Encyclopedia of Civil War Biography - U
ULLMANN, Daniel, soldier, born in Wilmington, Delaware, 28 April, 1810. He was graduated at Yale in 1829, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practised in New York, where he was master in chancery from 1839 till 1844. In 1854 he was the candidate of the American or Know-Nothing Party for governor of New York, and received a very large vote. In 1861 he raised the 78th New York Volunteers, in which he served as colonel, was captured in August, 1862, and confined in Libby Prison until October of that year, when he was released on parole. He was promoted brigadier-general on 13 January, 1863, and ordered to appoint a cadre of officers and to go to Louisiana to raise five regiments of colored troops, afterward increased to a corps. This was the first order issued by the U. S. government for the raising of colored troops. He was brevetted major-general of U. S. volunteers on 13 March, 1865, was mustered out, 24 August, 1865, and was made major-general in November, 1865. General Ullmann received the degree of LL. D. from Madison University in 1861. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 205.
UNDERHILL. Edward Fitch, stenographer, born in Wolcott, New York, 20 April, 1830. He was self-educated, at nineteen years of age became a stenographic reporter on the St. Louis press, and in 1853-'62 was connected with the "Tribune" and "Times" of New York City, becoming war-correspondent of the latter, and subsequently its Washington correspondent. He was one of the first court reporters in the United States, and in 1860 procured the passage of a law that made stenographers officers of the courts in New York City, which practice has since been adopted by the county courts and by nearly every state in the Union. In 1865 he also procured the passage of a law to regulate the salaries of court stenographers. He has been official stenographer of the legislature for five years, of the Constitutional convention in 1867-'8, of the state supreme court for eight years, and of the surrogate's court from 1872 till the present time. He has been admitted to the bar, and has written much in prose and verse, chiefly humorous. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 209.
UNDERWOOD, Adin Ballou, soldier, born in Milford, Massachusetts, 19 May, 1828; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 14 January, 1888. His ancestors came to Hingham before 1637 and afterward settled in Watertown. His father, Orison, was a brigadier-general of militia. After graduation at Brown in 1849 the son studied law at Harvard, was admitted to the bar in 1853, and settled in Boston in 1855. At the beginning of the Civil War he was active in raising recruits, and he was appointed captain in the 2d Massachusetts Infantry in April, 1861. He became major in the 33d Regiment in July, 1862, lieutenant-colonel and colonel in the same year, participated in the battles of Fredericksburg. Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, and served under General Joseph Hooker at Lookout Mountain, but, being dangerously wounded, was disabled from further field duty. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers on 13 January, 1863, received the brevet of major-general of volunteers on 13 August, 1865, and was mustered out on 10 July, 1866. For nearly twenty years he was surveyor of the port of Boston. General Underwood published "Three Years' Service of the Twenty-third Massachusetts Infantry" (Boston. 1881). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 209.
UNDERWOOD, Francis Henry, author, born in Enfield, Massachusetts, 12 January, 1825. He was educated partly at Amherst, then taught in Kentucky, read law, and was admitted to the bar. He returned to Massachusetts in 1850, and thenceforward took an active part in the anti-slavery cause. He was clerk of the Massachusetts Senate in 1852, and afterward literary adviser of the publishing-house of Phillips, Sampson, and Company. He conceived the idea of uniting the literary force of the north to the Free-Soil movement by means of a magazine, and after several years of effort was the means of securing the eminent writers that made the fame of the "Atlantic Monthly." He assisted in the management of that magazine for two years, until the firm with which he was connected came to an end. He was then (1859) elected clerk of the superior court in Boston, which post he held for eleven years, when he resigned and entered private business, chiefly to obtain more leisure for literary work. His studies have been mainly in English literature, but his writings cover a wide field. He served for thirteen years in the school board of Boston. In 1885 he was appointed U. S. consul at Glasgow, Scotland. His lectures on "American Men of Letters" and his occasional speeches, such as that before the Glasgow Ayrshire society "On the Memory of Burns," have been much admired. In 1888 the University of Glasgow conferred on him the degree of LL. D. His works include a " Hand-Book of English Literature" (Boston. 1871); "Hand Book of American Literature" (1872); "Cloud Pictures." a series of imaginative stories, chiefly musical (1872); "Lord of Himself," a novel of old times in Kentucky (1874); "Man Proposes," a novel (1880); " The True Story of Exodus, an abridgment of the work by Brugsch-Bey (1880); and biographical sketches of Longfellow (1882), Lowell (1882), and Whittier (1883). Dr. Underwood is engaged upon an elaborate popular history of English literature. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 209-210.
UNDERWOOD, John Curtiss, 1808-1873, Litchfield, New York, jurist, opponent of slavery. (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 210; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 113)
UNDERWOOD, John Curtiss, jurist, born in Litchfield, Herkimer County, New York, in 1808; died in Washington, D. C., 7 December, 1873. He was graduated at Hamilton in 1832, and moved to Clarke County, Virginia, where he engaged in farming, and in 1856 was a delegate to the convention that nominated John C. Frémont for president. Being proscribed for his political sentiments, and especially for his opposition to slavery, he moved to New York, where he became secretary to a company that was formed to deal in southern lands. In 1861 he was nominated consul at Callao, Peru, but he accepted instead the office of fifth auditor in the treasury department, and while there was appointed judge of the district court of Virginia. Early in the Civil War he affirmed the right of the U. S. government to confiscate the enemy's property, and also maintained the civic rights of colored citizens. In his district Jefferson Davis was indicted for treason, and he refused in June, 1866, to admit the prisoner to bail, on the ground that he was in custody of the military authorities. He still presided in May, 1867, when the Confederate leader was released. Judge Underwood was bitterly assailed for his maintenance of the rights of colored citizens and for his zeal in enforcing the Federal laws, and was forced into litigation on account of his decree sanctioning confiscation. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 210.
UNDERWOOD, John William Henry, jurist, born in Elbert County, Georgia, 20 November. 1810; died in Rome, Georgia, 18, July, 1888. He studied law under his father. Judge William H. Underwood, in Hall County, was admitted to the bar, practised in Habersham County for many years, and moved to Rome, Georgia, in 1851. He was elected solicitor-general for the western circuit in 1843, but resigned in 1840, and was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of Nebraska by President Buchanan, which post he declined. He was elected to the legislature of Georgia in 1857, was made speaker of the House of Representatives, and was then elected to Congress, serving from 5 December, 1859, till 23 January, 1861, when he resigned on the secession of his state. In 1867 he was appointed judge of the Rome circuit by Governor Charles J. Jenkins, but went out with the reconstruction act in 1868. In 1874 he was reappointed to the same office, and he was re-elected in 1878. ne resigned in 1882, to take his place on the tariff commission, to which he was appointed by President Arthur. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 210.
UNDERWOOD, Joseph Rogers, senator, born in Goochland County, Virginia, 24 October, 1791; died near Bowling Green, Kentucky, 23 August, 1870. He is a descendant of William Thomas Underwood, who settled in Virginia about 1680. His family being in adverse circumstances, he was adopted by his maternal uncle, Edward Rogers, a soldier of the Revolution, who had emigrated to Kentucky in 1783. Removing to that state in 1803, the boy was educated in various schools and was graduated at Transylvania in 1811, after which he studied law in Lexington, Kentucky. He was the first volunteer to be attached to the regiment of Colonel William Dudley for co-operation with the northern army on the Canada border, was made a lieutenant, and when the captain of his company was killed in Dudley's defeat, 5 May. 1813, the command devolved upon him. Underwood was wounded, and with the remnant of Dudley's regiment was forced to surrender. After undergoing cruel treatment from the Indians, he was released on parole and returned to his home. He was admitted to the bar in the same year, and settled in Glasgow, Kentucky, where he was also trustee of the town and county attorney until he moved to Bowling Green in 1823. Be served in the legislature in 1816-'19 and again in 1825-'6. was a candidate for lieutenant-governor in 1828, and from that year till 1835 was judge of the court of appeals. Being elected to Congress as a Whig, he served from 7 December, 1835, till 3 March, 1843, and in 1845 was chosen to represent Warren County in the legislature, serving as speaker of the house. He was elected a U. S. Senator as a Whig, and. after serving from 6 December, 1847, till 3 March, 1853, again practised his profession. In 1824 and 1844 he was a presidential elector on the Henry Clay ticket, and he was a delegate to the National Democratic convention at Chicago in 1864.—His brother, Warner L., born in Goochland County, Virginia, 7 August, 1808. was graduated at the University of Virginia in 1830, served in the Kentucky legislature in 1848-'9, and was elected to Congress," as an American, serving from 3 December, 1855, till March, 1859. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 210-211.
UNDERWOOD, John Cox, engineer, born in Georgetown, D. C., 12 September, 1840, moved to Kentucky with his father. After graduation at Rensselaer polytechnic institute in 1862, he entered the Confederate Army and served as a military engineer in Virginia, but was captured in 1863 and confined in prisons in Cincinnati and Boston until the close of the war. He then returned to Kentucky, where he has since engaged in engineering, and has contributed to the improvement of his part of the state. He was engineer in charge of the public works of Warren County, City engineer of Bowling Green in 1868-'75, and mayor of that town in 1870-'2. He was active in the reorganization of the Democratic Party in Kentucky, was a member of the state executive committee, Speaker of the Senate in 1876, where his casting-vote defeated the whipping-post bill, and in 1876-'80 was lieutenant-governor of Kentucky. Mr. Underwood established the "Kentucky Intelligencer" in Bowling Green, but transferred this journal to Louisville, and consolidated it with the " Post." In 1881 he moved to Covington, and organized a daily newspaper publishing company in Cincinnati, Ohio, where in 1882 the " Daily News," of which he was general manager, began to be issued. He has published various official documents in the form of pamphlets and reports. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 211.
UPHAM, William, 1792-1853, Leicester, Massachusetts, lawyer, member of Vermont House of Representatives, Whig U.S. Senator, 1843-1853. Opposed slavery. He stated, “Slavery is a crime against humanity and a sore evil in the body politic.” (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 213)
UPHAM, William, senator, born in Leicester, Massachusetts, in August, 1792; died in Washington, D. C., 14 January, 1853. He moved with his father to Vermont in 1802, was educated at the State university, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1812, and began practice in Montpelier. In 1827-'8 he served in the legislature, was state's attorney for Washington County in 1829, and served again in the legislature in 1830. Elected a U. S. Senator as a Whig, he served from 4 December, 1843, until his sudden death by small-pox. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 213.
UPSHUR, Abel Parker, statesman, b, in Northampton County, Virginia, 17 June, 1790; died near Washington, D. C., 28 February, 1844. He received a classical education, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1810, and practised at Richmond, Virginia, until 1824, when he moved to his estate in Northampton County, and was elected to the legislature. In 1826 he was appointed a judge in the general court of Virginia, in 1829 he was a member of the convention that was called to revise the state constitution, and after the reorganization of the judicial system under that instrument he was again elected judge of the same court. This office he continued to hold until 1841, when he was called by President Tyler to fill that of Secretary of the Navy. On the resignation of Daniel Webster, in 1843, he was made Secretary of State. In politics he belonged to the extreme state-rights pro-slavery school of the south. Early in 1844 he was on the U. S. steamer "Princeton," on Potomac River, in company with the president and the other members of the cabinet, to witness experiments with a large wrought-iron gun, which burst on being fired the third time and killed him together with several others. Judge Upshur, besides a number of essays and addresses, published "Brief Inquiry into the True Nature and Character of our Federal Government: Review of Judge Joseph Story's Commentaries on the Constitution " (Petersburg, Virginia, 1840). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 213-214.
UPSHUR, John Henry, naval officer, born in Northampton County, Virginia, 5 December, 1823, changed his name from Nottingham to that of his mother, Upshur, when he entered the U.S. Navy to gratify her wish, as the Upshur family was conspicuous in naval annals. He became a midshipman, 4 November, 1841, and cruised in the sloop "St. Mary's" in 1843-6, in which he joined the squadron in the Gulf of Mexico during the Mexican War. He served in the naval battery during the bombardment of Vera Cruz, 10 to 25 March, 1847, and after the fall of that city he attended the naval school, becoming a passed midshipman, 10 August, 1847. He was promoted to master, 18 July, 1855, and to lieutenant, 14 September, 1855, served in the frigate "Cumberland" on the coast of Africa to suppress the slave-trade in 1858-'9, and was an instructor at the Naval Academy in 1859-'61. When the war began he was assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and participated in the capture of the forts at Hatteras inlet and in the sounds of North Carolina in 1861. He was executive officer of the steam frigate "Wabash" at the capture of Port Royal, and commanded four boats in Cornet: Commander C. R. P. Rodgers's expedition in the inland coast waters in the vicinity of Port Royal and Beaufort, South Carolina. He was in charge of the steamer "Flambeau," of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in 1862-'3 in operations on the coast of South Carolina, he was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, assigned to the steam frigate "Minnesota," of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in 1863-'4, and had the steamer "A. D. Vance" (a blockade-runner whose name was changed to the "Frolic ") in 1864-'5, in which he took part in both engagements at Fort Fisher. He was promoted to commander, 25 July, 1866, and given the " Frolic," on the Mediterranean station, in 1865-'7. After promotion to captain, 31 January, 1872, he served as a member of the board of inspectors in 1877-'80. He had a leave of absence, during which he visited Europe, in 1880, and upon his return was a member of the board of examiners. He was commandant of the Brooklyn Navy-yard in 1882-'4, and commander-in-chief of the Pacific Station in 1884-'5. He was promoted to rear-admiral, 1 October, 1884, and was voluntarily placed on the retired list, 1 June, 1885.—A niece, Mary Jane Stith, poet, born in Accomac County, Virginia, 7 April, 1828, was educated entirely at home, and early began writing for the press. On the death of her father, in 1869, she moved from Norfolk, Virginia, to New York City, and on 2 July, 1870, married Josiah R. Sturges. Mrs. Sturges was one of the organizers and the first president of the Harlem free hospital and dispensary for women and children. She has contributed to southern periodicals both prose and poetry, commonly under the pen-name of " Fanny Fielding." Her principal work is "Confederate Notes," an historical novel, which appeared anonymously in 1867 in the " Home Monthly," published at Nashville, Tennessee. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 214.
UPSON, Charles, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery (Congressional Globe)
UPTON, Emory, soldier, born in Batavia, Genesee County, New York, 27 August, 1839; died in San Francisco, California, 14 March, 1881. He was educated at Oberlin College and at the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated in Mav, 1861, eighth in a class of forty-five, and made 2d lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery. On 14 May he became 1st lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Artillery. During the first year of the Civil War he was assigned to duty in the defences of Washington, and was present at Bull Run, where he was wounded. He commanded his battery during the early part of 1862 in the Virginia Peninsular Campaign, including all actions to Glendale, and subsequently a regiment and brigade of artillery in the Maryland Campaign. He was appointed colonel of the 121st New York Volunteers in October, 1862, and was conspicuously engaged at the head of a brigade of the 6th Corps, Army of the Potomac, until the close of 1863. He received the brevet of major on 8 November, 1863, for gallant service at the battle of Rappahannock Station. Virginia During the Wilderness Campaign of 1864 he bore an active part, especially at Spotsylvania. where he won the brevet of lieutenant-colonel, U. S. A.. 10 May, 1864, and was wounded while leading the assaulting column of twelve regiments of his corps. For this he was appointed on the spot a brigadier-general of volunteers, 12 May, 1864. He was present during the siege of Petersburg, in the defence of the capital in July, 1864, and in the Shenandoah Campaign, where, while commanding a division of infantry at the battle of the Opequan, he was severely wounded. On 19 September, 1864, he was brevetted colonel, U. S. A., for gallant and meritorious services at Winchester, Virginia, 19 October, 1864, and also received the brevet 'was in command of the 4th U.S. Cavalry Division under General James H. Wilson during the closing operations in Alabama and Georgia. He became captain in the 5th Regiment of U.S. Artillery on 22 February, 1865, was brevetted brigadier-general, U. S. Army, on 13 March, 1865, for gallant service at Selma, Alabama, and also received the brevet of major-general, U. S. Army, for services in the field during the Civil War. He was in command of the 1st Cavalry Division in the District of Kast Tennessee in July and August, 1865, and of the District of Colorado from 22 August, 1865, till 30 April, 1866, when he was mustered out of the volunteer service. In the reorganization he became lieutenant-colonel, 25th U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866. He had employment in the intervals of active service in preparing an original system of tactics for the use of the military forces of the government, and in 1867 his system for infantry was adopted. He was commandant of cadets at the U. S. Military Academy in 1870-'5, and member of a "board to assimilate the tactics" in 1873, when his system, modified for artillery and cavalry, was also accepted. General Upton was sent on a tour of inspection of the armies of Europe and Asia in 1875-"7, and on his return was assigned to the artillery-school at Fort Monroe, and wrote his official report, which was published by the government in 1878. He became colonel of the 4th U.S. Artillery in 1880, and soon afterward joined his regiment at the Presidio, San Francisco, California His mind became affected, and he committed suicide. In his last days he was engaged in tactical studies and in writing a work on "The Military Policy of the United States," which is being prepared for publication by General James H. Wilson. He published "A New System of Infantry Tactics" (New York, 1867; 2d ed., 1874); "Tactics for Non-Military Bodies " (1870); and " The Armies of Asia and Europe" (1878). See "Life and Letters of Major-General Emory Upton," by Peter S. Michie (New York, 1885). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 214-215.
UPTON, George Bruce, manufacturer, born in Eastport, Maine, 11 October, 1804; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 1 July, 1874. He entered Harvard, but left n short time before he had completed his course, and entered business. He spent about three years in Boston, and then moved to Nantucket, where in 1825 he became partner in a firm that manufactured oils and candles, built ships, and was extensively engaged in the sperm-whale fisheries. While in Nantucket he was sent twice to the general court, and he was elected for three terms a member of the state senate. In 1845 he moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he established the Manchester print-works, and in 1846 he went to Boston. He was treasurer for eight years of the Michigan Central Railroad, and built numerous clipper-ships for the California and Pacific trade. He was a member of the executive council of the state in 1853, and of the constitutional convention of the same year. He was active during the Civil War in measures for the relief of the sick and wounded soldiers, and made large contributions to the fund for procuring recruits. He opposed the Clarendon-Johnson treaty in regard to the Alabama, and in an open letter to Earl Russell controverted the arguments of that statesman. He was a sufferer from the great fire in Boston in 1872, but gave largely to the fund for the victims, and was the first to organize measures for their relief. Mr. Upton was an active member of the New England historic-genealogical society, and bore most of the expense of compiling and publishing Reverend John A. Vinton's " Upton Memorial" (Bath, Maine, 1874). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 215.
UPTON, George Putnam, journalist, born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. 25 October, 1834. He was graduated at Brown in 1854, moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1855, and till 1856 was connected with the " Native Citizen" in that place. In 1856-'61-he was city editor of the "Evening Journal," and in 1862-81 he was musical critic of the Chicago " Tribune," of which he has been an editorial writer since 1872. In 1862-'3 he was also a war-correspondent. […]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 215
UPTON, Charles Horace, politician, born in Salem, Massachusetts. 23 August, 1812: died in Geneva, Switzerland, in June, 1877, was graduated at Bowdoin in 1834, and settled in Fairfax County, Virginia, whence he was elected to Congress in 1860. In 1863 he was appointed U. S. consul at Geneva, Switzerland. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 216.
UPTON, Edward Peirce, lawyer, born in Castine, Maine, 22 July, 1816, received an academic education, was admitted to the bar, and settled in Virginia, but about 1858 moved to Texas. During the Civil War he was a devoted friend of the Union and was indicted for treason against the Confederacy, imprisoned six months, and shot at several times. One of his sons was murdered by a political mob a year after the war. He was appointed judge of the 18th judicial district of Texas in 1867, and held the post two years. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 216.
UPTON, Francis Henry, lawyer, born in Salem, Massachusetts, 25 May, 1814: died in New York City, 25 June, 1876, was graduated at Harvard law-school in 1835 and settled in New York City, where he rose to eminence in his profession. During the Civil War he held the appointment of counsel for captors in prize courts, and while arguing a case received a stroke of paralysis from which he never recovered. He published "A Treatise on the Law of Trade-Marks, with a Digest and Review of English and American Authorities" (Albany, 1860), and "The Law of Nations affecting Commerce during War, with a Review of the Jurisprudence, Practice, and Proceedings of Prize Courts" (New York, 1863). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 216.
