Wilber through Wimple

WILBER, Charles Toppan, physician, born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, 18 May, 1835, while a  student of medicine became connected as a teacher with the New York State Asylum for Idiots, of which his brother was superintendent, and he was thus led to an investigation of the various forms of dementia. In 1858 he was called to assist in the organization of the Ohio State Asylum for Idiots at Columbus, and for some time he acted as its assistant superintendent. In 1859 he moved to Lakeville, Connecticut, and aided in the establishment of a school for feeble-minded children, which was afterward conducted by Dr. Henry M. Knight. In 1860 he was graduated at the Berkshire medical institution and returned to Ohio, settling at Marietta, where he began to practice. The following year he entered the volunteer service, and remained in the army until the end of the Civil War as assistant surgeon and surgeon. In September, 1865, he took charge of the Illinois institution for the education of feeble-minded children at Jacksonville, and he was so successful in its management that the legislature subsequently voted the erection of larger and more appropriate buildings at a cost of $185,000. […]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 503.


WILCOX, Cadmus Marcellus, soldier, born in Wayne County, North Carolina, 29 May, 1826. He studied at Cumberland College, Nashville, his parents having moved to Tennessee during his infancy, then entered the U. S. Military Academy, and was graduated in 1846. He served through the war with Mexico, being engaged as acting adjutant of the 4th U.S. Infantry in the siege of Vera Cruz and the battle of Cerro Gordo, and as aide to General John A. Quitman in the storming of Chapultepec, where he earned the brevet of 1st lieutenant, and in the capture of the city of Mexico. He was promoted 1st lieutenant on 24 August, 1851, served as assistant instructor of tactics at the military academy from 1852 till 1857, then went to Europe for a year on sick-leave, was made captain of infantry on 20 December, 1860, and at the beginning of the Civil War was on frontier duty in New Mexico. Resigning his commission on 8 June, 1861, he was appointed colonel in the provisional army of the Confederacy, and assigned to the command of an Alabama regiment. He joined General Joseph E. Johnston's army with his regiment on 16 July, 1861, marched to Manassas to re-enforce General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, and served with the Army of Northern Virginia till its final surrender, being promoted brigadier-general on 21 October, 1861, and major-general on 9 August, 1863. He commanded a brigade in General James Longstreet's corps at the second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, and a division under General Ambrose P. Hill, which resisted the repeated assaults of General Winfield S. Hancock's troops at the battle of the Wilderness. General Wilcox declined a brigadier-general's commission in the Egyptian Army after the war. In 1886 he was appointed chief of the railroad division of the general land-office in Washington, D. C. He is the author of a book on "Rifles and Rifle Practice " (New York, 1859), and the translator of "Evolutions of the Line, as practised by the Austrian Infantry and adopted in 1853 " (1860). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 504.


WILD, Edward Augustus, 182-1891, Brookline, Massachusetts, homeopathic doctor, Brigadier General in the Union Army, abolitionist.  Recruited African American soldiers for the Union Army.  Commanded a brigade of U.S. Colored Troops.  (Bowe, 1888; Casstevens, 2005; Heitman, 1903; Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 504-505)

WILD, Edward Augustus, soldier, born in Brookline, Massachusetts, 25 November, 1825. He was graduated at Harvard in 1844, and on 21 April, 1861, became captain in the 1st Massachusetts Regiment, with which he served in the Peninsular Campaign, being wounded at Williamsburg and Fair Oaks. He became major of the 32d Massachusetts, 24 July, 1862, lieutenant-colonel on 7 Aug., and colonel of the 35th on 20 Aug., and took part in the battle of South Mountain, where his left arm was shattered. After assisting Governor John A. Andrew in raising and organizing colored troops in February-April, 1863, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers on 24 April, and, with the exception of a few months at the siege of Charleston, served in North Carolina, recruiting colored troops. In December he led an expedition through the eastern counties of the state, and on 18 January, 1864, he took command of the district of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia. He commanded a brigade in the affair at Wilson's wharf, and was in front of Petersburg when he was placed under arrest on 23 June, 1864, for refusing to obey the order of his superior to relieve his brigade quartermaster and take another. The finding of the court-martial was set aside by the commanding general, and this action was subsequently confirmed by the judge-advocate-general at Washington. He afterward served on the expedition to Roanoke River in December, 1864, and then before Richmond till its capture, and in 1865 superintended the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgia. On 15 January, 1866, he was mustered out of service. Since the war General Wild has been engaged in silver-mining.  Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 504-505


WILDE, Samuel, Brooklyn, New York, abolitionist, American Abolition Society, Executive Committee, 1855-59.


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


WILDERNESS, VIRGINIA, May 5-7, 1864. Army of the Potomac. On March 1864, Major-General U. S. Grant was raised to the rank of lieutenant general and placed in command of all the United States armies in the field. The interval from that time until the 1st of May was spent in planning campaigns, and in strengthening, organizing and equipping the several armies in the different military districts. Grant remained with the Army of the Potomac, which was under the immediate command of Major-General George G. Meade, and which had for its objective the destruction of the Confederate army under command of General Robert E. Lee. On May 1 the Army of the Potomac lay along the north side of the Rapidan river and was organized as follows: The 2nd corps, Major General W. S. Hancock commanding, was composed of four divisions; the 1st commanded by Brigadier-General F. C. Barlow, the 2nd by Brigadier-General John Gibbon, the 3d by Major-General D. B. Birney, and the 4th by Brigadier General Gershom Mott. The 5th corps, commanded by Major-General G. K. Warren, consisted of four divisions, respectively commanded by Brigadier Generals Charles Griffin, J. C. Robinson, S. W. Crawford and J. S. Wadsworth. The 6th corps, under command of Major-General John Sedgwick, included the three divisions commanded by Brigadier-Generals H. G. Wright, G. W. Getty and James B. Ricketts. The 9th corps, Major-General A. E. Burnside commanding, was composed of four divisions, each of which was commanded by a brigadier-general—the 1st by T. G. Stevenson, the 2nd by R B. Potter, the 3d by O. B. Willcox and the 4th by Edward Ferrero. The cavalry corps, under command of Major-General P. H. Sheridan, consisted of three divisions, the 1st commanded by Brigadier-General A. T. A. Torbert, the 2nd by Brigadier-General G. A. Custer and the 3d by Brigadier-General J. H. Wilson. With the 2nd corps was the artillery brigade under Col John C. Tidball; the artillery of the 5th corps was in charge of Colonel C. S. Wainwright; that of the 6th corps under Colonel C. H. Tompkins, and the artillery reserve, composed of Kitching's, J. A. Tompkins' and Burton's brigades, was commanded by Brigadier-General Henry J. Hunt. Burnside had 14 light and 2 heavy batteries. During the campaign the 18th corps, commanded by Major-General W. F. Smith, was transferred from the Army of the James to the Army of the Potomac. This corps was composed of three divisions, commanded by Brigadier-Generals W. T. H. Brooks, Godfrey Weitzel and E. W. Hinks, and the cavalry division under Brigadier-General August V. Kautz. Lee's army—the Army of Northern Virginia—consisted of the 1st, 2nd and 3d corps, respectively commanded by Lieutenant-Generals James Longstreet, R. S. Ewell and A. P. Hill, and the cavalry corps of Major-General J. E. B. Stuart. Longstreet's corps included the divisions of Kershaw and Field, and the artillery brigade under Brigadier-General E. P. Alexander. Ewell's corps was made up of the divisions of Early, Edward Johnson and Rodes, and the artillery brigade of Brigadier-General A. L. Long. Hill's corps was composed of the divisions of R. H. Anderson, Heth and Wilcox, and his artillery was commanded by Colonel R. L. Walker. Stuart's cavalry embraced three divisi6ns, commanded by Wade Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee and W. H. F. Lee, and the horse artillery under Major R. P. Chew. The Union army numbered about 120,000 men of all arms, exclusive of Smith's corps. Lee's army numbered about 61,000, not including the forces under Beauregard on the Petersburg lines and the troops left in the defenses of Richmond, about 30,000 in all. Ewell's corps was intrenched along the south side of the Rapidan, his right resting near Morton's ford a short distance above the mouth of Mine run. The upper half of the intrenched line was held by Hill's corps, the left extending to Barnett's ford, about 5 miles west of the Orange & Alexandria railroad. Longstreet's command was at Gordonsville, the junction of the Orange & Alexandria and the Virginia Central railroads. Lee's headquarters were at Orange Court House, about half way between Longstreet and the line along the Rapidan, from which point he could easily communicate with his corps commanders, and detachments of cavalry watched the various fords and bridges along the river. Grant's plan was to cross the Rapidan at the fords below the Confederate line of intrenchments, move rapidly around Lee's right flank and force him either to give battle or retire to Richmond. As soon as this movement was well under way, General Butler, with the Army of the James, was to advance up the James river from Fortress Monroe and attack Richmond from the south. The region known as the Wilderness, through which the Army of the Potomac was to move, lies between the Rapidan on the north and the Mattapony on the south. It is about 12 miles wide from north to south and some 16 miles in extent from east to west. Near the center stood the Wilderness tavern, 8 miles west of Chancellorsville and 6 miles south of Culpeper Mine ford on the Rapidan. A short distance west of the tavern the plank road from Germanna ford crossed the Orange & Fredericksburg turnpike, and then running southeast for about 2 miles intersected the Orange plank road near the Hickman farmhouse. The Brock road left the Orange & Fredericksburg pike about a mile east of the tavern and ran southward to Spottsylvania Court House, via Todd's tavern. The first iron furnaces in the United States were established in the Wilderness, the original growth of timber had been cut off to furnish fuel for the furnaces, and the surface, much broken by ravines, ridges and old ore beds, was covered by a second growth of pines, scrub-oaks, etc., so dense in places that it was impossible to see a man at a distance of 50 yards. Between the Orange plank road and the Fredericksburg pike ran a little stream called Wilderness run, and north of the latter road was Flat run, the general direction of both streams being northeast toward the Rapidan, into which they emptied. On the Orange plank road, about 4 miles southwest from the Wilderness tavern, was Parker's store. From the Confederate signal station on Clark's mountain, near the right of Ewell's position, the Federal camps could be plainly seen. On May 2nd Lee, accompanied by several of his generals, made a personal observation, saw the commotion in the Union lines, and rightly conjectured that an early movement of some kind was in contemplation. He accordingly directed his officers to hold their commands in readiness to move against the flank of the Federal army whenever the orders were given from the signal station. It was on this same day that Meade, by Grant's instructions, issued his orders for the advance. Knowing that his every movement was observed by the enemy, he determined to cross the Rapidan during the night. At midnight on the 3d the 5th and 6th corps, preceded by Wilson cavalry division, began crossing at Germanna ford. The 2nd corps, preceded by Gregg's cavalry, crossed at Ely's ford, farther down the river. On the evening of the 4th Warren's corps went into bivouac near the Wilderness tavern; Sedgwick was between Warren and the Rapidan; Hancock was near the cross-roads at Chancellorsville, and Burnside, with the 9th corps, was moving by a forced march from the Rappahannock river toward Germanna ford in response to a telegram from Grant . Wilson's cavalry covered both the plank road and the turnpike west of Warren's camp, the main body of the division being at Parker's store and a small force at Robertson's tavern on the pike. The orders issued that evening for the movements of the army on the 5th would indicate that both Grant and Meade believed that Lee would fall back toward Richmond upon finding his flank turned by a superior force. In this they were mistaken. Lee had outgeneraled Hooker on the same ground a year before, and he now decided to make an effort at least to drive the Federals back across the Rapidan. Therefore, as soon as he learned on the morning of the 4th /that Meade's advance had crossed the river, Ewell was directed to move by the Orange turnpike, Hill by the plank road, and Longstreet was ordered to bring up his corps with all possible despatch. That night Ewell was bivouacked about 5 miles from Warren's camp, Hill was at Verdiersville, about 3 miles in the rear of Ewell, and Longstreet was at Brock's bridge, 10 miles east of Gordonsville. During the night Lee sent word to Ewell to "bring on the battle now as soon as possible," and ordered Hill to move forward at the' same time as Ewell. Warren's orders were to move at 5 a. m. on the 5th to Parker's store and extend his right toward the Wilderness tavern to connect with the 6th corps. He moved on time, Crawford's division in advance, Wadsworth's in the center and Griffin's in the rear. About 7 o'clock Meade received a despatch from Warren, announcing that the Confederates were in some force on the pike about 2 miles west of the tavern. Meade hurried to the front and directed Warren to attack with his entire corps to develop what part of Lee's army was there. Hancock, who was moving to take a position on Warren's left, was ordered to halt at Todd's tavern and await further orders. Sedgwick was ordered to move by a cross-road that left the Germanna road at Spottswood, attack any Confederate force he might find in his way, and connect with Warren's right on the pike. Grant joined Meade soon after these orders were issued and the two generals established their headquarters on the knoll around the Lacy house, a little west of the Wilderness tavern. At 8 o'clock Crawford was in a strong position on the Chewning farm, where he was directed to halt until Griffin and Wadsworth were ready to move against the enemy on the turnpike, when he was to send one of his brigades to join in the attack. About noon Griffin attacked vigorously striking Jones brigade of Johnson's division and driving it back in some confusion through the supporting line, after which he advanced against Battle's and Doles' brigades of Rodes' division. Wright, of the 6th corps, was to have moved forward on Warren's right, but owing to the dense thickets and the uneven surface of the ground, he was unable to connect with Griffin's line in time to carry out the original plan of attack. As Griffin advanced, his right therefore became exposed, and Ewell hurled the brigades of Gordon and Daniel against his flank, forcing Ayres' brigade back across the pike. Seeing that his line was in danger of being broken, Griffin then gave the order to fall back. In executing this order his line was so closely pressed by the Confederates that he was compelled to abandon 2 pieces of artillery. Wadsworth, in moving forward through the thickets, lost his direction and exposed his left flank to Gordon and Daniel, just after they had forced Griffin to retire. These two brigades now attacked Wadsworth and drove back his left in disorder. The Confederates then poured through the gap thus formed and struck Dennison's brigade of Robinson's division in the flank as it was moving to Wadsworth's support. Pursuant to orders Crawford had sent McCandless' brigade to join Wadsworth's left, but the latter had begun his advance before McCandless could reach the position assigned him. The brigade was moved forward, however, in the direction that McCandless supposed would bring him into the desired place, and came up just in time to be engaged by Gordon's victorious forces after Dennison's defeat. A sharp fight ensued, but McCandless was greatly outnumbered and was finally forced to withdraw with a severe loss in killed and wounded and the capture of several hundred of his men. Ewell then reformed his line on the ground where he was first attacked and intrenched his position. Warren fell back about 300 yards and formed a new line with his right resting on the pike. Early in the morning Wilson left Colonel Hammond, with the 5th New York, at Parker's store and pushed on with the rest of his command toward the Craig meeting-house. Soon after Wilson's departure Hammond became engaged with Hill's advance and Crawford threw forward a skirmish line of his infantry to support the cavalry. This line soon encountered Kirkland's brigade of Heth's division and with Hammond's regiment was slowly forced back along the plank road toward the Wilderness tavern. Getty's division was hurried forward to the intersection of the Brock and Orange plank roads, and a despatch was sent to Hancock directing him to move up on the Brock road to Getty's support. Getty reached the cross-roads just in time to secure that important position, and formed his division in two lines of battle at right angles to the plank road, Wheaton's brigade in the center, Grant's on the left and Eustis' on the right. Hill advanced against this line, but received such a galling fire that he speedily retired and for the next two hours everything was quiet, except for the almost constant firing of the skirmishers. When Hancock received the order at o a. m. to halt at Todd's tavern his advance was already some 2 miles beyond that point, and this caused some delay when, two hours later, he was ordered to move to the support of Getty. At 2 p. m. Birney's division came up on the Brock road and formed on Getty's left in two lines of battle along that road. The divisions of Mott and Gibbon followed in order, as fast as the narrow road and dense undergrowth would permit, and also formed in two lines on the left of Birney. Barlow's division, on the extreme left, was thrown forward to some high, clear ground, which was the only place along the line where artillery could be used to advantage. Here Hancock massed all his batteries except Dow's and one section of Ricketts', the former of which was placed near Mott's left and the latter on the plank road. As fast as the different commands fell into position breastworks of logs and earth were thrown up. The second line also threw up works in the rear of the first, and later a third line was constructed behind the divisions of Mott and Birney. Before his troops were in position Hancock received orders to attack, and a little after 3 p. m. Getty was directed to attack at once, without waiting for Hancock. During the lull of two hours Hill had been industriously pushing his men into position and forming a junction with Ewell's right. He was anxiously awaiting and expecting the arrival of Longstreet, but that officer had delayed his advance, because he was unwilling to take the road assigned him by Lee, and waited for permission to select his own route. The result was that when darkness fell on the 5th he was still miles away from Hill's right. Although Getty received orders about 3 o'clock to attack at once, his advance was delayed an hour, as he was engaged in shifting Wheaton's brigade to the right of the plank road to make more room for the 2nd corps. At 4:15 he moved forward down the plank roads, but had not proceeded more than 300 yards when he encountered Heth's division. Ricketts' guns had advanced with the line of infantry and did good service in forcing back the enemy's center, but Hill's line overlapped Getty's, flanks and the slight advantage gained in the center was more than offset by the severe losses on both the right and left, where the Federal attacks were repulsed, Grant losing nearly 1,000 men, about one-half of his brigade. Seeing that Getty had met the enemy in force, Hancock ordered Birney's and Mott's divisions to his support, and a little later sent Carroll's brigade of Gibbon's division to the right of the plank road to support Eustis. About 5:30 the enemy charged and forced back the Union line for 50 yards. One of Ricketts' guns had to be abandoned on account, of the horses being killed. Some of the Confederates reached this gun and planted their colors on it, but they were driven away before they could withdraw it. About the time that this charge was made Hancock had completed the formation of his line and attacked Hill's right with great vigor, Smyth's "Irish" brigade driving back the enemy's line for some distance. In his report Hancock says: "The battle raged with great severity and obstinacy until 8 p. m. without decided advantage to either party." While this was apparently true at the time an hour more of daylight would have witnessed Hill's defeat. He had extended his lines to the southward to cover the ground that had been assigned to Longstreet . This thin line was now shattered and disjointed, and had it been severely pressed for an hour longer it must inevitably have been broken at some point and the whole corps driven from the field. During the action General Hays, commanding one of Hancock's brigades, was killed; Colonel Carroll and General Getty were both severely wounded, but neither left the field until the fighting was over for the day. In the afternoon some heavy skirmishing took place on the Federal right. About 5 p. m. Ricketts' 2nd brigade, under the command of Brigadier-General Truman Seymour, who had relieved Colonel B. F. Smith that morning; Neill's brigade of Getty's division; and part of Wright's 1st brigade, under Colonel W. H. Penrose, attacked the Confederate brigades of Hays and Pegram in a strongly intrenched position on the ridge south of Flat run. Pegram placed some artillery on his left, the fire from which enfiladed Neill's line, forcing him and Penrose to retire from the field with considerable loss. Seymour continued the contest until dark, but was unable to dislodge the enemy from his position. The Federal loss in killed and wounded was heavy on this part of the field, Colonel Keifer, commanding Seymour's first line, being severely wounded On the other side General Pegram was wounded and compelled to leave the field. While these different infantry engagements were going on the cavalry was not idle. At the Craig meeting-house Chapman's brigade of Wilson's division encountered Rosser's brigade of Hampton's cavalry and drove it back about 2 miles. Rosser was then strongly reinforced and Chapman fell back on the 1st brigade at the junction of the Parker's store and Catharpin roads. Soon after this Wilson ordered his whole command to Todd's tavern, where he had been directed by Sheridan to meet Gregg's division. On the way to Todd's he was closely pressed by the Confederate cavalry. Gregg arrived at the tavern about the same time as Wilson, when the two divisions immediately assumed the offensive and drove the enemy beyond Corbin's bridge across the Po river. Immediately after the fighting ceased on the 5th, Hancock, Warren and Sedgwick received orders to attack at 5 o'clock the next morning. Burnside, then in the vicinity of Germanna ford, was instructed to march at 2 a. m., with Stevenson's, Potter's and Willcox's divisions, and be in position to join in the general advance at the hour designated. From prisoners captured during the day it was learned that Longstreet was hourly expected and Hancock was notified to keep a close watch on his left. Barlow's division, with all the artillery of the 2nd corps, was therefore placed in position to protect the left flank and a strong skirmish line was thrown out on the Brock road. The Federal attack was anticipated by the enemy, who began firing on both the left and right a few minutes before 5 o'clock. Soon after the firing commenced, Hancock attacked in two lines, extending across the plank road, Getty's division, with Eustis on the right, Wheaton in the center and Grant on the left, supporting the divisions of Mott and Birney, the latter being in command of Hancock's right wing. The Confederates were pushed back about a mile and a half from the cross-roads when Wadsworth's division came sweeping in from the right, which threw the enemy into confusion and resulted in the capture of several hundred prisoners. The whole line then pressed on after the almost routed enemy for nearly a mile farther; Lee's trains and headquarters were in full view and the battle was nearly won, when a heavy artillery fire was opened on the Union lines from Poague's batteries masked in the shrubbery on the south side of the road, and it was learned that one of Longstreet's divisions had finally connected with Hill's right. In the impetuous advance Hancock's line had become somewhat disordered and he ordered a halt to readjust his lines before engaging the fresh troops. Getty had been wounded during the action and turned over the command of the division to Wheaton. He was now relieved by Webb's brigade of Gibbon's division and formed his command along the original line of battle on the Brock road. At 7 a. m. Gibbon, commanding the left wing, was directed to attack the Confederate right with Barlow's division, but owing to the expected flank attack by Longstreet the order was but partially carried out. Frank's brigade only was thrown forward to feel the enemy's position and after some sharp fighting it connected with Mott's left. About 8 o'clock Stevenson's division of Burnside's corps reported to Hancock. Burnside, with his 2nd and 3d divisions, had been expected to move by a cross-road toward Parker's store, on Birney's right, and attack simultaneously with the rest of the line. About the time of Stevenson's arrival at the Brock road, Hancock received word from Meade that Burnside had then pushed forward nearly to the store and was ready to attack. This information proved to be erroneous and was m a measure contributory to the disaster that overtook Hancock later in the day. Burnside was delayed by a lack of definite information regarding the ground over which he was to move and the dense thickets he encountered, so that it was 2 p. m. before his attack was commenced. A few minutes before 9 o'clock Birney, Mott and Wadsworth, with part of Stevenson's division and three brigades of Gibbon's, resumed the attack along the plank road and were soon furiously engaged with the enemy. Just previous to this, rapid firing was heard in the direction of Todd's tavern, which Hancock supposed to be the threatened flank attack by Longstreet, and this caused him to send Brooke's brigade of Barlow's division out on the Brock road to occupy a line of breastworks there to hold Longstreet in check. Leasure's brigade of the 9th corps and Eustis' of the 6th were held in readiness to support Barlow. As a matter of fact Longstreet was at that moment in Hancock's front, the firing at Todd's being an engagement between Sheridan and the Confederate cavalry. In his report Hancock says: "The arrangements made on my extreme left to receive Longstreet prevented me from pushing my success at the time when General Birney was driving Hill on the plank road." South of the plank road and nearly parallel to it was the unfinished Gordonsville & Fredericksburg railroad. About 10 o'clock Longstreet «ent General Mahone with four brigades to move along the line of this railroad and gain Hancock's flank and rear, while the brigades of Law, Gregg and Benning engaged the Federals in front. Mahone first encountered Frank's brigade, which had nearly exhausted its ammunition and was therefore compelled to retire before the vehement flank attack. He then struck the left of Mott's division, which in turn was forced back in some confusion. Heroic efforts were made to rally the men and reform the line along the plank road by throwing back the left, but the troops had been engaged all morning under a heavy fire in the dense forest and their formation was too irregular for such a movement. At Birney's suggestion the whole line was then withdrawn and reestablished in the breastworks along the Brock road. When Longstreet saw that Mahone's attack was successful he ordered a general advance along the plank road, hoping to crush Hancock's line. Mahone's men, upon seeing the head of the Confederate column, mistook it for a fresh body of Union troops and fired a volley, killing General Jenkins and wounding Longstreet. Lee then assumed command of his right wing in person and ordered the attack to be postponed, although the Confederate line was then within a short distance of the Union works. About half an hour before Mahone struck the left of Hancock's line Cutler's brigade of Wadsworth's division was driven back to the open ground near the Lacy house, but Birney sent two brigades and recovered the lost ground, though at considerable loss. During this part of the battle General Wadsworth was mortally and General Baxter severely wounded. From 11 a. m. to 4 p. m. all was comparatively quiet along Hancock's front. About 2 o'clock Robinson's 1st brigade, under Colonel Lyle, and two regiments of heavy artillery reported to Hancock and were massed near the cross-roads in reserve. At this time Burnside made an assault on the enemy's line near the Tapp house, north of the plank road, and drove it back in disorder, but part of Heth's division and Wofford's brigade of Kershaw's came up as reinforcements and regained all the lost ground At 3 p. m. Hancock and Burnside both received orders to attack at 6 o'clock. They were not permitted to wait until that hour, however, for at 4:15 the enemy advanced against Hancock in force, pressing up to the edge of the abatis, less than 100 yards from the first line of works, where they halted and opened a fierce fire of musketry. This was continued for half an hour, during which time the Union line held firm. Then a portion of Mott's division and Ward's brigade of Birney's gave way. Concerning this break, Hancock says in his report: "The confusion and disorganization among a portion of the troops of Mott's and Birney's divisions on this occasion was greatly increased, if not originated, by the front line of breastworks having taken fire a short time before the enemy made his attack, the flames having been communicated to it from the forest in front (the battle-ground of the morning), which had been burning for some hours. The breastworks on this portion of my line' were constructed entirely of logs, and at the critical moment of the enemy's advance were a mass of flames which it was impossible at that time to subdue, the fire extending for many hundred paces to the right and left. The intense heat and smoke, which was driven by the w1nd directly into the faces of the men, prevented them on portions of the line from firing over the parapet, and at some points compelled them to abandon the line." As soon as Mott's men gave way the Confederates advanced and some of them reached the breastworks and planted their colors thereon. But their victory was of short duration, for Carroll's brigade moved by the left flank, advancing at the double-quick with fixed bayonets, and drove the enemy back with heavy loss in killed and wounded, some of the dead being afterward found inside the works. Dow's battery, one section of which was near the plank road and the others in the second line near Mott's left, did good service in firing on the enemy, both during his advance and retreat. After the repulse of the Confederates by Carroll, Lee withdrew his troops from the contest, and there was no more fighting along the Brock road that day, the order for the attack being countermanded because Hancock's men were almost out of ammunition and it was too late to replenish the supply. When Burnside heard the firing in Hancock's front he advanced against the enemy before him, but his attacks were isolated and unsupported and the only important result attained was to prevent Heth and Wilcox from moving to Lee's support . When the attack began in the morning Wright's division vigorously assaulted Early's intrenchments in his front, but was repulsed with heavy loss. A second attack met with no better success, and as the withdrawal of Burnside's corps had left Sedgwick's right exposed he was ordered to intrench his position and act on the defensive. Warren's attacks on Ewell were also unsuccessful, as the enemy's lines here had been strengthened during the night and several pieces of artillery added. During the day Sedgwick was reinforced by Shaler's brigade, which had been guarding the trains, and Johnston's brigade was sent to Early. Both sides were thus reinforced and some sharp fighting occurred during the afternoon, the attacks of Warren and Sedgwick serving to keep Lee from concentrating his entire force against Hancock. Just before sunset Gordon's brigade, supported by Johnston's, made an attack on Sedgwick's right flank, while Pegram engaged the Federals in front. Shaler's brigade was engaged in building breastworks and the sudden descent of the enemy threw it into confusion, rolling it back on Seymour's brigade, which also fell into some disorder. Seymour and Shaler, with several hundred of their men, were captured. Johnston passed to the left of Gordon and gained Wright's rear, where he captured a few prisoners. Wright promptly restored order among the troops and repulsed the attack of Johnston. Gordon's men were thrown into confusion and Early ordered both brigades to withdraw. In his Memoir Early says of this flank attack: "It was fortunate, however, that darkness came to close this affair, as the enemy, if he had been able to discover the disorder on our side, might have brought up fresh troops and availed himself of our condition." This flank attack of Early's was the last important event in the day's contest, and, in fact, closed the battle of the Wilderness, for when Federal pickets and skirmishing parties were sent out the next morning no trace of the enemy could be discovered on the field of the day before. The Army of Northern Virginia had retired to its line of intrenchments and the redoubtable Lee had evidently abandoned his offensive campaign. The Union loss in the battle of the Wilderness was 2,246 killed, 12,o37 wounded and 3,383 captured or missing. No doubt many of the wounded were burned to death or suffocated in the fire that raged through the woods on Hancock's front. Concerning the enemy's casualties Badeau, in his Military History of U. S. Grant, says: "The losses of Lee no human being can tell. No official report of them exists, if any was ever made, and no statement that has been put forth in regard to them has any foundation but a guess. It seems, however, fair to presume that as Lee fought outside of his works as often as Grant, and was as often repelled, the slaughter of the rebels equalled that in the national army. The grey coats lay as thick as the blue next day, when the national scouts pushed out over the entire battle-field and could discover no living enemy." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, pp. 926-934.


WILDES, George Dudley, clergyman, born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, 19 June, 1819. He was fitted for Harvard, and became usher in mathematics at Chauncey Hall school, Boston. He was graduated at the Virginia Theological Seminary at Alexandria, was ordained deacon in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1846, by the bishop of Kentucky, and at the same time invited to the professorship of mathematics at Shelby College, Kentucky. He was ordained priest in Dedham. "Massachusetts, in 1848, by Bishop Eastburn. After holding several charges, he became assistant at St. Paul's, Boston, and also supervisor of the Episcopal school of Massachusetts. Afterward he was at Brookline and then at Salem, where he became a member of the State board of education. At the outset of the Civil War Dr. Wildes was instrumental in raising the 23d and 19th Massachusetts Regiments, forming also the field hospital corps, volunteering as its head for service, and being commissioned a chaplain. Since 1867 he has been rector of Christ Church, Riverdale, New York. He received the degree of A. M. from Harvard in 1855, of S. T. D. from Hobart in 1871, and that of D. D. from the College of Kansas in 1886. Since its organization in 1874 he has been general secretary of the church congress, being one of its original founders. In this capacity he has edited eleven volumes of papers and addresses (1872-'88). Dr. Wildes has published sermons and addresses, has edited Bishop Griswold's "Lectures on Prayer," and translated George Herbert's Latin poems. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 507.


WILKES, Charles, naval officer, born in New York City, 3 April, 1798: died in Washington. D. C, 8 February, 1877. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 1 January. 1818, and was promoted to lieutenant, 28 April, 1826. He was appointed to the department of charts and instruments in 1830, and was the first in the United States to set up fixed astronomical instruments and observe with them. On 18 August, 1838, he sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, in command of a squadron of five vessels and a store-ship, to explore the southern seas. He visited Madeira, the Cape Verde Islands, Rio de Janeiro, Tierra del Fuego, Valparaiso, Callao, the Paumotou group, Tahiti, the Samoan group (which he surveyed and explored), Wallis Island, and Sydney in New South Wales. He left Sydney in December, 1839, and discovered what he thought to be an Antarctic continent, sailing along vast ice-fields for several weeks. In 1840 he thoroughly explored the Feejee group, and visited the Hawaiian Islands, where he measured intensity of gravity by means of the pendulum on the summit of Mauna Loa. In 1841 he visited the northwestern coast of America and Columbia and Sacramento Rivers, and on 1 November set sail from San Francisco, visited Manila, Sooloo, Borneo, Singapore, the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena, and east anchor at New York on 10 June, 1848. Charges preferred against him by some of his officers were investigated by a court-martial, and he was acquitted of all except illegally punishing some of his crew, for which he was reprimanded. He served on the coast survey in 1842-'3', was promoted to commander, 13 July, 1843, and employed in connection with the report on the exploring expedition at Washington in 1844-'61. He was commissioned a captain, 14 September, 1855, and when the Civil War opened was placed in command of the steamer "San Jacinto" in 1861 and sailed in pursuit of the Confederate privateer "Sumter." On 8 November, 1861, he intercepted at sea the English mail-steamer "Trent," bound from Havana to St. Thomas, W. I., and sent Lieutenant Donald M. Fairfax on board to bring off the Confederate commissioners, John Slidell and James M. Mason, with their secretaries. The officials were removed to the "San Jacinto," in which they were taken to Fort Warren, in Boston harbor. The Navy Department gave Captain Wilkes an emphatic commendation; Congress passed a resolution of thanks, and his act caused great rejoicing throughout the north, where he was the hero of the hour. But on the demand of the British government that Mason and Slidell should be given up. Secretary William H. Seward complied, saying in his despatch that, although the commissioners and their papers were contraband of war, and therefore Wilkes was right in capturing them, he should have taken the "Trent" into port as a prize for adjudication. As he had failed to do so, and had constituted himself a judge in the matter, to approve his act would be to sanction the "right of search," which had always been denied by the U. S. government. The prisoners were therefore released. In 1862 Wilkes commanded the James River Flotilla, and shelled City Point. He was promoted to commodore, 16 July, 1862, and took charge of a special squadron in the West Indies. He was placed on the retired list because of age, 25 June, 1864, and promoted to rear-admiral on the retired list, 25 July, 1866. For his services to science as an explorer he received a gold medal from the Geographical Society of London. The reports of the Wilkes exploring expedition were to consist of twenty-eight quarto volumes, but nine of these were not completed. Of those that were published, Captain Wilkes was the author of the "Narrative" of the expedition (6 vols., 4 vol., also 5 vols., 8vols, Philadelphia, 1845; abridged ed., New York, 1851), and the volumes on "Meteorology" and "Hydrography." Admiral Wilkes was also the author of " Western America, including California and Oregon" (Philadelphia, 1849), and "Theory of the Winds " (New York, 1856). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 508-509.


WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, March 29, 1865. 12th Ohio Cavalry. As an incident of an expedition into western North Carolina under Major-General George Stoneman, Brigadier-General Alvan C. Gillem reported that on the night of the 29th the 12th Ohio drove a force of Confederates from Wilkesboro, compelling them to leave their stores and horses behind. The casualties, if any, were not reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 934.


WILKESON, Samuel, 1781-1848, Buffalo, New York, manufacturer, businessman, real estate, political leader, jurist, president, American Colonization Society (ACS).  Director of the ACS, 1839-1841, Member of the Executive Committee, 1839-1841.  (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 509-510; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 218; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, pp. 237-239, 308)

WILKESON, Samuel, manufacturer, born in Carlisle. Pennsylvania, in 1781; died in the mountains of Tennessee in July. 1848. His father, John, a native of Ireland of Scotch descent, came to this country in 1760. settled in Delaware, and served against the British in the. war of the Revolution. The son received few educational advantages, and worked on a farm till about 1806, when he began his career as a builder and owner of vessels and a trader on Lake Erie and elsewhere. During the war of 1812 he supplied General William Henry Harrison with transports for the use of the troops in invading Canada. In 1814 he settled in Buffalo and engaged in business as a merchant. In 1819 he was an active advocate of the construction of the Erie canal, and in 1822 he was chiefly instrumental in securing the selection of Buffalo as its terminus. He was appointed first judge of the Erie court of common pleas in February, 1821, though he was without a legal education, was elected to the state senate in 1842, and served in that body and in the court for the correction of errors for six years. In 1836 he was elected mayor of Buffalo. He erected and put in operation a furnace in Mahoning County, Ohio, the first in this country to "blow in " on raw bituminous coal and smelt iron with that fuel uncoked, built the first iron-foundry in Buffalo, and established in that city the business of manufacturing steam-engines, stoves, and hollow-ware. He favored a system of gradual and compensated emancipation of the slaves, and advocated the colonization of the Negroes on the west coast of Africa. He afterward moved to Washington, the headquarters of the American colonization society, over which he presided, for two years edited its organ, the "African Repository," directed the affairs of the colony of Liberia, establishing commercial relations between it and Baltimore and Philadelphia, and gathered colonists wherever he could in the south.—His son Samuel, born in Buffalo. New York, 9 May, 1817, was educated at Williams and Union, and was graduated at the latter in 1837. He was for twelve years a staff-writer on the New York “Tribune," and its war-correspondent in the Army of the Potomac, and was the editor and owner of the Buffalo "Democracy" and of the Albany "Evening Journal," having bought out Thurlow Weed in 1865. He has been secretary of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company since March, 1869.—The second Samuel's son, Bayard, born in Albany, N. Y., 17 May, 1844; died near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1 July, 1863, in the first year of the Civil War solicited and obtained a commission as 2d lieutenant in the 4th U. S. Artillery. He served with his battery in and about Fortress Monroe and Norfolk, and took part in the battle of Fredericksburg. He was promoted captain of his battery, and commanded it at the battle of Gettysburg, where he was killed. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of artillery after his death for gallantry in battle. —Another son. Frank, born in Buffalo, New York, 8 March, 1845, has contributed to the New York "Times," the New York " Sun," and other papers, and has published "Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac" (New York, 1887).—Another son, Samuel, was one of the builders of Tacoma, on Puget sound. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 509-510.


WILKESON, Samuel, Jr., New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971).


WILKINSON PIKE, TENNESSEE, December 7, 1864. (See Murfreesboro.)


WILKINSON'S CROSS-ROADS, TENNESSEE, December 29, 1862. Cavalry Division, Army of the Cumberland. Brigadier-General D. S. Stanley, commanding the cavalry division, says in his report: "We encountered the enemy's cavalry, and found them in strong force at Wilkinson's cross-roads. Our cavalry drove them rapidly across Overall's creek, and within one-half mile of the enemy's line of battle. The Anderson cavalry behaved most gallantly this day, pushing at full charge upon the enemy for 6 miles. Unfortunately their advance proved too reckless. Having dispersed their cavalry, the troop fell upon two regiments of rebel infantry in ambush, and after a gallant struggle was compelled to retire with the loss of Major Rosengarten and 6 men killed, and the brave Major Ward and 5 men desperately wounded." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 934.


WILKINSON'S CROSS ROADS, TENNESSEE, December 31, 1862. 3d Kentucky Cavalry. At 8 a. m., just after the battle of Stone's River had begun, Colonel Murray was ordered to move with his regiment to Wilkinson's crossroads. He had gone but a short distance until the troops of the right wing began falling back in confusion, and a little farther on he found a train of baggage and ammunition in the hands of the enemy. Captain Breathitt, with the 1st battalion, and Captain Wolfley, with part of his battalion, charged the enemy and a hand-to-hand fight ensued, in which the train was wrested from its captors and about 250 Union men who had been taken prisoners were recaptured. Palmer's division hospital and a portion of the 5th Wisconsin battery were also recaptured. Murray then took a position near the hospital, where he soon afterward was attacked but succeeded in repulsing the enemy, killing and wounding about 25 and capturing 50 or 60 prisoners. The Union loss was but 1 killed, 6 wounded and 1 missing. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, pp. 934-935.


WILKIE, Francis Bangs, journalist, born, in West Charlton, New York, 2 July, 1832. He was graduated at Union in 1857, during which period he had editorial charge of the "Daily Star" of Schenectady. Soon after he settled in Davenport, Iowa, where he established the " Evening News," and in 1861 became the war-correspondent of the "New York Times," having charge of all the military movements in the region west of the Alleghany Mountains. He then became an editorial writer on the "Chicago Times" in 1864, which he held till the close of 1887. He was the correspondent of the latter during the Russo-Turkish War, and for several years was at the head of the European bureau of that journal. His published works are "Davenport, Past and Present " (Davenport, Iowa, 1858); "The Iowa First" (Dubuque, Iowa, 1862); "Walks about Chicago, and Army and Miscellaneous Sketches" (Chicago, 1871); "The Chicago Bar" (1872); "Sketches beyond the Sea"(1879): "History of the Great Inventions and their Influence on Civilization" (Cincinnati, 1883); "The Gambler," a novel (Chicago, 1888); and "Pen and Powder" (Boston, 1888). He signs his articles " Poliute." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 510.


WILKINS, William, born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 20 December, 1779; died in Homewood, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, 23 June, 1865.  He attended Dickinson College for a short time, read law at Carlisle, and was admitted to the bar at Pittsburg on 28 December, 1801. He practised law there for more than fifty years, except when engaged in the performance of public duties. He was president of the common councils of the city in 1816-'19, was elected to the legislature in 1820, and was a candidate for speaker, but was defeated and made chairman of the judiciary committee. He resigned on 18 December 1820, when he was appointed president-judge of the 5th judicial district of Pennsylvania. He held this office until 25 May, 1824, when he was made judge of the U. S. District Court for western Pennsylvania. While on the bench in 1828, he was elected to Congress, but declined to serve. In 1831 he was chosen U. S. Senator for the full term of six years, and gave up the judgeship. He was a supporter of Andrew Jackson in opposition to John C. Calhoun's doctrines, and, as Chairman of the Senate Committee, he reported the bill that passed Congress, authorizing the president to use the army to suppress the nullification movement. In 1833 the electoral vote of Pennsylvania was cast for him for vice-president. In 1834 he was appointed minister to Russia. In 1842 he was again elected to the House of Representatives, and served until 19 January, 1844, when he was made Secretary of War by President Tyler. In 1855 he was chosen state senator from Alleghany County. At the opening of the Civil War, although more than eighty years of age, he took an active interest in supporting the government as major-general of the home-guard, being always a stanch war Democrat. From 1805 until the time of his death he was active in any matter for the improvement of Pittsburg. In 1810 he helped to organize the Pittsburg Manufacturing Company, which in 1814 was incorporated as the Bank of Pittsburg, and he was its first president. He was interested in building the bridge across Monongahela River, and aided the Pennsylvania Railroad in reaching the city of Pittsburg. His second wife was Matilda Dallas, daughter of Alexander James Dallas. [Son of John Wilkins, pioneer]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 510-511.


WILKINSON, John, naval officer, born in Norfolk, Virginia, 6 November. 1821. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 8 December, 1837, attended the naval school at Philadelphia, and became a passed midshipman, 29 June, 1843, served in the "Oregon" on special service in 1844-'5, and in the "Portsmouth" in 1845-'6. He was attached to the "Saratoga" in the later operations on the Gulf  coast of Mexico, was commissioned a master, 25 June, 1850, and became lieutenant, 5 November, 1850. He served in the steamer "Southern Star," on the expedition to Paraguay, in 1858-'9, was on duty in the coast survey in 1860-'l.  When the Civil War began he resigned his commission, 20 April, 1861, and entered the Confederate Navy as a lieutenant. He was assigned to duty in Fort Powhatan on the James River, and then ordered to command a battery at Acquia creek. In the spring of 1862 he was appointed executive of the ram "Louisiana," at New Orleans, in which he was taken prisoner at the capture of the city by Farragut. He was exchanged, 5 August, 1862, and on 12 August left Richmond with funds and Confederate bonds with which to purchase and load a vessel in England with a cargo of war material. He there bought the steamer "Giraffe," in which he ran the blockade at Wilmington, North Carolina, having on board machinery to make Confederate paper-money. Shortly afterward the "Giraffe" was renamed the "R. E. Lee." He made regular trips from Wilmington to Bermuda with cotton, and back with cargoes of arms and military stores. In October, 1863. he was ordered to command an expedition to release the Confederate prisoners on Johnson's Island, but the Canadian governor-general learned of the plot, and it was a failure. He served in the iron-clad "Albemarle " in 1864, and in September had command of the "Chickamauga," in which he destroyed a great many merchant-vessels. In 1865 he had charge of the blockade-runner " Chameleon," which he took to Liverpool, where she was seized after the war, and delivered to the U. S. government. He has published "The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner'' (New York, 1877). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 512.


WILKINSON, Morton Smith, born 1819, lawyer.  Republican U.S. Senator from Minnesota.  U.S. Senator from 1859-1865.  U.S. Congressman from March 1869-March 1871.  Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 512; Congressional Globe).

WILKINSON, Morton Smith, senator, born in Skaneateles, Onondaga County, New York, 22 January, 1819. He received an academical education, went to Illinois in 1837, was engaged for two years in railroad business, afterward returned to his native place, where he studied law, was admitted to the bar in Syracuse in 1842, and in 1843 began practice at Eaton Rapids, Michigan He moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1847, was elected a member of the first territorial legislature in 1849, and was appointed one of a board of commissioners to prepare a code of laws for the territory. He was elected to the U. S. Senate as a Republican in 1859, and held his seat till 1865, serving as chairman of the committee on Revolutionary claims, and as a member of the committee on Indian affairs. He was a delegate to the Baltimore convention of 1864 and to the Loyalists' Convention of 1866 at Philadelphia, and served in Congress from Minnesota from 4 March, 1869, till 3 March, 1871. He was a member of the state senate in 1874-'7, and afterward united with the Democratic Party. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 512.


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


WILLARD, Sidney, soldier, born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, 3 February, 1831; died in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 13 December, 1862, was graduated at Harvard in 1852, and studied and practised law in Boston. During the Civil War he entered the National Army, and was made major of the 35th Massachusetts Regiment on 27 August, 1862, and fell at Fredericksburg, Virginia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 516.


WILLARD, Sylvester David, physician, in Wilton, Connecticut, 19 June, 1825; died in Albany, N. Y., 2 April, 1865. He was educated in the academy in his native town, graduated at Albany Medical College in 1848, and acquired a large practice in that city. From 1857 till 1865 he was secretary of the New York State Medical Society, whose "Transactions" he edited, and he was president of the Medical Society of Albany County in 1858. He entered the National Army as volunteer surgeon in 1862, and in 1865 became surgeon-general of the state of New York. Being directed by the legislature to report the condition of the insane in the state, Dr. Willard urged the necessity of erecting a large asylum for the poor, and a bill to establish such un asylum was in the state senate at the time of Dr. Willard's death. It afterward passed, and the institution was called the Willard asylum for the insane. It is one of the largest of the kind in this country. Both houses of the legislature passed resolutions of regret upon his death. Dr. Willard devoted much time to historical and antiquarian research, and was the author of many scientific papers, addresses, and contributions to medical journals. He published " Historical Address" (Albany, 1857); "Biographical Memoirs of Physicians of Albany County" (1857); "Memoir of Thomas Spencer, M. D." (1858); and "Annals of the Medical Society of the County of Albany, 1800-'51. with Biographical Sketches" (1864). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 516.


WILLCOX, Albert Oliver, merchant, born in New York City, 10 May, 1810. He was educated in the New York high-school, and embraced a mercantile career. Between 1835 and 1800 he was an active member of several anti-slavery societies. As chairman of the executive committee of one of these, he issued, on 3 November, 1838, an address containing the first proposal of political anti-slavery action. He was among the founders of the " National Era" in Washington, D. C, in 1844. He was engaged for many years before the war in extending the earliest mercantile agency, and in the dry-goods business, and has since followed the insurance business in New York City, and devoted himself to the public advocacy of woman suffrage. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 516.


WILLCOX, Orlando Bolivar, soldier, born in Detroit, Michigan, 10 April, 1823. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy, in 1847. eighth in a class of thirty-eight, among whom were Ambrose P. Hill and Ambrose E. Burnside, and was assigned to the 4th U.S. Artillery. He served in the latter part of the Mexican war, on the plains, and in the final campaign against the Seminoles in 1850-7, but resigned his commission on 10 September of the latter year, studied law, and in 1858 was admitted to the bar at Detroit, Michigan, where he practised till the opening of the Civil War. He became colonel of the 1st Michigan Regiment on 1 May, 1861, and his command was the first from the west, to arrive at the seat of war. He was engaged in the capture of Alexandria, Virginia, and commanded a brigade at Bull Run, where he was wounded and captured. After confinement in Charleston and Columbia. South Carolina, till 17 August, 1862, during part of which time he was kept a close prisoner as a hostage for Confederate privateers that were on trial for their lives in New York, he was exchanged and commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, to date from 21 July, 1861. He took part in the Maryland and Rappahannock Campaigns, temporarily commanded the 9th Army Corps and the District of Central Kentucky from 10 April till 9 June, 1863, had charge of the District of Indiana and Michigan during the draft riots, and then engaged in the operations in eastern Tennessee till March, 1864. He commanded a division in the 9th Corps of the Army of the Potomac in the Richmond Campaign, and on 1 August, 1864, was brevetted major-general of volunteers "for distinguished and gallant services in the several actions since crossing the Rapidan." At Petersburg his division was the first to break through, and received the actual surrender of the city. From 26 April till 28 July, 1865, he had charge of the District of Washington, North Carolina, and from 7 August, of that year, till 15 January, 1866, he commanded that of Michigan. On the latter day he was mustered out, and returned to the practice of law at Detroit, where he was also made U. S. assessor of internal revenue; but on 28 July, 1866, he was recommissioned in the regular army, as colonel of the 29th U.S. Infantry, and on 2 March, 1867, he received the brevets of brigadier-general for Spottsylvania, and major-general for the capture of Petersburg. He was transferred to the 12th U.S. Infantry on 15 March, 1869, was superintendent of the general recruiting service in New York City in 1873-'4. and commanded various posts and departments till his promotion to brigadier-general, 13 October, 1886. While in command of the Department of Arizona, he received the thanks of the territorial legislature on 19 February, 1881, for "his constant and vigilant care, his untiring effort and military skill in protecting the people and freeing the territory of Arizona from the cruel and brutal outrages of the hostile Indian tribes within the military department." On 16 April, 1887, he was placed on the retired list, at which time he was in command of the Department of the Missouri. General Wilcox has published "Shoepack Recollections " (Boston. 1856). and "Faca, an Army Memoir, by Major March " (1857). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 516-517.


WILLET, Joseph Edgerton, educator, born in Macon, Georgia, 17 November, 1826. He was graduated at Mercer University in 1846 and elected in 1847 adjunct professor of natural philosophy and chemistry, but spent some time in the analytical laboratory of Yale College before fully taking up the duties of his chair. Since 1849 he has been engaged in teaching natural science in Mercer University, having been made full professor in 1848. During the Civil War he was employed by the Confederate government to superintend the laboratory at Atlanta, in which all kinds of ammunition were manufactured, and in recent years he has served on the U. S. commission to investigate the habits, nature, and ravages of the cotton caterpillar. Professor Willet has delivered a course of lectures on "Science and Religion," besides lecturing before agricultural societies. He is the author of a prize-book, "The Wonders of Insect Life " (1869). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 517.


WILLEY, Austin, 1806-1896, Maine, reformer, abolitionist, clergyman. Congregational minister.  In 1839, he became editor of the Advocate of Freedom, which was an antislavery newspaper that had been founded in Brunswick, Maine, in 1838.  He edited the paper until the end of the Civil War.  Published Liberty Party newspaper, Liberty Standard.  He wrote The History of the Anti-Slavery Cause in State and Nation.  (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 518; Dumond, 1961, pp. 301, 405n12; Willey, Austin, The History of the Anti-Slavery Cause in State and Nation, Portland, Maine, 1886; Minutes, Convention of the Liberty Party, June 14, 15, 1848, Buffalo, New York)

WILLEY, Austin, reformer, born in Campton, New Hampshire, 24 June, 1806. He was educated at Pembroke Academy, studied at Bangor theological seminary, where he was graduated in 1837. and in 1839 became editor of the "Advocate of Freedom," an anti-slavery paper that had been established in the preceding year at Brunswick, Maine, which he conducted until the abolition of slavery. He was also an early advocate of prohibition, and contributed to the adoption of the Maine law. He has published in book-form a "Family Memorial" (San Francisco, 1865). and " History of the Anti-Slavery Cause in State and Nation " (Portland. 1886). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 518.


WILLEY, Waitman Thomas, 1811-1900, lawyer.  U.S. Senator from Virginia (1861), later West Virginia (1863).  Willey was elected by the Unionist legislature at Wheeling to take the seat of U.S. Senator James M. Mason.  He participated in the convention that decided to create the new state of West Virginia.  Thus, West Virginia was the only state to secede from the Confederacy.  Presented the Constitution of West Virginia and lobbied the U.S. Congress to accept its provisions, which called for the gradual abolition of slavery for the new state.  Became a Radical Republican.  Served in Senate until March 1871.  Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 519; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 246; Congressional Globe)

WILLEY, Waitman Thomas, senator, born in Monongalia County. Va. (now West Virginia), 18 October, 1811. He was graduated at Madison College, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1831, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1833. He was clerk of the county and circuit courts successively from 1841 till 1855, and a member in 1850-'l of the Virginia Constitutional Convention. Mr. Willey was a delegate to the state convention that met at Richmond in February, 1861, and after the adoption of the ordinance of secession was elected by the Unionist legislature at Wheeling to occupy the seat in the U. S. Senate that was vacated by James M. Mason, taking his seat on 13 July, 1861. He attended the convention that decided to create a new state, was chosen to represent West Virginia in the senate, and took his seat on 8 December, 1863. In the following year he was re-elected for the full term that ended on 3 March, 1871, and served as chairman of the committees on patents and on claims. In 1806 he was a delegate to the Loyalists' convention at Philadelphia, and in 1871 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of West Virginia. He has written for reviews and delivered lectures on various subjects, including a series on "Methodism" in 1853. Allegheny College gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1863. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 519.


WILLIAMS, Alpheus Starkey, soldier, born in Saybrook, Connecticut, 10 September, 1810; died in Washington, D. C, 21 December, 1878. He was graduated at Yale in 1831, studied law there, and afterward spent some time in European travel, a part of his tour being in company with Edwin Forrest and Nathaniel P. Willis. In 1836 he began the practice of law in Detroit, Michigan In 1838 he was captain of a local militia company. In 1840 he was appointed judge of probate of Wayne County, and he held that post until 1844, when he was elected recorder of the city of Detroit. At the opening of the war with Mexico he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and served with credit until the close of hostilities, when he returned to Detroit and resumed the practice of law. In 1861, when the Civil War began, he was one of the first to offer his services in support of the government, and as he had always been an active member of the Democratic Party, his example had great influence. On 17 May, 1861, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. He at once entered upon his duties in the Army of the Potomac, and in the spring of 1862 was made commander of a division in the corps of General Nathaniel P. Banks in the Shenandoah valley. During the retreat of the corps in May, 1862, he did himself great credit by his skill and courage. While still a brigadier-general he commanded, with ability and success, an army corps in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, and Gettysburg. In the autumn of 1863 he was sent with his corps to Tennessee, and in the following spring, as division commander, he entered upon the Atlanta Campaign. He took an active part in all the battles of that summer. At the head of the 20th Corps he marched with Sherman to the sea, and at Savannah he was promoted to be brevet major general of volunteers to rank from 12 January, 1865, being 39th on the list of such brevet appointments, though far in advance of them all in date of previous commission and in actual service. Perhaps his was the only instance during the Civil War where an officer of his grade was placed in command of a corps, except in a momentary emergency. Notwithstanding this neglect to recognize his merits. General Williams gave his best energies to his work. He shared in the campaign in the Carolinas and in the grand review at Washington, and was retained in service during the reconstruction era in Kentucky and Arkansas, until July, 1866, when he was honorably mustered out. He was soon afterward appointed U. S. minister to San Salvador, where he spent three years in diplomatic duties. He returned in 1870 to his old home, and was in that year an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Michigan. In 1874, and again in 1870, he was elected a representative in Congress. He had established a reputation as an honest and independent legislator, when his career was cut short by death. During his second term in Congress he was chairman of the committee on the District of Columbia, and did much to beautify the capital city. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 519.


WILLIAM, Julia, African American, abolitionist (Yellin, 1994, p. 58n40)


WILLIAMS, Caroline, African American, abolitionist (Yellin, 1994, p. 58n40)


WILLIAMS, Chauncey P., New York, abolitionist leader (Sorin, 1971)


WILLIAMS, Edward P., naval officer, born in Castine, Maine, 26 February, 1833; died in Yeddo bay, near Yokohama, Japan, 24 January, 1870. He was graduated at the U. S. Naval Academy, 10 June, 1853. He was commissioned a lieutenant, 16 September, 1855. During the first year of the Civil War he served in the steamer " Paul Jones" on the South Atlantic blockade, and subsequently he was executive of the steamer "Powhatan." He was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862. Williams was one of the volunteers that were called for by Admiral Dahlgren to storm Fort Sumter, and on the night of 8 September, 1863, commanded the first division of boats with sailors and marines in that attack. He was captured and sent as prisoner to Columbia, South Carolina, where he remained for one year until exchanged. He was promoted to commander, 25 July, 1866, served at the rendezvous at Boston, 1865-'6, and on ordnance duty at Boston and New York, 1866-'8. On 9 February, 1869, he took command of the steamer " Oneida" on the Asiatic Station. He sailed from Yokohama at 4.30 p. m., 24 January, 1870, and at 6.30 P. M. his vessel was run down by the English mail-steamer " Bombay " and sank in fifteen minutes. The " Bombay" was not injured, and, after backing out to clear her sharp stern from the "Oneida," she steamed away without waiting to give assistance or heeding signals of distress. Twenty-two officers and 115 men were lost, 2 officers and 37 men were saved. Captain Williams stood on the bridge and refused to leave his ship when he was urged to do so by those in the boat. The Secretary of the Navy said in his official report to Congress that, after a thorough investigation of the collision, he concluded that the disaster was due to the recklessness and bad navigation of the English steamer. Another theory was that the captain of the "Bombay" mistook the "Oneida" for a rival merchant steamer of the American Pacific mail line, and ran into her purposely. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 520-521.


WILLIAMS, George Henry, jurist, born in New Lebanon, Columbia County, New York, 23 March, 1823. He was educated at an academy in Onondaga County, studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1844, and, moving to Iowa, began practice there. He was elected judge of the first judicial district of that state, serving from 1847 till 1852, and was a presidential elector in 1852. In 1853-'7 he was chief justice of Oregon territory, and he was reappointed to that office by President Buchanan, but declined. He was a member of the convention that framed the constitution of Oregon in 1858, and, having been elected U. S. Senator from the state as a Union Republican, served from 4 December, 1865, till 3 March, 1871. He was a member of the joint high commission that in 1871 arranged the Treaty of Washington for the adjustment of differences between Great Britain and the United States growing out of the Alabama claims, and was appointed by President Grant Attorney-General of the United States, serving from 10 January, 1872, till 15 May, 1875. On 1 December. 1873, he was nominated by President Grant chief justice of the U. S. Supreme Court: but his nomination was not confirmed by the Senate, and his name was withdrawn. He afterward practised law in Washington, D. C. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 522.


WILLIAMS, George Washington, author, born in Bedford Springs, Pa,, 16 October, 1849. He is a mulatto. He served in the Civil War, was a lieutenant-colonel of artillery in the Republican Army of Mexico in 1865-'7, and attended school at Newton Centre, Massachusetts, until 1874. For a year he preached in Boston, but in 1875 he became a journalist. He was graduated at Cincinnati law College in 1877, spent two years in the office of Alphonso Taft, and in 1879-'81 was a member of the Ohio legislature. In 1880-'2 he was judge-advocate-general of the Grand Army of the Republic, and in 1885-'6 he was U. S. minister to Hayti. In 1888 he was a delegate to the world's conference of foreign missions at London. England, where his speech on "The Drink Traffic in the Congo" attracted much attention. He has edited "The Southwestern Review" at Cincinnati and "The Commoner " at Washington, and is the author of "History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 till 1880" (2 vols., New York, 1883); "History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion" (1887): and "History of the Reconstruction of the Insurgent States "(2 vols., 1889). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 522.


WILLIAMS, Henry W., Boston, Massachusetts, abolitionist, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Recording Secretary, 1842-47.


WILLIAMS, Herbert, LaPorte County, Indiana, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Manager, 1837-40, Vice-President, 1840-44.


WILLIAMS, Jesse Lynch, civil engineer, born in Westfield, Stokes County, North Carolina, 6 May, 1807; died in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 9 October, 1880. His ancestors, English Quakers, came to Maryland about 1700. His parents, who adhered to the same faith, moved to Cincinnati in 1814, and subsequently to a place near Richmond, Indiana. The son was first a rod-man and then an engineer on the preliminary survey for the Miami and Erie Canal, and continued in the service of the state of Ohio from 1824 till 1832, when he was appointed by Indiana chief engineer of the Wabash and Erie canal. In 1837 he became chief engineer of all the internal improvements of the state, including about 1,300 miles of canals, railroads, and other works. In 1853 he became chief engineer of the Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, and in 1850, after its consolidation with other roads to form the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago road, he became a director. From 1864 till his resignation in 1869 he was appointed annually a government director of the Union Pacific Railroad and devoted himself to securing the best location through the Rocky mountains. He was chief engineer and receiver of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad in 1869-'71, and was connected with other roads. Mr. Williams was active in the councils of the Presbyterian church, and served as a director of the Theological seminary of the northwest from its organization till his death. A discourse on his life by the Reverend David W. Moffat, D. D., was printed privately (Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1886). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 523.


WILLIAMS, John S, lawyer, born in Lockport. New York, 14 December, 1825. He received a liberal education, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practised in his native place and in Lafayette, Indiana, where he settled in 1853. He was elected mayor of that town in 1856 and 1858, and for some time edited the Lafayette "Daily American." He recruited the 63d Indiana Volunteers in the autumn of 1861, was commissioned as its colonel, and was with his regiment at the second battle of Bull Run, and till July, 1863, when he was compelled through illness to resign. He resumed practice, and in 1866 was appointed by President Johnson collector of internal revenue for the 8th District of Indiana, holding the office till the accession of a new administration in 1869. Subsequently he became the publisher of the Lafayette "Sunday Times."' In April, 1885, President Cleveland appointed him 3d Auditor of the U. S. Treasury Department. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 528.


WILLIAMS, John Stuart, senator, born in Montgomery County, Kentucky, in 1820. He was graduated at Miami University, Oxford. Ohio, in 1838, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and engaged in practice at Paris, Kentucky. He served in the war with Mexico, first as a captain and afterward as colonel, and was in command of the 4th Kentucky Volunteers at the taking of the city of Mexico. After his return he resumed practice, and engaged in agriculture and the breeding of fine stock, took an active part as a Whig in politics, served as a delegate to national conventions and as a presidential elector, and was in the legislature of Kentucky in 1851-'2. Although he had opposed secession, he raised a brigade for the Confederate Army, received a commission as brigadier-general in 1862, and was serving under General Joseph E. Johnston when the surrender took place. Going back to his home, he urged the people to renew their allegiance to the National government. He served again in the legislature in 1873-'4, and was elected a U. S. Senator from Kentucky as a Democrat, and served from 4 March, 1879, till 3 March, 1885. Since that time he has been engaged in farming, in improving lands in southern Florida, and in promoting railways in the mineral regions of Kentucky. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 528.


WILLIAMS, Julia, 1811-1870, Charleston, South Carolina, abolitionist, Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS), Boston, Massachusetts.  Married to prominent leader of the abolitionist movement, Henry Highland Garnett.  Worked for freedman in Washington, DC, after the Civil War.  (Gold, 1993; Yellin, 1994, p. 61)


WILLIAMS, Nelson Grosvenor, soldier, born in Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York, 4 May, 1823. He was educated at Utica Academy, and spent one year at the U. S. Military Academy. At the beginning of the Civil War he was appointed colonel of the 3d Iowa Volunteers, and served in Missouri until March, 1862. He commanded the 1st Brigade of the 4th Division of the Army of the Tennessee at the battle of Shiloh, where a horse was killed under him, and was at the siege of Corinth. He was made brigadier-general on 29 November, 1862, but resigned soon afterward, owing to injuries received at Shiloh. In 1869 he entered the U. S. Custom Service in New York City. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 529.


WILLIAMS, Joseph Hartwell, lawyer, born in Augusta, Maine, 15 February, 1814, was graduated at Harvard in 1834, and at the law-school in 1837, and practised his profession in Augusta till 1862. He married a sister of the Reverend Sylvester Judd. He was president of the state senate in 1857, and became acting governor on the resignation of Hannibal Hamlin in February of that year. Governor Williams was nominated to the office of judge of the Maine Supreme Court in 1862, but declined. In 1864-'6 and 1874 he was a member of the legislature, serving in 1865-'6 as chairman of the committee on finance. He is the author of "A Brief Study in Genealogy," treating of the Cony family, to which his mother belonged (printed privately, Cambridge, 1885). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 530.


WILLIAMS, Peter, Jr., 1780-1840, New York City, African American, clergyman, author, abolitionist, political leader.  Early in his career, he favored Black colonization.  Co-founder of first African American newspaper, Freedom’s Journal in 1827.  Manager and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), December 1833.  Manager, 1833-1836, and Member of the Executive Committee, 1834-1835, of the AASS. (Rodriguez, 2007, p. 155; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 12, p. 160)


WILLIAMS, Ransom, New York, New York, abolitionist, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, Executive Committee, 1844-1849.


WILLIAMS, Seth, soldier, born in Augusta. Maine, 22-March, 1822; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 23 March. 1866, was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1842, commissioned as 2d lieutenant of artillery on 31 August, 1844, and as 1st lieutenant on 3 March, 1847, and during the Mexican War served as aide-de-camp to General Robert Patterson, participating in all the principal battles, and gaining the brevet of captain for gallantry at Cerro Gordo. He was adjutant of the military academy in 1850-'3, and subsequently served in the adjutant-general's department till his death. He was promoted major on 11 May, 1861, and appointed a brigadier-general in the volunteer army on 23 September, and from 20 August, 1861, till 11 November, 1862, served as adjutant-general on the staff of General George B. McClellan, being promoted lieutenant-colonel on 17 July, 1862. He was adjutant-general of the Army of the Potomac while it was commanded by General McClellan, and continued to serve in that capacity under Generals Ambrose E. Burnside, General Joseph Hooker, and General George G. Meade, wining the brevet of colonel for gallant conduct, at Gettysburg. His health was impaired by continued and arduous duties, and from November, 1864, till the close of hostilities he served on General Ulysses S. Grant's staff as inspector-general of the army. He took part in nearly every important engagement, and received the brevet of major-general of volunteers on 1 August, 1864, for brave conduct in the field in the campaigns from Gettysburg to Petersburg, that of brigadier-general in the U. S. Army on 13 March, 1865, for gallantry in the final campaign near Richmond, and that of major-general on the same date for gallant and meritorious services throughout the war. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 530.


WILLIAMS, Robert, soldier, born in Culpeper County, Virginia, 5 November, 1829. His grandfather, James Williams, served in the Virginia line in the Revolutionary War and also in command of Virginia troops during the war of 1812. Robert was educated at the local schools and at the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated and promoted to brevet 2d lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Dragoons in 1851. He served at the cavalry-school for practice and with his regiment in Oregon for six years, in the meantime becoming 2d lieutenant in 1853, and 1st lieutenant in 1855. In 1857 he was assigned to duty as an assistant instructor in tactics at West Point. Having been appointed in May, 1861, captain and assistant adjutant-general, he served as such until October, when he was commissioned colonel of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry. He was engaged in operations at Hilton Head, South Carolina, in the attack on Secessionville, James Island, South Carolina, and in central Virginia till October, 1862, when he resigned from the volunteer service and was assigned to duty at the war department, having become major and assistant adjutant-general in July of the same year. He afterward served as adjutant-general, respectively, of the Departments of the Missouri and of the Platte, and of the Division of the Missouri. He was promoted by seniority in his department to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in February, 1869, colonel, 1 July, 1881, and by brevet to the grade of brigadier-general, U. S. Army, 13 March, 1865, "for diligent, faithful, and meritorious services during the rebellion." General Williams married the widow of Stephen A. Douglas. He has published professional papers in periodicals. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 531.


WILLIAMS, Thomas, 1779-1876, Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island, clergyman, abolitionist. Manager, 1833-1834, and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, December 1833.  Member of the Executive Committee of the American Colonization Society, 1840-1841. 

(Dumond, 1961, p. 180; Abolitionist, Vol. I, No. XII, December, 1833; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 533; Staudenraus, P. J. The African Colonization Movement, 1816-1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961)

WILLIAMS, Thomas, clergyman, born in Pomfret, Connecticut, 5 Nov., 1779; died in Providence, Rhode Island, 29 Sept., 1876. He studied for two years at Williams, then entered Yale, was graduated in 1800, and taught at Beverly, Massachusetts, and Woodstock and Norwich, Connecticut, till 1803, when he opened a school for colored pupils in Boston, Massachusetts He was there licensed in order to act as chaplain of the almshouse, was sent to New York state as a missionary in the same year, and repeated his tour in 1804 and 1805, after being ordained as an evangelist on 16 May, 1804. From 1807 till his death, except while officiating as pastor at Foxborough, Massachusetts, in 1816-'21, at Attleborough in 1823-'7, at Hebronville in 1827-'30, and at Barrington, Rhode Island, in 1835, he resided mainly at Providence, and, while holding no charge, preached to colored people and others through the state of Rhode Island. He drafted the articles of faith and the rules of the Rhode Island evangelical consociation, and was its first scribe. Of his many printed sermons, some of which were signed by the pen-name “Demens Egomet,” one was called “An Explicit Avowal of Nothingarianism,” another had the title “Jehovah, or Uni-trini-tarianism,” and others commemorated the first settlement of Rhode Island and the revival of religion in 1740. Several volumes of collected sermons were issued at various times. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 533.


WILLIAMS, Thomas, 1806-1872, lawyer.  Republican Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.  Served as Congressman from December 1863 through 1869.  Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 533; Congressional Globe)

WILLIAMS, Thomas, lawyer, born in Greensburgh, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 28 August, 1806. He was graduated at Dickinson College in 1825, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1828, and entered into practice at Pittsburg. He served in the state senate from 1838 till 1841. In 1861 he entered the state house of representatives, and after serving two years was elected to Congress as a Republican, taking his seat on 7 December, 1863. He was twice re-elected, was a member of the committee on the judiciary during his entire period of service, and in March, 1868, acted as one of the managers of the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 533.


WILLIAMS, Thomas, soldier, born in New York state in 1815; died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 5 August. 1862. He was appointed a cadet in the U. S. Military Academy from Michigan, graduated in 1837, and immediately commissioned as 2d lieutenant of infantry. He served in the Florida Wars and during the Canadian rebellion on the northern frontier, was assistant professor of mathematics at the military academy in 1840-'l, being promoted 1st lieutenant on 5 October, 1840, and from 1844 till 1850 was aide-de-camp to General Winfield Scott. During the Mexican war he was present at Vera Cruz and the other principal engagements of the war, receiving the brevet of captain for bravery at Contreras and Churubusco, and that of major for taking a gallant part in the battle of Chapultepec. He became a captain on 12 September, 1850, was engaged in operations against the Seminoles in Florida in 1856-'7 and in the Utah Expedition in 1858, was promoted major on 14 May, 1861, and made a brigadier-general of volunteers on 28 September, 1861. He took part in the North Carolina Expedition, and remained in command of Fort Hatteras till March, 1862, then took command of a brigade, in the Ship Island Expedition, was engaged in opening the lower Mississippi in April and May, 1862, commanded in the first unsuccessful attack on Vicksburg. He projected and superintended the cutting of a canal that was designed to turn the course of the Mississippi away from that city. On the failure of this enterprise he was placed in command at Baton Rouge, where he successfully repelled the vigorous attack of General John C. Breckinridge, and was killed in the moment of victory while leading to the charge an Indiana regiment whose field-officers had fallen. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 533-534.


WILLIAMS' BRIDGE, LOUISIANA, June 28, 1862. Detachment of 2nd Company Massachusetts Unattached Cavalry. Lieutenant-Colonel J. A. Keith of the 21st Ind. infantry left camp at Baton Rouge on June 27, with 40 men of the cavalry company under Captain J. M. Magee, on a reconnaissance. Next morning he learned from 3 prisoners taken by the way that a company of Mississippi cavalry, 110 strong, under a Captain Terrell, was encamped at Williams' bridge over the Amite river, 8 miles away, and determined to surprise and break up the camp. This was accomplished without casualty to the Federals and with a loss to the enemy of 4 killed and 7 prisoners, besides some valuable stores, forage and equipage.

WILLIAMS' BRIDGE, LOUISIANA, May 1, 1863. (See Grierson's Raid.)


WILLIAMSBURG, KENTUCKY, October 28, 1862. 7th Kentucky Infantry. Williamsburg, Kentucky, July 25, 1863. 44th Oh10 Mounted Infantry. Colonel John S. Scott (Confederate), reporting the operations of his cavalry brigade in a raid in eastern Kentucky, states that his advance reached Williamsburg about noon and found about 100 pickets of the 44th Ohio stationed at that place. After a brief skirmish the Federals were driven toward London. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 935.


WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA, May 4-5, 1862. 3d and 4th Army Corps and Cavalry, Army of the Potomac. Upon the evacuation of Yorktown by the Confederates, General McClellan, commanding the Army of the Potomac, ordered his cavalry, with four batteries of horse artillery, under the command of Brigadier-General George Stoneman, in pursuit, the infantry following as rapidly as possible. The 3d corps, commanded by Brigadier-General S. P. Heintzelman, moved on the direct road from Yorktown to Williamsburg, with Hooker's division in advance closely followed by Kearny's. The 4th corps, under command of Brigadier-General E. D. Keyes, took the Lee's Mill road farther to the left, Smith's division having the advance with the divisions of Couch and Casey in supporting distance. Near the Half-way house—so called because it was about half way between Yorktown and Williamsburg—Stoneman's advance encountered some of the enemy's cavalry and the skirmishing commenced. Knowing that the Confederates were moving on both roads, Stoneman sent Emory's brigade to cut off the enemy on the Lee's Mill road, while he engaged the force in his front, gradually pressing it back to Fort Magruder, about a mile from Williamsburg. Fort Magruder was the largest of a line of redoubts which had been constructed sometime before by General Magruder, commanding the Confederate forces on the lower peninsula. When Stoneman came in sight this was the only one of the redoubts occupied, but General Joseph E. Johnston, who was conducting the retreat, hurried troops to the rear to man the trenches before Stoneman's supports could come up. Emory encountered a regiment of Confederate cavalry on the Lee's Mill road, under the command of General Stuart himself, but without infantry could not corner the enemy. Some confusion arose in the movements of the Federal infantry. McClellan had remained at Yorktown to direct the movements of Franklin's division of McDowell's corps, which had been ordered to the peninsula, and Sumner was assigned to the command of the forces in pursuit. Heintzelman was in the advance before Sumner, and in his report states that his instructions directed him to "take control of the entire movement." When Smith's division reached Skiff creek, on the left-hand road, the bridge was found to have been destroyed and Sumner ordered him to take a cross-road to the one on which the other column was moving. This brought Smith into the other road near the Half-way house just as Hooker's troops came up, forcing Hooker to halt for about 3 hours until Smith's command could get out of the way. Hooker then followed Smith for some 3 miles, when he crossed over to the road that the latter had left, and where Emory's cavalry was operating. Smith's division came up with Stoneman about 5:30 p. m. and by Sumner's direction was formed in three lines of battle to charge the enemy's works. About 6:30 the order was given to advance, but the dense undergrowth in the woods soon made it apparent that a charge over such ground was impracticable, and as darkness was coming on the troops were halted under instructions to attack at daylight the next morning. The attack on the 5th was commenced by Hooker's division, which had marched until 11 o'clock the night before, and at 5:30 a. m. was within sight of the enemy's works before Williamsburg. Two hours later General Grover was ordered to begin the attack by sending the 1st Massachusetts to the left and the 2nd New Hampshire to the right of the road as skirmishers, under instructions to advance to the edge of the timber, where they were to turn their attention to the occupants of the rifle-pits in their front, as well as to the sharp-shooters and gunners in Fort Magruder: The 11th Massachusetts and 26th Pennsylvania were then sent to the right of the 2nd New Hampshire and ordered to advance as skirmishers until they reached the Yorktown road. Webber's battery was next pushed forward into an open field on the right of the road, but before the guns could be brought into action it was subjected to such a heavy fire from Fort Magruder and a battery on the left that the cannoneers were forced to retire. Volunteers were called for to man the battery and the men of Osborn's battery dashed to the deserted guns, placed them in position and opened fire on the fort and the battery mentioned. Bramhall's battery was then brought up on the right of Webber's, and by 9 o'clock the guns of the forts were silenced, the Confederates in the rifle-pits having in the meantime been driven back by the well-directed fire of Hooker's sharpshooters. Leaving the 5th New Jersey to support the batteries, General Patterson moved with the rest of his brigade to the left of the road in anticipation of an attack from that direction, and the heavy firing there soon demonstrated that the anticipation was being realized. Patterson found himself confronted by Pryor's and Pickett's brigades, outnumbering his own command' five to one, and twice sent back for reinforcements, but receiving none gave the order to retire. The 73d and 74th New York, the only remaining regiments of Hooker's reserve, were ordered to the left, and with their assistance Patterson rallied his men and repulsed the enemy three times after he had advanced to within 80 yards of the road, which was the center of operations. Hooker now ordered all his available troops to the left, and they arrived just in time to meet a fourth assault by Longstreet's whole division, which had just reached the field. At the same time the guns from Fort Magruder opened again and another body of Confederate troops advanced against Webber's and Bramhall's batteries, capturing 4 guns. Just then Berry's brigade of Kearny's division arrived on the field and repulsed the attack on the batteries, saving the remainder of the guns, the 5th Michigan charging with the bayonet and driving the enemy back to the rifle-pits with a loss of 143 killed and a large number wounded. Kearney's other two brigades—Birney's and Jameson's—now came up and relieved Hooker's men, who retired to the rear, where they replenished their ammunition and remained in reserve. The Confederates, seeing that the Union line had been strengthened by the arrival of these fresh troops, gave up the attempt to turn Hooker's left and retired to their intrenchments. Smith's attack, which was to begin at daylight, did not commence until about noon. Late on the evening of the 4th Sumner learned from a countryman that the redoubts on the Confederate left were unoccupied. A reconnaissance the next morning verified the information, and Hancock was ordered to move with his own brigade, part of Davidson's, and Cowan's New York battery and occupy the redoubts. Hancock crossed Cub Dam creek on a narrow bridge, threw forward the 5th Wisconsin and 6th Maine as an assaulting party in case the redoubt should be occupied by the enemy. Finding it unoccupied he left three companies to hold it, formed a skirmish line in an open field to the rear, with the main body of his infantry behind in line of battle, the artillery in the center, and moved against another redoubt farther down the stream. This was also found to be unoccupied and was taken possession of by Hancock, who now sent back to Smith for reinforcements to enable him to hold the advantage he had gained. He then moved forward to drive the enemy from the two nearest works in his front and create a diversion in favor of Hooker, who was then seriously engaged in front of Fort Magruder. Deploying his line on a crest, with the artillery on the right and left of the redoubt, he threw forward a strong skirmish line and drove the enemy from his position, but did not take possession of it as the reinforcements had not arrived. Sumner had twice ordered reinforcements to Hancock, but each time had countermanded the order. Upon a third request for reinforcements he ordered Hancock to fall back to his first position. Doubtful as to whether this meant the first fort occupied or to retire across the creek, Hancock determined to hold on until he could communicate with Sumner, and again sent back for reinforcements, directing the officer to state the importance of holding the position. In his report Hancock says: "While I was awaiting a reply to this message the crisis of the battle in front of Fort Magruder appeared to have arrived, and in order to furnish all the assistance possible our battery threw percussion shell into that fort." Th1s action drew attention to Hancock. Artillery was turned on him and D. H. Hill advanced with a heavy force of infantry to drive him from his position. Hill soon occupied the redoubts and Hancock's skirmishers became engaged with this force, while a cavalry column came out from behind a point of woods on the right. This was held in check by the skirmishers, however, and Hancock gave the order to fall back to the crest and form in line of battle. This was taken for a retreat by the enemy, who now advanced. Hancock's men behind the crest waited until the Confederates were within easy range, when they suddenly appeared over the top of the hill and poured a murderous volley of musketry into the line rushing up the opposite slope. "Now, gentlemen, the bayonet I" cried Hancock, and the whole brigade charged with a vigor that threw the enemy into utter rout and drove him from the field with a loss of about 400 men in killed, wounded and captured. McClellan, in his report, refers to this action of Hancock's as being "one of the most brilliant engagements of the war." It was the relieving feature of the battle of Williamsburg, an engagement fought without a plan, without unity of action on the part of the different commands, and practically without a commander. The repulse of Hill came about 5:3° p. m. Before he could reform his shattered lines to renew the attack darkness came on and the Confederates in front of Hancock bivouacked in line of battle, expecting to be attacked during the night . Late in the afternoon Peck's brigade of Couch's division came up and took position on the right of Hooker, where he held his position until the action was over. Had he arrived sooner Sumner might have been able to reinforce Hancock, thus enabling him to press the advantage he had gained on the Confederate left, which would no doubt have resulted in a sweeping victory for the Union arms. About the time that Hill was driven back loud and prolonged cheering was heard at Sumner's front, announcing the arrival of McClellan on the field. The enemy, however, regarded it as a signal that heavy reinforcements had come up, and during the night Johnston evacuated his position, continuing his retreat toward Richmond. The Union losses in the battle of Williamsburg were 456 killed, 1,410 wounded and 373 captured or missing. The Confederate reports show a loss of 288 killed, 975 wounded and 297 missing, but Heintzelman, in his report, says: "In the town the enemy abandoned all their severely wounded without attendance or the least provision for their sustenance. Counting them, the prisoners captured during the battle and the first day of the retreat, we got about 1,000 men; among them one colonel and several other officers. Up to Saturday 800 rebels were buried by our troops." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 935-938.


WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA, September 9, 1862. 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry. The regiment, numbering about 500 men, was stationed at Williamsburg, where it was attacked on the 9th by some 300 Confederates and was badly defeated, partly by mismanagement of the officers and partly by cowardice on the part of some in command. The regiment lost 7 killed, 13 wounded, while Colonel Campbell, 6 other officers and 60 men were captured. Major Wilson was tried by a court-martial for cowardice and conduct unbecoming an officer, though the charges were not fully sustained. The enemy's casualties were not reported. After the Confederates retired 430 of the men were rallied and returned to the camp, which was partially destroyed. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 938.


WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA, February 7, 1863. 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 938.


WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA, March 29, 1863. 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry. About 5 a. m. 100 Confederate infantry drove in the Federal pickets just outside of Williamsburg and advanced into the town, About the same time 1.000 Confederate cavalry advanced on the Richmond road and cut off 27 men on outpost duty, but they made a dash and cut their way through the enemy's line, losing 2 killed and 3 wounded in the effort, while 9 more were dismounted and probably captured. The other Federal pickets came in to Fort Magruder when they discovered the Confederate strength and after the artillery at the fort had fired about 12 rounds into the enemy's ranks the latter retired. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 938.


WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA, April 11, 1863. U. S. Troops of Department of Virginia. As the Confederates were moving to besiege Suffolk a portion attacked the Federals under Colonel Robert M. West at Williamsburg. After some sharp fighting the enemy was driven off. No casualties were sustained by the Union force and the Confederate losses were not ascertained, though they left 2 dead on the field. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 938.


WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA, February 11, 1865. Pickets of the 4th Massachusetts and 20th New York Cavalry and 16th New York Heavy Artillery. A party of about 25 Confederate cavalry, dressed in the uniform of Union soldiers, surprised a picket on the Richmond road, killed 1 man, wounded 4 and captured 1 man and 4 horses. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 938.


WILLIAMSBURG ROAD, VIRGINIA, June 29, 1862. The skirmishing on the Williamsburg road on this date was part of the Allen's farm engagement of the Seven Days' Battles (q. v.). The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 938.


WILLIAMSON, James Alexander, soldier, born in Adair County, Kentucky, 8 February, 1829. He was educated at Knox College, Illinois, but was not graduated, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but was mustered into the military service of the United States, 8 August, 1861, as 1st lieutenant and adjutant of the 4th Iowa Infantry. After the battle of Pea Ridge, where he was wounded, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the regiment and immediately afterward he was made its colonel. At the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, near Vicksburg, on 28 December, 1862, he led the "assault of Thayer's brigade on the enemy's lines and was seriously wounded. By order of General Grant he was allowed to inscribe on the colors of his regiment " First at Chickasaw Bayou." He was present at the siege of Vicksburg, and immediately after the surrender was given command of the 2d Brigade of the 1st Division of the 15th Army Corps. Colonel Williamson continued in command of a brigade or division until the capture of Savannah, when he was made a full brigadier-general of volunteers, 13 January, 1865, having previously been promoted by brevet on 19 December, 1864. He was also brevetted major-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865. After the capture of Savannah he was ordered to St. Louis, Missouri, to take command of the district of Missouri, where he remained until sometime after the surrender of the armies of the Confederacy, when he was ordered to report to General Grenville M. Dodge for duty in a military and inspecting expedition of posts in the northwest, on Laramie, Powder, and Bighorn Rivers. While on this duty he was mustered out of the military service; but he did not receive the order until his return to St. Louis in October, 1865. General Williamson then resumed his profession, and was commissioner of the general land-office from June, 1876, till June, 1881, and chairman of the public lands commission created by act of Congress, 3 March, 1879. He was elected chairman of the Iowa delegation to the National Republican Convention at Baltimore in 1864, but did not attend in consequence of his military duties, and he was again elected chairman of the delegation in 1868. He is now general solicitor for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 537.


WILLIAMSON, Passmore, 1822-1895, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, businessman and abolitionist.  Secretary of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society and Vigilance Committee.  Aided escaped slaves Jane Johnson and her two sons in 1855.  He was subsequently jailed for his actions.  (Still, 1872; Wilson, 1972, Vol. 2, pp. 445-451)


WILLIAMSON, Robert Stockton, soldier, born in New York in 1824; died in San Francisco, California, 10 November, 1882. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1848, assigned to the Topographical Engineers, and took part in various surveys on the Pacific Coast till 1856, when he became 1st lieutenant. From that time till the Civil War he was on the staff of the commanding general of the Department of the Pacific, and in charge of military roads in southern Oregon, with meteorological observations on that coast. On 6 August, 1861, he was promoted captain, and, after reconnaissance on the lower Potomac till March, 1862, he was chief topographical engineer in the operations in North Carolina, being brevetted major, 14 March, 1862, for services at New Berne, and lieutenant-colonel on 26 April for the siege of Fort Macon. He then served with the Army of the Potomac, of which he was chief topographical engineer, from 21 November till 21 December, 1862, and held that post in the Department of the Pacific from 9 February till 3 March, 1863, when he was transferred to the Corps of Engineers, in which he was made major on 7 May. Afterward he served on the Pacific Coast as superintending engineer of various surveys of rivers, harbors, and sites for fortifications. On 22 February, 1869, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel. Colonel Williamson published "Report of a Reconnaissance and Survey in California in Connection with Explorations for a Railway Route to the Pacific " in vol. lii. of " Pacific Railway Reports " (Washington, 1853); "On the Use of the Barometer on Surveys and Reconnaissance’s" (New York, 1868); and "Practical Tables in Meteorology and Hypsometry," being an appendix to the foregoing (1869). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 537-538.


WILLIAMSPORT, LOUISIANA, September 16, 1864. Detachments of 87th Illinois Mounted Infantry and 1st Louisiana Cavalry. Some 70 men from the two regiments, under Captain James E. Willis, were sent on a scout from Morganza. Willis left 40 men at Williamsport while he proceeded up the river with the remainder. On his return he learned that the Williamsport detachment had been attacked by a regiment of Confederate cavalry, with the result that 2 had been killed, 1 wounded and the balance except 1 man, were made prisoners. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 939.


WILLIAMSPORT, LOUISIANA, November 25, 1864. (See Raccourci.)


WILLIAMSPORT, MARYLAND, September 20, 1862. Couch's Division, Army of the Potomac.


WILLIAMSPORT, MARYLAND, July 6 1863. 1st and 3d Cavalry Divisions, Army of the Potomac. In the retreat of Lee's army from Gettysburg the Union cavalry was harassing the rear and attempting to destroy the trains. Early on the morning of the 6th the 1st division under Brigadier-General John Buford moved to intercept a wagon train at Williamsport. On the way he received intelligence that the 3d division under Brigadier-General Judson Kilpatrick was advancing on Hagerstown. The latter, on approaching Hagerstown, placed the 1st brigade in advance and when close enough a squadron of the 1st West Virginia and two of the 18th Pennsylvania charged into the place driving the enemy, in superior force before them. Kilpatrick then ascertained that heavy reinforcements were coming to the Confederate aid, and leaving his 1st brigade under Colonel N. P. Richmond to hold the enemy in check he hastened toward Williamsport to assist Buford in the destruction of the train before the arrival of the enemy's reinforcements. Just after he had left the Confederates charged Richmond, compelling him to retire, and about the same time a Confederate battery posted on an eminence to the rear of their main line created some confusion in the Federal ranks. Two miles from the town Richmond rallied his men and with a section of a battery of the 4th U. S. artillery made a desperate stand, repulsing four determined charges of the enemy, but was finally compelled to fall back in the direction of Boonsboro. Buford about 5 p. m. arrived at Williamsport and drove in the Confederate pickets from near St. James' college to within half a mile of their trains, where the enemy displayed force enough to effectually check Buford's advance. Merritt's brigade had the right, Gamble's the left and Devlin’s was on the left rear as reserve. The Confederates made an attack on Gamble, whose men, posted under shelter, reserved their fire until the enemy was within close range, and then drove him back into his stronghold. The same plan was again tried, but with no better success, while no direct attack was made on Merritt's front. The resistance at that point was strong enough, however, to show the uselessness of a Federal attack. Merritt frustrated an attempt of an infantry brigade to get to his rear. During the hottest of the fight Kilpatrick came up with his two brigades and joined Buford's right. It being near dark, however, the latter felt it useless to attempt to advance farther, and the command was slowly withdrawn in the direction of Boonsboro. The Federal losses at Hagerstown were 19 killed, 50 wounded and 194 captured or missing; at Williamsport were 14 killed, 37 wounded and 69 captured or missing. The Confederate casualties were not definitely ascertained, no report of any in the infantry engaged having been made. Their cavalry in the two fights had 8 killed, 65 wounded and 181 captured or missing. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 939.


WILLIAMSPORT, LOUISIANA, November 25, 1864. (See Raccourci.)


WILLIAMSPORT, MARYLAND, July 14, 1863. 5th Michigan Cavalry. The itinerary of the 5th Michigan for the Gettysburg campaign contains the following entry for July 14: "Led the advance toward Williamsport and charged into the town, meeting no considerable force and driving the enemy's rear-guard across the river, capturing a number of prisoners." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 939.


WILLIAMSPORT, MARYLAND, July 25, 1864. Army of West Virginia. The Army of West Virginia, commanded by Bvt. Major-General George Crook, was driven from Winchester, Virginia, on the 24th by the Confederates under General Early, and pursued to the Potomac river. At Williamsport Crook made a stand and drove the enemy from the town, killing and wounding a number and capturing some prisoners. (See Winchester.) The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 940.


WILLIAMSPORT, TENNESSEE, August 11, 1862. Detachment of General Negley's Brigade. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 940.


WILLIAMS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, April 9, 1863. Detachment of 2nd California Infantry. A detachment of the 2nd California, under Captain C. D. Douglas, came up with a band of Indians who had murdered a white settler and called upon them to surrender. They refused and in the skirmish which ensued were all killed. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 940.


WILLICH, August, born in Gorzyn, in the Prussian province of Posen, in 1810: died in St. Mary's, Mercer County, Ohio, 23 January, 1878. His father, a captain of hussars during the Napoleonic Wars, died when August was three years old. With an elder brother, the boy found a home in the family of Friedrich Schleiermacher, the famous theologian, whose wife was a distant relative. He received a military education at Potsdam and Berlin, and at eighteen years of age was commissioned 2d lieutenant of artillery in the Prussian Army. Incoming a captain in 1841. In 1846, in company with a number of the younger and more ardent officers of his brigade, he became so imbued with republican ideas that he tendered his resignation from the army in a letter written in such terms that, instead of its being accepted, he was arrested and tried by a court-martial. By some means he was acquitted, and afterward was permitted to resign. When the great revolution of 1848 threatened the overthrow of all European monarchies, Willich, with several former army friends, among whom were Franz Sigel, Friederich K. F. Hecker, Louis Blenker, and Carl Schurz, went to Baden and took an active part in the armed attempt to revolutionize Germany. After its failure. Willich and many of his compatriots became exiles. He escaped to Switzerland, but afterward made his way to England, where several of his fellow-exiles had also found refuge. Here he remained till 1853, devoting much of his time and labor to aiding his distressed countrymen to reach the United States. He had learned the trade of a carpenter while in England, and so earned a livelihood. Coming to the United States in 1853, he first found employment at his trade in the U.S. Navy-yard at Brooklyn. Here his attainments in mathematics and other scientific studies were soon discovered, and he found more congenial work in the coast survey. In 1858 he was induced to go to Cincinnati as editor of the "German Republican.'' in which work he continued till the opening of the Civil War in 1861. He enlisted, at the first call to arms, in the 1st German (afterward 9th Ohio) Regiment, which within three days mustered about 1,500 men. He was at once appointed adjutant, and, on 28 May, commissioned major. This regiment afterward became one of the best in the service. In the autumn of 1861 Governor Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, who was raising a German regiment in that state, commissioned him as its colonel. This was the 32d Indiana Infantry, famous in the Army of the Cumberland for its drill and discipline, as well as for its gallantry in action. Willich devoted himself to this regiment, and with such good results that, on 26 November, 1861, three companies, deployed as skirmishers, repelled in confusion a regiment of Texan Rangers. This affair gave it a prestige that it retained to the end of the war. On 17 July, 1862, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. At the battle of Stone River, 31 December, 1862, he was captured almost before the action began, and was held a prisoner for several months. He was exchanged in season to take part, at the head of his brigade, in the battle of Chickamauga, 19 and 20 September, 1863, and from that time on he shared in all the movements and battles of the army, including the Atlanta Campaign and the march to the sea and through the Carolinas. He was made brevet major-general, 21 October, 1865, and was mustered out of service, 15 January, 1866. On his return to Cincinnati he was chosen county auditor, which post he held for three years. He was visiting his old home in Germany at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian war, and at once offered his services to the king, whom he had before attempted to dethrone. His offer was gratefully acknowledged, but, on account of his advanced age, it was not accepted. He found consolation, if not more congenial occupation, in attending lectures on philosophy at Berlin. Returning to the United States, he chose St. Mary's, Ohio, as his residence. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 538-539.


WILLIS, Anson, lawyer, born in Ulster County, New York, 28 January, 1802; died in Portchester, New York, 14 December, 1874. He was self-taught, studied law, and was for forty years a resident of New York City, which he represented in the assembly in 1835-'6. Afterward he served two terms as judge of the 6th judicial district court in that city. During the Civil War he was a zealous supporter of the U. S. government. Judge Willis published " Our Rulers and Our Rights, or Outlines of the United States Government" (Philadelphia, 1868), and left unfinished "Origin of all the Nations of the Earth." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 539.


WILLIS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, June 30, 1862. In the account of the Seven Days' battles mention is made of a Willis Church, around which there was some slight skirmishing as the two armies were going into position for the battle of Malvern hill. (See Seven Days' Battles.) The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 940.


WILLISTON, John P., Northampton, Massachusetts, abolitionist, American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, Executive Committee, 1841-1844.


WILLISTON, Samuel W., E. Hampton, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1837-40


WILLISTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, February 8, 1865. Kilpatrick's Cavalry. As the cavalry moved from Blackville to Williston Spencer's brigade, which was in advance, engaged the enemy and drove him back through the town, where the whole command was ordered to go into camp. General Kilpatrick ordered pickets to be posted on all the roads leading into the town, but the arrangements were hardly completed when the picket on the Aiken road was attacked by six regiments of Wheeler's cavalry. Two squadrons, under Captain Latty, were sent to the support of the pickets, and soon the firing became so rapid that Colonel Spencer ordered out the remainder of the brigade. The enemy was driven back about half a mile, where he had another line. This was soon broken and the enemy pursued to White Pond, where he made another stand. Spencer then ordered a charge, which was gallantly made and the enemy was completely routed, with a loss of several in killed and wounded, over 30 captured, together With a large number of horses, 4 regimental flags, and several hundred stands of arms which the Confederates threw away in their flight . The pursuit continued for about 7 miles, when Spencer ordered it discontinued. No casualties were reported on the Union side. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 940.


WILLMARSH ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, February 22, 1864. 85th Pennsylvania and 4tli New Hampshire Infantry. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 940.


WILLOW CREEK, CALIFORNIA, November 17, 1863. 1st California Battalion Mountaineer Infantry. This affair was an incident of operations against the Indians in the Humboldt military district. Two men of a scouting party sent out from camp near the mouth of Willow creek became separated from the rest of the command and were attacked by Indians. The other men became aroused by the fighting and hurried to the scene. After a fight of some 7 hours the Indians withdrew, carrying their dead and wounded with them. Two of the troops were wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 940.


WILLS, (NUNCUPATIVE.) A nuncupative will, so termed from naming an executor by word of mouth, is a verbal testamentary declaration or disposition. By the common law, it was as valid in respect to personal estate as a written testament. A will could not only be made by word of mouth, but the most solemn instrument in writing might be revoked orally. In a rude and uncultivated age, to have required a written will would have been a great hardship, but with the growth and progress of letters, the reason for permitting a verbal testament diminished in force, until finally an effort to establish such a will by means of gross fraud and perjury gave rise to the provisions of the statute of 29 Charles II., passed in 1676, termed the Statute of Frauds.

The only nuncupative wills now allowed are those made by soldiers and sailors. It appears from the preface to the Life of Sir Leoline Jenkins. that he claimed the merit, at the time of the preparation of the Statute of Frauds, of having obtained for the soldiers of the English army the full benefit of the testamentary privileges of the Roman army. The Roman soldier was indulged with very peculiar rights and immunities in the way of exemption from the usual rules in respect to wills Inter arma silent leges. In the camp and on the battle-field the testamentary law was silent. Amid the excitement and the perils of warfare the forms prescribed by law for the execution of a will were dispensed with, so that the soldier might declare his last wishes by word of mouth; or if wounded, he wrote with his blood on his shield, or with his sword in the, dust; the disposition was held firm and sacred. Julius Caesar authorized the making of the military testament in any mode, and without prescribed ceremonials. The example thus set was subsequently followed by Titus, Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan, until the usage became thoroughly established. It was extended also to the naval service, and officers, rowers, and sailors were in this respect esteemed as soldiers. This was the foundation of those privilege* of soldiers in regard to nuncupative wills, which were allowed wherever the civil law prevailed, and have been very generally adopted among civilized nations. In France, the ordnance De la Marine of 1681, first gave special privileges to wills made at sea, and the ordnance of 1735 regulated the celebration of the military testament. The Code Civil has also adopted definite rules in regard to wills made at sea, in time of pestilence, or by soldiers in service. In Holland, when commerce began to be extended to distant voyages, the question arose whether wills made at sea were entitled to any peculiar immunity, and some jurists affirmed that they should be taken as military testaments. The matter was finally resolved in favor of their exemption in case of persons sailing to or returning from the Indies, by the ordinances of the West India Company in 1672 and 1675. In England, by the Statute of Frauds, passed about the same time, the full benefit of the privilege was given, without restriction, to all soldiers and sailors in actual service, and this liberal rule has continued to the present day.

Nuncupative wills, not being regulated by statute as to their mode of celebration or execution, the single question for the judgment of the court is, whether the nuncupation was made by a person entitled to that privilege. The restrictions of the Statute of Frauds were not applied to wills made by “any soldier being in actual military service, or any mariner or seaman being at sea.” By the revised statutes of New York it was provided that nuncupative wills should not be valid, "unless made by a soldier while in actual military service, or by a mariner while at sea." The/ terms of the exception in the statute 1 Viet. c. 26, are, “any soldier being in actual military service, or any mariner or seaman being at sea.” The phraseology is slightly different in these statutes; but the rule is substantially the same in all that the nuncupation is only valid when made by a soldier in actual military service, or a mariner at sea, at the time of the testamentary act. It is not enough to be a soldier or a sailor, but there must be actual service. The military testament was first conceded by Julius Caesar to all soldiers, but it was subsequently limited by Justinian to those engaged in an expedition soils qui in expeditionibus occupati sunt. The exception was borrowed with the rule from the civil law, and the courts have invariably adhered to the principle that there cannot be actual warfare, and the soldier not be engaged in expeditione. So also the nuncupation of a mariner to be valid must be made at sea. It is sometimes difficult to determine when the mariner is to be considered at sea. For example, Lord Hugh Seymour, the admiral of the station at Jamaica, made a codicil by nuncupation while staying at the house on shore appropriated to the admiral of the station. The codicil was rejected on the ground that he only visited his ship occasionally, while his family establishment and place of abode were on land at the official residence. But when a mariner belonging to a vessel lying in the harbor of Buenos Ayres, met with an accident when on shore by leave, made a nuncupative will, and died there, probate was granted for the reason that he was only casually absent from his ship. The will of a shipmaster made off Otaheite has also been allowed. The principle upon which the privilege of nuncupation is conceded applies to all persons engaged in the marine service, whatever may be their special duty or occupation on the vessel. As in the army the term “ soldier “ embraces every grade, from the private to the highest officer, and includes the gunner, the surgeon, or the general; so in the marine, the term “ mariner “ applies to every person in the naval or mercantile service, from the common seaman to the captain or admiral. It is not limited or restricted to any special occupation on shipboard, but a purser, or any other person whose particular vocation does not relate to the sailing of the vessel, possesses the same right as the sailor. A cook is certainly as much a necessary part of the effective service of a vessel as the purser or the sailor; and there would seem to be no reason why he should be excluded from the advantage of a rule designed for the benefit of men engaged in the marine, without reference to the particular branch of duty performed in the vessel. As well because the wills of soldiers and mariners were excepted from the operations of the provisions of the Statute of Frauds, as for the reason and ground of the exception, and the peculiar character of the military testament, it was never held requisite that their nuncupations should be made during the last sickness. Nor has any particular mode been prescribed in respect to the manner of making the testament. The very essence of the privilege consists in the absence of all ceremonies as legal requisites or, as Merlin states the proposition, “ their form was properly to have no form.” It is true the Roman law prescribes two witnesses; but this, however, did not relate to the essence of the act, but only to the proof. In respect to evidence, we do not follow the civil or the canon law; no particular number of witnesses is required to verify an act judicially, and all the court demands is to be satisfied by sufficient evidence as to the substance of the last testamentary request or declaration of the deceased. This ascertained, the law holds it sacred, and carries it into effect with as much favor and regard as would be paid to the most formal instrument executed with every legal solemnity; (Decision of the Surrogate of New York City.) And so, according to numerous decisions, made in Great Britain, quoted by Prendergast, "whenever a military officer on full pay makes an informal will its validity can only be supported by showing the testator to have been on actual military service at the time the will was made. And the result of the decisions appears to be, that an officer serving with his regiment, or in command of troops in garrison or quarters, either in the United Kingdom or the colonies, is not deemed on actual military service. To satisfy the meaning of the act of parliament in that respect, he must be on an expedition, or on some duty associated with positive danger.” (Scott, Military Dictionary, Van Nostrand, 1862, p. 669-672).


WILL'S CREEK, ALABAMA, September 1, 1863. Mention is made in the official record of skirmishes on this date at Will's creek, Davis', Tap's and Neal's gaps, but no detailed reports can be found. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 940.


WILLSON, Joseph, 1817-1895, African American, author, printer, dentist, anti-slavery activist.  Member, Young Men’s Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia. (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 11, p. 197)


WILLSTOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA, April 29, 1862. (See Pineberry Battery, same date.)


WILLSTOWN BLUFF, SOUTH CAROLINA, July 10, 1863. 1st South Carolina Colored Infantry. On the afternoon of the 9th the regiment, under command of Colonel Thomas W. Higginson, left Beaufort on the armed steamer John Adams, the transport Enoch Dean and the tug Governor Milton and proceeded up the South Edisto river. By 4 a. m. next morning a 3-gun battery at Willstown bluff was engaged, but the enemy withdrew after a few shots had been fired. After noon the boats again proceeded up the river, the Dean engaging and driving back the same battery a mile beyond the town. Still farther up the Confederates were again engaged and driven back. On the return down stream the Milton went aground and it was necessary to fire her in order to get down stream with the other 2 vessels before the tide went out. Four men on board the vessels were killed, and 3 were wounded. The Confederates had 2 men wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, pp. 940-941.


WILMARTH, Seth, inventor, born in Brattleboro, Vermont, 8 September, 1810; died in Maiden, Massachusetts, 5 November, 1886. He became a machinist in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and in 1855 was appointed superintendent and master-mechanic of the Charlestown Navy-yard. During the twenty years of his service there he made many valuable improvements in various departments, the most important being the large planer and the great lathe in the machine-shop, which were then the largest of their kind in the world, both bearing his name as inventor. Among his patents, numbering about twenty, were those for his revolving turrets, and for the hydraulic lift for raising the turret shafts on monitor vessels. Soon after the war the latter was submitted to the Navy Department, and was rejected as being of questionable utility, if not dangerous, its purpose having been efficiently accomplished by the means of a sledge-hammer and screw-wedge on many existing vessels. About 1873 the same plan was purchased by the U. S. government for $50,000. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 543.


WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, February 21-22. 10th and 23d Army Corps. In the campaign of the Carolinas General Schofield, commanding the Department of North Carolina, was directed to open railroad communications between the sea-coast and Goldsboro, where he was to collect supplies for Sherman's army. Schofield landed his forces at the mouth of the Cape Fear river and moved northward toward Wilmington, which was his first objective point. Fort Anderson was evacuated on the night of the 18th, and on the 20th Cox's division defeated the Confederates at Town creek with a loss of several in killed and wounded, 375 prisoners and 2 pieces of artillery. On the 21st Cox captured the enemy's pontoons across the Brunswick river, drove the enemy from Eagle island and threatened to cross the Cape Fear river above the town. This demonstration caused the Confederates to burn their steamboats, a large quantity of cotton and military stores and abandon the town, which was occupied by Schofield's command on the 22nd. Schofield reported his losses during the movement as being about 200 in killed and wounded. The loss of the enemy in killed, wounded and prisoners was about 1,000. At Wilmington 51 pieces of heavy ordnance, 15 field guns and a large amount of ammunition fell into the hand of the Union troops. In the operations against Wilmington Schofield was assisted by Admiral Porter's fleet, so far as it was possible for a naval force to cooperate.


WILMINGTON ISLAND, Georgia, March 30-31, 1862. (See Whitem-1rsh Island.) The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 941.


WILMOT, David, 1814-1868, lawyer, jurist, anti-slavery activist, U.S. Congressman, Pennsylvania.  He was an early founder of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania.  Introduced Wilmot Proviso into Congress to exclude slavery in territories acquired from Mexico in 1846-1849.  The Proviso stated:  “Provided, That, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted.”  Congressman Wilmot’s writings suggest that one of his motives was to protect White laborers in the new territory.  In a New York speech, Wilmot talked of the end of slavery when he stated, “Keep it within its given limits… and in time it will wear itself out.  Its existence can only be perpetrated by constant expansion…  Slavery has within itself the seeds of its own destruction.”  In 1856, Wilmot attended the Republican national convention and supported John C. Frémont as its presidential candidate.  He was appointed by the Pennsylvania state legislature to serve in the U.S. Senate from 1861-1863.

(Blue, 2005, pp. 10, 13, 52, 105, 184-212, 265; Dumond, 1961, pp. 359-360; Going, 1966; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 32-33, 47-48, 60, 92, 98, 146, 147, 255n; Morrison, 1967; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 49, 133, 252, 261, 397, 476, 513, 517-518; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 544; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 317; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 23, p. 553)

WILMOT, David, jurist, U.S. Congressman, born in Bethany, Pennsylvania, 20 January, 1814; died in Towanda, Pennsylvania, 16 March, 1868. He received an academical education at Bethany and at Aurora, New York, was admitted to the bar at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, in 1834, and soon began practice at Towanda, where he afterward resided. His support of Martin Van Buren in the presidential canvass of 1836 brought him into public notice, and he was subsequently sent to Congress as a Democrat, serving from 1 December, 1845, to 3 March, 1851. During the session of 1846, while a bill was pending to appropriate $2,000,000 for the purchase of a part of Mexico, he moved an amendment “that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory.” This, which became known as the “Wilmot Proviso,” passed the house, but was rejected by the Senate, and gave rise to the Free-Soil movement. Mr. Wilmot was president-judge of the 13th district of Pennsylvania in 1853-'61, a delegate to the National Republican conventions of 1856, and 1860, acting as temporary chairman of the latter, was defeated as the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania in 1857, and elected to the U. S. Senate as a Republican, in place of Simon Cameron, who resigned to become Secretary of War in President Lincoln's cabinet, serving from 18 March, 1861, to 3 March, 1863. In that body he was a member of the committees on pensions, claims, and foreign affairs. He was appointed by President Lincoln judge of the U. S. Court of Claims in 1863, and died in office. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 544.


WILSON, Allen Benjamin, inventor, born in Willet, New York, 18 October, 1824; died in Woodmont, Connecticut, 29 April, 1888. He was a cabinet-maker, and in 1849, while in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, invented a sewing-machine without ever having seen one before. It used a double-pointed shuttle in combination with the needle, which made a stitch at each forward and backward movement of the shuttle, instead of one at each throw of the shuttle, as in Elias Howe's machine. His first patent bears the date of 12 November, 1850, and is the fifteenth on the patent office record for an improved sewing-machine. This included the double-pointed shuttle and the two-motion feed-bar. In 1851 he secured a patent for the rotating hook, which was designed to supersede the shuttle, and to make the lock-stitch with greater rapidity, neatness, and economy of power. A year later he devised the four-motion feed, which was subsequently adopted in all machines. In his device the hook seizes the loop of thread in the needle when it has descended to its lowest point, opens it out, and carries it around the bobbin, so that the thread is then passed through the loop of the stitch. This is then drawn up with the thread in the needle, so that the two are looped together about half way through the cloth, forming the strongest possible seam, showing the stitching exactly even upon both sides, with no threads above the surface to wear off and allow the seam to rip. On the completion of his machine, Mr. Wilson entered into partnership with Nathaniel Wheeler, a practical manufacturer, and they began to make their machines in a small shop in Watertown. Their first machine, completed early in 1851. was sold for $125, and for a time this output was limited to eight or ten machines a week, but the demand soon increased, and they moved to Bridgeport, where they established the largest factory of its kind in the world, making 600 machines a day. In 1852 the firm was organized as the Wheeler and Wilson sewing-machine Company, and Mr. Wilson withdrew from the business and settled in Waterbury, where he engaged in other enterprises. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 546.


WILSON, David, author, born in West Hebron, Washington County, New York, 17 September, 1818; died in Albany, New York, 9 June, 1887. He was graduated at Union in 1840, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1843, and practised at Whitehall, New York, until his health failed and he was compelled to relinquish his profession, after which he devoted himself largely to literary employments. He was a member of the assembly in 1852, and in 1854 declined a nomination for Congress. He moved to Albany in 1857 on being appointed deputy state treasurer, and in the following year was elected clerk of the assembly. He was deputy clerk of the court of appeals in 1861-'4, and afterward engaged in the brewing and malting business. Mr. Wilson published "Life in Whitehall: a Tale of Ship-Fever Times" (Auburn, 1850); "Solomon Northup, or Twelve Years a Slave," a narrative of the abduction and enslavement of a free Negro of Washington County (1853); "Life of Jane McCrea," including an account of General John Burgoyne's Campaign (1854); "Life of Henrietta Robinson, the Veiled Murderess" (1855); and "A Narrative of Nelson Lee, a Captive among the Comanches" (1859). He collected materials for a history of the Six Nations, but did not live to complete the work. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 547.


WILSON, George Francis, manufacturer, born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, 7 December, 1818; died in East Providence, R. I., 19 January, 1883. He was apprenticed to the trade of wool-sorting at the age of seventeen, and at the end of three years became an expert in the business and familiar with all the machinery in the mill. Being ambitious of obtaining a better education, he entered the academy at Shelburne Palls, Massachusetts, where he subsequently became a teacher. In 1844 he moved to Chicago, where he opened an academy that soon became a flourishing institution, he returned to the east in 1848 and settled in Providence, where he devoted himself to the manufacturing business. In 1855, with Eben N. Horsford, he began the manufacture of chemicals, under the style of George P. Wilson and Company, and two years later their establishment became known as the Rumford Chemical Works. The direct management of the works was controlled by him, and by his knowledge of mechanics he was able to devise various improvements in the machinery, resulting in the more economical manufacture of the goods. He also invented an improvement in the manufacture of steel, a revolving oiler for paper manufacture, and several improvements in illuminating apparatus for light-houses. Mr. Wilson devoted considerable attention to agriculture, to methods of fertilization of soils, and to the breeding of stock, while the range of his scientific knowledge was unusual for one whose life was almost entirely devoted to business pursuits. The degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Brown in 1872. He was a member of the city school committee, and was twice elected to represent Providence in the general assembly. During his residence in East Providence, whither he moved in 1861, he was for many years associated with the management of municipal affairs. He left $100,000 to Brown University, and $50,000 to Dartmouth College, to be used for scientific purposes. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 548.


WILSON, Harriet E., free African American woman, wrote Our Nig or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, a novel and exposé on racism and exploitation of African Americans in the North (Rodriguez, 2007, p. 62)


WILSON, Henry, 1812-1875, abolitionist leader, statesman, U.S. Senator and Vice President of the United States.  Massachusetts State Senator.  Member, Free Soil Party.  Founder of the Republican Party.  Strong opponent of slavery.  Became abolitionist in 1830s.  Opposed annexation of Texas as a slave state.  Bought and edited Boston Republican newspaper, which represented the anti-slavery Free Soil Party.  Called for the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1815.  Introduced bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia and the granting of freedom to slaves who joined the Union Army.  Supported full political and civil rights to emancipated slaves.  Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery.  (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 548-550; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 322; Congressional Globe)

Biography from Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography :

WILSON, Henry, statesman, born in Farmington, New Hampshire, 16 February, 1812; died in Washington, D. C., 22 November, 1875. He was the son of a farm-laborer, whose ancestors were from the north of Ireland, and at the age of ten was apprenticed to a farmer till the age of twenty-one. During those eleven years of service he received not more than twelve months' schooling altogether, but read more than a thousand volumes. When his apprenticeship terminated in December, 1833, he set out from Farmington on foot in search of work, which he found at Natick, Massachusetts, in the house of a shoemaker. On attaining his majority he had his name, which was originally Jeremiah Jones Colbaith, changed by legislative enactment to the simpler one of Henry Wilson. He learned the trade of his employer and followed it for two years, earning enough money to return to New Hampshire and study in the academies at Stafford, Wolfborough, and Concord. At the same time he made his appearance in public life as an ardent Abolitionist during the attempts that were made in 1835 to stop the discussion of the slavery question by violent means. The person to whom he had intrusted his savings became insolvent, and in 1838, after a visit to Washington, where his repugnance to slavery was intensified by the observation of its conditions, he was compelled to relinquish his studios and resume shoemaking at Natick. In 1840 he appeared in the political canvass as a supporter of William Henry Harrison, addressing more than sixty Whig meetings, in which he was introduced as the “Natick cobbler.” In that year and the next he was elected to the Massachusetts house of representatives, and then after a year's intermission served three annual terms in the state senate.

He was active in organizing in 1845 a convention in Massachusetts to oppose the admission of Texas into the Union as a slave state, and was made, with John Greenleaf Whittier, the bearer of a petition to Congress against the proposed annexation, which was signed by many thousands of Massachusetts people. In the following year he presented in the legislature a resolution condemnatory of slavery, supporting it with a comprehensive and vigorous speech. In 1848 he went as a delegate to the Whig National Convention in Philadelphia, and on the rejection of anti-slavery resolutions spoke in protest and withdrew. On his return he defended his action before his constituents, and soon afterward bought the Boston “Republican” newspaper, which he edited for two years, making it the leading organ of the Free-Soil party. He was chairman of the Free-Soil state committee in 1849-'52. In 1850 he returned to the state senate, and in the two following years he was elected president of that body. He presided over the Free-Soil National Convention at Pittsburg in 1852, and in the ensuing canvass acted as chairman of the national committee of the party. As chairman of the state committee he had arranged a coalition with the Democrats by which George S. Boutwell was elected governor in 1851 and Charles Sumner and Robert Rantoul were sent to the U. S. Senate. He was a candidate for Congress in 1852, and failed of election by only ninety-three votes, although in his district the majority against the Free-Soilers was more than 7,500. In 1853 he was a member of the state constitutional convention and proposed a provision to admit colored men into the militia organization. In the same year he was defeated as the Free-Soil candidate for governor. He acted with the American Party in 1855, with the aid of which he was chosen to succeed Edward Everett in the U. S. Senate. He was a delegate to the American National Convention in Philadelphia in that year, but, when it adopted a platform that countenanced slavery, he and other Abolitionists withdrew. He had delivered a speech in advocacy of the repeal of the Fugitive-Slave Law and the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia shortly after taking his seat in the Senate in February, 1855. On the disruption of the American organization through the secession of himself and his friends, he took an active part in the formation of the Republican Party, with the programme of opposition to the extension of slavery. On 23 May, 1856, the morning after his colleague in the Senate, Charles Sumner, was assaulted by Preston S. Brooks, Mr. Wilson denounced the act as “brutal, murderous, and cowardly.” For this language he was challenged to a duel by Brooks; but he declined on the ground that the practice of duelling was barbarous and unlawful, at the same time announcing that he believed in the right of self-defence.

During the next four years he took part in all the important debates in the Senate, delivering elaborate speeches on the admission of Kansas, the Treasury-note Bill, the expenditures of the government, the Pacific Railroad project, and many other topics. His speeches bore the impress of practical, clear-sighted statesman ship, and if the grace of oratory and polished diction was wanting, they always commanded attention and respect. The congressional records during his long term of service in the Senate show that he was one of the most industrious and efficient members of that body, and that his name stands connected with nearly all the important acts and resolves. Strong in his convictions, he was fearless in their expression, but he was scrupulously careful in his statements, and the facts he adduced were never successfully disputed. In March, 1859, he made a notable reply to James H. Hammond, of South Carolina, in defence of free labor, which was printed and widely circulated through the northern states. He had been continued in the Senate for a full term by an almost unanimous vote of the Massachusetts legislature in the preceding January. In March, 1861, he was made chairman of the committee on military affairs, of which he had been a member during the preceding four years. He induced Congress to authorize the enlistment of 500,000 volunteers at the beginning of hostilities between the states, and during the entire period of the war he remained at the head of the committee, and devised and carried measures of the first importance in regard to the organization of the army and the raising and equipment of troops, as well as attending to the many details that came before the committee. He had been connected with the state militia as major, colonel, and brigadier-general from 1840 till 1851, and in 1861 he raised the 22d Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, and marched to the field as its colonel, serving there as an aide to General George B. McClellan till the reassembling of Congress.

During the session of 1861-'2 he introduced the laws that abolished slavery in the District of Columbia, put an end to the “black code,” allowed the enrolment of blacks in the militia, and granted freedom to slaves who entered the service of the United States and to their families. During the civil war he made many patriotic speeches before popular assemblages. He took a prominent part in the legislation for the reduction of the army after the war and for the reconstruction of the southern state governments, advocating the policy of granting full political and civil rights to the emancipated slaves, joined with measures of conciliation toward the people who had lately borne arms against the United States government. He was continued as senator for the term that ended in March, 1871, and near its close was re-elected for six years more. He was nominated for the office of Vice-President of the United States in June, 1872, on the ticket with Ulysses S. Grant, and was elected in the following November, receiving 286 out of 354 electoral votes. On 3 March, 1873, he resigned his place on the floor of the Senate, of which he had been a member for eighteen years, in order to enter on his functions as president of that body. The same year he was stricken with paralysis, and continued infirm till his death, which was caused by apoplexy.

It is but just to say of Henry Wilson that with exceptional opportunities which a less honest statesman might have found for enriching himself at the government's expense, or of taking advantage of his knowledge of public affairs and the tendency of legislation upon matters of finance and business, he died at his post of duty, as he had lived, rich only in his integrity and self-respect. Among his many published speeches may be mentioned “Personalities and Aggressions of Mr. Butler” (1856); “Defence of the Republican Party” (1856); “Are Workingmen Slaves?” (1858); “The Pacific Railroad” (1859); and “The Death of Slavery is the Life of the Nation” (1864). He was the author of a volume entitled “History of the Anti-Slavery Measures of the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth United States Congresses,” in which he relates the progress of the bills relating to slavery and cites the speeches of their friends and opponents (Boston, 1865); of a history of legislation on the army during the Civil War, with the title of “Military Measures of the United States Congress” (1866); of a small volume called “Testimonies of American Statesmen and Jurists to the Truths of Christianity,” being an address that he gave before the Young Men's Christian Association at Natick (1867); of a “History of the Reconstruction Measures of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses, 1865-'8” (1868); of a series of articles on Edwin M. Stanton that were reprinted from a magazine, with those of Jeremiah S. Black, with the title of “A Contribution to History” (Easton, Pennsylvania, 1868); of a published oration on “The Republican and Democratic Parties” (Boston, 1868); and of a great work bearing the title of “History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America,” on which he labored indefatigably during his last illness, yet was not quite able to complete (3 vols., Boston , 1872-'5). See his “Life and Public Services,” which was written by his friend, Thomas Russell, and Reverend Elias Nason, who was his pastor for many years (1872). Congress directed to be printed a volume of “Obituary Addresses,” that were delivered in both houses, on 21 January, 1876 (Washington, 1876). Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 548-550.

Chapter: “Conclusion,” by Henry Wilson, in History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, 1878.

The proposed limits of this volume have been reached without taking up all the topics embraced within its original plan. It is to be hoped, however, that sufficient has been said to afford a measurably adequate idea of the progress of events developed by the " irrepressible conflict," and which have led to the present posture of affairs, — results already attained, and those the future will disclose as a natural consequence of the great struggle. Slavery has been traced from its small beginnings to its overshadowing greatness, — from the few seeds planted at Jamestown in 1620 to its woeful harvest covering the land, — from being a system of labor, in bad repute and dying out, or existing by sufferance when the Constitution was framed, to its becoming an "institution," dominating the government, and exerting a commanding if not a controlling influence in society, in the church, and in the commercial world. It has been shown, too, that in the plenitude of its power, impatient of the least restraint or check, anxious to guard against apprehended dangers arising from its local, restricted, and questionable character, it demanded new guaranties, and claimed that it should be no longer sectional but national, not only wandering everywhere at will, but everywhere protected by the aegis of the Constitution, and maintained by the arm of Federal authority. Such guaranties being too humiliating and wicked for any but the most craven to submit to, this Power appealed to arms, determined to rend what it could not rule, and break what it could not control with an unquestioned supremacy. In the war thus inaugurated slavery went down, not, however, for moral but military reasons, not because it was wrong but because it was unsafe, and because it could not continue and the Union endure. The war closed, the work of reconstruction began, the recusant States were brought back, and the flag again waves, if not over loyal hearts, at least as the symbol of restored nationality and authority, where it had been trailed in the dust, and treated with the greatest indignity and hate.

Claiming, as its title imports, only or mainly to give some account of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, this work has proposed nothing like a full and connected military or political history of the war, and of the process of re construction. Its purpose has been rather to seize upon those portions of such history, perhaps not always with the nicest discrimination, which would shed the clearest light upon the subject it was written to examine, elucidate, and improve, and yield the most profitable instruction.

The topics omitted for lack of space are subsidiary, however, and of less real importance than those for which room has been found. Necessary, perhaps, to the completeness of historic detail, they would be only the exponents of principles already enunciated and illustrated in other connections, examples of general facts already recognized and recorded, the carrying out of the new policy entered upon and made possible only by the giving up by Southern members of their seats in Congress, and their mad relinquishment of the power their occupation had given them. Henceforward, with human rights instead of human chattelhood the goal and guide, freedom instead of slavery the polestar of government, members, in their debates and in the details of legislation, whether effected or only attempted, could but exhibit a similarity of argument and appeal. On measures of the same general character and purpose friends and foes could hardly do otherwise than repeat themselves. Without, therefore, the excitement of pending issues, with the uncertainty and anxiety as to what the result would be, there is less of loss, now that excitement has passed and the results are known, in not having the precise details before the mind. Besides, it is almost among the marvels of history how easily some of the most radical legislation of those days was effected, — how noiselessly and almost without division slave-laws were revoked, the very mention of whose repeal before the war would have roused the nation, both North and South, to fierce excitement, been the signal of the wildest clamor, the most frantic expostulations, and the most terrible and defiant threats. One indeed could but stand amazed at the change, be silent with wonder, and almost question his own identity, or that of others, as he saw law after law repealed almost without remonstrance, and that mountain of unrighteous legislation, the crystallized product of the cruelty and fiendish ingenuity of generations, melting away, like icebergs in a summer sea and under the fervors of a tropical sun, in the presence of an aroused indignation, that had hitherto been trammelled by compromise and the sense of constitutional obligations, and suppressed by fear of offending Southern brethren and sacrificing Southern support, but now prepared to indicate its right to be heard, and to enforce the claims of justice and a common humanity.

Perhaps, however, the marvel will not appear so great, at least to those who comprehend the philosophy or rationale of the change. Through the secession of the States from the Union, and of their members from Congress, resulted two or three facts whose importance arid potency can hardly be overestimated. By it they not only removed shackles from Northern limbs, but they put shackles on their own, or they did that which was tantamount thereto. By leaving their places in Congress they disarmed themselves of the only weapons they had ever used with much effect, they abandoned the only tenable position from which they could defend their cherished system or assail its enemies. Everything else was against it, — argument, sentiment, reason, conscience, the laws of nature and the law of God, the claims of justice and the pleadings of humanity, the teachings of philosophy and the sweet voices of poetry, — all, all, as it could not well be otherwise, were arrayed against the "sum of all villanies." But their position in the government, with the three-fifths representation of their slaves, gave them political power, and long practice gave them great astuteness and adroitness in its use, while Northern selfishness, venality, lack of convictions, and what has been justly termed "careless citizenship," afforded a wide and fruitful field for their peculiar strategy. In their citizen ship were the hidings of the slaveholders' power, and by that sign alone they conquered. Had they been content therewith, nothing appears why this might not have continued for years, perhaps generations. For the fact, already stated, may be here repeated, that Mr. Lincoln, when elected to the Presidency, was in a minority of a million, and that on a platform that simply insisted on the non-extension of slavery, while it not only permitted but guaranteed its continuance where existing. And this, it is to be remembered, notwithstanding the light shed by the antislavery agitation of a generation and the faithful warnings thundered in the nation's ear from the Abolition pulpits and platforms of those days of earnest reasoning and appeal; aided, too, in their work of argument and alarm by the continued aggressions of the Slave Power, from the annexation of Texas to the Lecompton infamy, from the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act to the Dred Scott decision. Not ignoring the Divine agency and the possibilities within reach of the Divine arm, humanly speaking, it may be claimed there did not appear to man's finite vision during the summer and autumn of 1860 any reason for believing that the Slave Power could be dethroned, or dislodged from its seemingly impregnable position by any forces then at command or in view. The composition and doings of the Peace Congress; the Crittenden Compromise, with the narrow escape from its adoption, designed to eternize slavery and place it beyond the reach of repeal, however earnestly and largely the people might desire it; the action and tone of Congress during the closing months of Mr. Buchanan's administration, — all lead to the conclusion that had the Slave Power been content, it might have still remained in practical possession of the government.

But the peace the North so earnestly desired and eagerly sought was not to be the reward of such surrender and betrayal, nor were the slaveholders to be placated even by concessions so extreme. On a large scale and in view of the nations was to be exhibited another example of the haughty spirit that goes before a fall, of that judicial blindness that precedes destruction. By the Divine wisdom, made more resplendent by this dark background of human folly, God revealed anew how the wrath of man could be made to praise him, and how the remainder of wrath he could restrain. By a fatuity that hardly finds a parallel in human history, the slaveholders sacrificed slavery to save it, and in their frantic efforts to defend it against all possible danger, they increased those dangers immeasurably, abandoning, as they did, the only stronghold from which defence was possible. Placing in the hands of their antagonists the same weapons they themselves had hitherto used with so much effect, the rest became inevitable, and only a question of time. Slavery fallen, what was created for or enacted by it would very naturally follow. The tyrant dead, his satellites were allowed to die without regret; the system destroyed, its auxiliaries were allowed to pass away without protest. Laws like the Fugitive Slave Act and those forbidding the instruction of slaves fell naturally and necessarily into disuse and became practically repealed, because there were no longer slaves to be returned to bondage or slaves to be kept in enforced ignorance. There were enactments, too, in the interests of slavery which affected others than slaves, and bore heavily upon freemen themselves. Among them were the laws that confined the militia of the slaveholding States to white persons and authorized the barbarous custom of whipping. There, too, was the system of peonage in New Mexico, allowed to exist not so much as a relic of slavery as by sufferance, because a government committed to the grosser and more barbarous form of chattelhood, and dominated by the Slave Power, could hardly be expected to interfere with this milder system of "modified servitude inherited from Mexico," at least from any regard for the primal rights of man. Beside these, there were military organizations in the slaveholding States, Rebel in spirit and purpose, and composed mainly of men who had belonged to the armies of the Confederacy. Such organizations were justly deemed antagonistic to the Union, and little likely to promote continued peace. Though not so much the creatures of slavery as of treason, — and their menace was rather against the authority of the government than against the freedom of the individual, — like peonage in New Mexico and the other laws above mentioned, they owed their origin to slavery, were pervaded by its spirit and purpose, and could not with safety be allowed to exist. Though a bill early introduced by Mr. Wilson for their disbandment failed, a similar measure, moved as an amendment to an appropriation bill, was subsequently carried with little opposition.

On the same day that the above-named amendment was introduced into the Senate, Mr. Trumbull moved to amend the same appropriation bill by a provision prohibiting "whipping or maiming of the person," and it was carried without debate or division. With little more discussion or dissent an amendment to a bill for the temporary increase of the pay of the officers of the army, striking out the word "white" from the militia laws, was adopted.

When New Mexico became a Territory of the Union, there existed a system of peonage, by which when a Mexican owed a debt the creditor had a right to his labor until the debt was paid. The debtor became a domestic servant and practically a slave until its liquidation. There were about two thousand of this class, principally Indians, in the Territory. But a resolution abolishing the system was introduced by Mr. Wilson, and without much ado it was passed; thereby removing another of the relics of the slave system.

It was also proposed to give account of some attempted legislation, as a history of the times and an index of congressional thought and feeling, evinced by those who were striving to use aright the power for the moment in their hands, and thus secure the fruits of the war, guard against similar at tempts in the future, but especially protect the freedmen and the loyal men of the South, hated and oppressed because they had proved themselves true to the Union. A chapter was proposed giving a somewhat detailed account of attempts, beginning as early as the third day of the first session of the XXXIXth Congress, in December, 1865, to secure amendments of the Constitution to prevent the assumption of "Rebel debts," to define "citizenship," and to fix the "basis of representation." They all failed of enactment, and are mainly valuable as matters of historic record, to show how earnest and prompt were the Republican leaders to meet squarely the issues presented, and to provide, if possible, for the exigencies of the hour. This failure of enactment, with the character of the debates, revealed the uncertain and hesitating steps with which members moved along the untraveled path they were called to tread, and grappled with problems for which no precedents could be found; though the arguments urged and the reasons for action were substantially those employed in subsequent discussions, which resulted in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which were finally adopted, and which are now parts of the Constitution. Another subject, of which some account was to have been given, was the process by which the different border slave States, which, though believing in slavery, had not joined the Rebellion, were induced to accept emancipation and adapt their legislation to the new order of things. Of this it is to be said, however, that while those States had much in common, being affected by influences which were general and national, each had its own autonomy, its local history and struggle. While, therefore, the result attained was substantially the same in all, the processes by which it was reached varied materially, according to the different circumstances and leadership in these separate commonwealths. Much depended upon leadership. Always and everywhere true, at least, in greater or less degree, at this juncture of affairs the measures actually adopted by the many were the result largely, if not entirely, of the views and feelings of the few. When all were in a maze, knowing not what to do or expect, the natural leader's voice was listened for, and, if heard, generally heeded. When all were dazed by the resplendent events in progress, not knowing what the next act in the imposing drama was to be, though prepared for almost anything, it is not strange that men, dis trusting themselves, should have looked to others for counsel and guidance. Everything in confusion, the very foundations of society seemingly sliding from beneath their feet, the very stars in their courses appearing to fight against them, Southern men were willing to accept almost any solution that promised repose, and the salvation of anything from the general wreck around them. The voice of leaders at such a time had special potency, and the policy finally adopted unquestionably depended oftentimes far more on the influences to which these leaders chanced to be exposed than upon any well-considered opinions and purposes of the people themselves. This undoubtedly affords some solution of the fact, that while the three border slave States, Delaware, Maryland, and Kentucky, rejected the Fourteenth Amendment by a vote of three to one, the State of Missouri accepted it by a vote of one hundred and eleven to forty.

The details, therefore, of State action, not by any means uninstructive and devoid of local and special value, cannot be of that general and historic interest which inheres in the great and providential fact that those States were induced to move at all; that, without any great change of sentiment and feeling on the subject of slavery, they should adopt legislation recognizing its destruction, and adapted thereto. That, and not the special methods pursued in the separate States, is the significant and memorable fact. This recognition, however, did not carry with it anything like a hearty adoption of the Republican policy of which it formed a part. Thus a Democratic convention, held in Kentucky in 1866, resolved, "That we recognize the abolition of slavery as an accomplished fact, but earnestly assert that Kentucky has the right to regulate the political status of the Negroes within their territory." And even what was called a Union convention, a few months later, entered its protest against Negro suffrage, denying that the Thirteenth Amendment gave to Congress the power "to pass any law granting the right of suffrage to persons of African descent." In Maryland, in 1867, the legislature, while resolving that " we regard the abolishment of Negro slavery as a fact achieved, to which the peace and quiet of the country require that we should bow in submission," did "most solemnly and earnestly protest against any action by the Congress of the United States to assign the Negro a social status or endow him with the elective franchise." It also declared "that the loss of private property occasioned by the emancipation of slaves constitutes a valid claim upon the Federal government for compensation, and that the General Assembly ought to provide for ascertaining the extent of such loss, with a view of pressing the claim at an early day."

It was also proposed to give a somewhat detailed account of the trial of President Johnson on articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives, March 2, 1868. The original motion, made by Mr. Ashley of Ohio, January 7, 1867, charging him with "high crimes and misdemeanors" specified that "he has corruptly used the appointing power; that he has corruptly used the pardoning power; that he has corruptly used the veto; that he has corruptly disposed of public property of the United States; that he has corruptly interfered in elections, and committed acts, and conspired with others to commit acts, which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and misdemeanors." The articles were read to the Senate sitting as Court of Impeachment, March 4, 1868. The trial proceeded till the 16th of May, when a vote was taken, thirty-five voting Guilty, and nineteen. Not Guilty; and judgment of acquittal was entered. Although a somewhat striking episode, and, for the time being, exciting a widespread interest, this trial cannot be regarded as having any very direct bearing on the history of slavery. That the President's course was utterly indefensible, that he proved himself false to his promises and loudly promulgated opinions as well as to the party which elected him, besides aggravating and greatly increasing the difficulties of reconstruction, is matter of record, and has been referred to in previous chapters of this volume. Himself a product of slavery, which was itself a " gigantic lie," how could he be true to a party or cause based on the grand verities enunciated in the Republican platform, and made the dominating forces of its history? And yet the trial itself was of local and temporary interest and importance, and hardly deserves a very large space or mention in a general history of the Slave Power.

Another chapter was to have been devoted to the presidential election of 1868. But, though occupying, no doubt, a commanding position in the work of reconstruction, — an important link in the chain of events now under review, its main significance and the chief contribution it affords for history appear in the exceedingly disloyal attitude in which it presents the Democratic party. Without even an attempt to conceal its purpose by words, — words that cost and often mean so little, and are indeed so often used by men to "disguise their thoughts" — it proclaimed not only its bitter hostility to the defenders of their country, but it’s too manifest sympathy with those who would destroy it. Both in the platform adopted and in the utterances of its candidates little short of the baldest treason was presented, not in mealy words, but in those most objurgatory and defiant. In its platform and in its arraignment of the Republican party, it spoke of " the unparalleled oppression and tyranny which have marked its career,” having subjected "ten States to military despotism and Negro supremacy," and of its substituting "secret star-chamber inquisitions for constitutional tribunals"; pronounced "the reconstruction acts (so called) of Congress, as such, as usurpations, and unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void"; and demanded "amnesty for all past political offences, and the regulation of the elective franchise in these States by their citizens." But the most significant event of the canvass was the letter of Frank P. Blair, the Democratic candidate for Vice-President. On the 30th of June he wrote what became the famous "Brodhead letter," in which he indulged in the most violent and inflammatory language and recommendations. Beside accusing the Republican party of the most heinous political offences, and suggesting the most violent remedies, he said unequivocally: "There is but one way to restore the government and the Constitution, and that is for the President elect to declare these acts null and void, compel the army to undo its usurpations at the South, disperse the carpet-bag State governments, and elect senators and Representatives." For this frank avowal of his treasonable and revolutionary opinions and purposes he was honored with a unanimous vote of the convention on the first ballot for the office of Vice-President, while it required twenty-three ballotings to secure the nomination of Horatio Seymour for the Presidency on the same electoral ticket; so well did the former represent the principles and purposes of the Democratic party. The Republican party simply reaffirmed the principles already enunciated in its platforms, proclaimed its inflexible purpose to maintain them in their entirety, and placed in nomination the distinguished soldier that had led the national forces to victory, with Schuyler Colfax for Vice-President. It triumphed by decisive majorities at the polls, and revealed the welcome fact that the people had not yet forgotten the lessons of the war, and were not quite ready to restore the defenders of the "lost cause” to seats they had so traitorously vacated for the destruction of the government. With this the record must close, though the conflict still rages, and the final issue remains in doubt. With no formal attempt to deduce the lessons this history was written to inculcate, — excepting a simple reference to what has been noted, the dangers of all compromises of moral principles, the prolific and pestiferous nature of national as well as individual sinning, the deteriorating and depressing influence of unrighteous laws on the morality of a people and the grave perils in a republic of "careless citizenship" and the presence of an unfaithful Church, which, instead of faithful testimony borne against wrong-doing, consents thereto and throws around it the sanctions of religion, — it only remains to notice briefly the present posture of affairs and the outlook disclosed thereby. That there have been great and marvellous changes none deny. The abolishment of slavery, the entire repeal or abrogation of the infamous slave-codes, the summary and sudden transformation of four million chattels personal into freemen and enfranchised citizens, with everything that legislation and constitutional amendments can do to maintain their freedom and protect them in its enjoyment, do certainly constitute great and memorable achievements that find few parallels in human history. All admit the greatness of the change, but men differ as to its extent. Nor are these differences mere matters of opinion, or of abstract theories simply, inconsequential and harmless, like views that neither demand nor lead to corresponding action. On the contrary, they enter largely into the purposes and policies of the hour. Thus large numbers, including the whole Democratic party, contend that emancipation and the constitutional amendments, even if accepted as accomplished facts, justify no further infringement on State prerogatives, and that the freed men, still amenable to State authority, must be remanded to the State governments alone for protection. Even so able and astute a statesman as Mr. Bingham, the reputed author of the Fourteenth Amendment, opposed the Civil Rights bill because, he said, in times of peace "justice is to be administered under the Constitution, according to the Constitution, and within the limitation of the Constitution."

The large majority of the Republicans, however, instructed by the sad history of Mr. Johnson's administration, deemed it both unsafe and unpardonable thus to remand the freedmen for protection to those whose tender mercies are cruel. In the pledge of the Proclamation of Emancipation to "maintain" the freedom it proclaimed they see something more than a word. Regarding it a solemn pledge to be fulfilled, they recognize the obligation to provide appropriate legislation therefor, though, as the debates have disclosed, not altogether clear that by so doing they have not transcended limits prescribed by both the letter and spirit of the Constitution. And it still remains an open question, as yet un settled by any general agreement, where State sovereignty ends and the Federal prerogative begins. Though, as Mr. Frelinghuysen said, in his opening speech on the Civil Rights bill, "the whole struggle in field and forum is between national sovereignty and State sovereignty, a struggle between United States citizenship and State citizenship, and the superiority of allegiance due to each, “opinions are as divergent as ever on the answer to be given. It still remains a question not yet answered by those with whom alone rests the authority, whether this is a nation of people or a mere federation of States.

But more serious than constitutional difficulties remain. For, granting that all constitutional differences had been composed, that all questions of government had been answered to mutual satisfaction, and that everything that law, organic or other, can do had been done, there remains the far more serious difficulty of constituency. As never before, the question of man's ability to govern himself stares the nation in the face, and arrests attention by its sudden and startling distinctness. The numbers are increasing who cannot repress their doubts nor silence their misgivings as they contemplate the new dangers that loom up not only in the distant, but in the more immediate future. Manhood suffrage, with all that is involved therein, the figures of the census-tables, and their startling revelations of growing illiteracy, especially in the late slaveholding States, where the large per cent of voters can neither read nor write the ballots they cast, are facts to excite the gravest apprehensions. The fact, too, that the South, though defeated, with "sullen intensity and relentless purpose" still bemoans and defends the "lost cause"; though accepting the destruction of slavery, still believes it to be the proper condition of an inferior race, and the corner-stone of the most desirable civilization; though accepting Negro enfranchisement because imposed by a superior force, still contends that this is a white man's government, in which the freedmen have no legitimate part, and from which they shall be excluded, even if violence and fraud be needful therefor, may well excite alarm in the most sanguine and hopeful. Conjoined with these is that alarming but correlated fact — the pregnant fault and the vulnerable heel of American politics — that good men can stand aloof from active participation in the work of the government, justify themselves in so doing, and lose little credit thereby. These facts and considerations invest with growing interest the subject, multiply questionings, and greatly deepen the solicitude of the thoughtful as they seek to forecast events, and, peering wistfully into the future, look with too little success for gleams of light or harbingers of better days.

Washington inculcated in his Farewell Address that intelligence and morality are "indispensable supports" of free institutions, and that all morality that is not the outgrowth of religious principle is of questionable worth. Nor is this the voice of the Father of his Country only. It is the generally accepted axiom of those who treat of republican institutions. And yet among the teachings of the census-tables are found such items as these. In the Southern States, of the white children alone sixty-one per cent are never seen at school; of the colored children "eighty-eight per cent are habitually absent." "Of every one hundred colored children in North Carolina ninety-one never enter a school. In Georgia ninety-five per cent receive no instruction. In Mississippi the per cent is ninety-six." "Ten years," says the United States Commissioner of Education, "without schools for children will insure an adult generation of ignorant citizens, who in losing the knowledge of will have lost the desire for letters." With truth he added: "Were an invading hostile army to threaten our frontiers the whole people would rise in arms to repel them; but these tables show the mustering of the hosts of a deadlier foe, a more relentless enemy, already within our borders and by our very firesides; a great army of ignorance growing ever stronger, denser, and more invincible."

The demon of slavery has indeed been exorcised and cast out of the body politic, but other evil spirits remain to torment, if not destroy. The same elements of character in the dominant race that not only rendered slavery endurable, but demanded it and made its protection, support, and conservation the condition precedent of all affiliation in church or state, still remain to be provided for, guarded against, or eliminated, in our efforts to maintain our free form of government. Perhaps, indeed, legislation has done its best or utmost, and all that now remains, or can be done, is to bring up the popular sentiment and character to its standard. Can it be done?

In January, 1871, the author appealed, through the pages of the "Atlantic Monthly," to the members of the Republican party to take a " new departure " and incorporate philanthropic and patriotic with political action; in other words, to engage individually and socially, and outside of party organization, in missionary work to prepare those made free to use intelligently and wisely the power their enfranchisement has given them. "The two great necessities," he said, "of the country at the present time are unification and education." In behalf of the former he said: "To make the people one in spirit and purpose, to remove everything calculated to engender and perpetuate strife or promote sectional animosities and interests, should be regarded, during the generation now entered upon, as the special work of the bravest philanthropy and of the purest and most enlarged statesmanship," To the latter, after urging the usual considerations in support of its essential necessity to the maintenance of free institutions, and considering some of the serious difficulties in the way of its effective pro motion, he invited the earnest and thoughtful attention of his countrymen. "I do not assume the office of instructor," he said, "nor do I propose to indicate what is to be done, or how this grave exigency is to be met. I only bespeak here a careful study of this great social and national problem, thus suddenly forced upon the Republic. Fully believing that the nation has never witnessed an hour, not even in the darkest night of the Rebellion, when there were presented more pressing claims for special effort, or when there were demanded of the patriotic, philanthropic, and pious men of thought, more time, effort, and personal sacrifice, I present the matter as second to no question now before the country."

But if there was in 1871 foundation for such solicitude and alarm, how much greater the occasion now. Then the governments in the reconstructed States were mainly, if not entirely, in the hands of men loyal not only to their country, but to the principles and policy of the Republican party. Not wholly without mistakes or unworthy members in their administrations, the tendency was upward, and the drift was in the right direction. The freedmen were cared for, a policy was inaugurated embracing, as already noted, with their active participation in the affairs of government, a preparation, aided largely by Northern philanthropy and Christian beneficence, educational and industrial, for their new and untried position. Inadequate, almost ludicrously so, to the great and manifold exigencies of the situation, except as the beginning and earnest of greater and more systematic efforts, they excited hopes and encouraged expectations for the new-formed commonwealths of the South. But all this is now changed. A reaction has taken place. The old regime is reinstated, and everything, save legal chattelhood, is to be restored. Race distinctions, class legislations, the dogmas that this is a white man's government, that the Negro belongs to an inferior race, that capital should control, if it does not own, labor, are now in the ascendant, and caste, if slavery may not be, is to be the "corner-stone" of Southern civilization. At least, this is the avowed purpose. "Labor," says, recently, a governor of one of these reconstructed States, "must be controlled by law. We may hold inviolate every law of the United States, and still so legislate upon our labor system as to retain our old plantation system, or, in lieu of that, a baronial system." Clothe these sentiments, uttered without rebuke or dissent from those he assumes to represent, with power, as they have been by restored Democratic ascendency in most of the Southern States, in several of the Northern, and in the popular branch of Congress, and the wonder ceases that education languishes, that the number of scholars diminishes, that school laws are repealed or rendered useless, and that Northern philanthropy is discouraged. But without some such agencies, whence can come the unification and education required?

The Christian, who traces God's hand in American history, recalls the many Divine interpositions therein recorded, gathers courage from the review, and, though the omens seem unpropitious, finds it hard to despair of the Republic. And yet even he whose trust is the strongest forgets not that God accomplishes his purposes by human instrumentalities, and that no faith, personal or national, is legitimate or of much avail that is not accompanied by corresponding works.

Source:  Wilson, Henry, History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, Vol. 3.  Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1878, 725-740.


WILSON, Hiram V., 1803-1864, Ackworth, New Hampshire, abolitionist, cleric, agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Ohio.  Helped set up schools and aid Blacks who escaped to Canada.  Founded British-American Manual Labor Institute of the Colored Settlements of Upper Canada.  Delegate to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1843.  (Blue, 2005, pp. 80, 82-85; Dumond, 1961, p. 164; Henson, 1858, pp. 167-171; Siebert, 1898, p. 199; Woodson, 1915, p. 25; The Emancipator, February 22, 1837)


WILSON, James Grant, born in Edinburgh, 28 April. 1832. He was educated at College Hill, Poughkeepsie, continuing his studies in the languages, music, and drawing, under private teachers, joined his father in business, later becoming his partner. In 1855 he went abroad, and soon after his return established in Chicago the first literary paper published in the northwest, and became known as a public speaker. In 1862 he disposed of his journal and was commissioned major of the 15th Illinois Cavalry, becoming soon after acting colonel of the regiment, and taking part in many engagements, and in the Vicksburg Campaign. In August, 1863, he accompanied General Ulysses S. Grant to New Orleans, and there accepted, by his advice, the colonelcy of the 4th Regiment United States Colored Cavalry, and was assigned to duty as aide-de-camp to the commanding general of the Department of the Gulf, with whom he remained till April, 1865, taking part in the Teche, Texas, and Red River Campaigns, and in the latter aiding Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey in the construction of the Red River Dam. During the same period of nearly two years he acted as military agent in Louisiana for the state of New York. When General Banks was relieved, Colonel Wilson was brevetted brigadier-general and sent to Port Hudson, where for a time he was in command, and in July he resigned and returned to New York City, where he has since resided, pursuing a literary career, with the exception of several years spent with his family in Europe. Since 1874 he has been a delegate from St. James's church to the New York diocesan conventions, and he was a member of the General convention that met in Richmond, Virginia In 1879 he was appointed a member of the board of visitors to the U. S. Naval Academy, and the following year he was a visitor to the U. S. Military Academy, delivering the address to the cadets, and preparing the reports of both boards. General Wilson was appointed in 1882, by the governor, chairman of the committee to collect $40,000 as the state's contribution to the Garfield monument. (See vol. ii., p. 604.) Since 1885 he has been president of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, is a vice-president of the Association for the reform and codification of the law of nations, a member of the executive committee of the Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and an honorary member of many American and foreign historical and other societies. He was instrumental in erecting a monument over the grave of Fitz-Greene Halleck at Guilford, Connecticut, and a statue in Central park, New York, the first in honor of an American poet, and is active in the movement for the New York statue of Columbus. (See vol. 1., p. 698.) He has published numerous addresses, including those on Colonel John Bayard, Commodore Isaac Hull, Chief-Justice Kirkpatrick, and Bishop Samuel Provost, and contributed upward of a hundred articles to " Harper's " and other American and English magazines. Among the principal works that he has written or edited are " Biographical Sketches of Illinois Officers" (Chicago, 1862; 3d ed., 1863); "Love in Letters: Illustrated in the Correspondence of Eminent Persons" (New York, 1867); "Life of General U. S. Grant" (1868; 3d ed., enlarged, 1885); "Life and Letters of Fitz-Greene Halleck" (1869): "Sketches of Illustrious Soldiers" (1874): "Poets and Poetry of Scotland, from the Earliest to the Present Time" (2 vols., London and New York, 1876); "Centennial History of the Diocese of New York, 1785-1885" (New York, 1886); "Bryant and his Friends: Some Reminiscences of the Knickerbocker Writers" (12mo; illustrated ed.. 8vo, 1886): "Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography" (6 vols., 1886-'9): and "Commodore Isaac Hull and the Frigate “Constitution'" (1889). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 551-552.


WILSON, James F., born 1838, lawyer.  Ohio State Senator.  Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio.  Elected to Congress in 1861.  Voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 552; Congressional Globe)

WILSON, James F., senator, born in Newark, Ohio, 19 October, 1828. He received a classical education, studied law, and in 1853 began practice in Iowa, making Fairfield his residence. He was a member of the state constitutional convention in 1856, and in the following year entered the legislature. He passed into the state senate in 1859, was chosen its president in 1861, and in the same year was elected to Congress to fill the vacancy that was caused by the resignation of Samuel R. Curtis, taking his seat on 2 December. He was re-elected for the following term, serving as chairman of the judiciary committee, and on his second and third re-election was placed at the head of the same committee, and of that on unfinished business. In 1868 he was one of the managers of the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson. In 1869 he was made a commissioner for the Pacific Railroad. He was elected a senator from Iowa for the term that will expire on 4 March, 1889, and was appointed on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 552.


WILSON, James Harrison, soldier, born near Shawneetown, Illinois, 2 September, 1837. His grandfather, Alexander, a Virginian by birth, was one of the founders of Illinois, and his father, Harrison, was an ensign in the war of 1812, and captain during the Black Hawk War. The son was educated at the common schools, at McKendree College, and at the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated in 1860 and assigned to the corps of Topographical Engineers. He served at the headquarters of the Department of Oregon until June, 1861, when he became 2d lieutenant, and on 19 Sept,, 1861, he was made 1st lieutenant. He was on duty as chief topographical engineer of the Port Royal Expedition till March, 1862, then served in the Department of the South, including the bombardment of Fort Pulaski, and was an acting aide-de-camp to General George B. McClellan till October, 1862, being present at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel of volunteers in November, 1862, and served as chief topographical engineer and inspector-general of the Army of the Tennessee till October, 1863, being active in the operations before and during the siege of Vicksburg. He became captain of engineers in May, 1863, and brigadier-general of volunteers, 31 October, 1863, and was engaged in the operations near Chattanooga, the battle of Missionary Ridge, and the relief of Knoxville, constructing bridges till December, 1863. General Wilson, after a short tour of duty at Washington in charge of the Cavalry Bureau, was placed in command of the 3d Division of the cavalry corps in the Army of the Potomac, and bore a conspicuous part in the operations under General Philip H. Sheridan from May till August, 1864, including the Richmond raid and combats near Petersburg. He also led his division during the Shenandoah Campaign, including the battle of the Opequan, till October, 1864, when he was assigned to the command of the cavalry corps of the Military Division of the Mississippi, organizing a body of 15,000 mounted men, and contributing largely to the success that attended the armies in the west under General George H. Thomas and General William T. Sherman, particularly by the assault and capture of Selma, Georgia, Montgomery, Alabama, and Columbus and Macon, Georgia, on 20 April, 1865, the date of his promotion as major-general of volunteers. In twenty-eight days he captured five fortified cities, twenty-three stand of colors, 288 guns, and 6,820 prisoners, among whom was Jefferson Davis. Having been mustered out of the volunteer service in January, 1866, General Wilson was for a short time engaged in the improvement of Mississippi River, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 35th U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866, and brevetted to the grade of major-general, U. S. Army, "for gallant and meritorious services" in the capture of Fort Pulaski, the battles of Chattanooga, the Wilderness, and Nashville, and capture of Selma, respectively. He was honorably discharged, at his own request, 31 December, 1870. He has been largely engaged in railroad and engineering operations since his retirement from the army. He is the author of "China: Travels and Investigations in the Middle Kingdom" and "Life of Andrew J. Alexander" (New York, 1887); also, in conjunction with Charles A. Dana, "Life of General U. S. Grant" (Springfield, Massachusetts, 1868).—His brother, Bluford, served during the Civil War as assistant adjutant-general of volunteers, and afterward was solicitor of the U. S. Treasury during the " whiskey-ring" prosecutions. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 552-553.


WILSON, John Allston, civil engineer, born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, 24 April, 1837. He was graduated at the Rensselaer polytechnic institute in 1856, and in 1857-'8 served as topographer on surveys in Central America for the Honduras Interoceanic Railway. In 1858 he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad as assistant engineer, and in 1861-'4 he was principal assistant engineer in charge of construction, after which he was chief engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company on their main line or on affiliated roads until 1875. Meanwhile, in 1863, he served as aide on the staff of General Darius N. Couch (then in command of the Department of the Susquehanna), and had charge of the construction of fortifications at Harrisburg and vicinity. In 1875 he was engaged as consulting engineer on the construction of the buildings for the World's Fair in Philadelphia, and since January, 1876, he has been a partner in the firm of Wilson Brothers and Company, civil engineers and architects. Mr. Wilson has been chief engineer for various railroads in Pennsylvania and New York; also has been connected with lumber-manufacturing and coal-mining interests in Pennsylvania. A large number of railway structures, including bridges, have been built by him, especially along the lines of the roads with which he has been connected. He is a member of the Franklin Institute, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and other technical societies. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 553-554.


WILSON, John Leighton, 1809-1886, Sumter County, South Carolina clergyman, missionary, anti-slavery activist.  Wrote influential pamphlet that caused the British government to keep its naval squadron off the African Coast in order to suppress the illegal African slave trade.  (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 554-555; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 2, p. 337)

WILSON, John Leighton, missionary, born in Sumter County, South Carolina, 25 March, 1809; died near Mayesville, South Carolina, 13 July, 1886. He was graduated at Union College in 1829, and at the Columbia (South Carolina) theological seminary in 1833, being a member of the first class that was educated in that institution. He was ordained as a missionary the same year, and, after studying Arabic at Andover Seminary, sailed in November on a voyage of exploration to western Africa, returning in the following spring. As a result of his investigations, he decided that Cape Palmas was a promising field for missionary work. In May, 1834, he was married, and returned with his wife to Africa before the close of that year. Here they labored until 1841, during which period they organized a church of forty members, educated more than one hundred native youth, and reduced the Grebo language to writing, publishing a grammar and dictionary, and translating the gospels of Matthew and John, together with several small volumes, into the native tongue. In 1842 Mr. and Mrs. Wilson moved to the Gaboon River, 1,200 miles southeast of Cape Palmas, and began a new mission among the Mpongwe people. Here again the language was reduced to writing for the first time, and a grammar, a vocabulary, parts of the Bible, and several small volumes were published. In the spring of 1853, owing to failing health, he and his wife returned to the United States. The following autumn he became secretary of the board of foreign missions of the Presbyterian church, and continued to discharge his duties until the beginning of the civil war, when he returned to his home in the south. On the organization of the Southern Presbyterian church, Dr. Wilson was appointed secretary of foreign missions, and continued to act as such until 1885, when he was made secretary emeritus. For seven years during this period the home mission work was combined with that of foreign missions, he taking charge of both. In 1852 a strong effort was made in the British parliament to withdraw the British Squadron from the African coast, under the impression that the foreign slave-trade could not be suppressed. To prove that this view was erroneous, Dr. Wilson wrote a pamphlet, and pointed out what was necessary to make the crusade against the traffic successful. The pamphlet, falling into the hands of Lord Palmerston, was republished in the “United Service Journal,” and also in the parliamentary “Blue Book,” an edition of 10,000 copies being circulated throughout the United Kingdom. Lord Palmerston subsequently informed Dr. Wilson that his protest had silenced all opposition to the squadron's remaining on the coast, and in less than five years the trade itself was brought to an end. Dr. Wilson edited “The Foreign Record” (New York, 1853-'61), which gave an account of the progress of work in the foreign missionary field, and “The Missionary” (Baltimore, 1861-'85). He received the degree of D. D. from Lafayette College in 1854. While in Africa he sent to the Boston society of natural history the first specimen of the gorilla that was sent from there. He contributed to the “Southern Presbyterian Review” and other periodicals. He also published “Western Africa: its History, Condition, and Prospects” (New York, 1857). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 554-555.


WILSON, J. R., Coldenham, New Jersey, abolitionist, American Anti-Slavery Society, Vice-President, 1834-1835.


WILSON, Matthew, artist, born in London, England, 17 July, 1814. He came to this country in 1832, and for several years painted miniatures in Philadelphia. He then became a pupil of Henry Inman, and in 1885 went to Paris, where he studied with Edouard Dubufe. He was elected an associate of the National Academy in 1843. Among his numerous portraits are those of Samuel J. Tilden; Governor Thomas G. Pratt, of Maryland; Secretaries Gideon Welles, George M. Robeson, and William E. Chandler, for the U. S. Navy Department; Albert Gallatin, for the Treasury Department; Washington Irving: James Fenimore Cooper; Henry Wilson; and Thaddeus Stevens. He also painted the last portrait of Abraham Lincoln two weeks before the president's death, and has since executed a full-length picture of Mrs. Washington for the White House. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 555.


WILSON, Oliver Morris, lawyer, born in Logansport, Indiana, 16 August, 1836. He was graduated at Hamilton College in 1858 and studied law. After serving in the Civil War as captain and major of Indiana volunteers, he was secretary of the Indiana Senate in 1865-'9, assistant U. S. Attorney for the state in 1869-'71, and member of the legislature in the latter year. He was adjutant-general of the Grand Army of the Republic for Indiana in 1866-8, and organized the first department in that order. Major Wilson has published " Digest of Parliamentary Law" (Philadelphia, 1869), and "Indiana Superior Court Reports" (1875). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 556.


WILSON, Theodore Delavan, naval constructor, born in Brooklyn, New York, 11 May, 1840. He served an apprenticeship as a shipwright at the Brooklyn Navy-yard, and at the beginning of the Civil War was a non-commissioned officer in the 13th New York Militia Regiment for three months. Upon his return he was appointed a carpenter in the U.S. Navy, 3 August, 1861. and he served in the steamer "Cambridge," of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in 1861-'4, and with Rear-Admiral Gregory as inspector of vessels in the private establishments near New York City. After passing the required examination he was commissioned as an assistant naval constructor, 17 May, 1866. He served at the Pensacola Navy-yard in 1866-'7, and at Philadelphia in 1867-'9, and was instructor in naval architecture and ship-building at the U. S. Naval Academy in 1869-'73. He was commissioned naval constructor, 1 July, 1873, and served at the Portsmouth Navy-yard in 1873-'82. He was elected a member of the Institute of Naval Architects of England, being the first American member of that scientific body. He was appointed chief of the bureau of construction and repair, 3 March, 1872, and reappointed for a second term of four years, 15 December, 1886. In 1870 he received a patent for " air-ports," which have been adopted in the naval service and merchant-ships, and in 1880 he patented a bolt-extractor, which is in general use. While chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair he has designed several of the modern ships that have been recently built and are now building. He designed the "Chicago," " Boston," and "Atlanta," to meet the requirements of the advisory board, and the cruisers "Newark," "San Francisco," "Concord," "Yorktown," "Bennington," "Petrol," and "Maine," the latter of which is shown in the illustration. He is the author of "Ship-Building, Theoretical and Practical," which is used as a text-book at the Naval Academy and by the profession generally (New York, 1873). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 556.


WILSON, Thomas, merchant, born in Harford County, Maryland, 5 February, 1789; died in Baltimore, 2 September, 1879. His parents were members of the Society of Friends, and moved to Baltimore in 1798. The son received a plain education, and at the-age of seventeen was apprenticed to Thorndick Chase, a merchant of Baltimore, trading with the West Indies and the Spanish Main. He was advanced by Mr. Chase to the post of chief clerk before he was nineteen, and upon attaining his majority became a partner in the Arm of Brown and Wilson. He spent much of his time from 1811 till 1816 at La Guayra, Venezuela, as resident partner of his firm; but during the war of 1812 he returned to Baltimore and organized a line of small vessels to run from Boston to Folly Landing, Virginia, whence their cargoes were transported overland to Onancock, and thence by boats to Baltimore. While engaged in these ventures he narrowly escaped capture by the British on several occasions. In 1857 he retired from mercantile business, and confined his operations to dealing in securities. He was identified with many of the manufacturing interests of Maryland and Pennsylvania, was a member of the Maryland Colonization Society, and for many years president of the Baltimore Manual Labor School, in which charity he took great interest. During the Civil War of 1861-'5 he was a firm supporter of the National cause. By his will he devoted $625,000 to various charities, endowing the Thomas Wilson Sanitarium for Children—an institution designed to take care of sick children during the summer months— with $500,000; and a fuel-saving society—to aid deserving poor people to purchase their fuel cheaply, and sewing-women to obtain sewing-machines at low cost—with $100,000. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 556-557.


WILSON, William Lyne, congressman, born in Jefferson County, Virginia, 3 May, 1843. He was graduated at Columbian College in 1800, afterward studied in the University of Virginia, served in the Confederate Army, was professor of Latin in Columbian College from 1865 till 1871, studying law at the same time, and on being admitted to the bar in the latter year engaged in practice at Charlestown, West Virginia. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and a presidential elector in 1880. In 1882 he became president of West Virginia University, but he resigned in order to take his seat in Congress on 1 December, 1883. He was re-elected for the three following terms, and served on the ways and means committee that prepared the Mills tariff bill, taking an active part in the debates on that measure in 1888. He was a regent of the Smithsonian Institution in 1883-'7. and received the degree of LL. D., from Columbian University in 1883. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 558.


WILSON, William Joseph, 1818?-1878, African American, abolitionist leader, educator, Black voting rights activist, labor leader.  Correspondent for Frederick Douglass’ Paper. (Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 12, p. 237)


WILSON, Woodrow, educator, born in Staunton, Virginia, 28 December 1856. He is a son of the Reverend Joseph R. Wilson, D. D., and nephew of the Reverend James Woodrow, D. D., of Columbia, South Carolina. ne was graduated at Princeton in 1879, studied law at the University of Virginia, and practised at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1882-'3. Preferring to devote himself to special studies, he abandoned the legal profession and took a post-graduate course in history and politics at Johns Hopkins University in 1883-'5. receiving the degree of Ph. D. from that institution in 1886, and that of LL. D. from Wake Forest College, North Carolina in 1887. He was associate in history at Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, in 1885-'6, and associate professor of history and political science in the same college in 1886-'8. In the latter year, he was elected to the chair of history and political economy in Wesleyan University. Professor Wilson has published " Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics" (Boston, 1885). This work has attracted attention in England, Belgium, and Germany. In England, it has been accepted as an authority on American institutions. It has also been epitomized by Professor Emile de Laveleye in the " Revue des Deux-Mondes." He has contributed to a collection of essays by American economists, entitled 'The National Revenues" (Chicago, 1888), and articles on political and administrative subjects to periodicals. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 558.


WILSON CREEK PIKE, Tennessee, December 21, 1862. Detachments of 4th Michigan and 3d Kentucky Cavalry. This affair was a skirmish between a Federal scouting party and a command of the enemy posted behind a stone fence. The Union force drove the Confederates after a sharp engagement in which the latter had 2 killed, 1 wounded and 6 captured. One Union man was wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 941.


WILSON CREEK PIKE, TENN., December 25, 1862. Detachment of 1st Division, 14th Army Corps. A foraging party, comprising all of the 1st brigade and part of the 2nd, skirmished all day on the Wilson Creek pike between Brentwood and Petersburg. Two Confederates were killed and 3 wounded. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 941.


WILSON'S CREEK, MISSOURI, August 10, 1861. Army of the West. About 5 p. m. of the 9th the Federal forces under General Nathaniel Lyon moved out from camp near Springfield to attack the Confederates encamped at Wilson's creek. They moved in two columns, one under Lyon and the other under Colonel Franz Sigel. Lyon with the main body was to proceed down the Cassville road to the prairie and then turn so as to attack the Confederate left. Sigel was to move with his brigade to the left of the Cassville pike. Lyon's advance came close to the Confederate guard fires at 1 a. m. of the 10th and lay on their arms until early dawn. Then moving southward a short distance, a line of battle was formed and the column advanced until the enemy's outposts were encountered and driven in. A detachment was thrown across the creek and in the forward movement kept pace with the main line of battle. The skirmishing along the entire front soon became very brisk, and the Confederates were found occupying a ridge almost at right angles to the line of march and to the valley of Wilson's creek. The 1st Missouri was deployed and sent on the right and the 1st Kansas, to the left, the two regiments driving the enemy back, after which the whole line steadily advanced and the fighting became furious. Totten's battery was brought into the action by section or piece as the nature of the ground permitted, and after an action of half or three-quarters of an hour, in which the portion of the line near the battery had been driven twice in confusion, only to be rallied and brought back into the fight, the Confederates gave way. Four companies of infantry under Captain Plummer had been ordered to move forward on the right, but had been momentarily repulsed by a heavy force in a corn-field, when Du Bois' battery came up and by a few well directed shots cleared the field. The 1st Missouri on the extreme Federal right was still heavily engaged and the 2nd Kansas was sent to its support, succeeding in driving the enemy back. For a time there was a cessation of the heavy firing and then the Confederates advanced in force on the front, their objective point being Totten's battery. For more than an hour the battle raged around the battery, its support several times falling back only to be replaced by fresh troops. At one time every available battalion of Lyon's army was engaged. It was at this point while attempting to rally his men during an advance on the enemy to within 30 yards of the battery that Lyon was killed. The command then devolved upon Major Samuel D. Sturgis, and within half an hour after Lyon had fallen the Confederates had been repulsed. Meanwhile nothing had been heard of Sigel's column which was to have cooperated with Lyon. Sturgis called his commanders together and it was debated whether it was wiser to advance or retire. While the discussion was in progress a considerable force of infantry was seen coming from the direction in which Sigel was supposed to be. As it was bearing the U. S. flag it was supposed that it was Sigel's column and Sturgis ordered his men forward to meet it. The column advanced down the hill in front of Sturgis within easy reach of the artillery and it was not until a battery was planted on the hill opposite that Sturgis discovered that it was Confederates who were advancing against him. The assault at this point was the fiercest of the day. Several times the enemy advanced to within a few feet of Totten's battery, but for the first time during the day the Union line could not be budged. Not a single battalion or company moved from Its position and after their last desperate effort the enemy turned and fled. Meantime Sigel had taken a position and was awaiting the repulse of the enemy by Lyon's column. It was reported to him that Lyon's troops were marching up the road to form a junction with his and it was not until the approaching enemy opened a battery upon him that he discovered that it was a Confederate force. His men became panic-stricken and fled in disorder, losing in killed, wounded and missing, 292 men. The loss in Lyon's command was 223 killed, 721 wounded and 291 captured or missing. The enemy had 265 killed, 800 wounded and 30 captured or missing. (This action is also known as Oak Hills and Springfield.) The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, pp. 941-942.


WILSON'S FARM, LOUISIANA, April 7, 1864. (See Bayou de Paul.)


WILSON'S LANDING, LOUISIANA, May 2, 1864. 87th Illinois Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel John M. Crebs with 500 men of his command was sent from Alexandria down the Red river on a reconnaissance. Ten miles below the town he ran upon a considerable picket of the enemy, which he drove back to Wilson's landing, where from 500 to 1,500 Confederates were stationed. After skirmishing with them for some time Crebs withdrew, the enemy not following. No casualties were reported. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 942.


WILSON'S LANDING, Louisiana, May 14, 1864. 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division, Department of the Gulf. The itinerary of the cavalry division states that on the 14th, the second day of the retreat of Banks' army in the Red River campaign, the 1st brigade in the advance encountered a small force of Confederates at Wilson's landing and drove it back with some loss. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 942.


WILSON'S LANDING, VIRGINIA, June 11, 1864. 1st U. S. Colored Cavalry. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 943.


WILSON'S RAID, PETERSBURG, Virginia, June 22-July 2, 1864. While the siege of Petersburg was in progress Major-General George G. Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, ordered Major-General James H. Wilson to take his own division of cavalry (the 3d cavalry division of the Army of the Potomac), and Brigadier-General August V. Kautz's cavalry division of the Army of the James and proceed on a raid against the South Side and Danville railroads. Accordingly at 2 a. m. of June 22, Wilson moved out from camp near Prince George Court House, Kautz in the advance. The route pursued was to Reams' station on the Weldon railroad, thence west through Dinwiddie Court House to a point on the South Side railroad 14 miles from Petersburg. Just as the rear of the column was passing Reams' station it was attacked by a detachment of W. H. F. Lee's Confederate cavalry. The enemy was repulsed and Kautz reached Ford's station about 4 p. m., where he destroyed practically all the railroad buildings and supplies, besides a quantity of rolling stock. At 2 a. m. of the 23d Kautz pushed on for Burkeville, a station on the South Side railroad, while Wilson moved more slowly, both tearing up the track as they went along. At Nottoway Court House the advance brigade, Chapman's, met the enemy's cavalry at the crossing of the railroad. The Confederates were attacked by Chapman with spirit, and compelled to fall back until they were reinforced and in turn forced Chapman back upon the main Federal line, where a further advance was checked. The loss at this point was about 75 in killed, wounded and missing. Kautz completed his mission at Burkeville and sent Wilson word that he proposed to move to Meherrin Station on the Danville road, and the 3d division was immediately started for the same point via Hungarytown. From Meherrin Station to Keysville the march was along the railroad, which was effectually destroyed until darkness put a stop to the work. Early next morning the Federals moved southwest along the railroad to the Staunton river. Besides putting the railroad property along the line and at Drake's and Mossing fords in ruins, numerous saw and grist mills were burned. About 2 p. m. the advance arrived at Roanoke Station and discovered the enemy, 500 or 60o strong with a battery of 6 gr1ns, strongly posted in an earthwork on the south side of the Staunton river. The Federal batteries were posted on a hill three-quarters of a mile from the bridge, Kautz's division was dismounted and ordered to set the structure on fire, but after a gallant effort he was compelled to abandon the attempt. Meantime Chapman's brigade in the rear was attacked, but succeeded in repulsing the enemy. When it was ascertained that there was no way of crossing the stream without allowing the Confederates at the south end of the railroad bridge to cross and unite with those north of the stream, and knowing that the bridge could not be carried without too severe a loss, Wilson determined to withdraw eastward and march back to the James river. Under cover of night his retreat was begun, the column passing through Christianville and Greensboro, crossing the Meherrin river at Saffold's bridge, thence through Smoky Ordinary and Poplar Hill to the Nottoway river at Double Bridges, which place was reached about the middle of the afternoon of the 28th. It was there learned that the Confederates had a small force of infantry at Stony Creek Station on the Weldon railroad in addition to the two small detachments of Lee's cavalry cut off by Wilson's southward march. The road to Prince George Court House, which was Wilson's ultimate destination, passed two miles and a half to the west of Stony Creek Station. Along this road the command proceeded, unmolested until it reached Sappony church, where the advance attacked and drove a Confederate picket. This was no sooner accomplished than the enemy was reinforced and in turn drove the Union advance back upon the head of the column. Mcintosh dismounted his brigade and charged, the enemy retiring before him to Stony Creek Station, where a rail breastwork effectually prevented further pursuit. From prisoners it was learned that Fitzhugh Lee and Wade Hampton had just arrived at the station and Wilson determined to hold the enemy there while Kautz with the train got a good start toward Reams' station, where it was thought some of the Federal infantry was stationed. In the meantime the Confederates attacked with great fury and three times in the night repeated the attempt to force the Union line, but were everywhere repulsed. By dawn all of Wilson's force except a portion of Chapman's brigade had been withdrawn and the enemy on discovering the fact charged and broke through Chapman's left flank, compelling him to make a wide detour in order to join the column. Kautz arrived at Reams' station at 7 a. m. on the 29th and instead of finding infantry of the Army of the Potomac there he discovered Hoke's division of Confederate infantry, strongly posted. He attacked at once, but after capturing 60 men was compelled to retire. At o a. m. the command was reunited and after examining the ground it was decided to mass the whole force on the Petersburg road and break through the enemy's line. The Confederates on seeing the movement massed on the same road and frustrated the plan. It was apparent that the enemy's line could not be broken and with a cavalry detachment moving to outflank Wilson's left, Hoke's infantry on the right, another large force in two lines of battle in front and Hampton's cavalry at Stony Creek Station in the rear the situation was critical. Wilson ordered the train burned and the men to retire along the Boydtown road to the Double Bridges over the Nottoway. The movement had not been fully executed when the enemy attacked the two regiments still in line, compelling them to retreat by the right flank. Kautz became separated from Wilson and withdrew across the railroad between Reams' station and Rowanty creek, bivouacking that night behind the Army of the Potomac Wilson's own division had little trouble after passing Sappony church, proceeding thence by the Double Bridges to Jarratt's station, arriving in camp at Light-House point on July 2. In the expedition of nine days the command marched 335 miles and destroyed some 60 miles of railroad so thoroughly that it took 23 days to repair the damage, although the need was most urgent. The Federal cavalry was in wretched condition when it returned, but it had helped in great measure to bankrupt the Confederacy and thereby hastened the close of the war. The losses, besides the train which was burned and all the artillery necessarily abandoned in the retreat from Reams' station, were 240 in killed and wounded and 1,261 captured and missing. Grant averred a year later that "the damage suffered by the enemy in this expedition more than compensated for all the losses we sustained." The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, pp. 943-944.


WILSON'S RAID, March 22 to April 24, 1865. Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi. The several engagements of this raid are separately treated in this work, because the command moved by different routes. The principal actions were at Montevallo, Selma, Northport, Lanier's Mills, Fike's Ferry and Centerville, Alabama; and Columbus. Fort Tyler, Spring Hill and Macon, Georgia. The raid started from Chickasaw, Alabama, and ended at Macon, the total Union loss during the movement being 205 killed, 7 drowned, 870 wounded and 705 missing. Desolation marked the line of Wilson's march. Bridges, machine shops, factories, warehouses and railroads were destroyed; over 15,000 bales of cotton burned; 3 steamboats, 35 locomotives and about 600 cars were either destroyed or rendered unfit for service; 210 pieces of artillery, about 35,000 stands of small arms, 22 stands of colors, large quantities of commissary and quartermaster's stores, 125,000 rounds of small and 10,0o0 rounds of artillery ammunition, over $2,000,000 in Confederate bonds and money were captured, and 59,878 prisoners were paroled. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 944-945.


WILSON'S STORE, SOUTH CAROLINA, March 1, 1865. Detachment of the 14th Army Corps. In his report General Blair mentions that one brigade, personally commanded by General Mower, made a reconnaissance in the direction of Cheraw and fought the enemy at the crossing of the Chesterfield and Society Hill roads, developed d1e Confederate position and withdrew. In his report for the same date Confederate General Wheeler speaks of an engagement at Wilson's store, which was no doubt the action referred to by Blair. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 945.


WILSON'S WHARF, VIRGINIA, May 24, 1864. 1st Brigade, 3d Division, 18th Army Corps. A considerable force of Confederate Cavalry with 3 guns attacked the post at Wilson's wharf at noon on the 24th. The Federal front was encompassed and the enemy took position to cut off the steamers coming to the aid of the garrison. After an hour and a half of fighting the Confederate commander, Major-General Fitzhugh Lee, sent a summons to surrender, which Brigadier-General Edward A. Wild at once refused. A heavy assault was then made on the extreme Federal right, and came within a few yards of the parapet, but a heavy cross-fire drove the enemy back and in another hour Lee withdrew. Wild's loss in this affair was 2 killed, 19 wounded and 1 missing. The Confederate casualties were not ascertained, but were doubtless fully as heavy. The Union Army, 1908, Vol. 6, p. 945.


WILSONVILLE, KENTUCKY, Oct 1, 1862. (See Bardstown Pike.)


WIMPLE, Peter C., New York, American Abolition Society (Radical Abolitionist, Vol. 1, No. 1, New York, August 1855)