL.

1. Attend to me; or, come to me …Wave.

2. All right; or, yes……………… Affirmation signal Both arms raised.

3. All wrong; or, no. ……………. Negation signal Both arms lowered.

4. Stop…………………………… Both arms spread.

Energetic movements, of course, intensify the meaning. To use the signals, wave until you are answered; then make your signal while you count five, and wait five. Continue this till your friend does the same, then make a rapid “all right;” he does the same, and all is concluded. In order that you may be seen, try and stand in a position where your friend would see you against the sky; (GALTON'S Art of Travel.)

A kite has been suggested as a day-signal; and also a kite with some kind of squib let off by a slow-light and attached to its tail, as one by night; (Colonel JACKSON.) 

A common signal for a distant scout is, that he should ride or walk round and round in a circle from right to left, or else in one from left to right. “At other times they will lie concealed near a road, with scouts in every direction on the look-out; yet no one venturing to speak, but only making known by signs what he may have to communicate to his companions or leader. Thus he will point to his ear or foot on hearing footsteps, to his eyes on seeing persons approach, or to his tongue if voices be audible; and will also indicate on his fingers the number of those coming, describing also many particulars as to how many porters, beasts of burden or for riding, there may be with the party; (PARKYNS.) Balloons, rockets, flags, &c., may be used to signal. (See TELEGRAPH; RECONNOISSANCE.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, pp. 558-562).


SIGNAL OFFICER. By Act approved June, 1860, there was added to the staff of the army “ one signal officer with the rank, pay, and allowances of a major of cavalry, who shall have charge, under the direction of the Secretary of War, of all signal duty, and of all books and papers, and apparatus, connected therewith.” (See SIGNALS; TELEGRAPH.) (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 562).


SIGOURNEY, Lydia Huntley, 1791-1865, Hartford, Connecticut, author.  Outspoken supporter of colonization and supporter of the American Colonization Society.  Leader of Hartford Female African Society. 

(Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 525; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p. 155; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 127)

SIGOURNEY, Lydia Huntley, author, born in Norwich, Connecticut, 1 September, 1791; died in Hartford, Connecticut, 10 June, 1865. She was the daughter of Ezekiel Huntley, a soldier of the Revolution. She read at the age of three, and at seven wrote simple verses. After receiving a superior education at Norwich and Hartford, she taught for five years a select class of young ladies in the latter city. In 1815, at the suggestion and under the patronage of Daniel Wadsworth, she published her first volume, “Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse.” In 1819 she became the wife of Charles Sigourney, a Hartford merchant of literary and artistic tastes. Without neglecting her domestic duties, she thenceforth devoted her leisure to literature, at first to gratify her own inclinations and subsequently, after her husband had lost the greater part of his fortune, to add to her income. She soon attained a reputation that secured for her books a ready sale. In her posthumous “Letters of Life” (1866) she enumerates forty-six distinct works, wholly or partially from her pen, besides more than 2,000 articles in prose and verse that she had contributed to nearly 300 periodicals. Several of her books also attained a wide circulation in England, and they were also much read on the continent. She received from the queen of the French a handsome diamond bracelet as a token of that sovereign's esteem. Her poetry is not of the highest order. It portrays in graceful and often felicitous language the emotions and sympathies of the heart, rather than the higher conceptions of the intellect. Her prose is graceful and elegant, and is modelled to a great extent on that of Addison and the Aikins, who, in her youth, were regarded as the standards of polite literature. All her writings were penned in the interest of a pure morality, and many of them were decidedly religious. Perhaps no American writer has been more frequently called upon for gratuitous occasional poems of all kinds. To these requests she generally acceded, and often greatly to her own inconvenience. But it was not only through her literary labors that Mrs. Sigourney became known. Her whole life was one of active and earnest philanthropy. The poor, the sick, the deaf-mute, the blind, the idiot, the slave, and the convict were the objects of her constant care and benefaction. Her pensioners were numerous, and not one of them was ever forgotten. During her early married life, she economized in her own wardrobe and personal luxuries that she might be able to relieve the needy, while later in her career she saved all that was not absolutely needed for home comforts and expenses for the same purpose. Her character and worth were highly appreciated in the city that for more than fifty years was her home. She never left it after her marriage, except when in 1840 she visited Europe, a record of which journey she published in “Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands” (Boston, 1842). During her residence abroad two volumes of her poems were issued in London. Besides the foregoing and an edition of poetical selections from her writings, illustrated by Felix O. C. Darley (Philadelphia, 1848), her books include “Traits of the Aborigines of America,” a poem (Hartford, 1822); “Sketch of Connecticut Forty Years Since” (1824); “Letters to Young Ladies” (New York, 1833; 20th ed., 1853; at least five London eds.); “Letters to Mothers” (1838; several London eds.); “Pocahontas, and other Poems” (1841); “Scenes in My Native Land” (Boston, 1844); “Voice of Flowers” (Hartford, 1845); “Weeping Willow” (1846); “Water-Drops,” a plea for temperance (New York, 1847); “Whisper to a Bride” (Hartford, 1849); “Letters to My Pupils” (New York, 1850); “Olive Leaves” (1851; London, 1853); “The Faded Hope,” a memorial of her only son, who died at the age of nineteen (1852); “Past Meridian” (1854); “Lucy Howard's Journal” (1857); “The Daily Counsellor,” a volume of poetry (Hartford, 1858); “Gleanings,” from her poetical writings (1860); and “The Man of Uz, and other Poems” (1862).  Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 525


SIKESTON, MISSOURI, March 1, 1862. (See New Madrid, same date.)


SIKESTON, MISSOURI, June 7, 1864. Detachment of 2nd Missouri State Militia Cavalry. Lieutenant J. A. Rice with a small detail of men encountered a band of guerrillas at Sikeston. In the skirmish 3 of the outlaws were killed and 2 were taken prisoners, 1 of whom was later killed while trying to escape. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 812.


SIKESTON, MISSOURI, September 22, 1864. Detachment of the 2nd Missouri Militia Cavalry. While General Price was on his Missouri expedition some of his forces several times attacked a detachment of the 2nd Missouri, commanded by Captain Sells, in the vicinity of Sikeston. In the last attack Sells formed his men in line and opened fire with his howitzers. This checked the enemy, but the Confederate commander sent back for reinforcements and Sells retired toward Benton, being compelled to burn his train in order to save it from capture. His loss was 3 killed, 7 wounded and 10 missing. The enemy's loss was estimated at 20 killed and a number wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 812.


SIKESTON, MISSOURI, November 6, 1864. Detachment of the 2nd Missouri State Militia Cavalry. After the attack on Charlestown by guerrillas the preceding day, Lieutenant Rathbun, with 30 men started in pursuit. Near Sikeston he came up with the bushwhackers, killed 15 and captured 5. No casualties reported on the Federal side. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 812.


SILL, Joshua Woodrow, soldier, born in Chillicothe, Ohio, 6 December, 1831; died near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 31 December, 1862. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1853, assigned to the ordnance, and, after being on duty at Watervliet Arsenal, returned to the academy, where he was assistant professor of geography, history, and ethics from 23 September, 1854, till 29 August, 1857. He was promoted 2d lieutenant in 1854, and 1st lieutenant in 1856. He was engaged in routine duty at various arsenals and ordnance depots until 25 January, 1861, when he resigned to accept the professorship of mathematics and civil engineering in the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. At the beginning of the Civil War in April he at once offered his services to the governor of Ohio, and was commissioned assistant adjutant-general of that state. On 27 August he was commissioned colonel of the 33d Ohio Volunteers, after taking part in the battle of Rich Mountain on 11 July. From September, 1861, till September, 1862, he participated in the operations in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, after 30 November, 1861, being in command of a brigade. On 16 July, 1862, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and in the following autumn and winter he took part in the battle of Perryville, the pursuit of General Braxton Bragg's army, and the Tennessee Campaign of the Army of the Cumberland. He was killed at the battle of Stone River while endeavoring to rally his men. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p.  527.


SILLIMAN, Benjamin, 1779-1864, Connecticut, educator, scientist, opponent of slavery.  Member and active supporter of the Connecticut Society of the American Colonization Society.  Supported Kansas Free State movement.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 528-529; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 1, p 160.; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 126)

SILLIMAN, Benjamin, scientist, born in North Stratford (now Trumbull), Connecticut, 8 August, 1779;  died in New Haven, Connecticut, 24 November, 1864, was graduated at Yale in 1796, and, after spending a year at  home, taught at Wethersfield, Connecticut. In 1798 be returned to New Haven, where he began the study of law with Simeon Baldwin, and in 1799 was appointed tutor at Yale, which place he held until he was admitted to the bar in 1802.  Natural science was at that time beginning to attract the attention of educators, and, at the solicitation of President Dwight, he abandoned the profession of law and devoted himself to science. In September, 1802, he was chosen professor of chemistry and natural history at Yale, with permission to qualify himself for teaching these branches. Procuring a list of books from Professor John MacLean (q. v.), of Princeton, he proceeded to Philadelphia, where, during two winters, he studied chemistry under Professor James Woodhouse, then professor of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania. In 1804 he delivered a partial course of lectures on chemistry, and during the following year he gave a complete course. He went abroad in March, 1805, to procure scientific books and apparatus, and spent about a year in study in Edinburgh and London, also visiting the continent and making the acquaintance of distinguished men of science. On his return he devoted himself to the duties of his chair, which included chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, until 1853, when he was made professor emeritus, but, at the special request of his colleagues, continued his lectures on geology until 1855, when he was succeeded by his son-in-law, James D. Dana. While in Edinburgh he became interested in the discussions, then at their height, between the Wernerians and Huttonians, and attended lectures on geology; and on his return he began a study of the mineral structure of the vicinity of New Haven. About 1808 he persuaded  the corporation of Yale to purchase the cabinet of  minerals of Benjamin D. Perkins, and a few years  later he secured the loan of the magnificent collection of George Gibbs (q. v.), which in 1825 became the property of the college. His scientific work, which was extensive, began with the examination in 1807 of the meteor that fell near Weston, Connecticut. He procured fragments, of which he made a chemical analysis, and he wrote the earliest and best authenticated account of the fall of a meteor in America. In 1811 he began an extended course of experiments with the oxy-hydric or compound blow-pipe that was invented by Robert Hare, and he succeeded in melting many of the most refractory minerals, notably those containing alkalies and alkaline earths, the greater part of which had never been reduced before. After Sir Humphry Davy's discovery of the metallic bases of the alkalies, Professor Silliman repeated the experiments and obtained for the first time in this country the metals sodium and potassium. In 1822, while engaged in a series of observations on the action of a powerful voltaic battery that he had made, similar to Dr. Hare's “deflagrator,” he noticed that the charcoal points of the negative pole increased in size toward the positive pole, and, on further examination, he found that there was a corresponding cavity on the point of the latter. He inferred, therefore, that an actual transfer of the matter of the charcoal points from one to another took place, and, on careful examination, he found that the charcoal had been fused. This fact of the fusion of the carbon in the voltaic arc was long disputed in Europe, but is now universally accepted. In 1830 he explored Wyoming valley and its coal-formations, examining about one hundred mines and localities of mines; in 1832-'3 he was engaged under a commission from the Secretary of the Treasury in a scientific examination on the subject of the culture and manufacture of sugar, and in 1836 he made a tour of investigation among the gold-mines of Virginia, His popular lectures began in 1808 in New Haven, where he delivered a course in chemistry. He delivered his first course in Hartford in 1834, and in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the autumn of that year. During the years that followed he lectured in Salem, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington, St. Louis, New Orleans, and elsewhere in the United States. In 1838 he opened the Lowell Institute in Boston with a course of lectures on geology, and in the three following years he lectured there on chemistry. This series was without doubt the most brilliant of the kind was ever delivered in this country, and its influence in developing an interest in the growing science was very great. Many of the present leaders in science trace their first inspiration to these popular expositions of Professor Silliman. Through his influence in 1830 the historical paintings of Colonel John Trumbull, and the building in which they were formerly deposited (now the college treasury), were procured for Yale. He opposed slavery in all its forms. Among the various colonies sent out from the eastern states during the Kansas troubles was one that was organized in New Haven, and, at a meeting held prior to its departure in April, 1856, the discovery was made that the party was unprovided with rifles. A subscription was proposed at once, and Professor Silliman spoke in favor of it. This insignificant action was soon noised abroad, and, owing to the strong feeling between the partisans of slavery and those opposed to it, the matter was discussed in the U. S. Senate. During the Civil War he was a firm supporter of President Lincoln, and exerted his influence toward the abolition of slavery. The degree of M. D. was conferred on him by Bowdoin in 1818, and that of LL. D. by Middlebury in 1826. Professor Silliman was chosen first president in 1840 of the American Association of geologists and naturalists, which has since grown into the American Association for the advancement of science, and he was one of the corporate members the named by Congress in the formation of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. Besides his connection with other societies in this country and abroad, he was corresponding member of the Geological societies of Great Britain and France. In 1818 he founded the “American Journal of Science,” which he conducted as sole editor until 1838, and as senior editor until 1846, when he transferred the journal to his son and to James D. Dana. This journal is now the oldest scientific paper in the United States. Professor Silliman edited three editions of William Henry's “Elements of Chemistry” (Boston, 1808-'14), also three editions of Robert Bakewell's “Introduction to Geology” (New Haven, 1829, 1833, and 1839), and was the author of “Journals of Travels in England, Holland, and Scotland” (New York, 1810); “A Short Tour between Hartford and Quebec in the Autumn of 1819” (1820); “Elements of Chemistry in the Order of Lectures given in Yale College” (2 vols., New Haven, 1830-'1); “Consistency of Discoveries of Modern Geology with the Sacred History of the Creation and Deluge” (London, 1837); and “Narrative of a Visit to Europe in 1851” (2 vols., 1853). He was called by Edward Everett the “Nestor of American Science.” Professor Silliman was married twice. His first wife was Harriet Trumbull, the daughter of the second Governor Jonathan Trumbull. One of his daughters married Professor Oliver P. Hubbard, and another Professor James D. Dana. A bronze statue of Professor Silliman was erected on the Yale grounds in front of Farnam College in 1884. See “Life of Benjamin Silliman,” by George P. Fisher (2 vols., New York, 1866). Appletons’ Cylocpædia of American Biography, 1888, V Vol. V, pp. 528-529


SILLIMAN, Benjamin Douglas, lawyer, born in Newport, Rhode Island, 14 September, 1805, was graduated at Yale in 1824, and then studied law with James Kent and his son, William Kent, until 1829, when he was admitted to the bar. He opened an office in New York during that year, and has since been steadily engaged in the practice of his profession in that city, with his residence in Brooklyn. He has often served as a delegate from Kings County to National and state conventions of the Whig and Republican Parties, including the one at Harrisburg in 1839, at which William Henry Harrison was nominated for the presidency. He was elected to the legislature in 1838, and was nominated by the Whigs for Congress in 1843, but failed of election, although he led the ticket of his party at the polls. In 1852 he received, but declined, the Whig nomination for the state senate. During the Civil War he was an earnest, supporter of the government, and in March, 1865, he was appointed by President Lincoln U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. He held this office until September, 1866, and during that time argued in behalf of the government important questions that grew out of the Civil War. In 1872 he was a member of the commission for revising the constitution of the state, and, as a chairman of one committee and a member of others, took an active part in the proceedings of that body. He was nominated in 1873 by the Republican Party as their candidate for the office of attorney-general of New York, but failed of election. The degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Columbia in 1873, and by Yale in 1874. During his career in the state legislature he introduced the charter of Greenwood Cemetery, and he is a trustee of that corporation. He has long been connected with the Long Island Historical Society, of which he is a director, and for more than twenty years he has been president of the Brooklyn Club. Silliman was president of the New England Society of Brooklyn from its beginning until 1876, when he declined a re-election, and is president of the Yale Alumni Association of Long Island. He was one of the founders of the New York Bar Association, one of its vice-presidents, and a trustee of various charitable and benevolent associations. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 529-530.


SILLIMAN, Justus Mitchell, mining engineer, born in New Canaan, Connecticut, 25 January, 1842,[died 15 April, 1896]. He studied at New Canaan Academy, enlisted at the beginning of the Civil War, and served for three years, being wounded at Gettysburg. At the close of the war he settled in Troy, New York, where he taught in an academy, and was graduated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1870 with the degree of M.E. In September of that year he was called to the charge of the department of mining engineering and graphics in Lafayette College, which place he still (1888) holds. Professor Silliman has invented an instrument for orthographic, clinographic, and crystallographic projection, also a water manometer and anemometer. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, and has been president of the Lehigh Valley Microscopical Society. His special work has included various investigations, of which his examination of the Bessemer flame with colored glasses and the spectroscope is the best known. Professor Silliman's writings have been confined to professional papers that have been published in the transactions of societies of which he is a member. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 530.


SILVA, Francis Augustus, artist, born in New York City, 4 October, 1835; died there, 31 March, 1886. He worked as a sign-painter until the opening of the Civil War, when he entered the National Army. At the close of the war he settled in New York and devoted himself to the painting of marine subjects. He was elected a member of the Watercolor Society in 1872. Among his works are “Gray Day at Cape Ann”; “Sunrise in Boston Harbor”; “New London Light”; “September Day on the Coast” (1879): “Old Town by the Sea" (1880); “Old Connecticut Port” (1882); “Passing Showers” (1885); and “Near Atlantic City” (1886). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 530.


SILVER, Thomas, inventor, born in Greenwich, Cumberland County, New Jersey, 17 June, 1813; died in New York City, 12 April, 1888. His parents were Quakers. As a boy he displayed unusual mechanical skill, and when he was only nine years old his toy boat, with hidden propeller-wheel and other ingenious devices, was the wonder of the village in which he lived. He was educated in Greenwich and Woodstown, New Jersey, and in Philadelphia, and became a civil engineer, but continued to devote much time to the perfection of numerous contrivances for lightening human toil and increasing the safety of travellers. Among the patents, upward of fifty in number, granted him, were those for a grain-dryer, a fuel-saving heat-chamber, a gas-consumer, a tension-regulator, a machine for paying out submarine cables, a machinery lubricator, a rotary ascending-railway, and clock work for mechanical lamps. Models of some of these are at the patent-office, Washington, D. C, the South Kensington Museum, London, and the Paris Conservatoire des Arts. The loss of the steamer "San Francisco," bound to California with troops in 1854, suggested his best-known invention. That vessel was wrecked through her engines becoming disabled in a severe storm, and, to meet such emergencies, Mr. Silver devised his "marine governor," which was adopted by the French Navy in 1855. It is also applied to many stationary engines, notably to those in the press-rooms of the great dailies in large cities. It was adopted by the British Admiralty in 1864, and the example has been followed by the navies of all the chief powers, except the United States. Mr. Silver perfected a plan of channel transit for the carrying of coal by car direct from Wales to France, in which Napoleon III. was interested, but it was lost to that country by the surrender at Sedan. Mr. Silver was made a member of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia in 1855. He received the James Watt Medal from the Royal Polytechnic Society of London, and one from Napoleon III. for his " regulateur marine." He published "A Trip to the North Pole, or the Theory of the Origin of Icebergs" (New York, 1887). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 531.


SILVER RUN, NORTH CAROLINA, March 14, 1865. 20th Connecticut Infantry. In a reconnaissance on the Raleigh road the regiment met the Confederate pickets about 3 miles from Silver run. Colonel Buckingham deployed five companies as skirmishers, supporting his skirmish line with the rest of the regiment, and the Confederates were gradually forced back to the creek, where an intrenched position was encountered, manned by at least a brigade, with artillery. Deeming this force too strong for assault , and having accomplished the object for which he was sent out, Buckingham withdrew his command and returned to camp. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 812.


SIMMONS, Anthony, New York, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1841-1841.


SIMMONS, Franklin, sculptor, born in Webster, Maine, 11 January, 1842. His boyhood was spent in Bath and Lewiston, and his love for sculpture was early developed. Having a facility for portraiture, he made his first attempts in that line. During the last two years of the Civil War he was in Washington, where the members of the cabinet and officers of the army and navy sat to him for life size medallions. They were cast in bronze, and most of them were purchased by the Union League of Philadelphia. In 1868 he went to Rome, Italy, where he has since resided. He visited his native land in 1888. His more important works are the statues of Roger Williams, in Washington and Providence; William King, for the state of Maine; Oliver P. Morton, in Indianapolis; Henry W. Longfellow (1887), in Portland; "Medusa" (1882); "Jochebed with the Infant Moses"; "Grief and History," the group that surmounts the naval monument at Washington; "Galatea" (1884); "Penelope"; "Miriam"; "Washington at Valley Forge"; and " The Seraph Abdiel," from "Paradise Lost " (1886). Among his portrait busts are those of Abraham Lincoln, William T. Sherman, David D. Porter, James G. Blaine, Francis Wayland, and Ulysses S. Grant (1886). The honorary degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Bates College and also by Colby University. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p.532.


SIMMONS, George Frederick, 1814-1855, Unitarian clergyman, active opponent of slavery Appletons’, 1888, Vol. V, p. 532.

SIMMONS, George Frederick, clergyman, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 24 March, 1814; died in Concord, Massachusetts, 5 September, 1855. He was graduated at Harvard in 1832, and, after being employed as a private tutor, prepared for the ministry at Cambridge divinity-school, where he completed his course in 1838. He was ordained the same year as an evangelist of the Unitarian denomination, and at once went to Mobile, Alabama, where he began his ministry. Owing to his decided opposition to slavery, he remained there only until 1840, when he was obliged to fly for his life, and barely escaped the fury of a mob. In November, 1841, he was ordained pastor of the Unitarian Church at Waltham, Massachusetts. Meantime he had become deeply interested in certain theological questions which he felt he could not solve while engaged in pastoral work, and so resigned in the spring of 1843 and sailed for Europe, where he remained until October, 1845, spending most of the time at the University of Berlin, and being brought much in contact with the German historian, Neander. In February, 1848, he was called to Springfield, Massachusetts, as the successor of Dr. William B. O. Peabody. Here, while he was greatly admired by part of his congregation, others regarded him with less favor, and in 1851 he was compelled to resign, after preaching two sermons on a riotous assault that had been made in the town on George Thompson, the English anti-slavery apostle. In January, 1854, he was installed pastor of a church at Albany, New York, but in the summer of 1855 he was attacked by typhus fever, from the effects of which he never rallied. Mr. Simmons was distinguished by an acutely philosophical mind, a strong sense of right, and a thoughtful and reverent spirit. “I knew him well,” said his classmate, Samuel Osgood, “loved him much, and respected him even more.” He was retiring in his habits, and his somewhat unsocial nature was no doubt an obstacle in the way of his exercising a proper influence on his flock. He published “Who was Jesus Christ?” a tract (Boston, 1839); “Two Sermons on the Kind Treatment and on the Emancipation of Slaves, preached at Mobile, with a Prefatory Statement” (1840); “A Letter to the So-Called ‘Boston Churches’” (1846); “The Trinity,” a lecture (1849); “Public Spirit and Mobs,” two sermons delivered at Springfield on the Sunday after the Thompson riot (1851); and “Faith in Christ the Condition of Salvation” (1854). Six of his sermons were published in one volume soon after his death (Boston, 1855). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 532.


SIMMONS, James Fowler, senator, born in Little Compton, Newport County, Rhode Island, 10 September, 1795; died in Johnson, Rhode Island, 10 July, 1864. He received a good English education, and was first a farmer, and subsequently a manufacturer. He was a member of the state house of representatives from 1828 till 1841, when he was chosen to the U. S. Senate, and served from 31 May of the latter year till 3 March, 1847. Ten years later he was again elected to the Senate as a Whig for the full term from 4 March, 1857, but he resigned in 1862. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 533.


SIMMONS' BLUFF, SOUTH CAROLINA, June 21, 1862. Confederate reports mention a bombardment of their batteries at Simmons' bluff by some of the Union gunboats, but the reports are so meager that it is impossible to tell what vessels were engaged or give the results of the action. Simmons' Ranch, California, October 21, 1862. (See Hydesville.) The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 812.


SIMONS, Thomas Young, lawyer, born in Charleston, S. C., 1 October. 1828; died there, 30 April, 1878. He was graduated at Yale in 1847, and two years later began to practise law in his native city. In 1854-'60 he was a member of the legislature, and in the latter year a presidential elector. He was also a member of the convention that passed the Ordinance of Secession in December, 1860, and in the Civil War be served as captain of the 27th South Carolina Regiment, and later as judge-advocate. He was sent to the National Democratic Conventions of 1860, 1868, and 1872, and was a member of the executive committee of his parry from the latter year till 1876. Besides his other labors, he was editor of the Charleston "Courier" in 1805-'73. In the tax-payers' conventions of 1871 and 1874 he was an active member, and his later years were identified with the efforts to procure local self-government and the creation of a Union Reform Party in South Carolina. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 535-536.


SIMONSON, John Smith, soldier, born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, 2 June, 1796; died in New Albany, Indiana, 5 December, 1881. His father, Adam Smith Simonson, was a well-known physician of western Pennsylvania. When but seventeen years old he enlisted in the New York volunteers and served as sergeant through the campaign on the Niagara frontier, receiving an honorable discharge in November, 1814. Three years later he settled in Charlestown, Indiana. He was a member of the state senate in 1828–30, and in 1841–’6 of the lower house, serving as speaker during the last year. In 1846 he was appointed captain of U.S. Mounted Rifles, and served through the Mexican War under General Scott, engaging in the capture of Vera Cruz and the battles that followed. He was brevetted major in 1847 for gallant service at Chapultepec, where he commanded his regiment after the fall of its colonel, and he also took a creditable part in the attack on the Belen gate. The succeeding years were spent on duty in Texas, and New Mexico, commanding expeditions against the Indians and in making explorations. In May, 1861, he was promoted colonel of the 3d U.S. Cavalry, and he was retired in the following September. At the opening of the Civil War he was made superintendent of the volunteer recruiting service at Indianapolis, Indiana, and he continued on active military duty till 1869. In 1865, on the recommendation of General Grant, he was brevetted brigadier-general, U. S. army, for long and faithful service. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 536.


SIMONTON, James William, journalist, born in Columbia County, New York, 30 January, 1823; died in Napa, California, 2 November, 1882. He went as a lad to New York City, and was educated at the public schools there. At twenty years of age he was engaged as local reporter on the “Courier and Enquirer.” Within a year or two he was sent, with Henry J. Raymond, to Washington as congressional correspondent, and he continued as such until 1850, winning, by his ability and conscientiousness, the confidence and esteem of Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Thomas H. Benton, and other statesmen. In the autumn of 1851, when the New York “Times” was founded, he was one of the original proprietors with George Jones, Henry J. Raymond, and others, and soon went to Washington again as its correspondent, as well as the correspondent of New Orleans, San Francisco, and Detroit journals. His letters, entitled “The History of Legislation,” were really a record of the times, and drew wide attention. He became part owner in 1859 of the “Evening Bulletin” in San Francisco, where he lived for years, and subsequently of the “Morning Call,” of the same city, retaining his interest throughout life. Having returned to New York, he was chosen in 1867 general agent of the associated press there, and discharged the duties of the office for fourteen years when he resigned on account of delicate health. He then retired to his California vineyard, and died there suddenly of heart disease. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 536.


SIMPSON, Edward, naval officer, born in New York City, 3 March, 1824. He entered the U.S. Navy as midshipman, 11 February, 1840, was in the first class that was attached to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1845–6, and was graduated at Annapolis in the latter year. During the Mexican War he was attached to the steamer “Vixen,” in which he participated in various engagements, including the bombardment and capture of Vera Cruz. He served on the U.S. Coast Survey, 1848-'50, in the brig "Washington" and steamers "Vixen " and "Legare." In 1850-'3 he cruised in the frigate "Congress" on the Brazil Station, as acting master, and in 1853-'4 he was attached to the Naval Academy as assistant instructor in naval gunnery and infantry tactics. He was promoted to master, 10 July, 1854, and to lieutenant, 18 April, 1855, and served in the sloop "Portsmouth" in the East India Squadron, 1856-'8, participating in the capture of the Barrier Forts near Canton, China. He went to the Naval Academy upon his return, and was in charge of the department of naval gunnery in 1858-62, and commandant of midshipmen in 1862-'3. He was commissioned lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, and in the monitor " Passaic," off Charleston, in 1863-'4, participated in various engagements. He was commissioned commander, 3 March, 1865, and served as fleet-captain of the consolidated Gulf Squadron, being present at the fall of Mobile and receiving the surrender of the Confederate fleet on Tombigbee River. He was commissioned captain, 15 August, 1870, and went on a special naval mission to Europe in 1870-'2. He was in charge of the torpedo station at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1873-'5, was commandant of the New London Naval Station in 1878-'80, and of the Philadelphia League Island U.S. Navy-yard in 1880-'4. He was promoted to commodore, 26 April, 1878, and to rear-admiral, 9 February, 1884, and placed on the retired list, 3 March, 1886. Admiral Simpson was president of the U.S. naval Institute in 1886-'8, and is the senior member of the Naval Academy Graduates Association. He has devoted himself to the scientific development of the navy, especially in the science of gunnery and torpedoes. Besides articles in magazines on professional subjects, he has published "Ordnance and Naval Gunnery," which was the text-book at the Naval Academy until 1868 (New York, 1862); "The Naval Mission to Europe" (2 vols., Washington, 1873); and " Report of the Gun-Foundry Board " (1885). Several of his articles are republished in "Modern Ships of War" (New York, 1887). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 536-537.


SIMPSON, James Hervey, soldier, born in New Jersey, 9 March, 1813; died in St. Paul, Minnesota, 2 March, 1883. He was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1832, and assigned to the artillery. During the Florida War he was aide to General Abraham Eustis. He was made 1st lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers on 7 July, 1838, engaged in surveying the northern lakes and the western plains, was promoted captain on 3 March, 1853, served as chief Topographical Engineer with the army in Utah, and in 1859 explored a new route from Salt Lake City to the Pacific Coast, the reports of which he was busy in preparing till the beginning of the Civil War. He served as chief Topographical Engineer of the Department of the Shenandoah, was promoted major on 6 August, 1861, was made colonel of the 4th New Jersey Volunteers on 12 August, 1861, and took part in the Peninsular Campaign, being engaged at West Point and at Gaines's Mills, where he was taken prisoner. After his exchange in August, 1862, he resigned his volunteer commission in order to act as chief Topographical Engineer, and afterward as chief engineer of the Department of the Ohio, where he was employed in making and repairing railroads and erecting temporary fortifications. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel of engineers on 1 June, 1863, had general charge of fortifications in Kentucky from that time till the close of the war, was brevetted colonel and brigadier-general in March, 1865, and was chief engineer of the interior department, having charge of the inspection of the Union Pacific Railroad, till 1867. He afterward superintended defensive works at Key West, Mobile, and other places, surveys of rivers and harbors, the improvement of navigation in the Mississippi and other western rivers, and the construction of bridges at Little Rock, Arkansas, St. Louis, Missouri, Clinton, Iowa, and other places. General Simpson was the author of “Shortest Route to California across the Great Basin of Utah.” (Philadelphia, 1869), and “Essay on Coronado's March in Search of the Seven Cities of Cibola” (1869). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 538.


SIMPSON, Josiah, surgeon, born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 27 February, 1815; died in Baltimore, Maryland, 3 March, 1874. He was graduated at Princeton in 1833, and in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1836. The following year, being made assistant surgeon, U.S. Army, he served through the Florida War, receiving honorable mention by General Zachary Taylor for his services at the battle of Okeechobee. He was also commended by General Winfield Scott and General William J. Worth, under whom he served in the Mexican War at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, and Chapultepec. In 1848–’55 he was attending surgeon with headquarters at New York, acting also as post-surgeon at Bedlow's Island. He was then promoted surgeon and was medical director of the Department of the Pacific till 1858, of the Middle Department in 1862–6, and of the Department of the Tennessee till 1867, when he was transferred to Baltimore. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 538.


SIMPSON, Marcus de Lafayette, soldier, born in Esperance, Schoharie County, New York, 28 August 1824. He was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1846, and, serving the same year in the war with Mexico, was brevetted 1st lieutenant in 1847 for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, and captain for the battle of Chapultepec. From 1848 till 1861 he was quartermaster at various posts, and assistant in the office of the commissary-general, acting as chief commissary of the Department of the Pacific in 1859–61. During the Civil War he served in the commissary-general's office, and he was brevetted colonel, brigadier-general, and major-general on 13 March, 1865. In 1867-'73 he was chief commissary of subsistence of the Division of the Pacific, till 1879 of that of the Atlantic, and since 1879 he has held the same office in the Division of the Missouri, at Chicago. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 538.


SIMPSON, Matthew, M. E. bishop, born in Cadiz, Ohio, 20 June, 1811; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 18 June, 1884.[…] His powers as an orator were displayed during the Civil War in a manner that commanded the admiration and gratitude of the people. President Lincoln regarded him as the greatest orator he ever heard, and at his funeral in Springfield Bishop Simpson officiated. He made many addresses in behalf of the Christian Commission, and delivered a series of lectures that had much to do with raising the spirit of the people. […] Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 538-539


SIMPSON'S CREEK, WEST VIRGINIA, April 30, 1863. 3d West Virginia Cavalry. Part of the regiment was moving toward Shinnston, when the advance discovered some 300 Confederate cavalry near the ford at the mouth of Simpson's creek. The charge was immediately sounded and a volley poured in at short range, which threw the enemy into confusion, driving about 100 of them across the creek and cutting off their rear-guard. The rest of the Federal command came up about this time and the rearguard was hotly pursued for some 3 miles. The Union loss was 1 killed and 2 wounded. Several of the enemy were killed or wounded in the first charge, and 9 were captured during the chase. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, pp. 812-813.


SIMPSONVILLE, KENTUCKY, January 25, 1865. Detachment of Negro Soldiers, 2nd Division, District of Kentucky. The cattle guard at Simpsonville, composed of negro soldiers, was attacked and overwhelmed by a superior force of Confederates. Several were killed and 17 wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 813.


SIMS, Clifford Stanley, author, born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 17 February, 1839, was educated at the academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1860, but never practised. He served as acting assistant paymaster in the U.S. Navy in 1863, and was chosen lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Arkansas Infantry in 1864, but was taken prisoner before he could be mustered in. He was judge-advocate-general of Arkansas in 1864–'9, a delegate to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention in 1867-'8, a commissioner to digest the statutes of Arkansas in 1868, and a representative in the legislature in 1868–'9. For the next nine years he was U.S. consul for the District of Prescott, Canada. Mr. Sims has published “The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames, with a Vocabulary of Christian Names.” (Albany, 1862): “The Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey” (1866); and an edition of William Noye's “Maxims of the Laws of England,” with a memoir of the author (1870). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, p. 540.


SIMS, James, New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)


SIMS, Winfield Scott, inventor, born in New York City, 6 April. 1844. He was graduated at the Newark High-School in 1861, and served during the Civil War in the 37th New Jersey Regiment. Subsequently he turned his attention to the invention of electric apparatus, and devised various improvements in electro-magnets. In 1872 he constructed an electric motor to be used for light work. By means of this motor, weighing forty-five pounds and battery of twenty hall-gallon Bunsen cells, he was able to propel an open boat sixteen feet long, with six persons on board, at the rate of four miles an hour, Mr. Sims was the first to apply electricity for the propulsion and guidance of movable torpedoes for harbor and coast defence. His torpedo is a submarine boat, with a cylindrical hull of copper and conical ends, supplied with a screw propeller and rudder. The power is electricity generated by a dynamo-electric machine on shore or on ship-board, and by its means the torpedo is propelled, guided, and exploded. During 1879 this system was tested by General Henry L. Abbot, of the U. S. Engineer Corps, at Willett's point, and since that time the U. S. government has purchased ten of these boats having a speed of ten to eleven and a half miles an hour. These boats carry from 400 to 450 pounds of dynamite. Mr. Sims has now in course of construction a boat, to have a speed of eighteen miles an hour, which is to carry a 250-pound charge of dynamite. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. V, pp. 541-542.


SIMS' COVE, MISSOURI, October 5, 1862. Detachment of the 9th Missouri State Militia Cavalry. Colonel Odon Guitar, with 60 men, left Columbia at midnight of the 4th to break up a guerrilla camp at Sims' cove. About a mile from the camp the men were dismounted and attacked on foot at daylight. Only 7 men were found in the camp and of these 2 were severely wounded. All the horses, equipments, arms, blankets, etc., belonging to the entire party were captured and later in the morning 2 of those who had escaped came in and surrendered. Union loss, nothing. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 813.


SIMS' FARM, TENNESSEE, October 7, 1863. (See Shelbyville, same date.)


SIMS' PLANTATION, TENNESSEE, June 16, 1863. Detachment of 2nd Iowa Cavalry. On the night of June 16 a patrol of this regiment came upon a company of the enemy, by whose fire 2 men in the patrol were wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 813.


SIMSPORT, LOUISIANA, June 8, 1864. Confederate reports tell of a cannonade between their shore batteries at Simsport and three Federal gunboats. A detachment from one of the boats landed and captured a 30pounder Parrott gun and a number of muskets. The Confederate loss was 1 killed, 1 wounded and 1 missing. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 813.