Encyclopedia of Civil War Military Biography – T
TALIAFERRO, William Booth (tol-li ver), soldier, born in Belleville, Gloucester County, Virginia, 28 December, 1822. He was educated at Harvard and at William and Mary College, where he was graduated in 1841. He became captain in the 11th U. S. Infantry, 9 April, 1847, major of the 9th U.S. Infantry, 12 August, 1847, and was mustered out, 20 August, 1848. At the beginning of the Civil War he was made colonel in the provisional Army of Virginia, 1 May, 1861, and he rose to be brigadier-general in the Confederate service, 4 March. 1862. and major-general, 1 January. 1865. He commanded the Confederate troops in 1861 at Gloucester point, Virginia, took part in the engagements at Carrick's Ford, Virginia, 13 July, and in most of the battles of the Army of Northern Virginia to March. 1863, when he was placed in charge of the district of Savannah. Georgia. In July of the same year he commanded the troops and defences on Morris Island. South Carolina, and in August following the forces on James Island. In February, 1864, he led a division in Florida, consisting of four brigades. In May, 1864, he was put in command of the 7th Military District of South Carolina, and in December following he was assigned to the command of the district of South Carolina. In January,1865. He led a division composed of the brigades of Elliott, Rhett, and Anderson. General Taliaferro was a member of the general assembly of Virginia for ten years and Democratic presidential elector in 1856. He was grand-master of Masons in Virginia in 1876-'7, and member of the boards of visitors of Virginia military institute, of the Mechanical and agricultural college of the state, of William and Mary College, and of the State Normal School for the Education of Women. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp.
TALLMADGE, Grier, soldier, born in Dutchess County, New York, in 1826; died in Fort Monroe, Virginia, 11 October, 1862, was graduated at the U.S. Military Academy in 1848, assigned to the 1st U.S. Artillery, and served on garrison duty in the west. In 1861 he was made captain in the quartermaster's department at Fort Monroe, discharging also the duties of assistant adjutant-general. The "contraband" idea put into practice by General Benjamin F. Butler is said to have originated with him. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 25.
TALMAGE, Thomas We Witt, clergyman, born in Bound Brook, New Jersey, 7 January, 1832, was educated at the University of the City of New York in the class of 1853, but was not graduated. After graduation at New Brunswick theological seminary in 1856,hewas ordained pastor of the Reformed Dutch church in Belleville, New Jersey He had charge of the church in Syracuse, New York, from 1856 till 1862. and of one in Philadelphia in 1862-'9. During the Civil War he was chaplain of a Pennsylvania regiment, and he is now chaplain of the 13th New York Regiment. […] Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 27.
TAPPAN, Mason Weare, 1817-1886, lawyer, soldier. U.S. Congressman, Free Soil Party, 1855-1861. (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 33-34)
TAPPAN, Mason Weare, lawyer, born in Newport, New Hampshire, 20 October, 1817; died in Bradford, New Hampshire, 24 October, 1886. His father, a well-known lawyer, settled in Bradford in 1818, and was a pioneer in the anti-slavery movement. The son was educated at Kimball Union Academy, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1841, and acquired a large practice. He was early identified with the Whig party, and afterward was a Free-Soiler and served in the legislature in 1853-'5. He was elected to Congress as a Free-Soiler, by a combination of the Whigs, Free-Soilers, Independent Democrats, and Americans, at the time of the breaking up of the two great parties, Whigs and Democrats. He served from 3 December, 1855, till 3 March, 1861, and was a member of the special committee of thirty-three on the rebellious states. On 5 February, 1861, when a report was submitted recommending that the provisions of the constitution should be obeyed rather than amended, he made a patriotic speech in support of the government. Mr. Tappan was one of the earliest to enlist in the volunteer army, and was colonel of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment from May till August, 1861. Afterward he resumed the practice of law, and held the office of attorney-general of the state for ten years preceding his death. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia Loyalists' convention of 1866, and presided over the New Hampshire Republican convention on 14 September, 1886. In the presidential election of 1872 he supported his life-long friend, Horace Greeley. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 33-34.
TATTNALL, Josiah, naval officer, born in Bonaventure, near Savannah, Georgia, 9 November, 1795; died in Savannah, Georgia, 14 June, 1871, was educated in England under the supervision of his grandfather in 1805'11. He returned to the United States in 1811 and entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 1 January, 1812. He served in the war of 1812 in the seamen's battery on Craney Island, and with a force of navy yard workmen in the Bladensburg.' During the Algerine war he participated in the engagements of Decatur's squadron. He returned to the United States in September, 1817, was promoted to lieutenant, 1 April, 1818, and served in the frigate "Macedonian," on the Pacific station, in 1818—'21. In 1833-'4 he served in the schooner "Jackal." one of Porter's " Mosquito fleet," in the suppression of piracy in the West Indies. In October, 1828, he was appointed 1st lieutenant of the sloop " Erie," in the West Indies, where he cut out the Spanish cruiser " Federal," which had confiscated American property at sea during the wars of the Spanish-American republics for independence. In August, 1829, he took charge of the surveys of the Tortugas Reefs off the coast of Florida, which surveys proved to be of great value for the location of fortifications at Dry Tortugas. In March, 1831, he took command of the schooner "Grampus" in the West Indies, and in August, 1832, he captured the Mexican war-schooner "Montezuma" for illegal acts against an American vessel. His services with the "Grampus" in protecting American commerce elicited letters of thanks from the merchants and insurance companies at Vera Cruz and New Orleans, from whom he also received a service of silver. In December, 1832, he was relieved of his command at his own request, and he subsequently served on duty in making experiments in ordnance and in the conduct of the coast tidal survey. In November, 1835, in command of the bark "Pioneer," he took General Santa-Anna to Mexico after he had been captured in a battle with the Texans and surrendered to the United States. Upon their arrival at Vera Cruz, Tattnall personally prevented an attack on Santa-Anna by an excited mob of his opponents. He was promoted to commander, 25 February, 1838, and placed in charge of the Boston Navy-yard. While on his way to the African station in the " Saratoga" in 1843 he encountered a hurricane off Cape Ann, Massachusetts, and won a brilliant professional reputation by the skill he displayed in cutting away the masts and anchoring when almost on the rocks off the cape. When war was declared with Mexico he was assigned to command the steamer " Spitfire," joined the squadron at Vera Cruz, and was given command of the Mosquito division. With this he covered the landing of General Winfield Scott's army, and assisted in the bombardment of the city. After the fall of Vera Cruz he led in the attack on the forts at Tuspan and was severely wounded in the arm by grape-shot. The legislature of Georgia gave him a vote of thanks and a sword. He was promoted to captain. 5 February, 1850, and in command of the steamer "Saranac" contributed much to preserve peace between the United States and Spain during the Cuban insurrection. On 15 October, 1857, he was appointed flag-officer of the Asiatic station. He found China at war with the allied English and French fleets, and went to the scene of operations at Pei-ho. Shortly before an engagement his flagship grounded and was towed off by the English lxiats. This service was taken as an excuse for subsequent active participation in the attack on the Chinese. In explanation of his violation of neutrality, Tattnall exclaimed that "blood was thicker than water." He was sustained in his course by public opinion at the time and also by the government, On 20 February, 1861, he resigned his commission as captain in the U.S. Navy, and offered his services to the governor of Georgia. He was commissioned senior flag-officer of the Georgia navy, 28 February. 1861, and in March, 1861, he became a captain in the Confederate Navy, and was ordered to command the naval defences of Georgia and South Carolina. On 7 November, 1861, he led an improvised naval force against the attack on Port Royal. He conducted attacks on the blockading fleet at the mouth of the Savannah, constructed batteries for the defence of that river, and materially delayed the operations of the National forces. In March, 1862, he was ordered to relieve Franklin Buchanan, who was wounded in the engagement with the ' Monitor," and took command of the " Merrimac" and the naval defences of the waters of Virginia. He set out for Hampton Roads on 11 April, 1862, accompanied by the gun-boats, which cut out three merchant vessels, but the "Merrimac" did not venture to lose communication with Norfolk. When the Confederates were forced to abandon the peninsula, Norfolk and the Navy-yard were also surrendered, and on 11 May, 1862, Tattnall destroyed the " Merrimac " off Craney Island in order to prevent her capture. He was then ordered to resume command of the naval defences of Georgia. At his request a court of inquiry was ordered to investigate the destruction of the "Merrimac," and he was censured for destroying the vessel without attacking the enemy's fleet, and for not taking her to Hog Island to defend the James River. He then demanded a regular court-martial, which met at Richmond, 5 July, 1862, and. after a thorough investigation, honorably acquitted him. He was indefatigable in his efforts to defend Savannah River, but in January, 1865, he was obliged to destroy all the vessels he had collected. He then went to Augusta, where he was included in the parole of the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston's army. He remained there until 12 June. 1806, when he took his family to Nova Scotia, after first obtaining permission from the war department to leave the country. He resided near Halifax, but his pecuniary resources became nearly exhausted, and in 1870 he returned to his home in quest of employment. On 5 January, 1870, the mayor and city council appointed him inspector of the port of Savannah. He held this office, which had been created for him, for seventeen months, when it was abolished by his death. See "'The Life of Commodore Tattnall," by Charles C. Jones, assisted by J. R. F. Tattnall, the commodore's son (Savannah, 1878). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 38-39.
TAYLOR, Alfred, naval officer, born in Fairfax County, Virginia, 23 May, 1810. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 1 November, 1826, became a passed midshipman, 4 June. 1831, and was commissioned a lieutenant, 9 February, 1837. During the Mexican war he was attached to the frigate "Cumberland" in the blockade of Vera Cruz and in some of the operations on the coast. He served at the Washington Navy-yard in 1848-'51, and in the steamer "Mississippi'' with Perry's Expedition to Japan in 1853-'5, was commissioned commander, 14 September, 1855, and commanded the sloop " Saratoga " on the coast of Africa when the Civil War opened in 1861. He was commissioned captain, 10 July, 1862, and was attached to the U.S. Navy-yard at Boston in 1862-'5. He commanded the flag-ship "Susquehanna" on the Brazil station in 1866, and was promoted to commodore, 27 September, I860. He was then on waiting orders until February, 1869, when he was appointed light-house inspector. He was promoted to rear-admiral, 29 January, 1872, and was retired by operation of law, 23 May. 1872. He has been a resident of New York City since his retirement. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 39.
TAYLOR. Bushrod Bust, naval officer, born in Madison, Indiana, 31 March, 1832; died in Washington, D. C, 22 April, 1883. He entered the U.S. Navy as an acting midshipman, 3 April, 1849, and was graduated at the Naval Academy. 12 June, 1855. He was promoted to master on 10.September, lieutenant, 31 July, 1850, and served in the Paraguay Expedition of 1859. He went to the Naval Academy as an instructor in October, 1860, and assisted in the removal of the academy from Annapolis to Newport. From May to August, 1861, he served in the flagship "Colorado," in the Gulf Squadron, on the blockade. He was in the supply and despatch steamer " Connecticut " in 1861-"2, and was executive of the steamer" Cimmeron" in James River and the South Atlantic blockade in 1862-'3. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, served in the steamer " Ticonderoga," flag-ship of the West India Squadron, in 1863, and commanded the steamer " Kanawha," in the Western Gulf Squadron, until 28 September, 1865. He next served at the Philadelphia Navy-yard in 1865-'6. and at the Naval Academy as an instructor in 1866-'9. He was commissioned commander. 14 March, 1868, and had the steamer" Idaho," of the Asiatic Squadron, in 1869. In this vessel he encountered the centre of a terrible typhoon, in which she was completely dismantled and became almost a total wreck. This was one of the worst storms, that was ever survived by any ship. He next commanded the "Ashuelot " on the same station, until January. 1872, served at the Philadelphia Navy-yard in 1872, and in the bureau of yards and docks at Washington in 1872-'4. He commanded the steamer " Wachusett " during the threatened war with Spain in 1874, was a member of the board of inspection in 1876, and at the Boston Navy-yard in 1876-9. He was commissioned captain, 27 October, 1869, and had special duty at Washington in 1880. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 42.
TAYLOR, George William, soldier, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 22 November, 1808; died in Alexandria, Virginia, 1 September, 1862. He was graduated at the military academy of Alden Partridge, Middletown, Connecticut, and received a midshipman's warrant in the U.S. Navy in 1827, but resigned at the end of four years and engaged in mercantile pursuits. In the beginning of the Mexican war he assisted in raising a company in New Jersey, being commissioned as lieutenant on 8 March, 1847, and as captain in the following September, and served through General Zachary Taylor's campaigns. After the war he went to California, remaining there three years. Returning then to New Jersey, he occupied himself in mining and iron-manufacturing. When the Civil War began he was made colonel of the, 3d New Jersey Infantry, which left for the field on 28 June. 1861,"assisted in guarding Long Bridge, formed part of the reserve division at Bull Run, and participated in the occupation of Manassas in March. 1862, being the first to perceive the enemy retreating. When General Philip Kearny was promoted. Colonel Taylor succeeded to the command of the brigade, which he led in the advance on Richmond and the seven days' battles, receiving his commission as brigadier-general of volunteers on 11 May, 1862. At Gaines's Mills his command was subjected to the hottest fire. At the second battle of Bull Run he fought with distinguished courage, and received wounds from which he soon after died. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 44.
TAYLOR, James Barnett, clergyman, born in Barton-on-Humber. England, 19 March, 1819; died in Richmond, Virginia, 22 Dee., 1871. He was brought in his infancy to the United States, and received his early education in New York City, whence his parents moved about 1818 to Mecklenburg County, Virginia After passing through an academical course, he became a Baptist home missionary, and in 1826 was chosen pastor of a church in Richmond, Virginia. where he soon acquired a high reputation as a preacher. In 1839-40 he officiated as chaplain of the University of Virginia. Returning to Richmond, he served as a pastor there for five years longer. He labored also as a missionary, and in 1845, soon after the organization of the Southern Baptist convention, became its corresponding secretary. This office he filled till within a few weeks of his death, travelling constantly, preaching throughout the south, and editing the "Religious Herald" for a short time, and subsequently the "Southern Baptist Missionary Journal" and the "Home and Foreign Journal," both of which he founded, hand the "Foreign Mission Journal.' He was pastor also of the Baptist church at Taylorsville, Hanover County, Virginia, till the Civil War began. During the war he labored as a colporteur in camps and hospitals, and for three years as Confederate post-chaplain. After its close he exerted himself to revive the missions of the Southern Baptist convention, and took much interest in the education of the freedmen, preaching often to colored congregations, and conferring with the secretary of the Freedmen's bureau with regard to the best plans for assisting the emancipated slaves. He was one of the originators of the Virginia Baptist education society, and a founder of Richmond College. His chief published works were " Life of Lot Cary" (Baltimore. 1H37): "Lives of Virginia Baptist Ministers " (Richmond. 1837); and 'Memoir of Luther Rice, one of the First Missionaries in the East" (1841). He had nearly completed before his death a " History of Virginia Baptists." See "Life and Times of James B. Taylor,' by his son, George B. Taylor (Philadelphia. 1872). His wife was a daughter of Elisha Scott Williams.—Their son, George Boardnian, clergyman, born in Richmond, Virginia, 27 December, 1832, was graduated at Richmond College, taught for a short time, and then studied three years at the University of Virginia, at the same time serving as pastor of two Baptist churches in the vicinity. He was graduated in most of the schools in the university, was pastor for two years in Baltimore, Maryland, then for twelve years at Staunton, Virginia, leaving his church during the campaign of 1862 to act as chaplain to Stonewall Jackson's corps. Subsequently, till the close of hostilities, he officiated as post-chaplain in conjunction with his pastorate. In 1809 he was chosen chaplain of the University of Virginia for the usual period of two years, after which he returned to his former church at Staunton, of which he again took leave in 187:3, on being appointed by the mission board of the Southern Baptist convention missionary to Rome, Italy. He was co-editor of the " Christian Review " for two years, and since 1876 he has been one of the editors of " 11 Seminatore," a monthly Baptist magazine published in Rome. The degree of D. D. was given him by Richmond College and the University of Chicago in 1872. His publications include "Oakland Stories" (4 vols., New York, 1859-'65); "Costar Grew" (Philadelphia, 1869): ' Roger Bernard, the Pastor's Son " (1870); and ' Walter Ennis," a tale of the early Virginia Baptists (1870). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 44.
TAYLOR, Nelson, soldier, born in South Norwalk, Connecticut, 8 June, 1821. He received a common-school education. At the beginning of the war with Mexico he joined the army as captain of the 1st New York Volunteers on 1 August, 1846, served through the war, and at its close settled in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, where he was elected a state senator in 1846 and sheriff in 1855. He was also president of the board of trustees of the state insane asylum from 1850 till 1856. Returning to New York City, he studied law, taking his degree at the Harvard law-school in 1860. He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress in 1860. At the beginning of the Civil War he entered the volunteer service as colonel of the 72d New York Infantry. He commanded this regiment, which formed a part of General Daniel E. Sickles's brigade, during the Chickahominy Campaign. He had command of the brigade at Williamsburg and in General John Pope's Virginia Campaign, and was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, in recognition of his services, on 7 September, 1862. He resigned on 19 January, 1863, resumed practice in New York City, and was elected as a Democrat to Congress, serving from 4 December, 1865, till 3 March, 1867. He was a member of the select committees on freedmen and invalid pensions. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 48.
TAYLOR, Walter Herron, soldier, born in Norfolk, Virginia, 18 June, 1838. He was educated at the Virginia military institute, and became a merchant and banker. He joined the Confederate Army on the secession of Virginia, and was on the staff of General Robert E. Lee during the entire period of the Civil War, and from the time that General Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia, served as adjutant-general of that army, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After the war he resumed the banking business at Norfolk, Virginia, where he has held municipal offices, and was elected to the state senate, of which he was a member from 1869 till 1873. He is the author of " Four Years with General Lee " (New York, 1878). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 50.
TAYLOR, William Vigneron, naval officer, born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1781; died there, 11 February, 1858. He went to sea before the mast, became a captain in the merchant marine, and entered the U.S. Navy as a sailing-master, 28 April, 1813. He was attached to Commodore Oliver H. Perry's flag-ship, the "Lawrence," in the battle of Lake Erie, where he was severely wounded, afterward receiving a vote of thanks and a sword for his services. He was commissioned a lieutenant, 9 December, 1814, cruised in the "Java" on the Mediterranean station in 1815-'16, and was on leave at Newport on account of his wound in 1816-'23, after which he served in the ship " Ontario," of the Mediterranean Squadron, in 1824-"6, at the Boston Navy-yard in 1827-'8, and in the frigate "Hudson," on the Brazil station, in 1829-'30. He was promoted to master-commandant, 3 March, 1831, was in charge of the receiving ship at Boston in 1833-"4, and the sloop "Warren" in 1835. In 1839-'41 he had the store-ship " Erie." ne was promoted to captain, 8 September, 1841, and commanded the Pacific Squadron in the " Ohio" in 1847-'8. After this he was on leave at Newport until his death.—His son, William Rogers, naval officer, born in Newport, Rhode Island, 7 November, 1811, entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 1 April, 1828, became a passed midshipman, 14 June, 1834, and cruised in the "Peacock" in the East Indies in 1835-'6. When the " Peacock" was stranded on the Island of Massera in 1836. he was sent to take the U. S. diplomatic agent, Edmund Roberts, to Muscat to arrange treaties. This voyage lasted five days in an open boat, and upon arrival at Muscat the sultan offered him the sloop "Sultane " to go to the relief of the "Peacock "; but the latter had got off, and he rejoined her at sea. He served as acting lieutenant on the same station and in the Pacific in the schooner "Enterprise" and ship "North Carolina" in 1836-'8. He was commissioned a lieutenant, 10 February, 1840, and was engaged in the survey of Tampa bay. Florida, in 1842-3, during which he at times had command of the steamer "Poinsett" and the brig Oregon." He served on the Brazil station in the brig " Perry " and the ship “Columbus" in 1843-'4. During the Mexican war he was on the sloop " St. Mary's" in the engagement with batteries at Tampico. where he commanded the launch in the expedition that captured that port and five Mexican schooners, 14 November, 1846. During the siege and bombardment of Vera Cruz he commanded the eight-inch gun in the naval battery on shore for thirty-six hours. He was promoted to commander, 14 September, 1855, and was on ordnance duty at Washington in 1857-'9. In 1861 he was ordered to command the steamer "Housatonic," and he was promoted to captain, 16 July, 1862. While senior officer in the blockade off Charleston he engaged the Confederate rams "Chocura" and " Palmetto " in the " Housatonic" when they attacked the squadron in January. 1863. When Dahlgren took command he was appointed fleet-captain, and participated in the actions against Morris Island in July, 1863. On 16 July he was in the battle on board the monitor " Catskill." and on 18 July in the monitor " Montauk." He commanded the steamer "Juniata" in both attacks on Fort Fisher. He was president of the board to revise the U.S. Navy regulations, was in charge of the ordnance-yard at Washington in 1866-'7, and was promoted to commodore, 25 July, 1866. He was a member of the examining board in 1868, commanded the northern Squadron of the Pacific fleet in 1869-'71, was promoted to rear-admiral, 19 January, 1871. and was president of the examining board in 1871—'2, and commanded the South Atlantic Squadron from 22 May, 1872, till 7 November, 1873, when he was retired. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 51.
TAYLOR, Richard, soldier, born in New Orleans, 27 January 1826; died in New York City, 12 April. 1879. was sent to Edinburgh, Scotland, when thirteen years old. where he spent three years in studying the classics, and then a year in France. He entered the junior class at Yale in 1843, and was graduated there in 1845. He was a wide and voracious though a desultory reader. From college he went to his father's camp on the Rio Grande, and he was present at Palo Alto, and Resaca de la Palma. His health then became impaired, and he returned home. He resided on a cotton-plantation in Jefferson County. Mississippi, until 1849, when he moved to a sugar-estate in St. Charles parish, Louisiana, almost twenty miles above New Orleans, where he was residing when the Civil War began. He was in the state senate from 1856 to 1860, was a delegate to the Charleston Democratic convention in 1860, and afterward to that at Baltimore, and was a member of the Secession convention of Louisiana. As a member of the military committee, he aided the governor in organizing troops, and in June, 1861. went to Virginia as colonel of the 9th Louisiana Volunteers. The day he reached Richmond he left for Manassas, arriving there at dusk on the day of the battle. In the autumn he was made a brigadier-general, and in the spring of 1862 he led his brigade in the valley campaign under " Stonewall " Jackson. He distinguished himself at Front Royal, Middletown, Winchester, Strasburg, Cross Keys, and Port Republic, and Jackson recommended him for promotion. Taylor was also with Jackson in the seven days' battles before Richmond. He was promoted to major-general, and assigned to the command of Louisiana. The fatigues and exposures of his campaigns there brought on a partial and temporary paralysis of the lower limbs; but in August he assumed command. The only communication across the Mississippi retained by the Confederates was between Vicksburg and Port Hudson; but Taylor showed great ability in raising, organizing, supplying, and handling an army, and he gradually won back the state west of the Mississippi from the National forces. He had reclaimed the whole of this when Vicksburg fell, 4 July, 1863, and was then compelled to fall back west of Berwick's bay. General Taylor's principal achievement during the war was his defeat of General Nathaniel P. Banks at Sabine Cross-Roads, near Mansfield, De Soto parish, Louisiana, 8 April, 1864. With 8,000 men he at tacked the advance of the northern army and routed it, capturing twenty-two guns and a large number of prisoners. He followed Banks, who fell back to Pleasant hill, and on the next day again attacked him, when Taylor was defeated, losing the fruits of the first day's victory. These two days' fighting have been frequently compared to that of Shiloh—a surprise and defeat on the first day, followed by a substantial victory of the National forces on the second. In the summer of 1864 Taylor was promoted to be a lieutenant-general, and ordered to the command of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, etc. Here he was able merely to protract the contest, while the great armies decided it. After Lee and Johnston capitulated there was nothing for him, and he surrendered to General Edward R. S. Canby, at Citronelle, 8 May, 1865. The war left Taylor ruined in fortune, and he soon went abroad. Returning home, he took part in politics as an adviser, and his counsel was held in special esteem by Samuel J. Tilden in his presidential canvass. During this period he wrote his memoir of the war, entitled "Destruction and the construction" (New York, 1879).—His brother, Joseph Pannel, soldier, born near Louisville, Kentucky, 4 May, 1796;died in Washington, D. C, 29 June, 1864, served in the ranks on the Canadian frontier during the war of 1812, was appointed a lieutenant of U. S. infantry on 20 May, 1813, served through the war with Great Britain, and was retained on the. peace establishment as lieutenant of artillery, becoming a captain in July, 1825. He was appointed commissary of subsistence in 1829, and thenceforth served in that department, becoming assistant commissary-general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in 1841. On 30 May, 1848, he was brevetted colonel for his services in prosecuting the war with Mexico, during which he was chief commissary of the army on the upper line of operations. In September, 1861, he was made colonel and commissary-general, and on 9 February, 1863, was promoted brigadier-general, his wife was a daughter of Justice John McLean.—Their son, John McLean, soldier, born in Washington, D. C., 21 November, 1828; died in Baltimore, Mil., 21 November, 1875, entered the U. S. Army as 2d lieutenant in the 3d U.S. Artillery on 3 March, 1848, and was promoted 1st lieutenant on 30 June, 1851, and captain and commissary of subsistence on 11 May, 1851. He served faithfully in his department during the Civil War, becoming major on 9 February, 1863, and receiving the brevets of lieutenant-colonel and colonel to date from 13 March, 1865.—Another son, Joseph Hancock, soldier, born in Kentucky, 26 January. 1836;died in Omaha. Nebraska, 13 March, 1885, was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1856, and commissioned 2d lieutenant of cavalry on 16 January, 1857. He served in Kansas, in the Utah Expedition, and in a campaign in 1860 against the Kiowa and Comanche Indians of Colorado. He was promoted 1st lieutenant on 22 April, 1861, and captain on 14 May, and was appointed acting adjutant-general of General Edwin V. Sumner's division on 27 November, 1861. During the Peninsula Campaign, and subsequently in the Maryland Campaign, he served as acting assistant adjutant-general of the 2d Corps, winning the brevet of major at Fair Oaks, and that of lieutenant-colonel at the Antietam. He was assistant adjutant-general at Fredericksburg, and assistant inspector-general of cavalry in Stoneman's raid. On 1 June, 1863, he was assigned to duty as assistant adjutant-general of the department at Washington. He was appointed a major on the staff on 30 March, 1866, and on 13 August was brevetted colonel for faithful services during the war. He was on duty in different military departments till his death, which was due to disease that he had contracted in the line of duty. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 51-56.
TELLER, Henry Moore, senator, born in Granger, Allegany County. New York, 23 May, 1830. He was educated at Alfred University, New York, studied law, was admitted to the bar in Binghamton, New York, in 1858, and moved to Illinois in the same year, and to Colorado in 1861. He was major-general of Colorado Militia in 1862-'4, but held no political office till, on the admission of Colorado as a state in 1876, he was chosen U. S. Senator as a Republican, and took his seat, 4 Dec 1876. He was re-elected for the term that ended in 1883, and in 1877-'8 served as chairman of a special committee on election frauds, that was known as the Teller committee. On 17 April, 1882, he resigned, on his appointment by President Arthur to the portfolio of the interior, which he held till the close of the latter's administration. He was then re-elected to the Senate for the term that will end in 1891. Alfred University gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1886. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 60.
TEMPLE, William Grenville, naval officer, born in Rutland, Vermont, 23 March, 1824. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 18 April, 1840, was graduated at the Naval Academy in 1846, and was attached to the " Boston" when she was wrecked at Eleuthera, Bahama Islands, 15 March, 1846, taking charge of the sick men from the wreck in the schooner "Volant."' In February, 1847, he was ordered to the steamer "Scourge," in which he participated in the bombardment and capture of Vera Cruz and in the engagements at Alvarado, Tuspan, and Tabasco, sometimes having command of batteries and landing parties in operations on shore against the Mexicans. He assisted in the survey of the interoceanic canal and railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in 1850-'2, was promoted to master, 21 July, 1854, and to lieutenant, 18 April, 1855. After cruising in the frigate “Lancaster " on the Pacific Station in 1859-'61, he commanded the steamer "Flambeau" at New York for one month, and was on duty as ordnance officer there for seven months. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, and commanded the gun-boat "Pembina," in the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron. From November, 1862, he was fleet-captain of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron until 19 September, 1864. While he was fleet-captain he at times commanded the "San Jacinto" on special service, and in July, 1864, he led a force of sailors in defence of the approaches to Washington. He commanded the steamer "Pontoosuc " from November, 1864, till May, 1865, participating in both attacks on Fort Fisher, in the capture of Wilmington, North Carolina, in the bombardment of forts on James River, at Dutch gap, and at the capture of Petersburg and Richmond. He was promoted to commander, 3 March, 1865, had the steamer "Tacony" in the North Atlantic Squadron in 1865-'6, and was on ordnance duty in 1866-'70. He was made captain, 28 August, 1870, and in December, 1884, was delegated to escort King Kalakaua, of the Sandwich Islands, in his visit to this country, for which service Congress allowed him to accept the decoration of knight commander of the royal order of Kamehameha I. He was promoted to commodore, 5 June, 1878, was a member of the examining and retiring board in 1879-'81, and became its president in June, 1881. He was promoted to rear-admiral, 22 February, 1884, and voluntarily retired from active service on 29 February, 1884. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 61.
TERRILL, William Rufus, soldier, born in Covington, Virginia, 21 April. 1834; died near Perryville, Kentucky, 8 October, 1862. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1853, assigned to the 3d U.S. Artillery, was assistant professor of mathematics there in 1853-'4, on duty in Kansas in 1854-'5, and assistant in the U. S. coast survey from 1855 till 1861. He was appointed captain in the 5th U.S. Artillery, 14 August, 1861, and took part with great credit in the battle of Shiloh. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 9 September, 1862, and was killed in the battle of Perryville in the following month.—His brother, James Barbour, soldier, born in Warm Springs, Bath County, Virginia, 20 February, 1838; died near Bethesda Church, Virginia, 31 May, 1864, was graduated at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, in 1858, and after attending the law-school of Judge Brockenborough began practice in the courts of his native county in 1860. In May, 1861, he was appointed major of the 13th Virginia Infantry. He was promoted to the colonelcy, and was with his regiment at the first and second battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Cross Keys, Port Republic, Cedar Run, the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania, and was killed at Bethesda Church. His commanding general said his regiment, "the 13th, was never required to take a position that they did not take it, nor to hold one that they did not hold it." His nomination as brigadier-general was confirmed by the Confederate Senate on the day of his death. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 65.
TERRY, Alfred Howe, soldier, born in Hartford, Connecticut, 10 November, 1827. He was educated in the schools of New Haven and at the Yale law-school, but, having been already admitted to the bar, he was not graduated. He began the practice of his profession in 1849, and was clerk of the superior and supreme courts of Connecticut from 1854 till 1860. He had been an active member of the Connecticut Militia, and was in command of the 2d Regiment of state troops when the Civil War began. In response to President Lincoln's call for three months' troops, he was appointed colonel of the 2d Connecticut Volunteers, and with that regiment was present at the first battle of Bull Run. At the expiration of the term of service he returned to Connecticut, organized the 7th Connecticut Volunteers, of which he was appointed colonel, and on 17 September was again mustered into the National service. He was present in command of his regiment at the capture of Port Royal, South Carolina, and also at the siege of Fort Pulaski, of which he was placed in charge after its capitulation. On 25 April, 1862, he was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers, and he served as such at the battle of Pocotaligo and in the operations against Charleston. He commanded the successful demonstration up Stono River during the descent on Morris Island, and at the action on James Island. His force was then withdrawn, and he was assigned by General Quincy A. Gillmore to the command of the troops on Morris Island, which post he held during the siege of Forts Wagner and Sumter. After the reduction of Fort Wagner he was assigned to the command of the northern district of the Department of the South, including the islands from which operations against Charleston had been carried on. General Terry commanded the 1st Division of the 10th Army Corps, Army of the James, during the Virginia Campaign of 1864, and at times the corps itself. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers on 20 August, 1864, became permanent commander of the 10th Corps in October, and held that place until the corps was merged in the 24th in the following December, when he was assigned to lead the 1st Division of the new corps. He commanded at the action of Chester Station, and was engaged at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, the various combats in front of the Bermuda Hundred lines, the battle of Fussell's Mills, the action at Deep Bottom, the siege of Petersburg, the actions at Newmarket heights on the Newmarket road, the Darbytown road, and the Williamsburg road. On 2 January, 1865, after the failure of the first attempt to take Fort Fisher, which commanded the sea approaches to Wilmington, North Carolina. General Terry was ordered to renew the attack with a force numbering a little over 8,000 men. On the 13th he debarked his troops about five miles above the fort, and, finding himself confronted by General Robert P. Hoke's Confederate division, proceeded to throw a line of strong intrenchments across the peninsula between the sea and Cape Fear River, facing toward Wilmington, and about two miles north of the fort. After the landing of the troops, the co-operating fleet, under Admiral David D. Porter, numbering 44 vessels and mounting upward of 500 guns, opened fire upon the work, and from 4.30 to 6 p. m. four shots a second, or 20,000 in all, were fired. This was the heaviest bombardment of the war. On the 14th the line of intrenchment was completed, and General Charles J. Paine's division of infantry was placed upon it. While this was in progress, General Terry made a reconnaissance of the fort, and, in view of the difficulty of landing supplies for his troops and the materials for a siege upon an open, unprotected beach in midwinter, he determined to carry the work by assault the next day, and the plan of attack was arranged with Admiral Porter. At 11 A. m. on the 15th the entire fleet opened fire, silencing nearly every gun in the fort. General Newton M. Curtis's brigade of General Adelbert Ames's division was then pushed forward by regiments to a point 200 yards from the fort, where it sheltered itself in shallow trenches, and the remainder of the division was brought up within supporting distance. Admiral Porter had landed 2,000 sailors and marines, and their commander pushed a line of skirmishers up within 200 yards of the eastern extremity of the northern face of the work, the attack of the troops being upon the western extremity of that face. At 3.30 p. m., on a signal from General Terry to Admiral Porter, the fire of the fleet was diverted from the points of attack, and the leading brigade rushed upon the work and gained a foothold upon the parapet. The column of sailors and marines followed the example of the troops, but, having to advance for a distance of about 600 yards along the open beach, they were unable to stem the fire of the work. Some of them reached the foot of the parapet, but the mass of them, after a display of great gallantry, was forced to fall back. After General Curtis had gained the parapet. General Ames ordered forward in succession the second and third brigades of his division, and they entered the fort. This was constructed with a series of traverses, each of which was stubbornly held. Hand-to-hand fighting of the most obstinate character ensued, the traverses being used successively as breastworks, over the tops of which the opposing parties fired into one another's faces. By five o'clock nine of these traverses had teen carried. General Terry then ordered up re-enforcements, consisting of a brigade and an additional regiment from the intrenched line, the sailors and marines taking their places there; by nine o'clock two more traverses were carried, and an hour later the occupation of the work was complete. The Confederate force fell back disorganized to a small work near the point of the peninsula, where, being immediately pursued, it surrendered unconditionally. The garrison originally numbered 2,500 men, of whom 1,971 men, with 112 officers, were captured; the others were killed or wounded. The fall of the fort was followed by the abandonment of Fort Caswell and the other defences of the Cape Fear River. In these works were captured 169 pieces of artillery, 2,000 small arms, and a considerable quantity of ammunition and commissary stores. The National loss was 681 men, of whom 88 were killed. For this General Terry was promoted to be brigadier-general in the regular army and major-general of volunteers, and Congress passed a vote of thanks "to Brevet Major General A. H. Terry and the officers and soldiers under his command for the unsurpassed gallantry and skill exhibited by them in the attack upon Fort Fisher, and the brilliant and decisive victory by which that important work has been captured from the rebel forces and placed in the possession and under the authority of the United States, and for their long and faithful service and unwavering devotion to the cause of the country in the midst of the greatest difficulties and dangers." General Terry was engaged in the capture of Wilmington. North Carolina, and commanded at the combat at Northeast Creek, which followed. In April, 1865, the 10th Army Corps was reconstituted, and General Terry was assigned to its command, and with it took part in the subsequent operations under General William T. Sherman in North Carolina. He was brevetted major-general in the regular army on 13 March, 1865, for his services at the capture of Wilmington. Since the close of the war he has commanded in succession the Departments of Virginia, Dakota, and the South, and again the Department of Dakota. He was promoted to the rank of major-general, 3 March, 1886. and was in charge of the Division of the Missouri, with headquarters at Chicago, until his voluntary retirement from the army in April, 1888. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 65-66.
TERRY, Henry Dwight, soldier, born in Hartford, Connecticut, 16 March, 1812; died in Washington, D. C, in June, 1869. He early settled in Michigan, where he entered the legal profession, and settled in Detroit. Although he was in active practice, he had for many years devoted considerable attention to military matters, and when the first call was made for troops in June, 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, he raised the 5th Michigan Infantry, of which he was appointed colonel. The regiment was mustered into service on 28 August, 1861, and ordered to the Army of the Potomac. He soon gained the command of a brigade, and on 17 July, 1862, was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. He served through the war in the Army of the Potomac, and when he was mustered out of service, in 1865, resumed the practice of his profession in Washington, D. C. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 67.
TERRY, William, soldier, born in Amherst County, Virginia, 14 August, 1824; died near Wytheville, Virginia, 5 September, 1888. He was graduated at the University of Virginia in 1848, studied law, and in 1851 was admitted to the bar. Settling in Wytheville, he practised his profession and was one of the editors and owners of "The Telegraph," published in that place. In April, 1861, he became a lieutenant in the 4th Virginia Infantry, in General Thomas J. Jackson's brigade. In 1862 he was promoted major, and in February, 1864, became colonel. He was commissioned brigadier-general on 20 May, 1864. At the close of the Civil War he returned to practice in Wytheville, and in 1868 was nominated for Congress, but, being under political disabilities, withdrew. He was afterward elected to Congress from Virginia as a Conservative, and served from 4 March, 1871, till 3 March, 1873, and again from 6 December, 1875, till 3 March, 1877. Subsequently he resumed his legal business. He was drowned while trying to ford Reed creek, near his home. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 67.
TERRY, William Richard, soldier, born in Liberty, Virginia, 12 March, 1827. He was graduated at the Virginia Military Institute in 1850, and then turned his attention to commercial pursuits. At the beginning of the Civil War he entered the Confederate service as captain of Virginia cavalry, and was soon promoted and given command of the 24th Virginia Regiment. On 20 May, 1864, he was made brigadier-general, and given a command in General George E. Pickett's division in the Army of Northern Virginia, which was known as Kemper's brigade. After the war he served as a member of the Virginia Senate for eight years, and for some time was superintendent of the penitentiary in Richmond. At present he is superintendent of the Lee camp soldiers' home in Richmond. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 67.
THACHER, John Marshall, commissioner of patents, born in Barre, Vermont, 1 July, 1836. He was graduated at the University of Vermont in 1859, and studied law. For a time he practised in Virginia, but at the beginning of the Civil War he entered the National forces and served as captain in the 13th Vermont Regiment. He was appointed assistant examiner in the patent-office in 1864, and was promoted through the different grades until 1 November, 1874, when he became commissioner, which office he held until 1 October, 1875. He then resigned and moved to Chicago, where he has since practised his profession. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 69.
THARIN, Robert Seymour Symmes, born 1830, Charleston, South Carolina, lawyer (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 70)
THARIN, Robert Seymour Symmes (tha'rin), lawyer, born at Magnolia, near Charleston, South Carolina, 10 January, 1830. The family-seat at Magnolia was also the birthplace of Robert's father, William Cunnington Tharin, grandson of its founder, Colonel William Cunnington, an officer on General Francis Marion's staff. Robert was graduated at the College of Charleston in 1857 and at the law-school of the University of New York in 1863. He began practice in Wetumpka, Alabama, in 1859. During the political excitement of this time, he became known for his Union sentiments and his sympathy with non-slaveholders. He advocated the establishment of small farms and factories, the emigration of the blacks to Africa, the representation of non-slaveholders, who were in the majority, in legislatures, conventions, and congress, and the repeal of the Ordinance of Secession. His Union sentiments led to an attack on him by a mob in 1861, and he fled to Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Tharin then settled in Richmond, Indiana, and enlisted as a, private in the Indiana volunteers, but was mustered out in 1862. While he was in the service he wrote a letter to the London “Daily News,” denouncing his former law-partner, William L. Yancey, who was then commissioner from the southern Confederacy to England. This letter, Mr. Yancey afterward confessed, was worth an army corps to the Union, as it defeated recognition. He returned to the south after the war, and in 1884 was corporation counsel of Charleston, South Carolina In February, 1888, he was tendered, by the Industrial conference at Washington, a nomination for president of the United States, but declined on the ground that the body was not a convention, and that presidential conventions are dangerous to the people who are not represented therein. He is now employed in the auditor's office in Washington. He is the author of “Arbitrary Arrests in the South” (New York, 1863), and “Letters on the Political Situation” (Charleston, South Carolina, 1871). Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 70.
THATCHER, Henry Knox, naval officer, born in Thomaston. Maine, 26 May, 1806, died in Boston, Massachusetts, 5 April, 1880. He was a grandson of General Henry Knox. He received his early education in the schools of Boston, and in 1822 was admitted as a cadet at the U. S. Military Academy. The records of the academy show that he was absent on sick leave from 28 November, 1822, till April, 1823, when his resignation is recorded. He had exchanged his cadetship for the appointment in the U.S. Navy, which he entered as a midshipman, 4 March, 1823. He became a passed midshipman, 23 March, 1829, and was commissioned lieutenant, 28 February. 1833. After serving in various parts of the world, he was promoted to commander by action of the naval retiring board, 14 September, 1855. He commanded the sloop "Decatur," Pacific station. Early in 1862 he was ordered to command the sailing-sloop " Constellation" on the Mediterranean station, and he was thereby prevented from engaging in active operations during the first years of the Civil War. He was promoted to the grade of commodore, 16 July, 1862, without having had any commission as a captain. In July. 1863, he returned from the Mediterranean and took charge of the steam frigate "Colorado " on the North Atlantic blockade, and in her commanded the first Division of Commodore David D. Porter’s fleet in both attacks on Fort Fisher. He was then appointed acting rear-admiral in advance of his regular promotion to that grade, and was ordered to succeed Vice-Admiral Farragut in command of the Western Gulf Squadron at Mobile. There he conducted combined operations with General Edward R. S. Canby which resulted in the surrender of the city and the Confederate fleet after its flight and pursuit up Tombigbee River. The navy department sent him congratulations on the successful results at Mobile. Other points on the Gulf were quietly surrendered, and on 2 June. 1865, Galveston, Texas, was occupied by Thatcher’s squadron without opposition, and the entire coast was restored to the Union. He was placed in command of the consolidated Gulf Squadrons until May, 1866, after which he commanded the North Pacific Squadron until August, 1868. He was commissioned rear-admiral, 25 July, 1866, and was placed on the retired list, 26 May, 1868. After his return home he was port-admiral at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1869-'71, after which he was unemployed until his death. Upon his death the Secretary of the Navy published an obituary order and directed salutes of thirteen minute-guns to be fired in his honor, and flags to be displayed at half-mast. He was a member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. While in command of the North Pacific Squadron he was presented with a medal and made a knight of the order of Kamehameha I. by the king of the Hawaiian Islands, which honors he was allowed to accept by act of Congress. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 71.
THAYER, John Milton, governor of Nebraska, born in Bellingham, Massachusetts. 24 January, 1820. After his graduation at Brown in 1841 he studied and practised law, and in 1854 moved to Nebraska, where he was a member in I860 of the territorial legislature, and in 1866 of the Constitutional convention. Previous to his civil appointments he had been made brigadier-general of militia, and organized and commanded several expeditions against the Indians. In the Civil War. as colonel of the 1st Regiment of Nebraska Infantry, he led a brigade at Donelson and Shiloh, and was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 4 October, 1862. His appointment expired on 4 March, 1863, but he was reappointed on 13 March. He commanded a brigade and division at Vicksburg and Jackson, and led a storming column at Chickasaw Bayou, for which and for his services at Vicksburg he was brevetted major-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865. He resigned, 19 July, 1865, and, returning to Nebraska, he served as U. S. Senator in 1867-'71, having been chosen as a Republican, and was then appointed by General Grant governor of Wyoming territory. In 1886 he was elected governor of Nebraska by a majority of about 25,000, which office he still holds (1888). He was department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in the state of Nebraska in 1886. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 72.
THAYER, Sylvanus, soldier, born in Braintree, Massachusetts, 9 June, 1785; died in South Braintree, Massachusetts, 7 September, 1872. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1807, at the U. S. Military Academy in 1808, and assigned to the Corps of Engineers. During the next four years he was employed on engineer service on the eastern coast, and as instructor of mathematics at the academy, receiving promotion as 1st lieutenant, 1 July, 1812. Being called to the field in the latter year, he served as chief engineer under General Henry Dearborn, on the Niagara frontier; in 1813 under General Wade Hampton's division on Lake Champlain, receiving promotion to captain of engineers, 13 October, 1813, and in 1814 under General Moses Porter's forces in defence of Norfolk, Virginia, being brevetted major, 20 February, 1815, for distinguished services. In 1815 he was sent to Europe to examine military works and schools, and study the operations of the allied armies before Paris, but he was recalled in 1817 to the superintendency of the academy at West Point, which he assumed on 28 July of that year, and held till his resignation, 1 July, 1833. During the sixteen years of his administration he organized the school on its present basis, and raised it from an elementary condition to the same grade with the best military schools in the world. During his term of office he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, 3 March, 1823, made major, 24 May, 1828, and brevetted colonel, 3 March, 1833. Five years after his resignation he was again offered the charge of the academy, with almost absolute control, but he did not accept. On leaving West Point he was made a member of the board of engineers, of which he was president from 7 December, 1838, and for thirty years following he was engaged in the construction of defences in and about Boston harbor, which are models of his engineering skill and standards of economy and stability of construction. On 7 July. 1838, he was made lieutenant-colonel of engineers, and he became colonel, 3 March, 1863. On 1 June, 1863, he was retired from active service, after receiving the brevet; of brigadier-general the day before. The degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Dartmouth in 1810, and by Harvard in 1825, and that of LL. D. by St. John's College, Maryland, in 1830, by Kenyon and Dartmouth in 1846, and by Harvard in 1857. He was also a member of various scientific associations. General Thayer gave about $300,000 for the endowment of an academy, and $32,000 for a free library, at Braintree, and $70,000 for a school of architecture and civil engineering at Dartmouth. His body was reinterred at West Point, 8 November, 1877, and his statue was unveiled there, 11 June, 1883, General George W. Cullum making the presentation. It bears the inscription. " Colonel Thayer, Father of the United States Military Academy," and is represented in the accompanying illustration. A fine full-length portrait by Robert W. Weir is in the library at West Point. He was the author of "Papers on Practical Engineering" (1844).
THOM, George (torn), soldier, born in Derry, New Hampshire, 21 February, 1819. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1839, assigned to the Topographical Engineers, and became 2d lieutenant in 1840. He served in connection with the survey of the boundary between the United States and the British provinces under the treaty of Washington, in 1842-'7 and on the staff of General Franklin Pierce in the war with Mexico. He became 1st lieutenant in 1849, and captain for fourteen years' service in July, 1853. In 1853-'6 he served in connection with the survey of the boundary between the United States and Mexico. At the opening of the Civil War he was a major, but was appointed colonel and additional aide-de-camp in November, 1861. Colonel Thom was continuously employed on engineer and other duty on the staff of General Henry W. Halleck till April, 1865, being present during the siege of Corinth. He was also present at the battle of Cedar Creek. Virginia. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel of engineers in 1866, and was thereafter in charge of river and harbor improvements in the New England states till 20 February, 1883, when, having been forty years in service, he was, at his own request, retired from active service. He became colonel of engineers in 1880, and was brevetted brigadier-general U. S. army, " tor faithful and meritorious services during the rebellion." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 76.
THOMAS, Amos Russell, physician, born in Watertown, New York, 3 October, 1826. He acquired his education while working on a farm, taught school, and was graduated at Syracuse Medical College in 1854. He moved to Philadelphia, was appointed to the chair of anatomy in the Penn Medical University, and also was lecturer on artistic anatomy in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for fifteen years. In 1863 he received a similar appointment in the School of design for women. During the Civil War he volunteered and served as army surgeon. In 1867 he connected himself with the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, of which he is now the dean. He has contributed numerous papers to medical literature, is the author of " Post-mortem Examinations and Morbid Anatomy" (Philadelphia. 1870), and general editor of the " Homoeopathic Materia Medica." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 77.
THOMAS, Charles, soldier, born in Pennsylvania about 1800; died in Washington, D. C., 1 February, 1878. He entered the army and became a lieutenant, of ordnance, 13 August, 1819, assistant quartermaster in May, 1826, captain in April, 1833, quartermaster with, the rank of major in July, 1838, and brevet lieutenant-colonel for meritorious services in Mexico, 30 May, 1848. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel and deputy quartermaster-general, U. S. Army, in May, 1850, colonel and assistant quartermaster-general in August, 1856, and brevet major-general, 13 March, 1865, for meritorious services during the Civil War. He was retired from active service in July, 1866, after having been in the army for more than forty-five years. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 77.
THOMAS, Lorenzo, 1804-1875, Major General, U.S. Army (Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 85; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 9, Pt. 2, p. 441; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 21, p. 516)
THOMAS, Lorenzo, soldier, born in New Castle, Delaware, 26 October, 1804; died in Washington, D. C., 2 March, 1875. His father, Evan, was of Welsh extraction, and served in the militia during the war of 1812, and one of his uncles was a favorite officer of General Washington. He was at first destined for mercantile pursuits, but received an appointment to the U. S. Military Academy, and was graduated there in 1823. He served in the 4th U.S. Infantry in Florida till 1831, and again in the Florida war of 1836-'7, and as chief of staff of the army in that state in 1839-'40, becoming captain, 23 September, 1836, and major on the staff and assistant adjutant-general, 7 July, 1838. He there did duty in the last-named office at Washington till the Mexican war, in which he was chief of staff of General William O. Butler in 1846-'8, and of the Army of Mexico till June, 1848, and received the brevet of lieutenant-colonel for gallantry at Monterey. He was then adjutant-general at army headquarters, Washington, till 1853, and chief of staff to General Winfield Scott till 1861, when he was brevetted brigadier-general on 7 May, and made adjutant-general of the army on 3 August, with the full rank of brigadier-general. Here he served till 1863, when he was intrusted for two years with the organization of colored troops in the southern states. When President Johnson removed Edwin M. Stanton from his post as Secretary of War he appointed General Thomas secretary ad interim, 21 February, 1868, but, owing to Stanton's refusal to vacate, Thomas did not enter on the office. He was brevetted major-general, United States army, on 13 March, 1865, for services during the civil war, and on 22 February, 1869, he was retired. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 85.
THOMAS, George Henry, soldier, born in Southampton County, Virginia, 31 July, 1816; died in San Francisco, California, 28 March, 1870. He was descended, on his father's side, from Welsh ancestry, and, on his mother's, from a French Huguenot family. Not much is known of his youth. He was early distinguished for the thoroughness with which he mastered everything he undertook. His home life was pleasant and genial, and he was carefully educated in the best schools and academies of the region. At the age of nineteen he began the study of law, but the next year he received an appointment as cadet at the U. S. Military Academy. At the academy he rose steadily in rank, from 26th at the end of the first year to 12th at graduation. He was nicknamed, after the fashion of the place, "George Washington," from a fancied resemblance in appearance and character to the great patriot. He was graduated and commissioned 2d lieutenant in the 3d U.S. Artillery, 1 July, 1840, and entered upon duty at New York, but was soon sent to Florida to take part in the Indian war, where, in 1841, he gained a brevet for gallantry. After a short stay at various posts on the south Atlantic coast, he was, in the autumn of 1845, sent to Texas. When the Mexican war began, he accompanied the column under General Zachary Taylor, distinguishing himself at Monterey, where he was brevetted captain, and at Buena Vista, 22 and 23 February, 1847, bore a more decisive part. The success of that battle was largely due to the artillery. "Without it," says General John E. Wool in his report, " we would not have maintained our position a single hour." Captain Thomas W. Sherman said: "Lieutenant Thomas more than sustained the reputation he has long enjoyed as an accurate and scientific artillerist." He was again brevetted for gallantry, thus earning three brevets in a little more than six years after entering the service. The citizens of his native county in the following July presented him with a superb sword. He remained on duty in Mexico and Texas till 1849, and was again sent to Florida. In 1851 he was detailed as instructor of artillery and cavalry at the military academy, where he remained until 1 May, 1854. Soon afterward two cavalry regiments were added to the army, and of one of them, the 2d, brevet Major Thomas was, on 12 May, 1855, appointed junior major. In the composition of this new regiment unusual care was taken in the selection of officers. Jefferson Davis was Secretary of War, and the choice was dictated not merely by ability but also by locality. Of the fifty-one officers that served in it prior to the beginning of the Civil War, thirty-one were from the south, and of these twenty-four entered the Confederate service, twelve of whom became general officers. Among these were Albert Sidney Johnston, Robert E. Lee, William J. Hardee, Earl Van Dorn, E. Kirby Smith, John Bell Hood, and Fitzhugh Lee. In the seclusion of garrison life in Texas during the exciting period from 1855 to 1861, Major Thomas watched with increasing apprehension the gradual approach of the inevitable conflict. In affection for and pride in his native state he was a Virginian of the Virginians; but he never for a moment doubted where his duty lay. Early in November, 1860, he left Texas on a long leave of absence. Before its expiration he was ordered, 11 April, 1861, to take charge of his regiment, which had been treacherously surrendered in Texas, and was now arriving in New York. He obeyed the order with alacrity and conducted the regiment to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Barracks. On his way there, he heard of the assault on Fort Sumter, and on reaching the place he renewed his oath of allegiance to the United States. On the 17th the Virginia convention adopted the ordinance of secession, and Robert E. Lee, colonel of his regiment, tendered his resignation on the 20th. Hardee, Van Dorn, Kirby Smith, and Hood had already resigned Thomas, unmoved, continued with ardor the preparations necessary to sustain the cause of his country. At the head of a brigade he soon crossed the Potomac into Virginia, where, on 2 July, he met and put to flight an insurgent militia force of his own state, under command of Colonel Thomas J. Jackson, drawn up to resist his movements. From that day till the end of the war he did not have or seek a single hour's respite from exacting labors in the field. He led the advance of Patterson's column toward Winchester prior to the battle of Bull Run, and at the close of that campaign he was appointed, 17 August, 1861, brigadier-general of volunteers, and assigned to duty in the Department of the Cumberland, which included Kentucky and Tennessee. He found the whole of Kentucky in a turmoil, when, on 10 September, he entered upon his work at Camp Dick Robinson, 100 miles south of Cincinnati. The Confederate Army had occupied Columbus in spite of the formal protest of legislature and governor, and Thomas was menaced with personal violence. The camp was swarming with unorganized Kentucky regiments and crowds of refugees from east Tennessee, eager to be armed and led back to drive the enemy from their homes. For the first few months General Thomas was fully occupied in instructing the raw recruits. It required infinite patience to work over these independent backwoodsmen into any semblance to soldiers. Little by little the task was accomplished, and the troops so organized became the first brigade of the Army of the Cumberland. General Robert Anderson was soon relieved from duty on account of failing health, and, after a short interregnum, General Don Carlos Buell was placed in command of the department. Under his orders, General Thomas continued his preparations for a movement in east Tennessee. Early in January, 1862, he placed the head of his column at Somerset, fifty miles south of Camp Dick Robinson, and on the night of the 18th encamped at Logan's Cross-Roads, ten miles from the enemy's position, with seven regiments of infantry, one squadron of cavalry, and two batteries. At early dawn the next morning he was attacked by a force consisting of nine regiments of infantry, two squadrons and two companies of cavalry, and two batteries. After a stout resistance General Thomas succeeded in placing one of his regiments on the flank of the enemy's line, when a charge was ordered, and the whole Confederate force was driven in confusion from the field, with the loss of its leader, General Felix K. Zollicoffer. Pursuit was continued till dark, when the enemy's works were reached. During the night that followed, most of the Confederate Army escaped across the river, leaving guns, small-arms, and other spoils. This contest, which is known as the battle of Mill Springs, was the first real victory for the National cause since the disaster at Hull liuu, six months before. The loss was 39 killed and 207 wounded on the National side, against 125 Confederates killed and 309 wounded. Immediately afterward the whole army entered upon the movements that culminated in the battle of Shiloh and the expulsion of the Confederate armies from the entire region between the Cumberland mountains and the Mississippi. General Thomas shared in all these operations. On 25 April, 1862, he was made major-general, and was assigned to the command of General Grant's army, the latter being made second in general command under Halleck, and thus virtually retired from active command for the time being. Soon after the occupation of Corinth, General Thomas returned to his old command, and with it went through the exhausting campaign by which, at the end of September, General Buell's whole army, save the isolated garrison at Nashville, was concentrated at Louisville, prepared to give battle to General Bragg, who had audaciously led his army from Chattanooga to the Ohio River. At Louisville, on 29 September, the command of the National Army was offered to General Thomas, but he declined it. On 30 October General Buell was superseded by General William S. Rosecrans, and General Thomas was placed in command of five divisions, forming the centre of the army. On 31 December, 1862, the contending forces, under Rosecrans and Bragg, met in bloody conflict on the banks of Stone River, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. By an impetuous and overwhelming charge of the enemy at dawn, the whole right wing of the National Army was swept back three miles, and its very existence was imperilled. But the centre, under Thomas, firmly held its ground and repelled every assault till nightfall. The contest was renewed on 2 January, 1863, when, by a bold and fiery attack of a part of Thomas's force on the enemy's right, the Confederate position was endangered, and Bragg, in the night of the 3d, retreated. The National Army lay nearly motionless until June, when it entered on that series of brilliant flanking movements which, without any serious conflict, drove the enemy from Tennessee and compelled the abandonment of Chattanooga on 8 September. The terrible battle of Chickamauga followed, when, on 19 and 20 September, the Confederate army, re-enforced by Longstreet's corps from Virginia and some troops from Mississippi, put forth almost superhuman efforts to overwhelm the National forces in detail, and thus secure, once more, the prize of Chattanooga, the gateway to the heart of the Confederacy. Again, as at Stone River, the right was swept away, carrying with it the commander of the army and two corps commanders. General Thomas was thus left with but little more than six out of thirteen divisions to maintain his ground against five corps flushed with seeming victory and eager with the hope of making him an easy prey. From noon till night the battle raged. Every assault of the enemy had been repelled, the National troops were full of confidence and ardor, and the final assault of the day was made by a National brigade following up with the bayonet a retreating Confederate division. In the night, by orders of the army commander, General Thomas fell back to Rossville, five miles, and there awaited all the next day the expected attack; but the enemy was in no condition to make it. For the only time in its history, the Army of the Cumberland left the enemy to bury its dead. General Daniel H. Hill, commanding a Confederate corps in that battle, who had served in both eastern and western armies, said: "It seems to me the elan of the southern soldier was never seen after Chickamauga. That barren victory sealed the fate of the southern Confederacy." Following this great battle, General Thomas on 19 October was placed in command of the Army of the Cumberland. Its affairs were in a most critical condition. All communication with its base of supplies was cut off, an almost impassable river was in its rear, from the heights of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge the enemy looked down on the beleaguered force, slowly starving in its stronghold. Immediate measures were taken for its relief, and from every quarter troops were hurried toward Chattanooga, both to open communications and to re-enforce the army for active operations. Two corps from the Potomac and two from Mississippi were speedily forwarded, and all were placed under command of General Grant. To his almost despairing message to General Thomas to hold the place, came the cheering reply, " We will hold the town till we starve." Thomas had then in store six days' supply for 50,000 men. Preparations were at last completed, and on 23 November the forces from Mississippi, aided by a division from Thomas, attacked the northern end of Mission ridge, and gained some ground. On the 24th Lookout mountain was captured by the forces from the Potomac, strengthened by two of Thomas's brigades. On the 25th, under Thomas's leadership, the Army of the Cumberland, released from its long imprisonment, stormed and carried the three lines of rifle-pits at the base, midway, and on the summit of Mission ridge, and drove the Confederate Army, in utter rout, from the fortified position it had held so confidently for two months. As the jubilant National troops reached the summit, of the ridge, the whistle of the first steamboat, loaded with supplies, told that the siege was indeed ended. In the spring of 1864 General Thomas entered upon the Atlanta Campaign, at the head of 65,000 veterans, being two thirds of the grand army commanded by General Sherman. He occupied the centre of the line. From Chattanooga to Atlanta it was an almost continuous battle of a hundred days. The relative amount of work done by each of the three armies is indicated by the losses. The Army of the Cumberland lost, in killed and wounded, 32 per cent., the Army of the Tennessee 20 per cent., the Army of the Ohio 16 per cent. On 1 September, at Jonesboro, the 14th Army Corps of Thomas's army made a successful assault, completely driving from the field the enemy's right, and on the 2d the 20th Corps, also of Thomas's command, entered Atlanta, and the campaign was ended. When General Hood placed his whole force across the railroad north of Atlanta, and, turning his cavalry loose in Tennessee, threatened to cut off supplies from Sherman's army, General Thomas was sent to Nashville, while General Sherman prepared for his march to the sea. At the end of October the 4th and 23d Corps were sent to Tennessee, with instructions to General Thomas to use them in guarding the line of the river during Sherman's absence. It was supposed that Hood would follow Sherman's army through Georgia, but it was soon found that the entire force that had confronted Sherman on his way to Atlanta was now threatening Thomas. All the available troops were concentrated, and Hood's advance was resisted to the utmost. After a series of escapes from desperate hazards, a part of the two National corps under General John M. Schofield, on the afternoon of 30 November, 1864, at Franklin, Tennessee. signally defeated the repeated assaults of Hood's army, inflicting upon it irreparable losses, including six generals killed and a large number wounded. That night the National force retired to Nashville, where it was re-enforced by a corps from Missouri and a division from Chattanooga. Hood boldly advanced to the vicinity and fortified himself. Nearly all Thomas's mounted force had accompanied Sherman, leaving all the remaining cavalry to be remounted. The troops from Missouri and Chattanooga were destitute of transportation. Thus in midwinter, at 200 miles from the main base of supplies, and in the presence of a bold and active enemy, he had thrust upon him a task that at any time was almost overwhelming. Some called him “slow," yet, within two weeks from the day when his unsupplied and dismounted army reached Nashville, it was ready to take the field. But. General Grant at City Point grew so impatient over what he considered needless delay, that he issued an order dismissing General Thomas from command, and directing him to report to one of the corps commanders. After a fuller explanation of the causes of the delay, this unexampled order was suspended, but General Grant himself set out for the scene of operations. A terrible storm of sleet and rain, freezing as it fell, came up on 9 December, rendering all movement impossible. On the 14th a thaw began. On the 15th and 16th, in exact accordance with the detailed order of battle, the confident troops of General Thomas, who had never lost faith in their leader, by skilful and energetic movements, completely overthrew the last organized Confederate Army in the southwest. A feeble remnant, despoiled of guns and transportation, came together some weeks later at Tupelo, Mississippi, nearly 250 miles distant. As an army it never again took the field. What General Thomas accomplished in this campaign, and with what means, cannot be better told than in the words of his despatch to General Halleck on 21 December: "I fought the battles of the 15th and 16th with the troops but partially equipped; and notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather and the partial equipment, have been enabled to drive the enemy beyond Duck River, crossing two streams with my troops without the aid of pontoons, and without little transportation to bring up supplies of provisions and ammunition. . . . Too much must not be expected of troops that have to be reorganized, especially when they have the task of destroying a force, "in a winter campaign, which was enabled to make an obstinate resistance to twice its numbers in spring and summer." Following this great victory came the operations of the cavalry as organized by General Thomas in Alabama and Georgia, resulting in the taking of Selma and the capture of Jefferson Davis. But the battle of Nashville was substantially the end of the rebellion in that quarter. For it he received the appointment of major-general in the U. S. Army, accompanied by the assurance of the Secretary of War that "no commander has more justly earned promotion by devoted, disinterested, and valuable services to his country." He also received the thanks of Congress and of the legislature of Tennessee, together with a gold medal presented to him by the latter body on the first anniversary of the battle. With the close of the war, General Thomas bent all his energies to the restoration of peace and order throughout his command. In May. 1869, he was placed in command of the Military Division of the Pacific, and held it until his death. Though he had seen more continuous, varied, and active service than any officer of his age and rank in the army, General Thomas was emphatically a lover of peace. His whole nature and disposition were orderly, gentle, and kindly. He abhorred war, not merely because of its cruelty, but also because of the turmoil and disorder it occasioned. Though a lover of home life, he never was allowed to remain long in one place, the average length of time that he was stationed at any one post being less than five months. He enjoyed the calm and peaceful life of nature, loving trees and flowers and the open air. His range of reading was not very wide, but he was well acquainted with natural science, was a good geologist, expert in woodcraft, and well versed in botany. The museums of the Smithsonian nstitution contain rare and curious specimens contributed by him. In his own profession he was thoroughly trained in all departments, so that, when he was placed in command of a corps, he had had personal experience of every arm of the service. When the war ended he was the only general officer of high rank and distinction (except Sheridan and Hancock) who had served uninterruptedly in the army. He had carefully studied military and international law. and especially the constitution of the United States, and was a thorough believer in the ideas on which the government was based. No man was ever more scrupulous to subordinate the military to the civil power. The general of the army, his classmate and life-long friend, in announcing his death, said: "The very Impersonation of honesty, integrity, and honor, he will stand to posterity as the beauty of the soldier and gentleman. Though he leaves no child to bear his name, the old Army of the Cumberland, numbered by tens of thousands, called him father, and will weep for him in tears of manly grief." He was buried with all the honors of his rank at Troy, New York, on 8 April, 1870. A fine equestrian statue, in bronze, by J. Q. A. Ward, erected by the soldiers of his old army, perpetuates his appearance and features in the capital of the country. (See illustration.) His biography has been written by Thomas B. Van Home (New York, 1882). See also John W. De Peyster's "Sketch of G. H. Thomas" (1870) and James A. Garfield's "Oration before the Society of the Army of the Cumberland," 25 November, 1870 (Cincinnati, 1871). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 79-82.
THOMAS, Henry Goddard, soldier, born in Portland, Maine, 5 April, 1837. He was graduated at Amherst in 1858, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He enlisted as a private in the 5th Maine Volunteers in April, 1861, and was captain in that regiment from June till August, when he was given that rank in the 11th regular Infantry. He was present at the first battle of Bull Run and the action at Snicker's Gap, Virginia, was appointed colonel of the 2d U. S. Colored Regiment in February, 1863, and engaged in the actions of Bristol Station, Rappahannock Station, and Mine Run, Virginia. He then organized the 19th U. S. Colored Regiment, and became its colonel in December, 1863. In February, 1864, he was in command at Camp Birney, Maryland, and he led a brigade in the 9th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from May, 1864, till November, being engaged at the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Petersburg, and Hatcher's Run. He was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 30 November, 1864, transferred to the Army of the James, led a brigade and division in the 25th Corps of that army, and temporarily commanded the corps. During the war he received the brevets of major, 12 May, 1864, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Spottsylvania; lieutenant-colonel, 30 July, 1864, for services at Petersburg; and colonel, brigadier-general, and major-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865, for services during the war. He was honorably mustered out of the volunteer service in 1866, but remained in the United States Army, and is now paymaster, with the rank of major. General Thomas was the first regular officer to accept a colonelcy of colored troops. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 82.
THOMAS, John Addison, soldier, born in Tennessee in 1811; died in Paris, France, 26 March, 1858. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1833, assigned to the 3d U.S. Artillery, served in garrison and as assistant instructor of infantry tactics, and became 2d lieutenant on 1 December, 1835, and 1st lieutenant, 30 June, 1837. In 1840-1 he was assistant professor of geography, history, and ethics at West Point, and in 1842-5 he was commandant of cadets and instructor of infantry tactics. He was made captain on 19 November, 1843, and resigned on 28 May, 1846, to practise law in New York City. On 23 July, 1846, he became colonel of the 4th New York Regiment, which had been raised for the war with Mexico, but was not mustered into service. He was chief engineer of New York State in 1853-'4, and from 19 April. 1853, to 15 January, 1854, was advocate of the United States in London, England, under the convention of 8 February, 1853, with Great Britain for the adjustment of American claims. From 1 November, 1855, till 4 April, 1857, he was assistant U. S. Secretary of State in Washington, D. C. He gained reputation by his report of the convention with Great Britain, and by other state papers. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 85.
THOMAS, Stephen, soldier, born in Bethel, Windsor County, Vermont, 6 December, 1809. He received a common school education, and was apprenticed to the trade of woollen manufacturing. He served in the legislature in 1838-9. 1845-'6, and 1860-1, was a delegate to the state Constitutional Conventions of 1844 and 1851, state senator in 1848-9, register of the probate court of Orange County in 1842-'6, and judge of the same in 1847-9. On 12 November, 1861, he was appointed colonel of volunteers, and enlisted a regiment of infantry and two batteries. He was mustered into the U. S. service on 21 January, 1862, commanding the 8th Vermont Regiment, and was mustered out on 21 January, 1865. On 1 February, 1865, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers and served until 24 August, 1865. In 1867-8 he was Lieutenant-Governor of Vermont. From 1870 till 1877 he was U. S. pension-agent, and since then has engaged in farming in Vermont. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp.
THOMPSON, Edward R., naval officer, born in Pennsylvania about 1808; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 12 February, 1879. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman on 1 December, 1826, became a lieutenant on 8 March, 1837, served during the Mexican War on the brig " Porpoise" and the frigate "Potomac" in the Gulf of Mexico, cruised on the coast of Africa in the " Porpoise " in 1851-'2, and in command of the "Dolphin " in 1856-'7, having been promoted commander on 14 September. 1855. He had charge of the steamer "Seminole" in the early part of the Civil War, but, being unfit for further active service, was placed on the retired list on 3 December, 1861. On 4 April, 1867, his rank was raised to that of commodore. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 89.
THOMPSON, Egbert, naval officer, born in New York City, 6 June, 1820; died in Washington, D. C., 5 January, 1881. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 13 March, 1837, served in Commodore Charles Wilkes's exploring expedition in 1838-'42. and became a passed midshipman, 29 June, 1843. As executive officer of the schooner "Bonita," in the Gulf Squadron during the Mexican War, he participated in the expedition against Front era, and the capture of Tobasco, Tampico, Vera Cruz, and Tuspan. His vessel covered the landing of General Winfield Scott's army at Vera Cruz, and captured several prizes during the war. He served in the steamer " Michigan " on the lakes in 1847-'50, and at Philadelphia Navy-yard in 1850-'l. He was commissioned a lieutenant, 27 September, 1850, and was in the steamer "Fulton" in 1850 when she was wrecked. When the Civil War began he was attached to the steamer " Powhatan," which went to Pensacola Navy-yard, and contributed to the relief of Fort Pickens. He commanded the river ironclad steamer " Pittsburg," in the Mississippi Flotilla, in which he participated in the battle of Fort Donelson, when he was obliged to run her ashore to keep from sinking, ne was commended for gallantry in running the batteries of Island No. 10, for which he received the thanks of the navy department, and he took part in the attacks on Fort Madrid and Fort Pillow, and the battle with the Confederate rams, he was commissioned a commander, 16 July, 1862, served at the rendezvous at Philadelphia in 1863-'4, and commanded the steamer "McDonough" in the South Atlantic Blockade in 1864-'5, and the steamer " Dacotah," of the South Pacific Squadron, in 1866-'7. He was commissioned captain, 26 July, 1867, and was commandant of the Naval Station at Mound City, Illinois, in 1869—'71. He commanded the steam sloop "Canandaigua," of the North Atlantic Squadron, in 1871-'2, and was retired on 6 January, 1874. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 89-90.
THOMPSON, Jacob, cabinet officer, born in Caswell County, North Carolina, 15 Mav, 1810; died in Memphis, Tennessee, 24 March, 1885. He was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1831, admitted to the bar in 1834, and settled in the Chickasaw Country, Mississippi, where he practised law with success. In 1838 he was chosen to Congress as a Democrat, and he served by continued re-election from 1839 till 1857, advocating the repudiation by Mississippi of part of the state bonds and opposing the compromise measures of 1850, on the ground that they were not favorable enough to the south. While he was in Congress he held for some time the chairmanship of the Committee on Indian affairs, and in 1845 he refused an appointment that was tendered him by the governor of Mississippi to a vacancy in the U. S. Senate. President Buchanan made him Secretary of the Interior in 1857, and he held that office till 8 January, 1861, when he resigned, giving as his reason that troops had been ordered to re-enforce Fort Sumter contrary to an agreement that this should not be done without the consent of the cabinet. In acknowledging his letter the president reminded him that the matter had been decided in a cabinet meeting six days before. In December, 1860, while still in office, he had been appointed by the legislature of Mississippi a commissioner to urge on North Carolina the adoption of an ordinance of secession. In 1862-'4 he was governor of Mississippi, and afterward he served as aide-de-camp to General Beauregard. In the summer of 1864 he was sent as a Confederate Commissioner to Canada, where he promoted the plan to release the prisoners of war at Camp Douglas, near Chicago, and to seize that city. He has also been charged with instigating plots to burn northern cities and commit other outrages. After the war he returned to the United States. At his death an order of Sec. Lucius Q. C. Lamar to fly the National flag at half-mast over the buildings of the interior department caused much excitement at the north. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 91.
THOMPSON, Maurice, author, born in Fairfield, Indiana, 9 September, 1844. His parents, who were southerners, moved to Kentucky, and thence to the hill-region of northern Georgia. The son was educated by private tutors, and early became interested in the study of out-door life. He served through the Civil War in the Confederate Army, and at its close went to Indiana, became a civil engineer on a railway survey, and in due season rose to be chief engineer. He then studied law, and opened an office at Crawfordsville. He was elected in 1879 to the legislature, and appointed in 1885 state geologist of Indiana and chief of the department of natural history. He has written much for periodicals, and has published in book-form " Hoosier Mosaics" (New York, 1875); "The Witchery of Archery" (1878); "A Tallahassee Girl " (Boston, 1882); "His Second Campaign " (1882); "Songs of Fair Weather" (1883); "At Love's Extremes" (1885); "Byways and Bird Notes" (1885); "The Bovs' Book of 'Sports" (1886); "A Banker of Bankersville" (1886); "Sylvan Secrets" (1887); "The Story of Louisiana," in the " Commonwealth Series " (1888); and " A Fortnight of Folly" (New York, 1888). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 94.
THOMPSON, Merriwether Jeff, soldier, born in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, 22 January, 1826; died in St. Joseph, Missouri, in July, 1876. He was educated in the common schools, was mayor of the city of St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1859, and was appointed brigadier-general in the Missouri state guards early in 1861, and in the Confederate Army in October of that year. He was a most successful scout and partisan officer, and achieved frequent successes by strategy and daring against greatly superior forces. He was held in high regard by General Sterling Price and General Leonidas Polk, under both of whom he served. He recruited his command personally, and, as a rule, clothed, armed, and subsisted them without expense to the Confederate government. He was the inventor of a hemp-break, which is now in general use, and an improved pistol-lock. He surveyed, as civil engineer, the greater part of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad and parts of the Kansas and Nebraska road. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 94.
THOMPSON, John Leverett, soldier, born in Plymouth, New Hampshire, 2 February, 1835; died in Chicago, Illinois, 31 January, 1888, was the son of William C. Thompson. He studied at Dartmouth and Williams, and read law in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Poughkeepsie, New York, and then at Harvard laws school, where he was graduated in 1858. He was admitted to the bar at. Worcester, and continued his studies in Berlin, Munich, and Paris. In 1860 he settled in Chicago, and at the opening of the Civil War enlisted as a private of artillery. He rose to be corporal, and was made lieutenant in the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, in which he was commissioned captain, 3 December, 1861; major, 3 July, 1862; lieutenant-colonel on 11 July; and colonel on 4 January, 1863. In March, 1864, He took command of the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry. He served first with the Army of the Potomac, and in 1864 with Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley, taking part in many engagements, and at the close of the war received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers. In 1866 he formed a law-partnership with Norman Williams. General Thompson was connected with the work of the Citizens' association, and was president of the Union League Club of Chicago. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 95.
THOMPSON, William Tappan, humorist, born in Ravenna, Ohio, 31 August, 1812; died in Savannah, Georgia, 24 March, 1882. His father was a Virginian and his mother a native of Dublin, Ireland, and the son was the first white child that was born in the Western Reserve. He lost his mother at the age of eleven, and moved to Philadelphia with his father, who died soon afterward, and the lad entered the office of the Philadelphia "Chronicle." This he left to become secretary to James D. Wescott, territorial governor of Florida, with whom he also studied law, but in 1835 he went to Augusta, Georgia. and became associated with Judge Augustus B. Longstreet in editing the " States Rights Sentinel." He served as a volunteer against the Seminoles in 1835-6, and in the autumn of the latter year established at Augusta the " Mirror," the first purely literary paper in the state. It was not a financial success, and was merged in the " Family Companion" at Macon, whither Mr. Thompson moved. Afterward he conducted the "Miscellany" in Madison, Georgia, to which he contributed his "Major Jones Letters," which first won him a reputation, and which were afterward collected in book form as "Major Jones's Courtship" (Philadelphia, 1840; unauthorized ed., entitled "Rancy Cottem's Courtship, by Major Joseph Jones "). In 1845 he became associated with Park Benjamin in the publication at Baltimore of the " Western Continent," a weekly, of which he was afterward sole editor and proprietor, but he sold it in 1850, and, removing to Savannah, founded the "Morning News," with which he remained connected till his death. During the Civil War he was aide to Governor Joseph E. Brown, and in 1864 he served in the ranks as a volunteer. He was at one time one of the wardens of the Port of Savannah, sat in the State Constitutional Convention of 1877, and was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention of 1868. His political editorials were forcible and often bitter, but in private life he was simple and genial. His humorous works at one time were widely popular. Besides the one mentioned above, they include "Major Jones's Chronicles of Pineville" (1843: new and unauthorized ed., entitled " Major Jones's Georgia Scenes"); "Major Jones's Sketches of Travel" (1848); "The Live Indian," a farce; and a dramatization of " The Vicar of Wakefield," which was produced with success in this country and abroad. He also edited " Hotchkiss's Codification of the Statute Laws of Georgia" (1845). After his death another collection of his sketches was published by his daughter, Mrs. May A. Wade, with the title "John's Alive, or the Bride of a Ghost, and other Sketches" (Philadelphia, 1883). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 95-96.
THOMPSON, William, surgeon, born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 28 January, 1833, was educated in the Academy of Chambersburg and under private tutors, and was graduated at Jefferson Medical College in 1855. Soon afterward he had a lucrative practice at Lower Merion, near Philadelphia, which he relinquished in 1861 in order to enter the regular army as assistant surgeon. He was with the Army of the Potomac throughout the Civil War, either in the field or at Washington. For his services after the battle of South Mountain he received the thanks of President Lincoln. He originated two reforms for improving the medical field service: the system of brigade supplies, and the division hospital system. Both these reforms were extended to all the armies by the war department. He was raised to the post of medical inspector of the Department of Washington in 1864, received two brevets, and after the war was sent to Louisiana, but he resigned from the army, 25 February, 1866. Dr. Thomson introduced the local use of carbolic acid as a disinfectant in the treatment of wounds, published an article on the treatment of hospital gangrene by bromine, and was the first, in conjunction with Dr. William F. Norris, successfully to apply the negative process of photography by wet collodion in clinical microscopy. The Army Medical museum has been largely indebted to Dr. Thomson for its success, and in its catalogue he is mentioned as the largest contributor both of papers and specimens. Since his retirement from the army Dr. Thomson has practised his profession in Philadelphia. He was elected vice-president of the ophthalmological section of the International Medical Congress that met in Philadelphia in 1870, has lectured at Wills hospital on diseases of the eye for many veal's, and was elected its emeritus surgeon in 1877. He has been clinical lecturer on diseases of the eye and ear in Jefferson Medical College since 1873, and ophthalmic surgeon to the college hospital since 1877. Among his important contributions to medical literature are a series of papers published in the "American Journal of the Medical Sciences," in conjunction with Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, on the use of the ophthalmoscope in the diagnosis of intracranial tumors, and clinical reports of cases of severe and prolonged headache, dependent upon astigmatism, which have been relieved by the correction of optical defects. He revised the section on diseases and injuries of the eye in Dr. Samuel D. Gross's "System of Surgery," and has invented a new method of diagnosing and correcting ametropia by means of a simple instrument, which is now in general use among ophthalmological surgeons in this country and Europe. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 96-97.
THOMPSON, Frank, railway superintendent, born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 5 July, 1841, was educated at Chambersburg Academy, and in 1858 began to learn the railway business in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's shops at Altoona. Colonel Thomas A. Scott appointed him to a responsible position in the U. S. military railway system early in 1861, and he was sent to Alexandria, Virginia, where he assisted in rebuilding bridges and restoring shops, machinery, and rolling stock. On 1 July, 1862, he was transferred to General Don Carlos Buell's army, but, after accompanying it during its march through Kentucky, he returned to the Army of the Potomac. He was then engaged in directing the lines of railroad that played an important part in the Antietam Campaign, and was subsequently made assistant superintendent of the lines south of Acquia Creek. He co-operated with Colonel Scott in removing the 11th and 12th Corps, with their full equipment of artillery and wagons, to Chattanooga, and was afterward given control of the lines south of Nashville, which he rendered capable of transmitting sufficient re-enforcements and supplies to relieve the National Army from its embarrassments, and enable it to assume the offensive. He resigned from the military service in 1864, and on 1 June of that year became superintendent of the eastern division of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. While holding this office he organized a system of track-inspection which was adopted by the entire road, and made improvements in the construction of the roadway. In 1873 he was made superintendent of motive power on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and in 1874 became its general manager. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 97.
THORNBURGH, Thomas T., soldier, born in Tennessee about 1843; died near White River Agency, Wyoming, 29 September, 1879. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy, and promoted 2d lieutenant in the 2d U.S. Artillery in 1867. At the opening of the Civil War and prior to his admission to West Point he enlisted in the 6th East Tennessee Volunteers in 1861, and passed rapidly through the grades of private, sergeant-major, lieutenant, and adjutant. He took part in the battle of Mill Spring, Morgan's retreat to the Ohio, and of Stone River. As an officer of artillery he served in garrison in California (excepting a tour of duty at the artillery-school) until 1870, and as professor of military science at East Tennessee University till 1873, having been promoted 1st lieutenant in April, 1870. In April, 1875, he was appointed paymaster with rank of major, serving in that department until May, 1878, when he exchanged into the 4th U. S. Infantry, with the same rank. He commanded the post of Fort Fred Steele, Wyoming, until 1879, when he was killed while in command of an expedition against the Ute Indians. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 102.
THORTON, Gustavus Brown, sanitarian. born, in Bowling Green, Virginia. 22 February, 1835. was graduated at the Memphis Medical College in 1858, and at the medical department of the University of New York in 1860. At the beginning of the Civil War he served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army, and in 1862-'5 was chief surgeon of a division. In 1868 he was appointed physician in charge of the Memphis City hospital, and continued so until in 1879, when he became president of the Memphis board of health; also since 1880 he has been a member of the Tennessee state board of health, both of which appointments he still holds. Dr. Thornton acquired reputation by his heroism and skill during the three great yellow-fever epidemics In Memphis in 1873-'8 and 1879. He is a member of various sanitary and medical societies, and was in 1882 president of the Tennessee State Medical Society. In addition to his official reports as president of the Memphis board of health, he has contributed numerous memoirs on sanitary subjects to the "Proceedings of the American Public Health Association" and to the transactions of other societies of which he is a member. These include "Yellow Fever, Pathology and Treatment" (1880); "Memphis Sanitation and Quarantine in 1879 and 1880'' (1880); "The Negro Mortality of Memphis" (1882); "Sanitation of the Mississippi Valley " (1884); "Gulf Coast Quarantine " (1884); and " Six Years' Sanitary Work in Memphis " (1886). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 103.
THORNTON, James Shepard, naval officer, born in Merrimack, New Hampshire, 25 February, 1820; died in Germantown, Pennsylvania, 14 May, 1875. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 15 January, 1841, served in the sloop "John Adams" in the Gulf Squadron during the Mexican War, and became a passed midshipman, 10 August, 1840. He resigned from the navy, 9 May, 1850, but was reinstated in 1854, promoted to master, 14 September. 1855, and to lieutenant the next day. During the civil war he served in the brig "Bainbridge " on the Atlantic coast in 1861, was executive officer of the flag-ship " Hartford "at the passage of the forts and batteries below New Orleans, and in the engagement with the Confederate fleet, with the ram "Arkansas " and the batteries at Vicksburg, during which he served with great credit. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 10 July, 1862, and had charge of the steam gunboat " Winona" in engagements at Mobile, where he made a reconnaissance of Fort Gaines in sounding approaches under fire, and destroyed several Confederate steamers. He was the executive officer of the "Kearsarge" in the fight with the "Alabama," off Cherbourg, and was given a vote of thanks, and advanced thirty numbers in his grade for his gallantry in this victory. He served at the U.S. Navy-yard at Portsmouth, NEW HAMPSHIRE, in 1866-'7, was promoted to commander, 25 July, 1866, and commissioned captain, 24 May, 1872. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 104.
THORNTON. William A., soldier, born in New York state in 1803: died on Governor's Island, New York harbor, 6 April, 1866. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1825, and assigned to the artillery. He was made captain of ordnance on 7 July, 1838, commanded the ordnance depot in New York and the Watervliet and St. Louis Arsenals, served on boards for the trial of small arms and cannon, and was inspector of contract arms in 1858-'61. He was promoted major on 28 May, 1861, and was commander of Watervliet Arsenal till 1863, and subsequently inspector of contract arms and ordnance till his death, being promoted lieutenant-colonel of ordnance on 3 March, 1863, colonel on 15 September, 1863, and brigadier-general by brevet on 13 March. 1865. During the last year of his life he was commandant of the New York Arsenal on Governor's Island. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 105.
THROCKMORTON, James Webb, governor of Texas, born in Sparta, Tennessee, 1 February, 1825. He accompanied his father to Texas in 1841, became a lawyer, and entered the legislature in 1851, serving continuously in one branch or the other till the beginning of the Civil War. He was a member of the convention that passed the ordinance of secession, against which he voted, with six others, but he joined the Confederate Army in the spring of 1861, and served as a captain, and afterward as a major till November, 1863, when he resigned in order to take his seat again in the state senate. In 1864 he was appointed a brigadier-general of state troops, and in May, 1864, was placed by the state military authorities in command on the northwestern border of Texas, where he made treaties with the Comanches, Cheyennes, and other tribes, returning from the plains in June, 1865, after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention that was called in accordance with President Johnson's proclamation in 1865, and was elected its president. In 1863 he was chosen governor for four years, but in 1867 he was removed from office by General Philip II. Sheridan's orders. He was elected to Congress, taking his seat on 6 December, 1875, and served through two terms. On 3 December, 1883, he re-entered the house, and in 1885 he was re-elected. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 106-107.
THURSTON, Charles Mynn, soldier, born in Lexington, Kentucky, 22 February, 1786; died in Cumberland, Maryland, 18 February, 1873, entered the U. S. Military Academy in 1813, and in July, 1814, was commissioned as lieutenant of artillery, and assigned to duty on Governor's Island, New York Harbor, where he was engaged in erecting fortifications till the close of the war with Great Britain. He became adjutant of his regiment in 1821, and during the Florida war in 1835-'6 was acting adjutant-general of the Florida army. Resigning on 31 August, 1836, he settled on a farm at Cumberland, Maryland. He became president of a bank in 1838, and mayor in 1861. At the beginning of the Civil War he entered the volunteer service as brigadier-general, and served in guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad till April, 1862. when he resigned. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 107-108.
THURSTON, Gates Phillips, soldier, born in Dayton, Ohio, 11 June, 1835, was graduated at Miami University in 1855. studied law. and began practice in Dayton, where he entered the volunteer service at the beginning of the Civil War as a captain in the 1st Ohio Infantry. He was promoted major and assistant adjutant-general on 4 September. 1863, and subsequently lieutenant-colonel, for special acts of gallantry at Shiloh and Stone River, and was brevetted colonel and brigadier-general of volunteers for gallantry at Chickamauga. Since the war he has followed his profession at Nashville, Tennessee. He is corresponding secretary of the Tennessee Historical Society, has contributed articles on military history and other subjects to northern and southern magazines, and has in preparation an illustrated work on the mound-builders, describing recent discoveries in the vicinity of Nashville and elsewhere. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 108.
THURSTON, Robert Henry, mechanical engineer, born in Providence, Rhode Island, 25 October, 1839, received his early training in the workshops of his father and was graduated in the scientific course at Brown in 1859. After two years' experience with his father's company, he entered the U. S. Navy as third assistant engineer, and served on various vessels during the Civil War. He was present at the battle of Port Royal and at the siege of Charleston, and was attached to the North and South Atlantic Squadrons until 1865, when he was detailed as assistant professor of natural and experimental philosophy at the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he also lectured on chemistry. In 1870 he visited Europe for the purpose of studying the British iron manufacturing districts, and on 1 April, 1872, he resigned from the navy, after attaining the rank of 1st assistant engineer. Meanwhile, in 1871, he had been called to the chair of mechanical engineering at the Stevens institute of technology, where he remained until 1885, when he was appointed director of the Sibley College of Cornell University with the professorship of mechanical engineering. In 1871, on behalf of a committee of the American institute, he made a series of experiments on steam-boilers, in which for the first time all losses of heat were noted, and, by condensing all the steam that was generated, the quantity of water "entrained" by the steam was measured. Professor Thurston was appointed a member of the U. S. Commission to the World's Fair in Vienna in 1873. and, besides serving on the international jury, edited the " Reports of the United States Commissioners to the International Exhibition, Vienna. 1873" (4 vols., Washington, 1875-'6). which includes his own special "Report on Machinery and Manufactures." He was a member of the U. S. commission on the causes of boiler-explosions, and of the U. S. board to test iron, steel, and other metals. His extensive knowledge of matters connected with mechanical engineering has led to his being called upon frequently to testify in court on disputed points as an expert. The degree of doctor of engineering was conferred on him by Stevens institute of technology in 188.5, and he is a regular, honorary, or corresponding member of various scientific and technical societies at home and abroad. He was vice-president of the American association for the advancement of science in 1877-'8 and 1884, vice-president of the American institute of mining engineers in 18?8-'9. and president of the American society of mechanical engineers in 1880-'3. Professor Thurston has invented a magnesium burning-lamp, an autographic-recording testing-machine, a newform of steam-engine governor, an apparatus for determining the value of lubricants, and various other devices. He is the author of about 250 papers, including contributions to " The Popular Science Monthly, 'Journal of the Franklin Institute," "Van Nostrand's Magazine," "Science," "The Forum," and like periodicals, and addresses before scientific and other societies. His books are " History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine" (New York, 1878): "Friction and Lubrication" (1879); "Materials of Engineering" (3 vols., 1884-'6); "Friction mid Lost Work in Machinery and Mill Work" (1884); "Text-Book of the Materials of Construction " (1885): "Stationary Steam-Engines for Electric Lighting Purposes " (1884); "Steam-Boiler Explosions in Theory and in Practice-' (1887); and "A Manual of Steam Boilers: their Design. Construction, and Management" (1888). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 109-110.
TIBBITS, William Badger, soldier, born in Hoosick, New York, 31 March, 1837: died in Troy, New York, 10 February, 1880, was graduated at Union in 1859, began the study of law, and engaged in manufacturing. At President Lincoln's first call for troops he recruited a company, and was mustered into the service as captain on 14 May, 1861. He was engaged at Big Bethel., Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Bristow Station, and the second battle of Bull Run, was promoted major of the 2d New York Volunteer Infantry on 13 October, 1862, participated in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and, when his term of service expired, raised a regiment that was called the Griswold light Cavalry, of which he was made colonel, his commission dating from 20 November, 1863. He served under General Julius Stahel, first encountering the enemy at New Market on 15 May, 1864. He was present at Piedmont on 5 June, was constantly engaged during the following three months, taking part in numerous actions, and was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers on 17 November. At the close of the war he was ordered to the west with his command. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers on 13 March, 1865, commissioned as brigadier-general on 18 October, 1865, and mustered out on 15 January, 1866, returning to Troy with health impaired by injuries received in the service. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 110.
TIDBALL, John Caldwell, soldier, born in Ohio County, Virginia (now West Virginia), 25 January. 1825. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1848, being assigned to the 3d U.S. Artillery. He served fit the various stations of his regiment until 1861, when, having attained the rank of captain, he was placed in command of a battery, and engaged in the principal actions of the Army of the Potomac from the battle of Bull Run until and including the battle of Gettysburg in 1863. During the latter part of the campaign in Pennsylvania Captain Tidball commanded a brigade of horse artillery. He was appointed colonel of the 4th New York Volunteer Artillery, 28 August, 1863, and commanded the artillery of the 2d Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Richmond Campaign, including the battles of the Wilderness and the siege of Petersburg. He was commandant of cadets at West Point from 10 July till 22 September, 1864, and led the artillery of the 9th Corps from 9 October, 1864, till 2 April, 1865, in the operations that terminated in the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. After he was mustered out of the volunteer service he commanded his battery at the Presidio of San Francisco until his promotion in February, 1867, to major of the 2d U.S. Artillery, thence serving in command of the district of Astoria and Alaska, and the post of Raleigh, North Carolina, and as superintendent of artillery instruction at the U. S. artillery-school at, Fort Monroe, Virginia, till January, 1880. He was then appointed aide-de-camp to the general of the army, with rank of colonel, serving until 8 February, 1884. He became lieutenant-colonel of the 3d U.S. Artillery, 30 June, 1882, and colonel of the 1st U.S. Artillery, 22 March, 1885, and has commanded the artillery-school and post of Fort Monroe since 1 November, 1883. In 1889 he will be retired from active service. He has received the brevets of brigadier-general of volunteers for gallant and distinguished services at Spotsylvania, major-general of volunteers for services at Fort Sedgwick, major in the regular army for Gaines's Mills, lieutenant-colonel for Antietam. colonel for gallantry at Fort Stedman, and brigadier-general, 13 March, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services during the rebellion. General Tidball is the author of a " Manual of Heavy Artillery Service" which has been adopted by the war department (Washington, 1880). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 112-113.
TILLSON, Davis, soldier, born in Rockland. Maine, 14 April, 1830. He entered the U. S. Military Academy in 1849, but two years later, having injured his foot so that it required amputation, he resigned. In 1857 he was elected to the Maine legislature, and in 1858 became adjutant-general of the state. On the inauguration of President Lincoln he was appointed collector of customs of the Waldoboro District, which place he resigned in 1861 to become captain of the 2d Maine Battery. He went to Washington in April, 1862 (having been detained in Maine during the winter, owing to the threatened difficulty with England on account of the '"Trent" affair), and was assigned to the Army of the Rappahannock under General Irvin McDowell. On 22 May he was promoted major and made chief of artillery in General Edward O. C. Ord's division. After the battle of Cedar Mountain, 9 August, 1862, he was assigned to General McDowell's staff as chief of artillery, in which capacity he served during the three days' artillery fight at Rappahannock Station, and then at the second battle of Bull Run. Subsequently, until April, 1863. he was inspector of artillery, and in January was made lieutenant-colonel, and on 29 March was ordered to Cincinnati, having been commissioned brigadier-general to date from 29 November, 1862, and made chief of artillery for fortifications in the Department of the Ohio. He had charge of the defences of Cincinnati and the works on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and raised and organized two regiments of heavy artillery. In December, 1863, he was ordered to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he supervised various works and was given a brigade in the 23d Army Corps, which he commanded in several engagements with Confederate cavalry and irregular troops during the winter of 1863-'4. He continued in charge of the works in this district, which were officially commended as the best in the military Division of the Mississippi, and also organized the 1st U. S. Heavy Artillery of colored troops and the 3d North Carolina Mounted Infantry. Subsequently he had command of the District of East Tennessee until early in 1865, when he was transferred to the 4th Division of the Department of the Cumberland, and held that command until the close of the war. He then offered his resignation; but his services were retained, and he remained on duty until 1 December, 1866, in charge of the Freedman’s Bureau at Memphis, and subsequently in Georgia. For a year he remained in Georgia after his resignation, engaged in cotton-planting, but then disposed of his interests there and returned to Rockland, Maine, where he has since been engaged in the granite business. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 119.
TIPTON, Thomas W., senator, born in Cadiz, Ohio, 5 August, 1817. He was graduated at Madison College, Pennsylvania, became a lawyer, and was elected to the legislature of Ohio in 1845, but, after some time, settled in Nebraska. He was elected a delegate to the Constitutional convention there, and became in 1860 a member of the territorial council. Subsequently he studied for the ministry, was appointed chaplain in the National Army, and served during the Civil War. He was U. S. Senator from Nebraska from 4 March, 1867. till 3 March, 1875. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 123.
TODD, John Blair Smith, soldier, born in Lexington, Kentucky, 4 April, 1814; died in Yankton, Dakota, 5 January, 1872. He went with his parents to Illinois in 1827, and from that state to the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated in 1837 and assigned to the 6th U.S. Infantry. He was made 1st lieutenant on 25 December, served with his regiment in the Florida war from 1837 till 1840, was on recruiting service during part of 1841, and in active service in the Florida War during the remainder of that year and part of 1842. He was made captain in 1843, and was on frontier duty in Indian Territory and Arkansas until 1846. He served in the war with Mexico in 1847, taking part in the siege of Vera Cruz and the battles of Cerro Gordo and Amazoque. He was on garrison and frontier duty till 1855. when he was engaged in the action of Blue Water against the Sioux Indians. He resigned on 16 September, 1850, and was an Indian trader at Fort Randall, Dakota, from that date till 1861, when he took his seat as a delegate to Congress, having been chosen as a Democrat. He served in the Civil War as brigadier-general of volunteers from 19 September, 1861, till 17 July, 1862, and was in command of the North Missouri District from 15 October to 1 December, 1861. He was again a delegate in Congress in 1863-'5, was elected speaker of the House of Representatives of Dakota in 1867, and was governor of the territory in 1869-'71. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 126-127.
TOMPKINS, Daniel D., soldier, born in New York in 1799; died in Brooklyn. New York, 20 February, 1803, was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1820, entered the ordnance corps, and on the reorganization of the army was made 2d lieutenant of artillery, the ordnance department being at that time merged in the artillery, with commission dating from 1 July, 1821 He was promoted 1st lieutenant on 1 March, 1835, and captain on 31 December, 1835, and in the Florida war against the Seminole Indians distinguished himself in the skirmish at San Velasco, in the battle of Wahoo Swamp, and in other actions, and was brevetted major on 11 September, 1836. He was appointed captain and assistant quartermaster on 7 July, 1838, became a major on the staff on 22 July, 1842, and during the Mexican War had charge of the forwarding of supplies from Philadelphia, receiving the brevet of lieutenant-colonel on 30 May, 1848, for meritorious performance of duties connected with the prosecution of the war. He was made a full lieutenant-colonel on 16 September, 1851, and colonel and assistant quartermaster-general on 22 December, 1856, and from the beginning of the Civil War till the time of his death he served as depot quartermaster in New York City, furnishing supplies to the armies in the field.—A son of the second Daniel D., Charles H., soldier, born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, 12 September, 1830, was educated at Kinsley's school at West Point, New York, and for two years at the U. S. Military Academy, but resigned without completing the course. He entered the service in 1856 in the dragoons, and after an enlistment of three years on the frontier, during which he passed through the principal noncommissioned grades, he was appointed 2d lieutenant in the 2d U. S. Cavalry, 23 March, 1861, and was promoted 1st lieutenant in April of the same year. While commanding a squadron of his regiment, the 5th U.S. Cavalry, within the defences of Washington, he made a "dashing reconnaissance in the direction of Fairfax Court-House, Virginia, 31 May, 1861. It was at night and resulted in the capture of two outposts of the enemy, with an estimated loss of twenty-five Confederates. Lieutenant Tompkins charged three times through the town, losing several men and horses, including two chargers which were shot under him. As one of the first cavalry affairs of the war, it attracted wide attention. Subsequently he served in the battle of Bull Run and upon the staff of General George Stoneman. He was appointed captain and assistant quartermaster, served for a few months as colonel of the 1st Vermont Cavalry, as lieutenant-colonel and quartermaster of volunteers in 1865-'6, and colonel and quartermaster in 1866-'7. He was made deputy quartermaster-general in the regular army in 1866, and assistant quartermaster-general with rank of colonel, 24 January, 1881. He participated in the operations of General Nathaniel P. Banks and General John Pope in the Shenandoah Campaign, and was recommended for the appointment of brigadier-general of volunteers for conspicuous services at the battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia. He has served from 1865 till 1888 as chief quartermaster of the principal military divisions of the army, and was at the last-named date chief quartermaster of the Division of the Atlantic. He was brevetted major for Fairfax Court-House, lieutenant-colonel for the Shenandoah Campaign, and colonel and brigadier-general. 13 March, 1865, for meritorious services during the war. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 130-131.
TOOMBS, Robert, senator, born in Wilkes County, Georgia. 2 July, 1810; died in Washington, Georgia, 15 December, 1885. He studied at the University of Georgia, was graduated at Union College in 1828, attended lectures in the law department of the University of Virginia the next year, and in 1830, by a special act of the legislature, was admitted to the bar before he had attained his majority. He then settled in his native county, subsequently attaining a reputation such as few lawyers ever enjoyed in the state. When the war with the Creek Indians in 1836 he raised a company of volunteers, led them as their captain, and served under General Winfield Scott until the close of hostilities. He was in the legislature in 1837-'40, and in 1842-'3 took an active part in politics, and was a leader of the so-called "State-rights Whigs." He supported William H. Harrison for the presidency in 1840, and Henry Clay in 1844, and in the latter year was chosen to Congress as a Southern Whig. His first speech in the House of Representatives was on the Oregon question, and placed him among the first debaters and orators in that body. He was active in the compromise measures in 1850, and greatly contributed to their passage. After eight years' service in the house he took his seat in the U. S. Senate in March, 1853, holding office by re-election till 1861. As a senator he was intolerant, dogmatic, and extreme, but able and eloquent. He believed in the absolute sovereignty of the states, and that it was a necessity for the south both to maintain and extend slavery. He advocated disunion with all the force of his oratory, and after the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency made a series of speeches in Georgia in which he asserted that the north would no longer respect the constitutional rights of the south, and that secession was the only remedy. When the state convention met in 1861, he was mainly instrumental in securing the majority of votes on the resolution to secede. He resigned his seat in the U. S. Senate in January, 1861, and in March was formally expelled from that body. He was a member of the Confederate Congress at its first session, and but for a misunderstanding might have been chosen president of the Confederacy. After the election of Jefferson Davis he became Secretary of State, but resigned in a few weeks to take the commission of brigadier-general in the army. He fought at the second battle of Bull Run and at the Antietam, but resigned and returned to Georgia. In 1864 he commanded the militia, of which he was brigadier-general. After the war he eluded arrest as a political prisoner, and passed two years in Cuba, France, and England, but returned on the restoration in 1867 of the privilege of habeas corpus, resumed practice, and accumulated an estate that was estimated at about $500,000. As he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the U. S. government, he was debarred from all the rights and privileges of citizenship. He was a member of the Georgia Democratic State Convention in 1872, and advocated Horace Greeley as a candidate for the presidency. In 1874 he began the railroad war, to which he devoted his energies until his death. The legislature of that year had passed a law taxing railroads as all other property was taxed. The railroads resisted, and General Toombs, in behalf of the state, took the matter into court, established the principle that they should pay the same taxes as other property, and collected $300,000, including some arrears of taxes. In the state convention of 1877 he introduced a resolution providing for the appointment of three commissioners who should have the power to oversee the business of the roads, to make and unmake rates, and to order improvements. In accordance with this provision, the next legislature adopted what is known as the commission railroad law. He continued his hostility to the United States government until his death. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 133.
TORBERT, Alfred Thomas Archimedes, soldier, born in Georgetown, Delaware, 1 July, 1833; died at sea, 30 September, 1880. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1855. assigned to the 5th U.S. Infantry, served on frontier duty during the next five years in Texas and Florida, on the Utah Expedition, and in New Mexico, being promoted 1st lieutenant, 25 February, 1861. In April, 1861, he was sent to muster in New Jersey Volunteers, and was made colonel, on 16 September, of the 1st New Jersey Regiment. On 25 September, 1861, he was promoted to captain in the 5th U. S. Infantry. Colonel Torbert served through the Peninsula Campaign, was given a brigade in the 6th corps on 28 August, 1862, and fought in the battle of Manassas on the two following days. He also took part in the Maryland Campaign, and was wounded at the battle of Crampton's Gap, 14 September, where he made a brilliant bayonet charge. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers on 29 November, 1862, and was at Gettysburg. He fought his last battle in the infantry at Rappahannock Station, 7 November, 1863, and in April. 1864, was placed in command of the 1st Division of Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, participating in the skirmishes at Milford station and North Anna River. He commanded at Hanover town, and then participated in the cavalry battle at Hawes's shop, 28 May, for which he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, U. S. Army. He also repelled the enemy at Matadequin Creek, 30 May, and drove them close to Cold Harbor. He took that place on the 31st with cavalry alone, after a severe fight, before the arrival of the infantry, and held it the next day against repeated assaults. He was now ordered by General Sheridan, with another division, to make a raid to Charlottesville, had the advance, and commanded at Trevillian station on 11 June. On 8 August. 1864. General Torbert was made chief of cavalry of the middle military division, and given command of three divisions when General Sheridan took command of the Army of the Shenandoah. When Sheridan was closely pressed at Winchester, Torbert was especially active with the cavalry and aided in putting the enemy to flight, for which he was brevetted colonel on 19 September, 1864. He had been brevetted major-general of volunteers on the previous 9 September. Returning through the valley, he halted after several actions at the command of General Sheridan, and fought the cavalry battle at Toms River on 9 October, completely routing General Thomas L. Rosser's command, and pursuing it many miles. On 19 October, at Cedar Greek, General Torbert assisted the 6th Corps in holding the pike to Winchester against desperate assaults. He commanded at Liberty Mills and Gordonsville on 23-23 December,1864, when his active service ended. After his return from a leave of absence on 27 February, 1865, he was in command of the Army of the Shenandoah, 22 April till 12 July, 1865, of the District of Winchester till 1 September, and of southeastern Virginia till 31 December. On 13 March, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier-general, U. S. Army, for Cedar Creek, and major-general for gallant and meritorious services during the war. He was mustered out of the volunteer service, 15 January, 1865, and resigned from the regular army, 31 October, 1866. He was appointed in 1869 minister to San Salvador, transferred as consul-general to Havana two years later, and filled the same post at Paris from 1873 till his resignation in 1878. He lost his life, while on his way to Mexico as president of a mining company, on the steamer "Vera Cruz," which foundered off the coast of Florida. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 134-135.
TOTTEN, Benjamin J., naval officer, born in the West Indies in 1806; died in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 9 May, 1877. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 2 March, 1823, became a passed midshipman, 20 February, 1830, was promoted to lieutenant, 29 March, 1834, and was commissioned a commander, 14 September, 1855. He was in charge of the sloop "Vincennes " in 1858-'60 on the coast of Africa to suppress the slave-trade, and the " Brandy wine " of the North Atlantic Squadron, 1862-'3, most of the time being stationed at Hampton Roads, Virginia. He was placed on the reserved list in July, 1862, and served at the naval rendezvous at New Bedford, Massachusetts, during the rest of the war after May, 1863. He was retired, 1 October, 1864, and promoted to commodore on the retired list, 4 April, 1867, after which he was governor of the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia for two years. He was the author of "Totten's Naval Text-Book" (Boston, 1841; revised eds., New York, 1862 and 1864). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 140.
TOTTEN, James, soldier, born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 11 September, 1818; died in Sedalia. Missouri, 1 October, 1871. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1841, became 1st lieutenant in 1847, engaged in the Florida War against the Seminole Indians in 1849-50, and became captain in 1855. He aided in quelling the Kansas disturbances in 1857-'8, and in expelling intruders from the Indian reserves in Kansas and Arkansas in 1860. While in command of Little Rock Arsenal in February, 1861, he was compelled to evacuate that post by a superior Confederate force under Governor Henry M. Rector. He served under General Nathaniel Lyon and General John C. Fremont in the military operations in Missouri as chief of artillery, was engaged at Camp Jackson, Booneville, and Wilson's Creek, and in June was brevetted major in the U. S. Army for Camp Jackson, and lieutenant-colonel in August, 1861, for " gallant and meritorious service " in all these actions. He became major in the 1st Missouri Volunteers, 19 August, 1861, lieutenant-colonel the next month, and assistant inspector-general, with the rank of major, in November. On 12 February, 1862, he became brigadier-general of Missouri Militia, in command of the central district of the state. He then engaged in several actions on the frontier and in pursuit of the enemy beyond Boston Mountains, Arkansas, became inspector-general of the Department of the Missouri in May, 1868, and chief of artillery and chief of ordnance in 1864. He was brevetted colonel, U. S. Army, on 13 March, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious conduct during the siege of Mobile, Alabama," and on the same day brigadier-general in the U. S. Army "for gallant and meritorious service in the field " during the Civil War. He was inspector-general of the Military Division of the Atlantic from 15 August, 1865, till" 27 August, 1866, and became lieutenant-colonel, U. S. Army, and assistant inspector-general, 13 June. 1867. In 1870 he was retired. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 141.
TOTTEN, Joseph Gilbert, soldier, born in New Haven, Connecticut, 23 August, 1788; died in Washington. D. C, 22 April, 1864. He received his earliest education under the direction of his maternal uncle, Jared Mansfield, by whom he was brought up after the death of his mother. After his uncle's occupation of the chair of mathematics at the U. S. Military Academy the boy received an appointment from Connecticut as cadet. In 1805 he was graduated and promoted 2d lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. Meanwhile Captain Mansfield, having been made surveyor-general of Ohio and the western territories, obtained the services of his nephew as secretary of the first systematic survey of any of the new states of the Union. While holding this place he resigned in 1806 from the army, but returned to the engineering corps two years later, and began his career as a military engineer under Colonel Jonathan Williams. His first work was on the construction of Castle Williams and Fort Clinton in New York harbor, of which he had special supervision in 1808-'12; and in July, 1810, he was promoted 1st lieutenant. During the war of 1812 he served as chief engineer of the army under General Stephen Van Rensselaer on the Niagara frontier, and participated in the battle of Queenstown. Subsequently he was chief engineer of the army under General Henry Dearborn in 1813, and of that under General Alexander Macomb in 1814. His services gained for him promotion to captain, and the brevets of major in 1813 and lieutenant-colonel for his conduct at Plattsburg in 1814. At the close of the war he returned to duties in connection with the National coast defences and served chiefly at Newport, Rhode Island, where he had charge of the construction of Fort Adams until 7 December, 1838, when, having passed through the grades of major in 1818 and lieutenant-colonel in 1828. he was appointed colonel and Chief Engineer of the U. S. Army. In connection with the labors incidental to this office, he was intrusted with the inspectorship and supervision of the U. S. Military Academy, which duties he filled until his death. At the beginning of the Mexican War he was called by General Winfield Scott to take charge of the engineering operations of the army that was to invade Mexico. In this capacity he directed the siege of Vera Cruz, for which he was brevetted brigadier-general. He then returned to his official duties in Washington, and, in addition to his regular work, was a member of the light-house board in 1851-8 and 1860-'4, also serving in 1855 as a state commissioner for the preservation of the harbor of New York, and later in similar capacity in Boston. In 1859-'61 he made a reconnaissance of the Pacific Coast of the United States to determine the requisites for its defence, and inspecting fortifications. After the beginning of the civil war he had charge of the Engineer Bureau in Washington, and acted on various military commissions. When the Corps of Engineers and that of Topographical Engineers were consolidated in 1863, he was made brigadier-general on 3 March, and for his long, faithful, and eminent services was brevetted major-general on 21 April, 1864. He was one of the regents of the Smithsonian Institution from its establishment in 1845 until his death. General Totten was interested in natural science and was an authority on the conchology of the northern coast of the United States, publishing occasional papers, in which he described hitherto unknown species. The Gemma Tottenii and the Succinea Tottenii were so named in his honor. He also published papers on mineralogy. The degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Brown in 1829. and. in addition to membership in other scientific societies, he was named by act of Congress in 1863 one of the corporate members of the National Academy of Sciences. He published papers on scientific subjects, which appeared in transactions of societies of which he was a member, and various reports on national defences; and translated from the French "Essays on Hydraulic and Other Cements " (New York, 1842). See a sketch by General John G. Barnard in "Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences" (Washington, 1877). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 141-142.
TOWER, Zealous Bates, soldier, born in Cohasset, Massachusetts, 12 January, 1819. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1841, first in a class of fifty-two, among whom were Horatio G. Wright, Thomas J. Rodman, Nathaniel Lyon, and Don Carlos Buell. He was promoted 2d lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, 1 July, 1841, assigned to duty as assistant to the board of engineers, and in 1842 as principal assistant, professor of engineering at West Point. During the years 1843-'6 he was engaged on the defences of Hampton Roads. He served with great credit in the war with Mexico in 1846-'8, especially at Cerro Gordo, Contreras (where he led the storming column), Chapultepec (where he was wounded), and in the final assault and capture of the city of Mexico. He became 1st lieutenant in April. 1847, and captain, 1 July, 1855. During 1848-'8 he was engaged upon river and harbor improvements, on the building of the San Francisco custom-house, and on the board to project the defences of the Pacific Coast. He was promoted major of engineers, G August, 1861, and assigned as chief engineer of the defence of Fort Pickens. For his conduct there he was appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers, 23 November, 1861, the date of the bombardment. He participated, in command of troops, in the operations in northern Virginia, under General Nathaniel P. Banks and General John Pope, until the second battle of Bull Run, 30 August, 1862, where he was severely wounded. Upon his recovery he served as superintendent of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point from July till September, 1864, when he rejoined the armies in the field as chief engineer of the defences of Nashville, took part in the battle, and held responsible staff offices in the military divisions of the Mississippi and Tennessee until the close of the war. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel of engineers in 1805, and mustered out of volunteer service, 15 January, 1866. Thereafter General Tower was employed in the supervision of the work of improving the great harbors, both for commercial and military purposes, until 13 January. 1874, when he was promoted colonel of engineers, and, having served more than forty years, was, at his own request, retired from active service. He received eight brevets for "gallant and meritorious service" in war—from 1st lieutenant, 18 April, 1847, for Cerro Gordo, to major-general, U. S. Army, 13 March, 1865. General Tower is one of the original members of the Aztec Club, founded in the city of Mexico, 13 October, 1847, by the officers of General Scott's army. He is the author of" An Analytical Investigation of the Possible Velocity of the Ice-Boat," published in “Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 146.
TOWNSEND, Edward Davis, soldier, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 22 August, 1817. His paternal grandfather, David was a surgeon in the Massachusetts line during the Revolution, and his maternal grandfather was Elbridge Gerry. His father, David S. Townsend, was an officer of the U. S. Army and lost a leg at the battle of Chrysler's Field in the war of 1812. Edward was educated at Boston Latin school and at Harvard, and was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1837. He became 2d lieutenant in the 2d U.S. Artillery, 1 July, 1837, was adjutant in 1838-'46, promoted 1st lieutenant in 1838, assistant adjutant-general with brevet rank of captain in 1846, captain in 1848, brevet major in 1852, lieutenant-colonel, 7 March, 1861, colonel, 3 August, 1861, and adjutant-general with rank of brigadier-general, 22 February, 1869. He served during the Florida War in 1837-'8, on the northern frontier during the Canada border disturbances in 1838-'41, and thenceforward in the office of the adjutant-general of the army and as chief of staff to Lieutenant-General Scott in 1861. He was brevetted brigadier general, U. S. Army, 24 September, 1864, "for meritorious and faithful service during the rebellion," and major-general. 13 March. 1865, for "faithful, meritorious, and distinguished services in the adjutant-general's department during the rebellion." He was retired from active service, 15 June, 1880. During the entire Civil War General Townsend was the principal executive officer of the war department, and was perhaps brought into more intimate personal contact with President Lincoln and Secretary of War Stanton than any other military official. As adjutant-general of the army he originated the plan of a U. S. military prison, urged legislation on the subject, and established the prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. General Townsend is a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. He is the author of "Catechism of the Bible—The Pentateuch" (New York, 1859); "Catechism of the Bible—Judges and Kings " (1862); and "Anecdotes of the Civil War in the United States" (1884). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 147-148.
TOWNSEND, Frederick, soldier, born in Albany, New York, 21 September, 1825. He was graduated at Union College in 1844, and admitted to the bar. Having a leaning toward military matters, he became adjutant-general of the state in 1856. He found the militia in a most disordered condition and addressed himself to the task of making it what it ought to be. He prepared an annual report from this department for the first time, and he was reappointed by the next governor of the state. To his efficiency is due the fact that the state of New York sent so many troops to the field in the Civil War. He declined a reappointment as adjutant general in 1861, and organized a regiment, being commissioned colonel. He took part in the battle of Big Bethel, but soon afterward he was commissioned a major in the regular army and resigned his colonelcy. As major his duties led him to organize troops in Columbus, Ohio. Afterward he participated in the battles of Pea Ridge, Stone River, and other engagements at the west. In 1863 he was detailed as assistant provost-marshal-general in Albany, which position he filled for several years. In 1867 he was ordered to California and made a thorough inspection of all the military posts in Arizona. In 1868 he resigned from the army, and he has resided in Albany since that time. In 1878 he was appointed a brigadier-general in the state militia, and he afterward became adjutant-general of the state under Governor Alonzo B. Cornell. In this post he again addressed himself to the condition of the citizen soldiers and increased their numbers to 12,000 effective men. He successfully urged the adoption of a state service uniform and a state military camp. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 148.
TOWNSEND, Robert, naval officer, born in Albany, New York, in 1819; died at sea, off Shanghai, China, 15 August, 1866. He was graduated at Union in 1835, and entered the U. S. Navy the same year as a midshipman. He served in the Mexican War in 1846-'7, was engaged in the capture of Vera Cruz, became 1st lieutenant in 1850, and resigned from the navy in 1851. At the beginning of the Civil War he re-entered the service as acting lieutenant, participated under Admiral David G. Farragut in the passage of the forts below New Orleans, and the taking of that city, and did efficient service in command of the " Miami" in the sounds of North Carolina. He was restored to the regular navy in 1862, with the rank of commander, was in charge of the iron-clad " Essex " at the siege of Port Hudson, and was subsequently division commander under Admiral David D. Porter, and in the Red River Campaign. He became captain in 1866, and afterward was ordered to the East Indian Squadron, where his conduct of affairs at Newchwang, China, preserved the peace of the port, and at the same time did not interfere with the authority of the native officials. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 149.
TOWNSEND, Thomas S., compiler, born in New York City, 27 August, 1829. His father, John R., was a well-known member of the New York bar. The son received a classical education, and at an early age entered the mercantile firm of Lawrence, Trimble and County, New York City. In 1860 he determined to form a chronological history of every important occurrence in connection with the impending Civil War by preserving from the newspapers every statement of value relating to any circumstance that directly or indirectly led to secession, to national complications growing out of the struggle, to the cause, conduct, and results of the rebellion, to personal records of soldiers from the lowest to the highest rank, and to the military and civil history of the Union and the Confederacy. This journalistic record comprises about 120 volumes containing 60,000 pages. William Cullen Bryant said of it: "The age has given birth to few literary undertakings that will bear comparison with this work. The forty academicians who compiled the dictionary of the French language had a far less laborious task." This collection is now in Columbia College library, New York City. He has delivered numerous lectures and addresses on the subject of the war, including an oration on Memorial day, 1885, in Brooklyn, New York, on " The Empire State in the Rebellion." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 149-150.
TOWNSHEND, Norton Strange, educator, born in Clay-Coton, Northamptonshire, England, 20 December, 1815. He came to this country in 1830, and settled with his parents in Avon, Ohio, where he attended school and also taught. Subsequently he began the study of medicine, and was graduated in 1840 at the College of physicians and surgeons in New York. He then went abroad, and, after attending the World's anti-slavery convention in London in July, 1840, as the delegate of the Anti-slavery society of Ohio, he studied in the hospitals of Paris, Edinburgh, and Dublin. In 1841 he returned to Elyria, Ohio, where he settled in the practice of his profession, but in 1848 he was elected to the Ohio legislature, where he was active in securing a repeal of the 'black laws " of that state and the return of Salmon P. Chase to the U. S. Senate. He was a member of the convention that in 1850 framed the present constitution of Ohio, and in the same year was elected as a Democrat to Congress, serving from 1 December 1851, till 3 March, 1853. At the end of his term he was elected to the Ohio Senate, where he introduced measures that led to the founding of an asylum for training imbecile youth, of which institution he was a trustee for twenty-one years. Later he was active with Dr. John S. Newberry and others in the movement that aimed to establish an agricultural college in Ohio. In 1858 he was chosen a member of the board of agriculture and served till 1863, also in 1868-9. Early in 1863 he was appointed medical inspector in the U. S. Army, and he served in that capacity until the end of the Civil War. In 1867 he was named a member of the committee that was appointed to examine and report upon the system of wool appraisement and duties in the custom-houses of Boston, New York, and elsewhere, prior to the tariff revision of that year. He was appointed professor of agriculture in Iowa agricultural college in 1869, but resigned a year later to accept the appointment of trustee and assist in founding the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Ohio, in which institution, now known as the University of Ohio, he has held since 1873 the chair of agriculture. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 151.
TRAIN, Charles Russell, lawyer, born in Framingham, Massachusetts, 18 October, 1817, was graduated at Brown in 1837, studied law at Harvard, and was called to the bar in 1841. He was elected a member of the Massachusetts legislature in 1847, and was U. S. district attorney for northern Massachusetts from 1848 till 1851. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1853, a member of the governor's council in 1857-'8, and was elected to Congress in 1859, serving until 1863. He was a volunteer aide on the staff of General George H. Gordon, and took part in the battle of Antietam. He was again in the Massachusetts legislature from 1868 till 1871, and was attorney-general from 1871 till 1878. He published, in conjunction with Franklin F. Heard, "Precedents of Indictments, Special Pleas, etc., adapted to American Practice, with Notes" (Boston, 1855). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp.
TREMAIN, Henry Edwin, soldier, born in New York City, 14 November, 1840. He was graduated at the College of the City of New York in 1800 and then entered Columbia law-school. On 17 April, 1861, he enlisted in the 7th New York Regiment as a private, and served through its two months' campaign about Washington, after which, on, 13 July, he entered the National volunteer service as 1st lieutenant of the 2d New York Fire Zouaves. During the Peninsular Campaign he was on General Daniel R. Sickles’ staff, and was in the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, and Malvern Hill. He was then transferred to General John Pope's army, and engaged at Bartow Station and the second battle of Bull Run, where he was captured while endeavoring to check a temporary panic and the rapid advance of the enemy. After several months' confinement in Libby prison he was exchanged, resumed duty on General Sickles’ staff as assistant inspector-general, and was present at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, where he served as an aide to General Joseph Hooker. Meanwhile, on 25 April, 1863, he had been commissioned major, and was chief staff officer to General Sickles at the battle of Gettysburg. He was on General Daniel Butterfield's staff at Chattanooga, and took part in the battles of Dalton and Resaca. In 1864 he was ordered to the Army of the Potomac and served successively on the staffs of General David M. Gregg and General George Crook, participating in the cavalry battles under these officers, until the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers on 30 November, 1865, and continued on duty in the Carolinas until his discharge on 29 April, 1866. General Tremain then resumed his law studies and was graduated in 1867. after which he entered into practice, forming in 1868 the firm of Tremain and Tyler. From 1870 till 1885 he was usually retained either by or against the government in its legal controversies in New York, and he was connected with the Marie Garrison litigation involving the title to the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He has been active as a Republican in political canvasses, and for five terms, beginning in 1871. he has been president of the associate alumni of the College of the City of New York. On 19 April, 1887, he was elected colonel of the veterans of the 7th Regiment, the oldest organization of its kind in this country. His campaign notes of "Last Hours of Sheridan's Cavalry" were edited by John Watts de Peyster (1885). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 158.
TREMAIN, Lyman, soldier, born in Durham, Greene County, New York, in June, 1843: died near Petersburg, Virginia, 6 February, 1865, entered Hobart in 1860, but abandoned his studies in 1862, and entered the National Army. He was appointed adjutant of the 7th New York Heavy Artillery, served in the defences of Washington, and was afterward made assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of captain, on the staff, in Kilpatrick's division of the Army of the Potomac. In December, 1864, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 10th New York Cavalry. He commanded this regiment at the battle of Hatcher's run, where he received the wound of which he died. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 158.
TRENCHARD, Stephen Decatur, naval officer, born in Brooklyn. New York, 10 July, 1818, was appointed a midshipman in the U. S. Navy, 23 October. 1834, after making a cruise as acting midshipman in the European Squadron in 1832. He was at the naval school in Philadelphia in 1839-40, became passed midshipman, 16 July, 1840 and was on coast survey duty in 18456. During this service Trenchard was on board the brig "Washington" when she was wrecked off the coast of North Carolina, and was one of the few that were saved. He was made lieutenant, 27 February, 1847, was on the "Saratoga" in Mexico in that year, and while again on coast survey duty in 1853-'7 rescued the British bark "Adieu" off Gloucester, Massachusetts, when in great peril, saving all hands and the entire cargo, for which service he was presented with a sword by the queen of England, and a watch by the underwriters of the bark. He was in the "Powhatan" on her diplomatic cruise to China and Japan in 1857-'60, and acted as aide, or flag-lieutenant, to Commodore Josiah Tatnall, and was with the commodore when he visited the British Admiral Hope. Lieutenant Trenchard was slightly wounded at the battle of Peiho River. During the Civil War he was one of the first officers to go on duty, as he was ordered to command the "Keystone State" on 19 April, 1861. He went with that steamer to Norfolk Navy-yard; but the yard was burning when the "Keystone State" arrived, and the vessel assisted in rescuing such property as was saved. Lieutenant Trenchard was ordered on 19 June, 1861, to the " Rhode Island," which was first used as a supply and special despatch ship, but she was afterward converted into a heavily armed cruiser and ordered to the North Atlantic Squadron. While the "Rhode Island" was towing the " Monitor " from Hampton Roads to Beaufort, North Carolina, the latter foundered off Cape Hatteras, but, through the exertions of the officers and crew of the "Rhode Island," the majority of the " Monitor's " crew were saved. His vessel was afterward attached to the special West Indian Squadron to look after the " Alabama" and "Florida," and also to the South Atlantic Squadron for a short time. During her early service as a cruiser she captured several valuable prizes. Trenchard was made commander in July, 1862, and took an active part in both bombardments of Fort Fisher and its capture. He became captain in July, 1866, and commodore, 7 May, 1871, was on the examining board in 1871-'2, and served as light-house inspector and on headquarters duty in 1873-'5. He was promoted rear-admiral, 10 August, 1875, and commanded the North Atlantic Squadron in 1876-'8. In 1876 Admiral Trenchard had twenty-one vessels in his squadron, which was the largest since the war. He was retired, 10 July, 1880.—Stephen Decatur's son, Edward, artist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 17 August, 1850, studied art with Peter Moran and others during 1864-'72, and afterward at the National Academy and the Art Students' League. His works include "The Passing Shower" (1874), "The Old Wreck " (1875), and " Sea, Sand, and Solitude" (1876), all exhibited at the Academy of Design; "The Breaking Waves Dashed High" (1876); and "A Tropic Beach" (1879). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 158-159.
TRENHOLM, George A., merchant, born in South Carolina in 1806; died in Charleston, South Carolina, 10 December, 1876. He was for many years a merchant in Charleston. Prior to the Civil War his firm transacted a large business in cotton, and enjoyed almost unlimited credit abroad. During the war they were engaged extensively in blockade-running, and were interested in many daring attempts to obtain supplies from Nassau. He was a strong adherent of the Confederacy, and was appointed Secretary of the Confederate Treasury in 1864, which office he held until the close of the war. He was taken prisoner by National troops and held until October, 1865, when he was pardoned by President Johnson. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 159.
TRESCOT, William Henry, diplomatist, born in Charleston, South Carolina, 10 November, 1822. He was graduated at the College of Charleston in 1840, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He also engaged in planting on one of the sea Islands near Beaufort. Mr. Trescott became U. S. secretary of legation at London in December, 1852, and assistant Secretary of State in June, 1860, but he resigned that office upon the secession of his state. He was elected to the legislature in 1862, 1864, and 1866, and during that period was on the staff of General Roswell S. Ripley and afterward a member of the executive council. He was selected by James L. Petigru to assist him in preparing the code of law for the state. At the close of the Civil War he was sent to Washington to represent the state on certain questions under the reconstruction acts. In June, 1877, he was appointed counsel for the United States on the fishery commission at Halifax, N. S. He was one of the plenipotentiaries to China to revise the treaties in April, 1880, and was appointed by Sec. Evarts to continue and conclude the negotiations with the Columbian minister, and the protocol in reference to the rights of the United States on the Isthmus of Panama, in February, 1881. He was appointed special envoy to the belligerents in South America (Peru, Chili, and Bolivia) in November, 1881, and plenipotentiary with General Grant to negotiate a commercial treaty with Mexico in August, 1882. At present he is practicing law in Washington, D. C, and is agent for the state of South Carolina for the settlement of direct tax questions. He is the author of "Thoughts on the Foreign Policy of the United States" (privately printed, Charleston, 1849); "Diplomacy of the Revolution" (New York, 1852); "Letter to Andrew P. Butler on the Diplomatic System of the United States" (1853); "An American View of the Eastern Question" (Charleston, 1854): "Diplomatic History of the Administrations of Washington and Adams" (Boston, 1857); a memoir of General Johnson Pettigrew (1870); and various addresses, including one on General Stephen Elliott, delivered before the South Carolina legislature. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 159.
TRESSLER, David Loy, clergyman, born in Loysvillc. Perry County, Pennsylvania, 5 February. 1839; died in Carthage, Illinois, 20 February, 1880. He was graduated at Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, in 1860, with the highest honors of his class. In the autumn of the same year he became principal of Loysville Academy. In 1862 he raised a company of volunteers, and served as captain for nine months in the Civil War. participating in the battles of South Mountain. Antietam, and Fredericksburg, where he received two severe wounds. He was admitted to the bar in 1864, and was engaged in the practice of his profession until 1870, when he moved to Mendota, Illinois, and shortly afterward entered the ministry of the Lutheran church, accepting a call to Lena, Illinois In 1872 he became professor of ancient languages in Carthage College, Illinois, and its treasurer. In the following year he was elected president of the college, which post he occupied until his death. Under him the college was thoroughly organized, and prospered. In 1876 he received the degree of Ph. D. from Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio. He published two baccalaureate sermons and occasional articles in the periodicals of his church. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 159.
TRIMBLE, Isaac Ridgeway, soldier, born in Culpeper County, Virginia, 15 May, 1802; died in Baltimore, Maryland, 2 January, 1888, was the son of John Trimble, who moved to Kentucky in 1805 and settled on the military reservation at Fort Stirling. His uncle David procured him the appointment of cadet at the U. S. Military Academy, where he entered in 1818, making the entire journey on horseback, and generally by night, to avoid being attacked by Indians. He was graduated in 1822, and detailed to survey the military road from Washington to Ohio River. He also served at Boston and New York. He resigned in 1832, and pursued the profession of civil engineering. In 1834 he became chief engineer of the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad, which he completed to York. Pennsylvania, in 1837. He was also chief engineer of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, and of the Boston and Providence Railroad. He was engaged in large railroad operations in the West Indies when the Civil War began in 1861, and was on the point of setting out from Cuba when he was assigned to the command of the non-uniformed volunteers that were organized to defend Baltimore from northern troops. He entered the military service of the state of Virginia in May, 1861, as colonel of engineers, and was ordered by General Robert E. Lee to take charge of the construction of the field-works and forts for the defence of Norfolk. Upon their completion he was promoted brigadier, and ordered to report to General Joseph E. Johnston at Centreville, who directed him to locate and construct batteries at Evansport on Potomac River, so as to close that river against U. S. vessels. With them he effectually blockaded the river during the winter of 1861-'2. In November, 1861, he was assigned to the command of the 7th Brigade of Ewell's division, and when General Ewell was ordered to report to General Thomas J. Jackson in May, 1862, Trimble took an active part in the campaign that ensued against General Nathaniel P. Banks, General John C. Fremont, and General James Shields. He selected the Confederate position for the battle of Cross Keys, 8 June, 1862, with the consent of General Ewell, who gives him credit for it in his report. He led his brigade at the battle of Gaines's Mills and the subsequent seven days' battles. At the battle of Slaughter's Mountain, 12 August, 1862, between the armies of General John Pope and General Jackson, he did good service, and on the night of 27 August, 1862, with the 21st North Carolina and 21st Georgia Regiments, he captured Manassas Junction, with supplies of subsistence, clothing, and ammunition. For this General Jackson recommended his promotion to be major-general. When Jackson was promoted to command a corps he selected General Trimble to succeed him in command of his division. Trimble was wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, 28 August, 1862, was appointed major-general on 23 April, 1863, commanded a division of the 2d Corps at Chancellorsville, and in June, 1863, General Lee offered him the command of the valley district to form the left wing of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was in General George E. Pickett's charge on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded and captured, and lost a leg. He remained in prison at Johnson's Island twenty-one months, and was exchanged in April, 1865. Hastening to rejoin General Lee, on reaching Lynchburg he found that Lee had surrendered the day before at Appomattox. He then returned to Baltimore, where he remained until his death. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 160-161.
TROWBRIDGE, William Petit, engineer, born in Oakland County, Michigan, 25 May, 1828. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1848 at the head of his class, and promoted 2d lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. During the last year of his course he acted as assistant professor of chemistry, and after graduation he spent two years in the astronomical observatory at West Point, preparing himself for duty in the U. S. Coast Survey, to which he was ordered at his own request. In 1852 he was assigned to duty under Alexander D. Bache in the primary triangulation of the coast of Maine, which in 1852 was placed under his immediate charge. Later he executed surveys of Appomattox River, in Virginia, with a view to the improvement of its navigation, and also similar surveys of James River near Richmond. He also surveyed the Dutch Gap, and recommended the " cut-off” or canal, that was subsequently constructed. In 1853 he was sent to the Pacific Coast, where he conducted a series of tidal and magnetic observations extending through a period of three years along the coast from San Diego to Puget Sound. He became 1st lieutenant, 18 December, 1854, returned from the west in 1856, and resigned from the Corps of Engineers on 1 December to accept the professorship of mathematics in the University of Michigan, which chair he held for a year. At the solicitation of Supt. Alexander D. Bache he accepted the permanent appointment of assistant on the coast survey, and was engaged in preparing for publication the results of the Gulf stream exploration. In 1860 he was sent to Key West to superintend the erection of a permanent self-registering magnetic observatory, and in 1861 he prepared minute descriptions of the harbors, inlets, and rivers of the southern coast, for the use of the U.S. Navy. Later he was ordered to execute a hydrographic survey of Narragansett Bay, where there was a design to erect a U.S. Navy-yard, but the results of the survey were not favorable to the project. Soon after the beginning of the Civil War he was placed in charge of the engineer office in New York City, where his duties included the supply of materials for fortifications and other defences, and the construction and shipping of engineer equipage for armies in the field. He also was superintending engineer of the constructing of the fort at Willett's point, New York, of repairs of Fort Schuyler, New York, and in charge of works on Governor's Island in New York Harbor. In 1865 he became vice-president of the Novelty Iron-Works in New York City, with direction of their shops, where he remained for four years. He was then elected professor of dynamical engineering in the Sheffield scientific school of Yale until 1870, when he was called to take charge of the engineering department of the School of Mines of Columbia, which place he now holds. Professor Trowbridge held various state offices while he was in New Haven, notably that of adjutant-general with the rank of brigadier-general on the governor's staff in 1872-'6. The degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Rochester in 1850 and by Yale in 1870, that of Ph. D. by Princeton in 1879, and that of LL. D. by Trinity in 1880, and the University of Michigan in 1887. He is a member of scientific societies, and vice-president of the New York Academy of Sciences, was vice-president of the American association for the advancement of science, presiding over the section of mechanical science in 1882, and in 1878 was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to many papers in scientific journals and the transactions of societies of which he is a member, he has published " Proposed Plan for building a Bridge across the East River at Blackwell's Island " (New York. 1869); "Heat as a Source of Power" (1874); and "Turbine Wheels " (1879). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 165.
TRUMBULL, Henry Clay, author, born in Stonington, Connecticut, 8 June, 1831, was educated privately and for a time studied in Williston Seminary. In 1851 he moved to Hartford and engaged in railroad business, but in 1858 was appointed Sunday-school missionary for Connecticut, which office he held until 1862. He was commissioned to the 10th Connecticut Regiment as a chaplain, ordained a clergyman of the Congregational church, and served until the close of the Civil War, except during a part of 1863, when he was in prison in South Carolina and Virginia, having been captured before Fort Wagner. In 1865 he was appointed missionary secretary of the American Sunday school union for New England, and in 1872 normal secretary of the same. […]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 167.
TRUTH, Sojourner (Isabella Baumfree), 1797?-1883, African American, anti-slavery activist, abolitionist, women’s rights activist. Truth, born as Isabella Baumfree, was born into slavery. She was treated harshly by her owner. Her father died of neglect. Two of her daughters, and all but one of her siblings, were taken away from her and sold. In 1827, she escaped with the aid of local Quakers. She was able to sue for the freedom of her son, Peter. This was one of the first cases of a Black woman successfully winning a suit against a White man. Around 1829, Truth moved to New York City. In 1843, she was inspired to rename herself Sojourner Truth. That year, she went on a religious mission, traveling through Long Island and Connecticut. Also that same year, she learned about the abolitionist movement. She became a member of the Northampton, Massachusetts, Association of Education and Industry, an egalitarian community. Through this community, she met abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison and African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass. She was so eloquent that abolitionist leaders sponsored her on a speaking tour. Beginning in 1850, she also began speaking at women’s rights conventions, becoming a leader in the women’s rights movement. Around 1850, she moved to Salem, Ohio. She used the offices of the Anti-Slavery Bugle as a center. She then traveled to Indiana, Kansas and Missouri. Wrote The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, 1850. She was able to sustain herself by selling copies of her slave narrative. She was attacked by pro-slavery advocates in Kansas and Missouri. By the mid-1850s, she traveled to Battle Creek, Michigan. During the Civil War, she recruited African American soldiers for the Union Army as well as working to see for their care. On October 29, 1864, Truth met President Abraham Lincoln in the White House. She stayed in Washington for two years, assisting freed slaves. In December 1864, she was appointed counselor for the National Freedman’s Relief Association. After the war, she protested the segregation of streetcars in Washington, DC. It was the first sit-in protest. In March 1870, she met President Ulysses S. Grant to petition the federal government to establish a state for freed slaves. In 1867, Truth began working for the American Equal Rights Association, which sought suffrage in New York for women and African Americans.
(Mabee, 1970, pp. 83-85, 145, 270, 337, 342; Mabee, 1993; Painter, 1996; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 481-482; Stetson, 1994; Yellin, 1994, pp. 30, 139-158; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 603; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 814-816; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 21, p. 880; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 11, p. 236)
SOJOURNER TRUTH, lecturer, born in Ulster County, New York, about 1775; died in Battle Creek. Michigan, 26 November, 1883. Her parents were owned by Colonel Charles Ardinburgh, of Ulster County, and she was sold at the age of ten to John J. Dumont. Though she was emancipated by the act of New York which set at liberty in 1817 all slaves over the age of forty, she does not appear to have obtained her freedom until 1827, when she escaped and went to New York City. Subsequently she lived in Northampton, Massachusetts, and in 1851 began to lecture in western New York, accompanied by George Thompson, of England, and other Abolitionists, making her headquarters in Rochester, New York. Subsequently she travelled in various parts of the United States, lecturing on politics, temperance, and women's rights, and for the welfare of her race. She could neither read nor write, but, being nearly six feet in height and possessing a deep and powerful voice, she proved an effective lecturer. She carried with her a book that she called “The Book of Life,” containing the autographs of many distinguished persons that were identified with the anti-slavery movement. Her name was Isabella, but she called herself “Sojourner,” claiming to have heard this name whispered to her from the Lord. She added the appellation of “Truth” to signify that she should preach nothing but truth to all men. She spent much time in Washington, D. C., during the Civil War, and passed her last years in Battle Creek, Michigan, where a small monument was erected near her grave, by subscription. See “Narrative of Sojourner Truth, drawn from her 'Book of Life,' with Memorial Chapter,” by Mrs. Francis W. Titus (Battle Creek, 1884). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 603
TRUXTON, William Talbot, naval officer, born in Philadelphia. 11 March, 1824; died in Norfolk, Virginia, 25 February, 1887, entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 9 February, 1841, attended the Naval Academy for one year, and was graduated as a passed midshipman, 10 August, 1847. He cruised in the frigate "Brandywine in 1847-'8 on the Brazil station, whence he returned in command of the prize-slaver "Independence." He served on the Pacific Station in the ship "Supply" in 1849-'52, in the brig " Dolphin " in 1853 on special service in connection with laying the trans-Atlantic cable, and in 1854 with the Strain Expedition to survey a route for a ship-canal across the Isthmus of Darien. He was promoted to master, 14 September, 1855, and to lieutenant the next day by action of the retiring board. He served in the brig " Perry " during the Paraguayan war in 1859-'60, and in the sloop "Dale," of which he succeeded in command in 1861, in the North Atlantic Squadron, where he continued to serve throughout the Civil War. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, and had the steamers " Alabama," " Ohocura," and "Tacony " in succession. He participated in the operations in the sounds of North Carolina, in various engagements with the Confederate batteries, in the capture of Plymouth, North Carolina and in both attacks on Fort Fisher. He was promoted to commander, 25 July, 1860, was superintendent of coal shipments for the navy in 1860-'7, commanded the sloop "Jamestown" in the Pacific Squadron in 18f!8-'70 on a special survey, and was Ordnance officer of the Boston Navy-yard in 1871-'3. He was promoted to captain, 25 September, 1873, commanded the ' Brooklyn,” of the North Atlantic Squadron, in 1873-'4, and the flag-ship of the South Atlantic station, 1874-'5. He was a member of the board of inspectors in 1870-'7, and served at the U.S. Navy yards at Boston and Norfolk in 1877-81. He was promoted to commodore, 11 May, 1882, and was commandant of the Norfolk Navy-yard in 1885-'6. He was promoted to rear-admiral by seniority, 18 February, 1886, but action on his nomination was delayed, and he was retired by law as a commodore. 11 March, 1886. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 171.
TUBMAN, Harriet, 1822-1913, Maryland, African American, abolitionist, leader of the Underground Railroad, orator, Civil War Scout and nurse. Member of the Troy Vigilance Committee. Tubman was enslaved from her birth. After being threatened to be sold in 1849, she escaped to Philadelphia. She began her mission as a guide in the Underground Railroad in December 1850. In the 1850s, she made 19 trips through Maryland, aiding fugitive slaves escaping to the North and to Canada. She aided an estimated 300 fugitive slaves, none of whom was ever recaptured. She often worked alone in her rescue activities. Her success resulted in a $40,000 bounty on her head. She was an advisor to radical abolitionist John Brown. In the spring of 1862, she volunteered for the Union Army as a Scout and a spy, often travelling behind Confederate lines. After the war, she moved to Auburn, New York, and worked with older former slaves and orphans. She also worked to support freeman’s schools and worked for women’s right to vote. In 1897, she was awarded a pension of $20 a month by Congress for her wartime service.
(Mabee, 1970, pp. 284, 321; Rodriguez, 2007, pp. 37, 52, 307, 482-483, 489; Still, 1872; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 172; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 27; American Reformers: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, New York, 1985, pp. 816-817; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 21, p. 888; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013, Vol. 11, p. 238)
TUBMAN, Harriet, abolitionist, born near Cambridge, Dorchester County, Maryland, about 1821. She was the child of slaves of pure African blood, whose name was Ross. Her original Christian name of Araminta she changed to Harriet. When about thirteen years old she received a fracture of the skull at the hands of an enraged overseer, which left her subject during her whole life to fits of somnolency. In 1844 she married a free colored man named Tubman. In 1849, in order to escape being sent to the cotton-plantations of the south, she fled by night, and reached Philadelphia in safety. In December, 1850, she visited Baltimore and brought away her sister and two children, and within a few months returned to aid in the escape of her brother and two other men. Thenceforth she devoted herself to guiding runaway slaves in their flight from the plantations of Maryland along the channels of the “underground railroad,” with the assistance of Thomas Garrett and others. At first she conducted the bands of escaped slaves into the state of New York, but, when the fugitive-slave act began to be strictly enforced, she piloted them through to Canada. She made nineteen journeys, and led away more than 300 slaves. A reward of $40,000 was offered for her apprehension. Among the people of her race and the agents of the “underground railroad”' she was known as “Moses.” During the Civil War she performed valuable service for the National government as a spy and as a nurse in the hospitals. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 172.
TUCKER, St. George, was a lawyer by profession, and was clerk of the Virginia legislature. He joined the Confederate Army, held a lieutenant-colonel's commission, and died from exposure in the seven days' battles around Richmond. He was the author of "Hansford: a Tale of Bacon's Rebellion" (Richmond, 1853); "The Southern Crop"; and the dedicatory poem of Washington's equestrian statue at Richmond. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp.
TUCKER, John Randolph, naval officer, born in Alexandria, Virginia, 31 January, 1812; died in Petersburg, Virginia, 12 June, 1883. He received his early education in his native city, and on 1 June, 1826, entered the U. S. Navy as a midshipman. He became lieutenant, 20 December 1837, served as executive officer on board the bomb-brig "Stromboli" during the war with Mexico, and participated in the capture of Tabasco and other naval operations. During the latter part of the war Tucker succeeded to the command of the vessel. On 14 September, 1855, he received his commission as a commander, and was ordered to take charge of the receiving ship "Pennsylvania" at Norfolk. His next post was that of ordnance-officer of the Norfolk Navy-yard. He resigned his commission on 18 April, 1861, after the passage by Virginia of a secession ordinance, and on 21 April was appointed a commander in the Virginia Navy. On 22 April he was directed by Governor Letcher to "conduct the naval defences of James River," but on 3 June he was ordered to the command of the steamer " Yorktown," which afterward became the "Patrick Henry." When Virginia joined the Confederate States, Tucker, with all other officers of the state navy, was transferred to the Confederate service with the same rank he had held in the U. S. Navy. The " Patrick Henry" participated in the various conflicts in Hampton Roads, including the battle between the "Merrimac" and the " Monitor" on 9 March, and on the 13th Tucker was placed in command of the wooden fleet. Soon after the repulse of the National Squadron at Drewry's Bluff, in which his vessel took part, Tucker was promoted on 13 May, 1863, to the rank of captain, and ordered to Charleston, South Carolina, where he commanded the Confederate naval forces as flag-officer of the station. When Charleston was evacuated in February, 1865, Captain Tucker returned to Drewry's Bluff, organized the naval brigade, and commanded it there until Richmond was evacuated, when he reported to General Robert E. Lee, and was attached to Custis Lee's division of General Ewell's corps, which formed the rearguard of the Confederate Army on the retreat from Richmond. In 1866 Captain Tucker was appointed to the command of the Peruvian Navy with the rank of rear-admiral. During the war between Peru, Chili, and Spain he commanded the combined fleets of the two republics. When that war ceased, his rank and emoluments were continued, and he was made president of the Peruvian hydrographic commission of the Amazon. His last service was the exploration and survey of the upper Amazon and its tributaries. In a short time he returned to Petersburg. Virginia, where he died. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 176.
TUPPER, Henry Allen, clergyman, born in Charleston, South Carolina, 29 February, 1828. His father, Tristram, a merchant of Charleston, was at one time president of the South Carolina Railroad. The son was educated in part at Charleston College, and was graduated at Madison University, New York, in 1848, and at its theological seminary in 1850. Having entered the ministry, he became, after three years' service in Graniteville, South Carolina, pastor of the Baptist church at Washington, Georgia, in which relation he continued for nearly twenty years. During the Civil War he was chaplain of the 9th Georgia Regiment of the Confederate Army. […]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 182.
TURCHIN, John Basil, or Ivan Yasilevitch Turchininoff, soldier, born in the province of Don. Russia, 30 January, 1822. He entered the artillery school at St. Petersburg in 1830, was graduated in 1841, and entered the horse-artillery service as an ensign. He participated in the Hungarian Campaign, in 1849 entered the military academy for officers of the general staff, was graduated in 1852, and was assigned to the stuff of the Imperial guards. During the Crimean war he was promoted till he reached the grade of colonel, was senior staff-officer of the active corps, and prepared the plan that was adopted for the defence of the coast of Finland. He came to the United States in 1856, and was employed in the engineer department of the Illinois Central Railroad Company until 19 June. 1861, when he was appointed colonel of the 19th Illinois Volunteers. He served with his regiment in Missouri. Kentucky, and Alabama, where he took an active part in the capture of Huntsville and Decatur. He was promoted to be a brigadier-general of volunteers. 17 July, 1862, served in the cavalry of the Army of the Cumberland, and resigned, 10 October, 1864. After the close of the war he was a solicitor of patents in Chicago till 1870, for the next three years was employed as a civil engineer, and in 1873 he established the Polish colony of Radone, in Washington County, Illinois, where he now (1889) resides on a farm. He is an occasional contributor of scientific and military articles to periodicals. In January, 1865, he wrote "Military Rambles," a series of criticisms, issued monthly at Chicago, and he has also published "The Campaign and Battle of Chickamauga" (Chicago. 1888). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 182
TURNBULL, Laurence, physician, born in Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland, 10 September, 1821. He was graduated at the Philadelphia College of pharmacy in 1842, taking as his thesis "Salicine." which he had found in the populus tremuoides, and then engaged in the business of manufacturing chemicals. For his success in the production of citrate of iron he received an award of merit from the Franklin Institute, and he also discovered that biborate of sodium would bleach colored oils and ointments. Entering the office of Dr. John K. Mitchell, he studied medicine, and was graduated at the Jefferson Medical College in 1845. He was appointed resident physician of the Philadelphia Hospital in 1845, and was out-door physician to the guardians of the poor in 1846-'8, also vaccine physician to the city of Philadelphia in 1847-'50. Meanwhile, in 1848-'50. he was lecturer on chemistry applied to the arts in Franklin institute, and from 1857 till 1887 he was physician to the department of diseases of the eye and ear in the Howard hospital. At the beginning of the Civil War he was a volunteer surgeon in the hospital-department service on Potomac River, for the relief of the Pennsylvania troops, in Emory Hospital, and at Fort Monroe. Dr. Turnbull has made a specialty of diseases of the ear, and is aural surgeon of the Jefferson Medical College hospital, and superintendent of the ear clinic in I877-'88. […]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 183-184.
TURNBULL, William, engineer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 9 October, 1800: died in Wilmington, North Carolina, 9 December, 1857. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1819, and entered the army as 2d lieutenant in the artillery. After serving in garrison at Fort McHenry for a year he was on topographical duty until 1832. being made in 1831 assistant topographical engineer, with the brevet of captain. From 1832 till 1843 he was superintending topographical engineer of the construction of the Potomac aqueduct. This work, one of the earliest of the important undertakings of American engineers, gave Colonel Turnbull a high rank among his professional associates. The piers of the aqueduct were founded by coffer-darns on rock, sometimes covered by twenty feet of mud, and nearly forty feet below the water surface. He was made major, 7 July, 1838, and had charge of the repairs of the j Potomac (long) bridge in 1841-3. Subsequently he had charge of Lake Ontario Harbor improvement, the extension of Buffalo Harbor, and inspection of harbor improvements on Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie. In the war with Mexico he was topographical engineer of the array under General Winfield Scott, and was engaged in the siege of Vera Cruz, the castles of Cerro Gordo, Pedregal, and Churubusco, and the operations that ended with the capture of the city of Mexico. His services gained for him the brevets-of-lieutenant colonel and colonel. During 1848-9 he had charge of the construction of the New Orleans custom-house, and he was assistant in the topographical bureau at Washington, D. C. in 1850-'2 and 1853-'4, where he examined into the practicability of bridging Susquehanna River at Havre de Grace, and the expediency of an additional canal around the Falls of Ohio. He was light-house engineer for Oswego harbor, New York, in 1853-'5, in charge of harbor improvements of Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, and the eastern part of Lake Erie in 1853-'6, and of the improvement of Cape Pear River, North Carolina, in 1856-'7. The illustration shown above represents the Potomac aqueduct as designed by him. Among his various government reports that were published was one "On the Survey and Construction of the Potomac Aqueduct," with twenty-one plates (Washington, 1838).—His son, Charles Nesbit, engineer, born in Washington, D. C, 14 August, 1832; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 2 December, 1874. was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1854, and made 2d lieutenant of Topographical Engineers. He was on the survey of the boundary-line between the United States and Mexico in 1854-'6, on that of the northern lakes in 1857-"9. and at the U. S. Military Academy as assistant professor of mathematics in 1859-'60. During the Civil War he served at first on the staff of General Benjamin P. Butler and in the Department of the Gulf, after which, in 1863-'4, he was with the Army of the Potomac. He received his promotion as captain of Topographical Engineers, 14 July, 1862, and was transferred to the Corps of Engineers on 3 March, 1863. In June, 1864, he was chief engineer of the cavalry corps, during General Philip H. Sheridan's raid, and later chief engineer of the 8th Army Corps. He received the brevets of major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel for his services, and after the war served on the repairs of Port Hamilton. Colonel Turnbull resigned on 31 December 1865, and engaged in the commission business in Boston, Massachusetts, where he continued until his death. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 184-185.
TURNER, Charles Coche, naval officer, born in Virginia about 1805; died in Baltimore, Maryland, 4 March, 1861. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 10 May, 1820, was commissioned lieutenant, 17 May, 1828, and served in the sloop " Vandalia," suppressing piracy, and in the Seminole War in 1834-'5. He was in the sloop "Peacock" in the East Indies in 1836-'8, during which time he had a narrow escape on a reef in the Persian Gulf, in which it was necessary to throw the guns overboard in order to save the ship. He commanded the store-ship "Erie" in 1844-'7, visited the Mediterranean, African, and Pacific Squadrons, and assisted in operations for the conquest of California during the Mexican War. He was promoted to master-commandant, 22 March, 1847, served on ordnance duty in Washington in 1849-'51, was fleet-captain in the Mediterranean Squadron in 1852-'3, and commanded the sloop "Levant" on the coast of Africa in 1853-'6. He was on waiting orders in 1857, and served at the Washington Navy-yard from 1857 till 1860. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 185.
TURNER, Henry McNeal, A. M. E. bishop, born in Newberry Court-House, South Carolina, 1 February, 1833. He is of African descent. After he was licensed to preach in 1853 his native eloquence created quite a sensation, and in 1858 he was admitted into the Missouri conference of the African Methodist Episcopal church, and transferred to the Baltimore conference. He studied four years as a non-matriculated student in Trinity College, and was stationed at Israel church, Washington, D. C, in 1863. He greatly assisted in the organization of the 1st Colored Regiment, U. S. Infantry, of which President Lincoln commissioned him the chaplain. At the close of the Civil War President Johnson commissioned him to a chaplaincy in the regular army, but he declined. He was sent into Georgia to assist in the work of reconstruction, called the first Republican state contention, and was elected twice to the Georgia legislature. In 1869 he was appointed postmaster of Matron, but resigned, and in the same year was made coast inspector of customs. In 1870 he was elected book agent of his denomination, and in 1880 he became bishop. His chief work is "Methodist Polity." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 186.
TURNER, Daniel, soldier, born in Warren County, North Carolina, 21 September, 1796: died at Mare Island, California, 21 July, 1860, was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1814, and entered the army as 2d lieutenant in the corps of artillery. He served during the second war with England as acting assistant engineer in erecting temporary defences for New York City, after which he was ordered to Plattsburg. On the reduction of the army, he resigned on 17 May, 1815, and then spent two years at William and Mary College. He was elected to the lower branch of the North Carolina legislature, serving from 1819 till 1823. Mr. Turner was elected to Congress, and served from 3 December, 1827, till 3 March, 1829, after which, in 1847-'54. he was principal of the Warrenton, North Carolina, female seminary. His last office was that of superintending engineer of the construction of the public works at Mare Island Navy-yard, San Francisco harbor, which he held from the establishment of that U.S. Navy-yard in 1854 till the time of his death. [Son of James Turner, U.S. Senator]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 186.
TURNER, John Wesley, soldier, born in Saratoga County. New York, 19 July, 1833. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1855, and assigned to the 1st U.S. Artillery. He took part with his battery in the war against, the Seminoles in 1857-'8, and served in garrisons till 1861, when he was promoted 1st lieutenant, and then captain and commissary of subsistence, in which capacity and in command of a breaching battery in the reduction of Fort Pulaski he rendered valuable service. He was appointed colonel and chief of staff of the Department of the South, was active in the operations against Fort Wagner and Fort Sumter, and in September, 1863, was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. General Turner assumed command of a division of the 10th Corps, Army of the James, participating in the campaigns in front of Richmond till August, 1864. Subsequently he served as chief of staff in the Department of North Carolina and Virginia till March, 1865, when, in command of an independent division of the 24th Corps, he was present in the closing incidents of the war, terminating in the surrender at Appomattox. He was brevetted major "for gallant and meritorious service sat Fort Wagner, lieutenant-colonel for similar services " in action at the explosion of the Petersburg mine," colonel for the capture of Fort Gregg, major-general of volunteers "for gallant and meritorious service on several occasions before the enemy," and brigadier-general and major-general, U. S. Army, for services "in the field during the rebellion." General Turner was mustered out of the volunteer service in September, 1866, was depot commissary at St. Louis till 1871. Turner was on duty in the Indian Department till 4 September of that year, when he resigned from the army. Since that time he has been engaged as a civil engineer, and since 1877, he has been a street commissioner and member of the board of public works of St. Louis, Missouri. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 186.
TURNER, Peter, naval officer, born in Rhode Island. 17 February, 1803; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 17 February, 1871. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman. 4 March, 1823, became a passed midshipman, 23 March, 1829, and was commissioned lieutenant, 21 June, 1832. During the Mexican war he was present at the fall of Vera Cruz, and participated in the boat expedition at Tuspan and the second expedition at Tabasco, where he served with credit, He commanded the store-ship "Southampton" in the Pacific Squadron in 1851—'2. He was placed on the reserved list in 1855, and was on waiting orders until 1861, when he was commissioned commander on 1 July, and was governor of the Naval Asylum at Philadelphia during the Civil War. He was promoted to commodore, 25 July, 1862. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 187.
TURNER, Thomas, naval officer, born in Washington, D. C, 23 December, 1808; died in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. 24 March, 1883. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman. 21 April, 1825, became a passed midshipman, 4 June, 1831, and was commissioned a lieutenant, 22 December, 1835. He served in the frigate "Macedonian"' in the exploring expedition of 1837-'8, and in the frigate '"Columbia," the flagship of the East India Squadron, in 1838-'41, during which time he participated in the destruction of the Malay pirates' towns of Quallat Battoo and Mucke, on the Island of Sumatra. 1 January, 1839. He commanded the store-ship " Fredonia," of the Gulf Squadron, from June till October, 1847, was then transferred to the sloop "Albany," and commanded the schooner "Reefer" in the attack on Tuspau in April, 1847. He was promoted to commander, 14 September, 1855,and had charge of the sloop '"Saratoga," on the Home Squadron, in 1858'60. On 6 March, 1860, he captured at Vera Cruz the steamers "Miramon" and "Marques do Habana," which had been purchased in Spain by General Miramon, and had attempted to blockade the port of Vera Cruz in the interests of the revolutionary party. He commanded the armored ship "New Ironsides" in the South Atlantic Squadron, and was highly commended for the skill and ability with which he handled this vessel in the attacks on the forts at Charleston, 7 April, 1863, and in other operations there until August. 1863. He was promoted to commodore, 13 December, 1862, and to rear-admiral, 24 June, 1868, and commanded the South Pacific Squadron in 1868-'70 during the great earthquake in Peru, where he rendered timely assistance to the sufferers. He was retired, 21 April, 1870, after forty-five rears of active service. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 187-188.
TUTTLE, James Madison, soldier, born in Summerfield, Monroe County, Ohio, 24 September, 1823. He was brought up on a farm in Iowa, afterward engaged in trade in Van Buren County in the same state, was elected its sheriff in 1855, and in 1859 recorder and treasurer. At the opening of the Civil War he joined the 2d Iowa Regiment as a captain, and became successively lieutenant-colonel and colonel. He served with credit at Fort Donelson, and at Shiloh commanded a brigade until General William H. L. Wallace was mortally wounded, after which he led the 2d Division. For his services in these battles he was promoted brigadier-general, 9 June, 1862. He afterward commanded at Cairo, Illinois, and resigned, 14 June, 1864. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 190.
TWEEDALE, William, civil engineer, born in Beith, Ayrshire, Scotland, 18 May, 1823. He came with his parents to New York in 1833, and was graduated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1853. In 1855 he was a bridge engineer and contractor in Chicago, and in 1859, having obtained the contract for the construction of bridges and buildings on the Dubuque and Sioux City Railway, he moved to the former place. At the opening of the Civil War he raised a company for an engineer regiment, and was mustered in as captain. He was engaged in the engineering operations against New Madrid, which resulted in its capture, and cut a passage for a fleet of transports across the lower end of Island No. 8. This was used for the transportation of troops across the river from New Madrid to operate against Island No. 10, and resulted in the evacuation of the latter. He was in command of advanced parties of engineers with General John Pope's division in the siege of Corinth, and in the pursuit that followed its evacuation under General James B. McPherson. He was afterward engaged in the reconstruction of railroads, dredging of rivers, and the removal of debris at various points on Mississippi River. He was promoted brevet-colonel of volunteers, 13 March, 1865, and was mustered out on 31 May the same year. He moved to Topeka, Kansas, in 1867, superintended the erection of the east wing of the state capitol in 1867-'8, and the west wing in 1879-80, and was engineer of the bridge across the Kansas River at Topeka. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 191.
TWIGGS, David Emanuel, born in Richmond County, Georgia, in 1790; died in Augusta, Georgia, 15 September, 1862. His father, General John Twiggs, raised a brigade at his own expense at the opening of the Revolution. The son was appointed captain in the 8th infantry, 12 March, 1812, became major of the 28th Infantry, 21 September, 1814, and was disbanded. 15 June, 1815. He was reinstated on 2 December, 1815, as captain in the 7th Infantry, served throughout the war with Great Britain, and became major of the 1st U.S. Infantry, 14 May, 1825, lieutenant-colonel of the 4th U.S. Infantry, 15 July, 1831, and colonel. 2d U.S. Dragoons, 8 June, 1836. He served in the Mexican war under General Zachary Taylor at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, was promoted brigadier-general, 30 June, 1840, and brevetted major-general for gallantry at Monterey and presented with a sword by Congress. Being transferred to General Winfield Scott's army, he commanded a brigade at Vera Cruz. During the operations against the city of Mexico he led the 2d Division of regulars, and in 1848 he was military governor of Vera Cruz. He was in command of the Department of Texas in February, 1861, and surrendered his army and military stores to the Confederate General Ben. McCulloch, for which he was dishonorably dismissed from the army. He was appointed a major-general in the Confederate Army, 22 May, 1861, and assigned to the command of the district of Louisiana, but resigned toward the end of the year.—His brother, Levi, soldier, born in Richmond County, Georgia, 21 May, 1793: died in Chapultepec, Mexico, 13 September, 1847, was educated at Franklin College in his native state, which he left to serve in the war of 1812, and in 1813 joined the Marine Corps as 2d lieutenant. He was in the frigate "President" under Commodore Stephen Decatur on her last cruise, was promoted 1st lieutenant, and by his skill elicited the applause of his commander. On 2 June, 1847, he enlisted as a volunteer in the Mexican war, and was killed at Chapultepec. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 191-192.
TYLER, Charles Humphrey, soldier, born in Virginia in 1826; died in West Point. Georgia, 17 April, 1865. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1848, and became 2d lieutenant in the 2d U.S. Dragoons. 25 April. 1849. He served in garrison in the cavalry-school at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on frontier duty, and in the Utah Expedition of 1857-'9. On 28 June, 1861, he was promoted captain, but he was dismissed from the Army on 1 June, 1861, for deserting his post. He then entered the Confederate service, became a brigadier-general, and was killed in battle at West Point, Georgia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 192.
TYLER, Daniel, engineer, born in Brooklyn, Windham County, Connecticut, 7 January, 1799 ; died in New York ; City, 30 November, 1882. His father served in the Revolutionary army, and his mother was a granddaughter of Jonathan Edwards. After graduation at the U. S. Military Academy in 1819 as 2d lieutenant of light artillery, he served in garrison in New England in 1819-'24. and on the reorganization of the army, 1 June, 1821. he was made 2d lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Infantry. In 1824-'6 he served in the Fort Monroe artillery-school for practice, of which he was for a time adjutant. He became 1st lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Artillery on 6 May, 1824. and in 1826 commanded the Pikesville Arsenal, near Baltimore, Maryland While there he translated from the French a work on "Manoeuvres of Artillery," which led to his being sent to Europe in January, 1828, to obtain data for a more comprehensive work for the regular army. In April, 1829, he was admitted into the artillery-school of practice at Metz, and began a translation of the latest French system of artillery. The task was completed at the end of a year, and 300 lithographed copies in three volumes were sent to the war department in Washington, D. C. He also collected copies of every drawing and memoir connected with the French system of field, siege, sea-coast, and mountain artillery at a personal expense of about $2,000, which he offered to the government at Washington, provided a board should adopt the system for the U. S. Artillery. This was not done, but he received from the government $1,600 for his collection of drawings. After his return in 1829 he was kept on ordnance duty to prepare a translation of the "School of the Driver," which in the French service is separate from the artillery. In 1830 he was sent to the Springfield Armory to report upon the manufacture of small arms, and he was a member of the board that met to reorganize the national armories. In 1832 he was made superintendent of the inspectors of contract arms. He resigned on 31 May, 1834, became president of an iron and coal company in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, and was sent to Great Britain to examine the methods of coal-mining and operating furnaces and rolling-mills. On his return in 1835 he erected the first coke hot-blast furnace that was built in this country, and succeeded in making pig-iron, but the operations of the company were suspended. In 1840 he became president of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad, and completed the road. In 1843 he was appointed president and engineer of the Morris Canal and Banking Company. In 1845-'9 he was president of the Macon and Western Railroad, and he was afterward superintending engineer of the Dauphin and Susquehanna Railroad and Coal Company and of the Auburn and Allentown Railroad, and president and engineer of the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad Company. At the beginning of the Civil War he became colonel of the 1st Connecticut Volunteers, 23 April, 1861, and commanded a division at the battles of Blackburn's Ford and Bull Run, 18-21 July, 1861. He was mustered out at the expiration of service on 11 August, 1861, but was reappointed in the U. S. volunteer service, with the rank of brigadier-general, on 13 March, 1862. He served with the Army of the Mississippi, engaged in the siege of Corinth from' 29 April till 8 June, 1862, organized volunteer regiments in Connecticut from 13 August till 15 September, 1862, served on the military commission that investigated General Don Carlos Buell’s Campaign in Kentucky and Tennessee, 24 November, 1862, till 10 May, 1863, and guarded the upper Potomac, and was in command of Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights in June. Afterward he was in command of troops in Baltimore, Maryland, and of the District of Delaware, and resigned his commission on 6 April, 1864. General Tyler then travelled extensively in the south, in Cuba, and in Europe, and on his return in 1872 founded large cotton and iron manufactories in Alabama and built the town of Anniston, Alabama In 1873-'9 he was president of the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad. Subsequently he invested in Texas land, and established the " Capote farm " of 20,000 acres, which was his winter residence. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 192-193.
TYLER. Erastus, soldier, born in West Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York, 24 April, 1822. He moved to Ohio, and was educated at Granville College. In 1845 he engaged in business, which he continued until the beginning of the Civil War. He was commissioned colonel of the 7th Ohio Volunteers in April, 1861, and led his men into western Virginia, where he was assigned by General Frederick W. Lander to a brigade, which he commanded with credit at Cross Lanes, West Virginia, 26 August, 1861, Winchester, Virginia, 23 March, 1862, and Port Republic, Virginia, 9 June, 1862. He commanded a brigade at the battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was wounded, 13 December, 1862. On 14 May, 1862, he was made brigadier-general, and on 24 August, 1865, was mustered out of service. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 193.
TYLER, Robert Ogden, soldier, born in Greene County, New York, 22 December, 1831; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 1 December, 1874. When he was seven years old his parents took him to Hartford, Connecticut, and he was appointed from that state to the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated in 1853. He was assigned to the 3d U.S. Artillery, and served on frontier duty till the Civil War, being engaged against hostile Indians in the Spokane Expedition of 1858. In April, 1861, he was on the expedition to relieve Fort Sumter, and witnessed its bombardment, and on 17 May, after opening communication through Baltimore in command of a light battery, after the attack on the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, he was made assistant quartermaster with rank of captain, and served in the defences of Washington. On 20 August, at the special request of the Connecticut authorities, he was allowed by the war department to undertake the reorganization of the 4th Connecticut Regiment, which had become demoralized, and was commissioned its colonel. Under Colonel Tyler the regiment became one of the best in the army, and in January, 1862, it was made the 2d Connecticut Heavy Artillery. With it he took part in the Peninsular Campaign, and on 29 November, 1862, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers. At Fredericksburg, he had charge of the artillery of the centre grand division and was brevetted major for gallantry, and on 2 May, 1863, he was given command of the artillery reserve of the Army of the Potomac. In this capacity he did efficient service at Chancellorsville, at Gettysburg, where two horses were shot under him, and in the Rapidan Campaign. He was subsequently a division commander in the 22d Corps, covering Washington, and in May, 1864, was assigned a division of heavy artillery that acted as infantry. On 19 May, while on the extreme right in the actions about Spotsylvania, he drove back an attack of Ewell's corps, and was publicly thanked, with his men, by General Meade for " gallant conduct and brilliant success." At Cold Harbor, he led a brigade of picked regiments and received a severe wound in the ankle which lamed him for life and permanently shattered his constitution. He saw no more active service. At the close of the war he had received the brevets of lieutenant-colonel for Gettysburg, colonel for Spotsylvania, major-general of volunteers and brigadier-general, U. S. Army, for Cold Harbor, and major-general, U. S. array, for services throughout the war. The Connecticut legislature thanked him in a resolution, and the citizens of Hartford presented him with a sword. After the war General Tyler served as chief in the quartermaster's department successively at Charleston, Louisville, San Francisco, New York City, and Boston, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 200-201.
TYNDALE, Hector, soldier, born in Philadelphia, 24 March. 1821: died there, 19 March, 1880. His father was a merchant engaged in the importation of china and glassware, and young Tyndale succeeded to the business in 1845, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Edward P. Mitchell. He made several tours of Europe, inspecting closely all the chief factories, and becoming practically familiar with the whole art of pottery. His natural taste, thus cultivated, made him a most expert connoisseur, and led to his selection in 1876 as one of the judges of that section of the Centennial exhibition, in which capacity he wrote the elaborate report on pottery. His private collection was one of the most complete in the country. He first became interested in politics in 1856 as a Free-Soiler, and was a member of the first Republican committee in Philadelphia. He was not an Abolitionist, and had neither knowledge of nor sympathy with John Brown's raid, but when Mrs. Brown came to Philadelphia on her way to pay her last visit to her husband and bring back his body after his execution, she was without escort and was believed to be in personal danger. An appeal was made to Tyndale, who at once accepted the risks and dangers of escorting her. In the course of this self-imposed duty he was subjected to insults and threats, and on the morning of the execution was shot at by an unseen assassin. It had been threatened in the more violent newspapers of the south that John Brown's body should not be restored to his friends, but ignommiously treated, and a "nigger's" body substituted for his friends. When the coffin was delivered to Tyndale by the authorities, he refused to receive it until it was opened and the body was identified. He was in Europe when he heard the news of the firing on Fort Sumter, and at once returned home and offered his services to the government. He was commissioned major of the 28th Pennsylvania Regiment in June, 1861, and in August was put in command of Sandy Hook, opposite Harper's Ferry. The regiment fought in twenty-four battles and nineteen smaller engagements, in all of which Tyndale took part, except when he was disabled by wounds. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in April, 1802, and served in General Nathaniel P. Banks's corps in the Shenandoah valley, under General John Pope at Chantilly and the second battle of Bull Run, and later in General Joseph K. F. Mansfield's corps. At Antietam as the senior officer, he commanded a brigade in General George S. Greene's division of the 12th Corps, holding the ground in front of the Dunker church against three separate assaults of the enemy, in which the brigade captured seven battle-flags and four guns. Early in the day he received a wound in the hip, but he kept the field until the afternoon, when he was struck in the head by a musket-ball and carried off the field. For "conspicuous gallantry, self-possession, and good judgment at Antietam" he was promoted to brigadier-general of volunteers, 29 November, 1862. After slow and partial recovery from his wounds he applied for active duty, and in May, 1863, was assigned to a brigade under General Erasmus D. Keyes near Yorktown. and served with the Army of the Potomac until September, when he was sent with General Joseph Hooker to the relief of Chattanooga. In the battle of Wauhatchie he carried by a bayonet charge a hill (subsequently known as Tyndale's hill), thus turning the flank of the enemy and relieving General John W. Geary's division from an assault by superior numbers. He also participated in the series of battles around Chattanooga, and in the march to the relief of Knoxville. He was sent home on sick-leave in May, 1864, and, finding his disability likely to be lasting, he resigned in August. In March, 1865, he was brevetted major-general of volunteers for gallant and meritorious services during the war. In 1868 he was the Republican nominee for mayor of Philadelphia, and was defeated by 68 votes in a poll of more than 120,000. In 1872 his kinsman. Professor John Tyndall of London, delivered a series of lectures in this country, and resolving to devote the proceeds to the establishment of a fund "for the promotion of science in the United States by the support in European universities or elsewhere of American pupils who may evince decided talents in physics," he appointed General Tyndale with Professor Joseph Henry and Dr. Edward L. Youmans trustees. Professor Tyndall in 1885 changed the trust and established three scholarships, in Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. The last-named institution called its share the Hector Tyndale scholarship in physics. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 202.
