Encyclopedia of Civil War Military Biography – Wad-Whe
WADDEL, Alfred Moore, lawyer, born in Hillsborough, North Carolina, 16 September, 1834, was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1853, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He became clerk of the court of equity of New Hanover County, North Carolina, edited the " Wilmington Herald" in 1860, and the same year was a delegate to the Conservative-Union convention which nominated John Bell for president. During the Civil War he served in the Confederate Army as lieutenant-colonel of cavalry. He was chosen to Congress as a Democrat in 1870, served by reelection till 1879, and was chairman of the committee on post-offices and post-roads in the 44th Congress. He was defeated in the next election, and resumed the practice of law. He has in manuscript " A Colonial Officer and his Times." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 309.
WADDELL, James Iredell, naval officer, born in Pittsboro, Chatham County, North Carolina, in 1824; died in Annapolis, Maryland, 15 March, 1886, on 10 September, 1841, was appointed a midshipman in the U, S. Navy, and in May, 1842, he received a wound in a duel which incapacitated him from service for eleven months and lamed him for life. He did good service in the war with Mexico, was graduated at the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1847, and while on a cruise on the Brazilian Station in September, 1855, was promoted from passed midshipman to 2d lieutenant and navigator of the "Germantown." He was detached and served on the store-ship "Release " at Aspinwall during the building of the Panama Railroad, where he contracted the yellow fever. The ship went to sea and day by day the officers and crew were stricken down by the disease, until Lieutenant Waddell was the only officer left to command her with a few convalescent seamen. The vessel finally reached Boston. He afterward was on duty at the Naval Academy, as assistant professor of navigation, until 11 July, 1859. In the spring of 1860 he sailed in the " Saginaw" for the China station, where he led a successful expedition. On 20 November, 1861, he forwarded his resignation to the Secretary of the Navy, but on 11 January, 1862, when he arrived in New York, he was offered a command in the U. S. bomb-fleet, then being fitted out for an attack on New Orleans, which he declined. In February, 1862, he ran the blockade from Annapolis to Richmond, where he entered the Confederate Navy, his commission as lieutenant being dated 27 March. 1862. He was assigned to duty on board the ram " Louisiana " at New Orleans, and when the Confederate fleet at that port was dispersed by Farragut, Lieutenant Waddell was sent back to destroy the "Louisiana," which he did by blowing her up. He then served at Drewry's Bluff, on James River, as ordnance officer, and afterward at Charleston, South Carolina, and subsequently was ordered to England to take command of one of the cruisers that was fitting out at Liverpool. He arrived there in May, 1863, and on 5 October, 1864, was ordered to the command of the "Shenandoah" for a cruise in the Pacific Ocean. She was originally a British merchant steamer. The "Shenandoah was commissioned off Madeira, 19 October, 1864, and steered for Australia. Before arriving at Melbourne, 25 January, 1865, Commander Waddell made nine captures. The " Shenandoah" left that port, 8 February, 1865, and in three months began her destructive work among the whalers in the Okhotsk Sea, Bering Sea, and the Arctic Ocean. Long after the fall of the Confederate government he captured and sank or burned vessels until 2 August, 1865, more than three months after the surrender of General Lee, when he met with the British bark "Barracouta," from whose captain he heard of the close of the war. After this he stowed away his guns in the hold and at once sailed for Liverpool, where he surrendered the ship to the British government. He and his crew were liberated, and on 10 November, 1865, the " Shenandoah" was delivered to the U. S. consul at Liverpool. The sultan of Zanzibar afterward bought her, and several years later she went down in a gale with all on board. The " Shenandoah," while under Commander Waddell, captured thirty-eight vessels, of which she released six on bond and destroyed thirty-two. She was the only vessel that carried the flag of the Confederacy around the world. After the release of Waddell he remained in Liverpool, and then went to Paris to reside. He afterward returned to the United States, and in 1875 was made commander of the "San Francisco," of the Pacific Mail Line between Yokohama and San Francisco. On 16 May, 1877, his steamer struck on a rock and sank. All the passengers were saved, and the captain was the last to leave the ship. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 309-310.
WADE, JAMES FRANKLIN, entered the army on 14 May, 1861, as 1st lieutenant of the 6th U. S. Cavalry, and rose in rank till at the close of the war he was major and brevet brigadier-general of volunteers. He became lieutenant-colonel on 20 March, 1879, and colonel of the 5th U.S. Cavalry on 21 April, 1887. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 310-311.
WADE, Edward, 1802-1866, West Springfield, Massachusetts, Ohio, lawyer, prominent abolitionist. Free Soil party U.S. Congressman from Ohio in the 33rd Congress. Republican representative in the 34th and 35th Congresses. Opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. (Blue, 2005, pp. 11-13, 213, 226, 236, 268; Dumond, 1961, pp. 302, 363; Mitchell, 2007, pp. 23, 25, 26, 48, 65, 71, 72; Rodriguez, 2007, p. 56)
WADE, Melancthon Smith, merchant, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 2 December, 1802; died in Avondale, near Cincinnati, Ohio, 11 August, 1868. His father, David E. Wade, moved to Ohio from New Jersey in 1789. The son was educated in his native place, and became a dry-goods merchant, but retired from business in 1840. He was active in militia matters, holding successively the offices of captain, colonel, and brigadier-general, and on 1 October, 1861, was commissioned a brigadier-general of U. S. volunteers. He was the first post-commander of Camp Dennison, Ohio, but resigned from the army, 18 March, 1862, on account of feeble health. He devoted his leisure to the cultivation of fruit, and was an active member of the Cincinnati horticultural society. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 311.
WADSWORTH, James Samuel, soldier, born in Geneseo, New York, 30 October, 1807; died near Chancellorsville, Virginia, 8 May, 1864, was educated at Harvard and Yale and studied law in Albany, completing his course with Daniel Webster. Although he was admitted to the bar in 1833, he never practised his profession, but devoted himself to the management of the family estate in western New York, which amounted to 15,000 acres. In 1852 he was elected president of the State Agricultural Society, in which he was interested during his life. He promoted education and the interests of the community in which he lived. He founded a public library in Geneseo. was a subscriber to the endowment of Geneseo College, aided in establishing the school-district library system, and was active in philanthropical labors. Although a Federalist by education and a Democrat by conviction, he supported the Free-Soil Party in 1848, and continued to act in defence of the anti-slavery movement. He was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1856 and 1860. In 1861 he was a delegate to the Peace Convention in Washington, and at the beginning of the Civil War he was among the first to offer his services to the government. In April, 1861, he was commissioned a major-general by Governor Edwin D. Morgan, but the appointment was subsequently revoked. When communication with the capital was cut off, he chartered two ships upon his own responsibility, loaded them with provisions, and went with them to Annapolis, where he superintended the delivery of the supplies. He was volunteer aide to General Irvin McDowell at the first battle of Bull Run, where he was commended for bravery and humanity. Afterward he was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 9 August, 1861, assigned to a command in the advance under General George B. McClellan, and guarded the city of Washington. On 15 March, 1862, he became military governor of the District of Columbia. In the autumn of 1862 he was the Republican candidate for governor of New York, but was defeated by Horatio Seymour. In the following December he was assigned to the command of a division in the Army of the Potomac under General Ambrose B. Burnside, and participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, 13 December, 1862. He displayed great military skill in the command of the 1st Division of the 1st Army Corps under General John F. Reynolds. At Gettysburg his division was the first to engage the enemy on 1 July, 1863, and on that day lost 2,400 out of 4,000 men. During the second and third days' fighting he rendered good service in maintaining the heights on the right of the line. At the council of war held after the victory he was one of the three that favored pursuit of the enemy. Early in 1864 he was sent on special service to the Mississippi Valley, and made an extensive tour of inspection through the southern and western states. On the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac in 1864, he was assigned to the command of the 4th Division of the 5th Corps, composed in part of his old command. While endeavoring to rally his troops during the battle of the Wilderness, 6 May, 1864, he was struck in the head by a bullet, and before he could be removed the enemy had gained possession of the ground where he lay. Although unconscious, he lingered for two days. It is said that his troops were inspired by his heroic bearing continually to renew the contest, when but for him they would have yielded. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers on 6 May, 1864. Horace Greeley, in his " American Conflict" (Hartford, 1864-'6), says: "The country's salvation claimed no nobler sacrifice than that of James S. Wadsworth, of New York. . . . No one surrendered more for his country's sake, or gave his life more joyfully for her deliverance." In 1888 a movement was in progress for the erection in Washington of a monument to his memory. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 312-313.
WAINWRIGHT, Jonathan Mayhew, naval officer, born in New York City, 27 July. 1821; died near Galveston, Texas, 1 January, 1863, entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 30 June, 1837, attended the naval school at Philadelphia in 1842-'3, and became a passed midshipman, 29 June, 1843. He was appointed acting master, 10 November, 1849, and commissioned lieutenant, 17 September, 1850. He was on special duty at Washington in 1861, and commanded the steamer "Harriet Lane," which was Admiral Porter's flag-ship in Farragut's fleet during the engagements with Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip and the capture of New Orleans in April, 1862. He took part in the operations of the fleet below Vicksburg, and in October, 1862, commanded the "Harriet Lane" in Commander Renshaw's squadron at the capture of Galveston. While he was holding possession of Galveston, General Magruder attacked the " Harriet Lane," then lying above the city. Wainwright was killed while gallantly leading his men to repel the Confederate boarders, and in ten minutes after half the crew of the "Harriet Lane" were shot down and the vessel was captured by the Confederates. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 316.
WAINWRIGHT, Richard, naval officer, born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, 5 January, 1817; died near New Orleans, 10 August, 1862. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 11 May, 1831, attended the naval school at Norfolk in 1837-'8, and became a passed midshipman, 15 June, 1837. In 1838-'41 he served on the coast survey in the brig "Consort." He was commissioned lieutenant. 8 September, 1841, commanded the steamer " Water-Witch " on the home station in 1848-'9, served again on coast survey in 1851-'7, and cruised in the steam frigate " Merrimack" in 1857-'60. He was stationed at the Washington Navy-yard on ordnance duty in 1860-'l, promoted to commander, 24 April of the latter year, and given the flag-ship " Hartford" of Admiral Farragut's fleet, fitted out for the capture of New Orleans. During the passage of the forts the Confederate tug " Mosher" pushed a fire-raft alongside of the "Hartford," which threatened the destruction of the ship. Wainwright distinguished himself in this conflict with the flames and continued to fight the forts on 24-25 April. He participated in the operations of Farragut’s fleet below Vicksburg, and was highly commended by the admiral. At the time of his death he still commanded the "Hartford." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 316.
WAITE, Carlos Adolphus, soldier, born in 1800; died in Plattsburg, New York, 7 May, 1866. He entered the U. S. Army as 2d lieutenant of infantry, 28 January, 1820, became 1st lieutenant, 1 Mav. 1828, and captain, 3 July, 1836. From 7 July, 1838, till 8 May, 1845, he was captain and assistant quartermaster. He was appointed major of the 8th U.S. Infantry, 16 February, 1847, and served in the Mexican war, receiving the brevets of lieutenant-colonel, 20 August, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, and colonel, 8 September, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct at Molino del Rev, where he was severely wounded. He was made lieutenant-colonel of the 5th U.S. Infantry on 10 November, 1851, and colonel of the 15th U.S. Infantry on 5 June, 1860. In 1864 he was placed on the retired list, owing to impaired health, and he resided in Plattsburg until his death. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers on 13 March, 1865, for long and faithful service in the army. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 317.
WALES, Philip Skinner, surgeon, born in Annapolis, Maryland, 27 February, 1837. He was educated at the University of Maryland, and, after a course of study in the medical department there, settled in Baltimore, and finally in Washington. He entered the U.S. Navy as an assistant surgeon, 7 August, 1856, was commissioned surgeon, 12 October, 1861, and served in the steamer " Fort Jackson," of the North Atlantic and Western Gulf Squadrons, in 1862-'5. He was a member of the board of examiners in 1873-'4, commissioned medical inspector. 30 June, 1873, and appointed surgeon-general of the navy and chief of the bureau of medicine and surgery on 26 January, 1880, serving until 27 March, 1884. When President Garfield was shot he assisted in attendance for a short time. While he was chief of the bureau of medicine, unscrupulous clerks in his office contrived to defraud the government, and he was tried by a court-martial and suspended for five years for neglect of duty, though acquitted of all real responsibility for the acts of his subordinates. He is a member of various medical societies, and the author of "Mechanical Therapeutics" (Philadelphia, 1867); "A New Method of controlling the Velum Palati" in the New York " Medical Record" for November, 1875; "A New Rectal Dilator and Explorer" (Washington, 1877); and papers in the " American Journal of Medical Science" and in the "Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter." He has in preparation a large work on medical science. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 323.
WALKE, Henry, naval officer, born in Princess Ann County, Virginia, 24 December, 1808. He was appointed from Ohio a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, 1 February, 1827, became a passed midshipman, 10 June,1833, and a lieutenant. 9 February, 1839, and during the Mexican War served in the Gulf Squadron as executive of the bomb brig "Vesuvius, was present at the capture of Vera Cruz and participated in the expeditions to Alvarado, Tobasco. and Tuspan. He was promoted to commander, 14 September, 1855, and during the secession excitement in the southern states he was at Pensacola Navy-yard, where he assisted in the removal of Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer's command to Fort Pickens, by which that, fort was saved to the Union. In January. 1861, he was ordered to Vera Cruz, but took the responsibility of conveying the loyal officers, seamen, and marines, with their families, to New York, when the U.S. Navy-yard was seized by the secessionists. He was court-martialed for this disobedience of orders, and reprimanded by the Secretary of the Navy; but as this reprimand was published by Secretary Gideon Welles, it was more of a compliment to him for his good judgment than a censure for the disobedience of orders. He commanded the steamer "Mount Vernon " from May till September, 1861, after which he was assigned to duty in the Mississippi River Flotilla, where he served with ability until September, 1863. He commanded the gunboat "Taylor" and the squadron of gun-boats at the battle of Belmont in co-operation with General Grant, by whom he was complimented for his services in protecting the retreat. He had the gunboat " Carondelet " in the engagement and capture of Fort Henry, 6 February, 1862. for which he, with other officers of Flag-Officer Foote's squadron, received a vote of thanks from Congress and the state of Ohio. With the same vessel he was in the capture of Fort Donelson, 13-16 February, 1862, during which he bore the brunt of the engagement. In this ship he ran the batteries of Island No. 16, 17 March, 1862, a feat that had never been performed before by the Mississippi River Flotilla. It was done at night during a violent storm with only the lightning and the flashes of the enemy's guns to indicate the course down the river. After this he led in the "Carondelet" at the battle at Fort Pillow, 11 May, 1862, and at Memphis, 6 June, 1862, when the Confederate gun-boats were captured and sunk, during which contest he chiefly engaged the ram "Arkansas." He was commissioned a captain, 16 July, 1862, and took command of the iron-clad ram "Lafayette," in which he ran the batteries at Vicksburg, and served in the battle of Grand Gulf, Mississippi, 29 April, 1863. He dispersed General Richard Taylor's army at Simmsport, Louisiana, and blockaded the mouth of Red River, 4 June, 1863. He was transferred to the steamer " Fort Jackson," 24 July, 1863, and continued to render valuable services on the Mississippi River until 24 September, 1863, when he was detached and placed in command of the steamer " Sacramento" to chase the "Alabama." He was promoted to commodore, 25 July, 1866, and to rear-admiral, 13 July, 1876. and voluntarily went on the retired list, 26 April, 1871. He is the author of " Naval Scenes in the Civil War" (New York, 1877). He is a good artist, and his sketches of the scenes in the Civil War are valuable additions to the above-mentioned work. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 323-324.
WALKER, Francis Amasa, statistician, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 2 July, 1840, was graduated at Amherst in 1860, and began the study of law under Charles Devens, and George F. Hoar in Worcester. He joined the 15th Massachusetts Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Devens, on 1 August, 1861, as sergeant-major, and became assistant adjutant-general of the brigade under General Darius N. Couch on 14 September, 1861, with the rank of captain. On 11 August. 1862, he was made adjutant-general of General Couch's division, with the rank of major, and he was promoted colonel on the staff of the 2d Army Corps, 23 December, 1862. Thereafter he continued with that corps as adjutant-general, serving successively on the staffs of General Gouverneur K. Warren and General Winfield S. Hancock, and was severely wounded at Chancellorsville, 1 May, 1863, and captured at Ream's Station, 25 August, 1864. He was confined in Libby prison, in consequence of which his health was impaired, so that he resigned on 12 January, 1865. The brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers was conferred on him on 13 March, 1865. He taught Latin and Greek at Williston Seminary during 1865-'7, and then was assistant editor of the "Springfield Republican." In 1869 he became chief of the bureau of statistics in the Treasury Department at Washington, and in 1870-'2 he held the office of superintendent of the 9th census. During 1871-'2 he was also commissioner of Indian Affairs. He was called to the professorship of political economy and history in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale in 1873, and held that chair till 1881, when he was elected to the presidency of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Meanwhile, from May till November, 1870, he was chief of the bureau of awards at the World's Fair in Philadelphia, and during 1879-'81 he was superintendent of the 10th Census while on leave of absence from Yale. He held the lectureship on tenure of land at Harvard in 1883. While residing in New Haven he was a member of the city and state boards of education, and on his removal to Boston, Massachusetts, he was called on to serve similarly in that state. The degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Amherst in 1863 and by Yale in 1873, that of Ph. D. by Amherst in 1875, and that of LL. D. by Amherst and Yale in 1881, by Harvard in 1883, by Columbia in 1887, and by St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1888. He was U. S. Commissioner to the International Monetary Conference in Paris in 1878, and was elected in 1878 to the National Academy of Sciences. He is president of the American Statistical Society and of the American Economic Association, and is an honorary fellow of the Royal Statistical Society of London, his writings include annual reports as superintendent of the 9th Census (3 vols., Washington, 1870-'2), as commissioner of Indian Affairs (1872), as superintendent of the 10th Census (8 vols., 1879-'81), and as president of the Massachusetts institute of technology (5 vols.. Boston, 1883-8); and he has compiled 'Commerce and Navigation of the United States " (2 vols., Washington, 1808-9); " Ninth Census " (4 vols., 18723); 'Statistical Atlas of the United States" (1874); "Judges' Reports on Awards" (8 vols., Philadelphia, 1878); and "Tenth Census " (24 vols., Washington. 1883 et seq.). President Walker is the author of "The Indian Question" (Boston, 1874); "The Wages Question" (1870): "Money " (1878); "Money, Trade, and Industry " (1879); " Land and its Rent" (1883); "Political Economy" (New York, 1883); and "History of the Second Army Corps " (1880). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 325.
WALKER, James Daniel, senator, born in Logan County, Kentucky, 13 December, 1830. He moved to Arkansas in 1847, was educated in private schools and at Ozark Institute, Arkansas, studied law, and was admitted to practice in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1850. During the Civil War he served as colonel of an Arkansas regiment in the Confederate Army. After the war he resumed the practice of his profession, was solicitor-general of the state of Arkansas, a presidential elector in 1876 on the Tilden and Hendricks ticket, and in 1878 was chosen to the U. S. Senate as a Democrat, serving till 3 March, 1885. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 327.
WALKER, John Grimes, naval officer, born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, 20 March, 1835. He was graduated at the U. S. Naval Academy in 1856, promoted to master, 22 January, 1858. and became lieutenant, 23 January. 1858. During the Civil War he served on the Atlantic Coast Blockade in the steamer "Connecticut" in 1861, and was transferred to the steamer " Winona" of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1862. In this vessel he participated in the engagements that ended in the capture of New Orleans, with the subsequent operations against Vicksburg in 1862. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, and had command of the river iron-clad "Baron de Kalb" of the Mississippi Squadron in 1862-'3, in which he participated in the attacks on Vicksburg and operations in Yazoo River in the winter of 1862-'3, co-operating with General William T. Sherman and the army. He participated in both attacks on Haines's Bluff, in the Yazoo River Expedition against the Confederate gun-boats, in the capture of Fort Hindman and Yazoo City, and in the attack on Fort Pemberton. For these services he was highly commended by Admiral Porter in his report, and also in his "Naval History of the Civil War." After he had forced a passage through Yazoo pass, he took command of the naval battery with cannon from the gun-boats in the bombardment of Vicksburg from the rear, which contributed greatly to the final surrender. After the fall of that place he had command of the naval expedition against Yazoo River in co-operation with 5,000 troops in transports. Walker led in the "De Kalb," and while engaging the batteries his vessel ran afoul of a torpedo, which exploded and caused the vessel to sink almost instantly, a second torpedo exploding under her stern as she went down. He commanded the steamer "Saco" on the North Atlantic Blockade in 1864, and the " Shawmut" in 1865, in which he participated in the capture of forts near Wilmington. He was promoted and advanced over others for his services during the war to the grade of commander on 25 July, 1866, served at the naval academy in 1866-'9, and commanded the frigate "Sabine "on a special cruise in 1869-'70. He was promoted to captain, 25 June, 1877, appointed chief of the Bureau of Navigation and office of detail, 22 October, 1881, for four years, and reappointed in 1885 for a second term. He is the senior captain on the list, and is entitled to be promoted to commodore upon the first occurrence of a vacancy. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 328.
WALKER, Leroy Pope, lawyer, born near Huntsville, Alabama, 8 July, 1817; died there, 22 August, 1884, studied law, attained a high place at the bar of northern Alabama, early entered public life, was speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1847-'50, and served as judge of the state circuit court in 1850-'3. He became well known as an advocate of the policy of internal improvement and of secession, and in 1861-'2 was Confederate Secretary of War, directing the military operations by which the Civil War was begun. He was also commissioned brigadier-general in the Confederate Army, but resigned. 1 March, 1862. After the war he resumed the practice of law at Huntsville. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 328.
WALKER, Mary Edwards, 1832-1919, feminist, physician (surgeon), Union Army surgeon, women’s rights and suffrage activist, abolitionist. Received the Medal of Honor for her services during the Civil War, the only woman to have received this honor. (Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 352)
WALKER, William H. T., soldier, born in Georgia in October, 1810; died near Decatur, Georgia, 20 July, 1864. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1837, served in the Florida War, was wounded three times at the battle of Okeechobee, 25 December, 1837, and was brevetted 1st lieutenant for services in that action. He resigned from the army in 1838, was reappointed in 1840 as 1st lieutenant of infantry, served in the Florida war of 1840-'2, and became captain in 1845. During the Mexican war he participated in all the important battles, and was brevetted major in the U. S. Army for gallant conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, and lieutenant-colonel for Molino del Rey, where he was severely wounded. He was on recruiting service in 1849-'52, became deputy governor of the East Pascagoula Branch Military Asylum in the latter year, and in 1854-'6 was commandant of cadets, and instructor in military tactics at the U. S. Military Academy. He became major in 1855, served on the frontier, and in 1860 resigned. He entered the Confederate Army in 1861, became a major-general, served principally in the west, and was killed at the battle of Decatur. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 332.
WALKER, William McCreary, naval officer, born in Baltimore. Maryland, 2 September, 1813; died in New York City, 19 November, 1860. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 1 November, 1827, became a passed midshipman, 10 June, 1833, and was promoted to lieutenant, 8 December, 1838, serving in Lieutenant Charles Wilkes's Exploring Expedition in command of the "Flying Fish," in which he participated in the discovery of the Antarctic Continent in 1838-'42. He commanded the steamer " Union " on the home station in 1843-'4, and cruised in the Mediterranean Squadron as aide in 1844-'6. He was promoted 14 September, 1855, and commanded the frigate "Constellation" in 1856. He served on special duty on boards and inspecting duty until the beginning of the Civil War, was commissioned a captain, 16 July, 1862, and commanded the steamer " De Soto" throughout the Civil War. He was one of the most successful blockaders during the war, and captured more prizes than any other vessel. Captain Walker died of heart disease at the Naval Hospital in New York. He was the author of a work on "Screw Propulsion" (New York. 1861). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 332.
WALKER, William S., naval officer, born in New Hampshire, 6 December, 1793; died in Boston, Massachusetts, 24 November, 1863. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 30 November, 1814, was promoted to lieutenant, 13 January, 1825, and to master-commandant, 8 September, 1841, and commanded the sloop " Concord " on the coast of Africa in 1841—'2, and the receiving-ship at Boston in 1843-'6. He saw no service during the Mexican War. He commanded the sloop "Saratoga," on the Asiatic Station, in 1850-'4, was promoted to captain, 14 September, 1855, and served at the receiving-ship at Boston in 1854-'5, after which he was on leave until the Civil War began, when he was ordered to command the steam sloop " Brooklyn," but his failing health compelled him to decline to go to sea. He was placed on the retired list, and promoted to commodore, 16 July, 1862. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 332.
WALLACE Lewis, soldier, born in Brookville, Franklin County, Indiana, 10 April, 1827, received a common-school education, and at the beginning of the Mexican War was a law-student in Indiana. At the call for volunteers he entered the army as a 1st lieutenant in company H, 1st Indiana Infantry. He resumed his profession in 1848, which he practised in Covington and subsequently in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and served four years in the state senate. At the beginning of the Civil War he was appointed adjutant-general of Indiana, soon afterward becoming colonel of the 11th Indiana Volunteers, with which he served in West Virginia, participating in the capture of Romney and the ejection of the enemy from Harper's Ferry. He became brigadier-general of volunteers, 3 September, 1861, led a division and the centre of the Union lines at the capture of Fort Donelson. and displayed such ability that his commission of major-general of volunteers followed on 21 March, 1862. The day before the battle of Shiloh, his division was placed on the north side of Snake Creek, on a road leading from Savannah or Crump's Landing, to Purdy. He was ordered by General Grant, on the morning of 6 April (the first day of the battle), to cross the creek and come up to General William T. Sherman's right, which covered the bridge over that stream, that general depending on him for support; but he lost his way, and did not arrive until the night. He rendered efficient service in the second day's fight, and in the subsequent advance on Corinth. In November, 1862, he was president of the court of inquiry on the military conduct of General Don Carlos Buell in the operations in Tennessee and Kentucky. In 1863 he prepared the defences of Cincinnati, which he saved from capture by General Edmund Kirby Smith, and was subsequently assigned to the command of the middle department and the 8th Army Corps, with headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. With 5,800 men he intercepted the march of General Jubal A. Early with 28,000 men on Washington, D.C. and on 9 July, 1864, fought the battle of the Monocacy. Although he was defeated, he gained sufficient time to enable General Grant to send re-enforcements to the capital from City Point. By order of General Henry W. Halleck. he was removed from his command, and superseded by General Edward O. C. Ord; but when General Grant learned the particulars of the action, he immediately reinstated Wallace, and in his official report in 1865 says: "On 6 July the enemy (Early) occupied Hagerstown, moving a strong column toward Frederick City. General Wallace, with Ricketts's division and his own command, the latter new and mostly undisciplined troops, pushed out from Baltimore with great promptness and met the enemy in force on the Monocacy, near the crossing of the railroad bridge. His force was not sufficient to insure success, but he fought the enemy nevertheless, and, although it resulted in a defeat to our arms, yet he detained the enemy and thereby served to enable Wright to reach Washington before him." Returning to his command. General Wallace was second member of the court that tried the assassins of President Lincoln, and president of that which tried and convicted Henry Wirz, commandant of Andersonville prison. General Wallace was mustered out of volunteer service in 1865, returned to the practice of law in Crawfordsville, was governor of Utah in 1878-'81, and in 1881 became U. S. minister to Turkey, serving till 1885, when he again resumed practice in Crawfordsville. He has lectured extensively in this country, and is the author of two successful novels, entitled "The Fair God," a story of the conquest of Mexico (Boston. 1873). “Ben-Hur, a Tale of the Christ," of which 200,000 copies have been sold (New York, 1880); a " Life of Benjamin Harrison" (1888); and "The Boyhood of Christ" (1888). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 333-334.
WALLACE, William Harvey Lamb, soldier, born in Urbana, Ohio. 8 July, 1821; died in Savannah, Tennessee, 10 April, 1862. He moved with his father to Illinois in 1832, and adopted the profession of law, which he was licensed to practice in 1846, but the same year volunteered as a private in the 1st Illinois Regiment for the Mexican War. He rose to the rank of adjutant, participated in the battle of Buena Vista and other engagements, and after the peace resumed his profession, becoming district attorney in 1853. In May, 1861. he was appointed colonel of the 11th Illinois Volunteers, and at the battle of Fort Donelson, in February, 1862. He commanded a brigade in General John A. McClernand's division, with ability that led to his appointment as brigadier-general of volunteers. In the succeeding battle of Shiloh he commanded General Charles F. Smith's brigade, which for six hours withstood the assault of the enemy, and was the last to leave the field. Wallace fell, mortally wounded, in an ineffectual attempt to resist the enemy. See James Grant Wilsons "Sketches of Illinois Officers " (Chicago, 1862). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 335.
WALLEN, Henry Davies, soldier, born in Savannah, Georgia, 19 April, 1819; died in New York City, 2 December, 1886. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1840 in the class with William T. Sherman and George H. Thomas, and was assigned to the 4th U.S. Infantry. His first service was in the Florida War in 1840-'2, and, after garrison duty during 1842-'5, he was engaged in the military occupation of Texas and in the war with Mexico, being wounded at Palo Alto. After five years of frontier duty at Detroit and Plattsburg, he was sent to the Pacific Coast, where he remained until the beginning of the Civil War, serving in various forts, with the Yakmia Expedition in 1855, and in command of the exploring expedition to Salt Lake in 1859. Meanwhile he had been promoted captain on 31 January, 1850, and major on 25 November, 1861. He was acting assistant inspector-general of the Department of New Mexico from June, 1862, till June, 1864, and in command of a regiment at Fort Schuyler, New York, thereafter until May, 1865. The brevets of lieutenant-colonel and colonel were given him on 23 February, 1865, and that of brigadier-general on 13 March, 1865, while the actual rank of lieutenant-colonel was conferred on him, 30 July, 1865. For a year he served in the west, and commanded successively the District of the Gila and the district of Arizona, but in 1867 he was given command of Governor's Island, New York harbor, which post he held until 1869. In 1872 he was on the Yellowstone Expedition, and on 19 February, 1873, he was made colonel of the 2d U.S. Infantry. He was retired from active service on 18 February, 1874, and subsequently resided in New York City. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 337.
WARD, Durbin, lawyer, born in Augusta, Kentucky, 11 February, 1819; died in Lebanon, Ohio, 22 May, 1886. He moved with his family to Fayette County, Indiana, where he was brought up on a farm, entered Miami University at the age of nineteen, remaining two years, then studied law with Thomas Corwin, and, on being admitted to practice in 1842, became his partner. From 1845 till 1851 he was prosecuting attorney of Warren County, Ohio. He was elected to the first legislature under the present constitution in 1851, was defeated as a Democratic candidate for Congress in 1856, also as nominee for the office of attorney-general of Ohio in 1858, and in 1860 was a member of the Democratic National Convention that met at Charleston. South Carolina, and reassembled at Baltimore, Maryland, in which he supported the candidacy of Stephen A. Douglas. He enlisted in the National Army as a private, served in West Virginia under General George B. McClellan, and subsequently took part in the campaigns of General George H. Thomas, being appointed major of the 17th Ohio Infantry on 17 August, 1861, and lieutenant-colonel on 31 December, 1862. He received a disabling wound at Chickamauga and was mustered out without his knowledge; but he obtained the recall of the order, was made colonel of his regiment on 13 November, 1863, and with a crippled arm served through the remainder of the war, being brevetted brigadier-general on 18 October, 1865. In November, 1866, he was appointed U. S. district attorney for the southern district of Ohio, but he was removed when General Grant became president. He entered the state senate in 1870. The plan of the present circuit-court system of Ohio was drafted by him. General Ward was a political orator, and at the Democratic national convention of 1884 presented the name of Allen G. Thurman as a candidate for the presidency. He began, but did not live to complete, a work on constitutional law, to be entitled "The Federal Institutes." A volume of his speeches has been published by his widow (Columbus. 1888). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 348.
WARD, James Harman, naval officer, born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1806; died near Matthias point, Potomac River, 27 June, 1861. He was appointed as a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, 4 March. 1823, and was allowed to remain under instruction in the military school at Norwich, Vermont, with several other midshipmen. He made a cruise in the "Constitution" in 1824-'8, became a passed midshipman, 23 March, 1829, and was commissioned lieutenant, 3 March, 1831. He was an instructor at the naval academy at Annapolis from its establishment on its present basis in 1845 till 1847. He commanded the steamer " Vixen " of the home Squadron in 1849-50, and was promoted to commander, 9 September, 1853. He was appointed to command the Potomac Flotilla in May, 1861, and immediately essayed to open that river and silence the Confederate batteries on its banks. His flotilla consisted of three small improvised gun-boats, the steamer " Freeborn," "Anacostia," and "Resolute." He attacked and silenced the batteries at Acquia creek, 20 May, 1861, the first time the navy engaged the Confederate batteries during the war. The next day the battle was renewed, and Ward's flotilla was re-enforced by the arrival of the "Pawnee " under Commander Stephen C. Rowan. Ward conducted a series of fights with his flotilla, and succeeded in clearing the banks and keeping the river open. On 27 June, 1861, he planned a landing expedition at Matthias point, and in the bombardment of the batteries he was killed while sighting a gun. He was the author of "Elementary Course of Instruction in Naval Ordnance and Gunnery" (Philadelphia, 1851); "Manual of Naval Tactics" (New York, 1859); and “Steam for the Million" (1860). The first two were used as a text-book at the United States Naval Academy for many years. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 349-350.
WARD, John Henry Hobart, soldier, born in New York City, 17 June, 1823. His grandfather, John, a soldier of the Revolution, and his father, James, who fought in the war of 1812, were both disabled by wounds that they received in the service. The son was educated at Trinity Collegiate School, enlisted at the age of eighteen in the 7th U. S. Infantry, and in four years rose through the several grades to that of sergeant-major. In the Mexican War he participated in the siege of Fort Brown, received wounds at Monterey, and was at the capture of Vera Cruz. He was assistant commissary-general of the state of New York from 1851 till 1855, and commissary-general from 1855 till 1859. In the beginning of the Civil War he recruited the 38th New York Volunteers, was appointed colonel of the regiment, and led it at Bull Run and in all the battles of the Peninsula Campaign, and subsequently at the second Bull Run and Chantilly. Being promoted brigadier-general of volunteers on 4 October, 1862, he commanded a brigade in the 3d Corps at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania. On the third day at Gettysburg, where he was wounded, as also at Kelly's Ford and Wapping Heights, he was in temporary command of the division. He was again wounded at Spotsylvania, and was frequently commended for courage and capacity, in official reports. After the war he engaged in a civil employment in New York City. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 350.
WARD, Marcus Lawrence, governor of New Jersey, born in Newark, New Jersey, 9 November, 1812; died there, 25 April, 1884. He received a good education and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was originally a Whig, aided in forming the Republican Party, and was a delegate to the National Republican Conventions in Chicago in 1860 and in Baltimore in 1864. During the Civil War he frequently visited the camps and battle-fields to alleviate suffering, and for his many services was called the Soldiers' Friend. He devised a system by which communication could be transmitted without cost from the soldier on the field to his family, and also established a free pension bureau, which he maintained at his personal expense. In recognition of his patriotism the government gave to the hospital that he equipped in Newark the name of the " U. S. Ward hospital," which after the war was converted into a home for disabled soldiers. In 1862 he was defeated as a candidate for governor of New Jersey, but he held this office in 1865-8. In 1866 he was chosen chairman of the National Republican Committee. He was afterward elected to Congress as a Republican, serving from 1 December, 1873, till 3 March, 1875. In the latter year he declined the office of Indian Commissioner. Governor Ward was an early member of the New Jersey Historical Society, of the Newark Library Association, and the New Jersey Art Union, aided education in the state, improved the condition of the state prison, and was an active philanthropist. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 352.
WARD, William Greene, soldier, born in New York City, 20 July, 1832, was graduated at Columbia in 1851, and became a banker. He was lieutenant-colonel of the 12th Regiment of New York Militia, with which he served in the field from 21 April till 5 August, 1861. As colonel of the same regiment he was again in the United States service in 1862, participating as acting brigadier, and personally directing his artillery fire, in the defence of Harper's Ferry, where he was made prisoner and paroled. In 1863 he served again as colonel of the regiment in the Pennsylvania Campaign. He partly invented and greatly improved the Ward-Burton breech-loading rifle. After the war he was made a brigadier-general in the state militia service, and served for nearly twenty years.—William Greene's brother, John, soldier, born in New York City, 30 November, 1838, was graduated at Columbia College in 1858 and at Columbia Law-School in 1860, then studied medicine at the New York University Medical College, taking his degree of M. D. in 1864. During the Civil War he served with his brother in the field as lieutenant, and afterward captain, in the 12th New York National Guard, taking part in September, 1862, in the defence of Harper's Ferry, under a heavy artillery fire for three days, when surrounded by a large part of Lee's army under Stonewall Jackson, when he was made prisoner and paroled. Subsequently he became colonel of the 12th New York Regiment for eleven years, till October, 1877, and for some time he acted as secretary to the National Rifle Association. He is the author of many historical papers and of "The Overland Route to California, and other Poems" (New York, 1875). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp.
WARD, William Thomas, soldier, born in Amelia County, Vs., 9 August, 1808; died in Louisville, Kentucky, 12 October, 1878. He was educated at St. Mary's College, near Lebanon, Kentucky, studied law, and practised in Greensburg. In 1847 he joined a regiment of Kentucky volunteers, was commissioned as major, and served in Mexico till July, 1848. He was elected to the Kentucky legislature on his return, and was a representative in Congress from 1 December, 1851, till 3 March, 1853. He was appointed a brigadier-general in the National Army on 18 September, 1861, organized a brigade of volunteers in Kentucky, commanded all troops south of Louisville and was engaged in the pursuit of General John H. Morgan in 1862. was attached to the Army of the Ohio in November, commanded at Gallatin, Tennessee, and served through General William T. Sherman's campaigns, relinquishing the command of a division in the Cumberland at the beginning of the Atlanta Campaign to assume that of a brigade in the 20th Corps. His men effected a lodgment in the enemy's fortifications at Reseca, and he was severely wounded in the arm and side, but would not leave the field. He was also in the battles before the fall of Atlanta, and in the march to the sea commanded a division, performing effective services in the fights that preceded the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston's army. He was brevetted major-general on 24 February, 1865, and mustered out on 24 August, after which he practised law in Louisville, Kentucky. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 356.
WARING, George E., sanitarian, born in Poundridge, New York. 4 July, 1833. He was educated at College Hill, Poughkeepsie, and then studied agriculture with James J. Mapes. During the winter of 1854 he made an agricultural lecture tour through Maine and Vermont, and in 1855 he took charge of Horace Greeley's farm at Chappaqua, New York, which he conducted on shares for two years. In August, 1857. he was appointed agricultural and drainage engineer of Central Park, New York City, where he remained for four years, during which time, among other duties, he prepared the soil of the Mall and set out the four rows of elms upon it. He was appointed in May, 1861, after the opening of the Civil War, major of the Garibaldi Guard, with which he served three months. In August, 1861, he was made major of cavalry by General John C. Fremont and went to St. Louis to join him. There he raised six companies of cavalry under the name of the Fremont Hussars, which were afterward consolidated with the Benton Hussars to form the 4th Missouri Cavalry, of which he was commissioned colonel in January, 1862. In this capacity he served throughout the war, chiefly in the southwest. He settled in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1867, where he became the manager of Ogden farm. Colonel Waring then devoted himself to agriculture and cattle-breeding and to engineering, until the latter occupation required his full attention in 1877. Since that date he has been in active practice as an engineer of drainage. He was appointed in June, 1879, expert and special agent of the 10th Census of the United States, with charge of the social statistics of cities, and he has been a member of the National Board of Health since 1882. After the yellow-fever epidemic in Memphis in 1878 he devised the system of sewerage that was accepted for that city and since that time has been generally adopted. He has invented numerous sanitary improvements chiefly in connection with the drainage of houses and towns. He has been connected with various journals and edited the " Herd-Books of the American Jersey Cattle Club" in 1868-'81, of which organization he was the founder. His other works are "Elements of Agriculture" (New York, 1854); "Draining for Profit and Draining for Health" (1867); "Handy Book of Husbandry" (1870, now called " Book of the Farm"); "A Farmer's Vacation" (Boston, 1875); " Whip and Spur" (1875); " Sanitary Drainage of Houses and Farms" (1876); "The Bride of the Rhine" (1877); "Village Improvements and Farm Villages" (1877); "Sanitary Condition of City and Country Dwelling-Houses" (1877); "Tyrol and the Skirt of the Alps " (New York, 1879); " How to Drain a House" (1885); and "Sewerage and Land Drainage" (1888). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 358-359.
WARNER, Adoniram Judson, soldier, born in Wales, Erie County, New York, 13 January, 1834. He was educated at Beloit, Wisconsin, and in New York Central College. Soon after leaving college he became principal of the Lewiston, Pennsylvania Academy and superintendent of public schools of Mifflin County, and he was principal of the Mercer Union schools from 1856 till 1862. In the latter year he entered the National Army as captain in a Pennsylvania regiment, and was successively promoted to lieutenant-colonel, colonel, and brevet brigadier-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865. He participated in several engagements, and was severely wounded at Antietam. After the close of the war he studied law and was admitted to the bar at Indianapolis, Indiana, but never practised, and since 1866 has engaged in the railroad, coal, and iron business. He was elected to Congress from Ohio as a Democrat in 1878, 1882, and 1884. He has published "Appreciation of Money" (Philadelphia, 1877); "Source of Value in Money " (1882); and various pamphlets on the silver and other economic questions. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 359.
WARNER, Willard, senator, born in Granville, Ohio, 4 September, 1826. He was graduated at Marietta College in 1845, went to California in 1849, engaged in mercantile business in Cincinnati after his return in 1852, and a few years later became general manager of the Newark Machine-Works. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1860. In December, 1861, he joined the volunteer army as major of the 76th Ohio Infantry, and was engaged at Fort Donelson, at the siege of Corinth, and in the Vicksburg Campaign. In 1863 he became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, which he led from Vicksburg to Chattanooga, and through the battles of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, and at Ringgold, where he broke through General Patrick Cleburne's strongly posted lines. In the Atlanta Campaign he served on the staff of General William T. Sherman as inspector-general. On 20 October, 1864, he was appointed colonel of the 180th Ohio Volunteers. He was brevetted brigadier and major-general of volunteers in March, 1865 for gallant and meritorious services, and was mustered out in July. He served one term in the Ohio state senate immediately after the war, moved to the south in 1867, where he engaged in cotton-planting, was a member of the Alabama legislature in the succeeding year, and was elected to the U. S. Senate as a Republican from Alabama on the reorganization of the state government, serving from 25 July, 1868, till 3 March; 1871, when his term ended. He was collector of customs at Mobile. Alabama, from July, 1871, till February, 1872, when he declined the appointment of governor of New Mexico, as he did also that of minister to the Argentine Republic. He was a member of the Republican National Convention of 1868, of the Cincinnati Convention that nominated Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, and of all that have since been held. In 1873 he organized the Tecumseh Iron Company, of which he has since been the general manager, and in 1887 he was elected president and manager of the Nashville Iron, Steel, and Charcoal Company. He resides at Tecumseh, Alabama. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 361.
WARNER, William, congressman, born in Wisconsin in 1840. He was educated at Lawrence University, Wisconsin, and at the University of Michigan, but was not graduated. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but entered the army in 1862, and served till the end of the Civil War in the 33d and 34th Wisconsin Regiments. He then settled in the practice of his profession at Kansas City, Missouri., became city attorney in 1867, and circuit attorney in 1869, and in 1871 was elected mayor. He was a Republican presidential elector in 1872, U. S. district attorney for western Missouri in 1882-'4, and twice received the votes of the Republican members of the legislature for U. S. Senator. In 1884 he was chosen to Congress, and he was re-elected in 1886. He was the first department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in Missouri, and was chosen commander-in-chief at the National Encampment in 1888. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 361.
WARREN, Fitz-Henry, soldier, born in Brimfield, Massachusetts, 11 January, 1816, died there, 21 June, 1878. He emigrated to Burlington, Iowa, in 1844, and became interested in journalism and politics in that locality. He was appointed second assistant postmaster-general in 1849, and afterward served as first assistant. During the Civil War he was in command of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, and he became brigadier-general of volunteers, 16 July, 1862, and afterward major-general by brevet, being mustered out of the service, 24 August, 1865. He was a member of the Iowa State Senate in 1866, minister to Guatemala in 1867-'8, and a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1872. He was editor of the Burlington (Iowa) " Hawkeye" for a time, and was also, at a later period, connected with the "Sun " and the " Tribune " in New York City. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 361-362.
WARREN, Gouverneur Kemble, soldier, born in Cold Spring. New York 8 January, 1830; died in Newport, Rhode Island, 8 August, 1882. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1850, standing second in his class, and was assigned to the Topographical Engineers as brevet 2d lieutenant. After four years of duty in connection with the surveys of the delta of the Mississippi and other river surveys under Captain Andrew A. Humphreys, he engaged in compiling reports of the Pacific Railroad Exploration. In 1855 he accompanied the Sioux Expedition as chief topographical engineer on General William S. Harney's staff, being engaged in the action of Blue Water, and subsequently until 1859 he was occupied in Dakota and Nebraska in making maps of those territories for the exploration of the routes for railroads between Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. The general direction of this route was under Captain Humphreys, and Lieutenant Warren was his principal assistant. He then served at the military academy as assistant professor of mathematics until the beginning of the Civil War, when he entered active service as lieutenant-colonel of the 5th New York Volunteers, of which regiment he became colonel on 31 August, 1861. He was also promoted captain in the engineers on 9 September, 1861. His regiment was ordered to Fortress Monroe and he took part in the action of Big Bethel, where he was the last to leave the field, remaining to rescue the body of Lieutenant John T. Greble, the first officer in the regular army killed in the Civil War. During the remainder of the year he was stationed at Baltimore, where he constructed the fort on Federal Hill. In the spring of 1862 he joined the Army of the Potomac, serving in the Peninsular Campaign, and at Yorktown his regiment formed part of the siege-train under the command of the chief of artillery. He was given a brigade in the 5th Army Corps in May, with which he covered the extreme right of the army and took part in the capture of Hanover Court-House, the pursuit of Confederate cavalry under General James E. B. Stuart, the battle of Gaines's Mills, the affair at Malvern Hill and subsequent battle, and the skirmish at Harrison's Landing. His brigade was then sent to, re-enforce General John Pope, and he participated in the battle of Manassas. In the subsequent campaign he served with the 5th Corps, was engaged at Antietam, and then took part in the Rappahannock Campaign and the battle of Fredericksburg. On 26 September, 1862, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers for his services at Gaines's Mills. During the winter months of 1862-'3 he did much individual work in reconnoitering and correcting maps, and on 2 February, 1863, he was ordered, as chief of Topographical Engineers, to the staff of General Joseph Hooker, then in command of the Army of the Potomac. Soon after the consolidation of the two Corps of Engineers on 3 March, 1863, he was appointed chief of engineers of the Army of the Potomac, and during the Chancellorsville Campaign he took part in the action on Orange Pike, the storming of Marye's Heights, and the battle of Salem. He continued as chief of engineers under General George G. Meade, and was engaged at Gettysburg, where he seized Little Round Top, the key to the entire National position, and, using General Meade's name as his staff-officer, ordered the 140th New York Regiment, under Colonel Patrick H. O'Rorke (q. v.), to occupy the hill. This was accomplished after a severe hand-to-hand fight. Thereafter he was engaged in engineering duties connected with the passage of the Potomac until 11 August, when on the receipt of his major-general's commission, bearing date of 3 May previous, he was assigned to the temporary command of the 2d Corps. His next important service was during the march on Centerville in October, 1863, when he was attacked by General Ambrose P. Hill, arid, although his force was about one half that of the Confederates, he held his position until he was re-enforced by the 5th Corps. In the official report it was said: "The handling of the 2d Corps in this operation, and the promptitude, skill, and spirit with which the enemy was met, were admirable." When the Army of the Potomac was reorganized into three corps for the Richmond Campaign, he received the permanent command of the 5th Corps and participated in the battles of the Wilderness, North Anna, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, and those around Petersburg. Before the battle of Five Forks, General Sheridan, having expressed to General Grant his dissatisfaction with General Warren's habit, of criticising the acts and orders of his superior officers, received authority to remove him, should there be satisfactory reasons for so doing. At Five Forks, when the 5th Corps advanced according to General Sheridan's orders, it was found that the indicated point of attack was too far to the right. This error was corrected by General Warren, who in person led the charge that closed the battle and secured the victory. At this moment he received an order relieving him from the command of his corps. The reasons given by General Sheridan for this act were: 1. "That Warren failed to reach me on the 1st of April, when I had reason to expect him ": 2. ''That the tactical handling of his corps was unskilful ": 3. "That he did not exert himself to get his corps up to Gravelly run church "; and 4. "That when portions of his line gave way he did not exert himself to restore confidence to his troops." In reply to these charges General Warren answered that his first order to relieve General Sheridan on 31 March was received from General George G. Meade at 9.17 P. m., when he had already accomplished General Sheridan's relief by sending troops to his assistance without orders, on his own responsibility, earlier than 5 P. M., also that he carried out his orders to General Meade's entire satisfaction and joined General Sheridan sooner than General Meade had expected: that the only lack of skill was that of General Sheridan, who delivered the attack of the 5th Corps at a point three quarters of a mile distant from the point intended. A court of inquiry, convened in 1879 at General Warren's request, found: 1. That General Warren, after the receipt of General Meade's first order, should have moved his main force sooner than he did. 2. It did not find that his handling of the corps was unskilful. 3. "That there was no unnecessary delay in this march of the 5th Corps, and that General Warren took the usual methods of a corps commander to prevent delay." 4. That "by continuous exertions of himself and staff he substantially remedied matters "; and the court thinks '"that this was for him the essential point to be attended to, which also required his whole efforts to accomplish." General Warren after his removal was assigned by General Grant to the charge of the defences of the Petersburg and Southside Railroad, and then had command of the Department of the Mississippi. On 27 May, 1865, he resigned his commission in the volunteer army and returned to duty as major in the Corps of Engineers, to which grade he had been advanced on 25 June, 1864. He received the successive brevets in the U. S. Army up to major-general, of which the last two were given him on 13 March, 1865. From May, 1865, till his death he was employed in various parts of the country in making surveys and in other works connected with his department. He was made lieutenant-colonel on 4 March, 1879. General Warren was elected a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1858, of the American Philosophical Society in 1867, of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1874, and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1876. A heroic statue by Paul Gerhardt (shown in the accompanying illustration) was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies on Little Round Top, Gettysburg, on 8 August, 1888. His works include "Explorations in the Dakota Country" (2 vols., Washington, 1855-'6); "Preliminary Report of Explorations in Nebraska and Dakota in the Years 1855-'7" (1858): various reports to the government on military and engineering subjects; and a pamphlet giving " An Account of the 5th Army Corps at the Battle of Five Forks" (New York, 1866). See sketch by General Henry L. Abbot in "Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences" (vol. ii., Washington, 1886). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 362-363.
WASHBURN, Cadwallader Colden, lawyer, born in Livermore, Maine, 22 April, 1818; died in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 14 May, 1882, worked on his father's farm in summer and attended the town school in winter until about 1835, when he went to Hallowell and was employed in a store. He also served in the post-office, and during the winter of 1838-'9 taught in Wiscasset. In the spring of 1839 he set out for the west and settled at Davenport, Iowa, where he joined the geological survey of that state under David Dale Owen. Toward the close of the year he entered the law-office of Joseph B. Wells, having previously studied under his uncle, Reuel Washburn, in Livermore, Maine, and was admitted to the bar on 29 March, 1842. In 1840 he was elected surveyor of the county of Rock Island, Illinois, the duties of which he performed while preparing for his profession. He moved to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, in 1842, and in 1844 entered into partnership with Cyrus Woodman, agent of the New England Land Company, but their law-practice gradually diminished as they paid greater attention to financial matters. They dealt largely in the entry of public lands for settlers and the location of Mexican land-warrants. In 1852 the firm established the Mineral Point Bank, which never suspended specie payments and during its existence had a high reputation. On the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, Washburn was chosen as a Whig to Congress, and served with re-elections from 3 December, 1855, till 3 March, 1861. He then declined a renomination, but was sent as a delegate from Wisconsin to the Peace Congress that was held in Philadelphia in 1861. At the beginning of the Civil War he raised the 2d Wisconsin Cavalry, and was commissioned its colonel, 10 October, 1861. His first service was under General Samuel R. Curtis in Arkansas. Among his acts at this period were the dislodging of a Confederate force that was preparing to obstruct the progress of the National Army at the crossing of the Tallahatchie, and the opening of the Yazoo pass; and he was conspicuous in the battle of Grand Coteau, where he saved the 4th Division, under General Stephen G. Burbridge, from annihilation by an overwhelming force of the enemy. He was commissioned brigadier on 16 July, 1862, and on 29 November, 1862, major-general of volunteers. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg, and on its surrender was given command of the 13th Corps and sent to the Department of the Gulf. On 29 November, 1863, he landed on the coast of Texas with 2,800 men and compelled the evacuation of Fort Esperanza, a bomb-proof work, which was cased with railroad iron, surrounded by a deep moat filled with water, manned by 1,000 men. and mounted ten guns. This fort was at Pass Cavallo, and guarded the entrance to Matagorda bay. In April, 1864. he was ordered to relieve General Stephen A. Hurlburt, in command at Memphis, of the district of West Tennessee. This post he held almost continuously until his resignation on 25 May, 1865. General Washburn was sent as a Republican from the 6th District of Wisconsin to Congress, and served with re-election from 4 March, 1867, till 3 March, 1871. In the autumn of 1871 he was elected governor of Wisconsin and held that office for the years, beginning 1 January, 1872. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the office in 1873, and afterward for the U. S. Senate. On retiring from office, he directed his attention to the care of his property. The timber lands that he had purchased soon after he settled in the state had become very valuable, and he operated extensively in lumber. In 1876 he erected an immense flouring-mill in Minneapolis, where first in this country was introduced the "patent process" and the Hungarian system. It was destroyed by an explosion in 1878, but he at once replaced it with one more capacious. He was also one of the largest owners of the water-power at St. Anthony Falls, and a heavy stock-holder in the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad. General Washburn was actively interested in the Wisconsin Historical Society, and was its president for several years. He founded, in connection with the State University of Wisconsin, the Washburn observatory, which, with its instruments, cost more than $50,000. The legislature of the state made him a life regent of the university, which in 1873 conferred upon him the degree of L.L. D. His country-house of Edgewood, near Madison, worth $20,000, he presented to the Dominican Sisters for use as a school for girls. In his will he bequeathed $50,000 to found a public library at La Crosse, and $375,000 for the establishment of an orphans' home in Minneapolis. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 371-372.
WASHBURN, Peter Thacher, lawyer, born in Lynn, Massachusetts, 7 September, 1814; died in Woodstock, Vermont, 7 February, 1870. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1835, studied law at Harvard, was admitted to the bar in 1838, and practised in Ludlow, Vermont, till 1844.Moving then to Woodstock, he was reporter of the state, supreme court for eight years, and for several terms a member of the legislature, serving as chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1861 he was a member of the Chicago Convention, and was the first to give the vote of his state to Lincoln. He was adjutant and inspector-general of the state in 1861 and his records show only 75 men unaccounted for out of more than 34,000. He served in the field as a lieutenant, and afterward as acting colonel of the 1st Vermont Volunteers, which, with the Massachusetts troops, he commanded at the battle of Big Bethel. In 1869 he was elected governor by the Republicans, and died in office. He was trustee of the University of Vermont, and president of the Woodstock Railroad. He was the author of "Digest of all Cases in the Supreme Court of Vermont, including the First Fifteen Volumes of Vermont Reports" (Woodstock, 1845): supplement to " Aiken's Forms " (Claremont, New Hampshire, 1847); "Digest of Cases in the Supreme Court of Vermont, vols., xvi-xxii. (1852): and "Reports of the Supreme Court of Vermont," vols., xvi-xxiii. (1845-52). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 372.
WASHINGTON, John Augustine, soldier, great-great-grandson of General Washington's brother, John Augustine, born in Blakely, Jefferson County, Virginia, 3 May, 1821; died near Rich Mountain, Virginia, 13 September, 1861, was the son of John A. Washington, and on his mother's side the grandson of General Richard Henry Lee. He was graduated at the University of Virginia in 1840. He served as aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, on the staff of General Robert E. Lee, and was killed with a reconnoitering party near Rich Mountain, Virginia He inherited the Mount Vernon property, but, being unable to keep it in proper preservation, he sold it to the association of ladies that now has possession of it. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 385.
WATIE, Stand, soldier, born in Cherokee, Georgia (the site of the present city of Rome), in 1815; died in August, 1877. He was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian, was educated at the mission schools in the Indian country, served as a member of the Cherokee legislative council, and was speaker of the lower house from 1862 till 1865. He became colonel of the 1st Cherokee Confederate Infantry Regiment in October. 1861, and was promoted brigadier-general in the Confederate Army on 10 May, 1864. His brigade was composed of the 1st and 2d Cherokee Regiments of Infantry, a Cherokee battalion of infantry, and a battalion each of Seminole and Osage Indians. He was a younger brother of Elias Boudinot and nephew of Major Ridge, who were assassinated in the Cherokee Nation in 1839. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 388.
WATKINS, Louis Douglas, soldier, born in Florida about 1835: died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 29 March, 1808. He joined the U. S. Army as 1st lieutenant. 14th U.S. Infantry, 14 May, 1861, was transferred to the 5th U.S. Cavalry, 22 June, 1861, and became captain, 17 July, 1862, and colonel of the 20th U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866. He received the brevets of major, 8 January, 1863, for gallant service in the expedition to east Tennessee under General Samuel P. Carter, lieutenant-colonel, 24 June. 1864. for service at Lafayette, and that of brigadier-general. 13 March, 1865. He was mustered out on 1 September, 1866. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 388.
WATKINS, Samuel, donor, born in Campbell County, Virginia, in 1794; died in Nashville, Tennessee, 16 October, 1880. His parents died in his infancy, and he was bound to a Scotch family, whose cruelty to him attracted attention, and, owing to this, the county court placed him with the family of James Robertson, upon whose plantation he labored for several years. He then joined the U. S. Army, served in the war against the Creek Nation under General Andrew Jackson, and was also at the battle of New Orleans. When peace was declared he returned to Nashville and became a brick-mason, pursuing this craft until 1827, when he began to erect houses and churches, among which were the 1st Baptist church and the 2d Presbyterian church in Nashville. During the Civil War his farm of 600 acres was the battle-field of Nashville, his city buildings were destroyed, and his mansion was sacked and robbed, his loss amounting to $300,000. After the Civil War he engaged in banking, manufacturing, and building, and dealt in real estate, was president of the Nashville gas-light Company, and acquired a fortune. He bequeathed $130,000 for the establishment of a polytechnic institution in Nashville, which was erected there in 1882. Mr. Watkins made liberal provision for courses of free, public lectures, and also classes in mathematics for those who could not attend colleges and schools. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 388.
WATMOUGH, James Horatio, naval officer, born in Whitemarsh, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 30 July, 1822, was an acting midshipman in the U.S. Navy from 24 November, 1843, till October. 1844, and on 12 December, 1844, became paymaster. During the Mexican War he was in most of the operations in California, including the bombardment of Guaymas. From 1849 till 1855 he was on the brig "Perry" and the frigate "Constitution," on the coast of Africa; in 1857-8 on the steamer " Michigan," on the lakes: in 1859-'60 on the sloop " Saratoga" and in action with two Spanish steamers, which were taken. In 1864-'5 he was fleet paymaster of the South Atlantic Squadron and was in most of the operations of that squadron, including those on Stono River and on James and John Islands previous to the evacuation of Charleston, South Carolina. He was subsequently general inspector, and from July, 1873, till November, 1877, paymaster-general. In 1884 he was retired. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 389.
WATMOUGH, Pendleton Gaines, naval officer, born in Whitemarsh, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 3 May. 1828, entered the U.S. Navy in 1841, served on the Brazil Station, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific, and shared in the capture and occupation of California during the Mexican War. He returned home in 1847, the following year was graduated at the naval academy, served in the Mediterranean and Pacific and on the coast of China, and resigned in 1858. In April, 1861, he volunteered for the Civil War and was reappointed in the navy. The same month he was sent to plant a battery at Perryville, Maryland, to cover the transportation thence to Annapolis, and for a short time was in command of a steamer on Chesapeake Bay, keeping open communications, and subsequently on other active duty afloat. In October, 1861, he commanded the "Curlew," of Admiral Dupont's fleet, and shared in the capture of Port Royal. Later he was in command or the "Potomska'' in the capture of Fernandina and occupation of the inland waters of the South Atlantic. In 1863 he was ordered to the " Kansas," was in the two attacks on Fort Fisher, and in James River participated in the final operations against Richmond. He resigned as lieutenant-commander in July, 1865, and in 1869 was appointed by President Grant collector of the port of Cleveland, Ohio, which post he held for eight years. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 389.
WATSON, Alfred Augustin, P. E. bishop, born in New York City, 21 August. 1818. He was graduated at the University of New York in 1837, studied law, and was admitted to practice in the supreme court of the state of New York in 1841. He followed his profession for little more than a year and then began his studies for holy orders, he was ordered deacon in St. Ann's church, Brooklyn, by Bishop Onderdonk, 3 November, 1844, and ordained priest in St. John's church, Fayetteville, North Carolina, by Bishop Ives, 25 May, 1845. He was rector of Grace church, Plymouth, and St. Luke's, Washington County, N. C., soon afterward, and remained there fourteen years. In 1858 he became rector of Christ church, New Berne, North Carolina. he served as chaplain to the 2d Regiment of North Carolina state troops from 1861 till 1863, when he was elected assistant to Bishop Atkinson, in charge of St. James's church, Wilmington, North Carolina, of which he became rector in 1864, and served there until his consecration to the episcopate. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 389.
WATSON, Benjamin Frank, lawyer, born in Warner, New Hampshire, 30 April, 1826. He lived in Lowell, Massachusetts, from 1835 until 1848, studied law there and in Lawrence and Boston, and was admitted to the bar in 1850. He was editor and proprietor of the Lawrence " Sentinel," postmaster of the city under Presidents Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln, was nominated for mayor, and subsequently elected city solicitor. He was major of the 6th Regiment of Massachusetts Militia, and on 19 January, 1861, at a meeting of its field and company officers, Colonel Edward F. Jones presiding, offered a resolution tendering the services of the regiment to the president of the United States, which was the first offer of any military organization. In April, 1861, the 6th Massachusetts Regiment was the first to respond to the president's call for volunteers. The colonel with eight companies passed through Baltimore, on their way to Washington, with no interruption except insulting demonstrations, but as the car that contained Major Watson and part of his command was turning into Pratt Street, it was derailed by the mob. He superintended its righting, and kept the driver of the horses to his duties at the muzzle of his revolver. The mob fired into the ear repeatedly, and after one of his men had been wounded severely the order to fire was given by Major Watson. Afterward the detachment left the shattered car and marched to the depot, where the main body under the colonel had arrived in safety. Several soldiers were injured by stones and pistol-shots during the transit, and this was undoubtedly the first bloodshed in the war. Shortly after this Major Watson was elected lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, and its command devolved upon him. In 1867 he moved to New York, where he has since practised law. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 389-390.
WATSON, Beriah Andre, physician, born in Lake George, New York, 26 March, 1836. He obtained his education through his own exertion and was graduated at the medical department of the University of New York in 1861, and settled at White House, New Jersey. In 1862 he entered the U. S. service as contract surgeon, and he was engaged in hospital and field service until the end of the war. At his retirement, on 10 July, 1865, he was surgeon in charge of the 1st Division 6th Army Corps hospital, and also acting medical purveyor. He then settled in Jersey City, where he still practices his profession. […]. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 390.
WATSON, James Muir, naval officer, born in Virginia, 15 July. 1808; died in Vallejo, California, 17 April, 1873. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 1 February, 1823, and became a lieutenant, 30 December, 1831. On 14 March, 1847, he took command of the store ship "Erie," in which he served during the Mexican War. On 11 November, 1847, under direction of Commodore Shubrick, he commanded the naval force of 600 men in the boats of the "Independence," "Congress," "Cyane," and "Erie," with which he captured the city of Mazatlan without resistance from the Mexicans, who retreated to the interior. He returned from this cruise in command of the "Erie," 24 June, 1848, was placed on the reserved list, 13 September, 1855, and was unemployed, waiting orders, the rest of his life, except in 1863-6, when he served as light-house inspector. He was commissioned a commander on the reserved list, 1 February, 1861, retired 21 December, 1861, and was promoted to commodore on the retired list, 16 July, 1862. He resided in California after he was put on the reserved list until his death. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 392.
WATTERS, John, naval officer, born in Michigan, 5 January, 1831; died in Baltimore, Maryland, 22 January. 1874. He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, 12 February, 1846, was promoted to lieutenant, 16 September, 1855, and was on duty as an instructor at the naval academy in 1857-'9. While he was attached to the "Minnesota" the Civil War began, and he was actively employed in engagements and captures at Hatteras inlet and in the sounds of North Carolina. He served in command of boat expeditions by which he captured several blockade-runners in the vicinity of Fort Monroe, and he also participated in the engagements with the " Merrimac" and the batteries at Sewell's point. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, was executive officer of the steamer " Monongahela" in Farragut's squadron, and during the operations against Port Hudson and Vicksburg commanded the gun-boat "Kineo." he was assigned to patrol Mississippi River in this vessel in 1863-'5, and convoyed army transports by the Confederate batteries along the banks of the river. He was promoted to commander, 14 April, 1867, and was attached to the Naval Academy in 1860-'8. He was assigned the sloop "Cyane," in the Pacific Squadron, in 1868-'9, and was stationed at the New York Navy-yard, in 1870-'3, on the receiving-ship. In 1873 he had of charge the "Ossipee" on the North Atlantic station, from which he was detached just before his death. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 394.
WATTERSON, Harvey McGee, journalist, born in Bedford County, Tennessee, 23 November, 1811. He was educated at Cumberland College, Princeton, Kentucky, and established a newspaper at Shelbyville, Tennessee, the capital of his native county, in 1831. He was elected to the legislature in 1835, served in Congress in 1839-'43, having been chosen as a Democrat, declined a re-election in the latter year, and was sent by the president on a diplomatic mission to Buenos Ayres. On his return in 1845 he was elected to the state senate, and chosen president of that body. He was owner and editor of the Nashville " Union " from 1850 till the close of 1851. He was connected with the editorial department of the Washington " Union " in 1853-'4, was a delegate to the National Democratic convention of 1860, where he voted for the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas, was an elector for the state at large on the Douglas ticket the same year, and chosen to the state convention in February, 1861, as a Unionist. He practised law in Washington for fourteen years after the war, and since 1878 has been a member of the editorial staff of the Louisville "Courier-Journal."—his son, Henry, journalist, born in Washington, D. C, 16 February, 1840, in consequence of defective eyesight, was educated chiefly by private tutors. He entered the profession of journalism in Washington in 1858, and in 1861, returning to Tennessee, he edited the "Republican Banner" in Nashville. He served on the Confederate side during the Civil War in various capacities, being a staff-officer in 1861-8, and chief of scouts in General Joseph E. Johnston's army in 1864. After the, war he revived the “Banner”, but soon afterward went to Louisville, Kentucky, to reside, and in 1867 succeeded George D. Prentice as editor of the "Journal." In the year following he united the "Courier" and the ' Times" with it, and in connection with Walter N. Haldeman founded the ' Courier-Journal," of which he has since been the editor. He was a member of Congress from 12 August, 1876, till 3 March, 1877, being chosen to fill a vacancy, but, with this exception, has always declined public office, he has sat for Kentucky as delegate-at-large in four National Democratic conventions, presiding over the St. Louis convention in 1876, and serving as chairman of the platform committees in the Cincinnati convention in 1880 and in the one at St. Louis in 1888. He is identified with the revenue-reform movement of the Democratic party as an aggressive advocate of free-trade ideas. He was a personal friend and a resolute follower of Samuel J. Tilden. Mr. Watterson has often appeared as a public speaker, notably on political occasions, and his advice is sought by the leaders of his party. He has also contributed freely to periodicals, and edited " Oddities of Southern Life and Character" (Boston, 1882). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 394.
WATTS, Thomas Hill, statesman, born in Butler County, Alabama, 3 January, 1819. He was graduated at the University of Virginia in 1840, and began the practice of law at Greenville, in his native county, in 1841. In 1842, he was elected to the legislature, and he was returned in 1844 and 1845. He moved to Montgomery County in 1847, and was in 1849 sent to the legislature from that district and in 1853 to the state senate. In 1861, with William L. Yancey, he represented Montgomery County in the Secession convention. In the same year he went to the seat of war as colonel of the 17th Alabama Regiment, remaining there until April, 1862, when he was called by Jefferson Davis to act as Attorney-General in his cabinet. In 1863, he was elected governor of Alabama, and he held this post until the close of the Civil War. He is active in the religious enterprises of the Baptist denomination, to which he belongs. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 396.
WAUL, Thomas N., lawyer, born in Sumter district, S. C., 8 January, 1815. He was educated at the University of South Carolina, studied law in Vicksburg. Mississippi, under Sargeant S. Prentiss, and began to practice in 1835. While residing in Mississippi he was chosen judge of the circuit court. Having moved to Texas, he was elected one of her representatives in the 1st Confederate Congress. He was a brigadier-general in the Confederate Army, having raised a command that was known as "Waul's legion," and he was severely wounded during an engagement in Louisiana. Both in Mississippi and Texas he has been active in the affairs of the Baptist denomination, with which he is associated. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 396.
WAYLAND, Heman Lincoln, clergyman, born in Providence, Rhode Island, 23 April, 1830, was graduated at Brown in 1849, and, after spending a year (1849-'50) in studying theology at Newton, taught for a short time at the academy in Townshend, Vermont, and spent the years 1852-'4 as tutor in the University of Rochester. From 1854 till 1861 he was pastor of the Main street Baptist church in Worcester, Massachusetts, and during the Civil War he served as chaplain of the 7th Connecticut Volunteers. After the war he spent a year in missionary work among the colored people in Nashville. Tennessee, and from 1865 till 1870 he was professor of rhetoric and logic in Kalamazoo College, Michigan. He was president of Franklin College, Indiana, for two years, and then became editor of the " National Baptist" in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which office he still holds. He received the degree of D. D. from Brown in 1869. Dr. Wayland has contributed articles to the " New Englander" and the " Baptist Quarterly," and has published numerous sermons and addresses on education. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 397-398.
WAYNE, William, born 6 December, 1828, is the grandson of General Anthony Wayne's daughter, and took the name of Wayne, being the representative of the family and the owner of Waynesborough. He was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1846, and during the Civil War held the rank of captain in the 97th Pennsylvania Volunteers. From 1881 till 1887 he served as a member of the Pennsylvania assembly. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 400.
WAYNE, Henry Constantine, soldier, born in Savannah, Georgia, 8 September, 1815; died there, 15 March, 1883. He was educated at Northampton and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and at the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated in 1838. He served on the northern frontier at Plattsburg, New York, in 1838-40, during the Canadian border disturbances; on the Maine frontier at Houlton in 1840-'l, pending the disputed-territory controversy, and at the U. S. Military Academy in 1841-'6 as assistant instructor of artillery and cavalry, of the sword-exercise and of infantry tactics, and as quartermaster. He was promoted 1st lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Artillery, 16 May, 1842. He was on quartermaster duty during the war with Mexico, 1846-'7. He took part in the battles of Churubusco and Contreras, being brevetted major for gallant conduct in those engagements. From 1848 till 1855 he was in charge of the clothing bureau of the quartermaster-general's other at Washington. D. C. Soon after the annexation of the territory acquired by the United States from Mexico, the question of transportation coming up, Major Wayne suggested that camels should be used as a means of conveyance over the plains of Texas and New Mexico. The government adopted the suggestion, and Major Wayne was sent to Egypt to investigate and report upon the subject. On his return his recommendations were adopted, and he was employed in Texas in 1857-'8 in testing the adaptability of these animals for army transportation. He was again employed at the quartermaster-general's office from 1858 till 1860, when he resigned to become adjutant and inspector-general of the state of Georgia under the Confederacy. He received in 1858 a first-class gold medal from the Societe Imperiale Zoologique d' Accliratation of Paris, for the successful introduction and acclimation of the camel in the United States. He was also the author of "The Sword Exercise, arranged for Military Instruction " (1856). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 400.
WEAVER, James Baird, 1833-1912, Dayton, Ohio, U.S. Congressman, Civil War Union officer, candidate for U.S. President, opponent of slavery. (Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 401)
WEAVER, James B., candidate for the presidency, born in Dayton, Ohio, 12 June, 1833. He was graduated at the law-school of Ohio University, Cincinnati, in 1854. In April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the 2d Iowa Infantry, was elected a lieutenant, rose to be major on 3 October, 1861, and after the senior field-officers had fallen at Corinth was commissioned colonel, 12 October, 1862. He was brevetted brigadier-general on 13 March, 1865, for gallantry in action. After the war he resumed legal practice, was elected district attorney of the 2d judicial district of Iowa in 1866, and was appointed assessor of internal revenue for the 5th district of the state in 1867, serving six years. He became editor of the “Iowa Tribune,” published at Des Moines, and was elected to Congress, taking his seat on 18 March, 1879. In June, 1880, he was nominated for the presidency by the convention of the National Greenback-Labor Party, and in the November election he received 307,740 votes. He was returned to Congress after an interval of two terms by the vote of the Greenback-Labor and Democratic Parties, taking his seat on 7 December, 1885, and in 1886 was re-elected. Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 401.
WEAVER, Aaron Ward, naval officer, born in the District of Columbia, 1 July, 1832, was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, 10 May, 1848, attended the naval academy in 1853-'4, was graduated, and became a passed midshipman, 15 June, 1854. He was commissioned lieutenant, 16 September, 1855. He cruised in the sloop "Marion," on the coast of Africa, in 1858-'9, and came home in the prize slaver "Ardennes " in command. When the Civil War opened he was assigned to the steamer " Susquehanna" on the blockade, in which he participated in the bombardment and capture of Fort Hatteras and Fort Clarke at Hatteras inlet, in the battle of Port Royal and capture of Fort Beauregard and Fort Walker, and in operations on the coast in command of the armed boats before the fall of Fort Pulaski. He was present at the engagements with batteries on Sewall's point and at the capture of Norfolk, Virginia He was commissioned lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, and commanded the steam gun-boat "Winona," in the Western Gulf Squadron, in 1862-'3. He participated in the engagements at Port Hudson in December, 1862, at Plaquemine, Louisiana, at the defeat of the Confederates when they attacked Donaldsonville, and in the engagements below that place after the capture of Port Hudson. He was highly commended by Admiral Farragut for his services. He had the gunboat ' Chippewa," in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in 1864, in which he took part in the first attack on Fort Fisher. He was transferred to command the monitor "Mahopac," in which he participated in the final attack and capture of Fort Fisher in January, 1865, and was recommended for promotion. He went to Charleston, South Carolina, and was in the advanced picket when the city surrendered and its forts were captured. He next took the "Mahopac" up James River, and was present at the fall of Richmond. After the war he served at the Boston Navy-yard. He was promoted and advanced to the grade of commander, 25 July, 1866. He commanded the double-turreted monitor " Terror" in 1870-'l, in which he went to Havana under great difficulties, owing to defective boilers, and arrived in season on the occasion when the Spanish students were executed by order of the government. During the excitement and threatened war with Spain owing to the "Virginius" affair, he was selected to command the sea-going iron-clad "Dictator," then one of the most formidable vessels of the U.S. Navy, in which he was for some time the senior officer of the forces in the harbor of Havana. He remained in command of the " Dictator" until May, 1877. He was commissioned captain, 8 August, 1876, was equipment-officer at the Norfolk Navy-yard in 1879-'80, and captain of the yard in 1880-'l. He commanded the steam sloop " Brooklyn," on the South Atlantic Station, in 1881-'4. He was a member of the naval examining and retiring board in 1885-'6, was promoted to commodore, 7 October, 1886, and is now president of the retiring-board. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 401-402.
WEBB, Alexander Stewart, soldier, born in New York City, 15 February. 1835, was educated at private schools and at the U. S. Military Academy, where he was graduated 13th in a class of 34 in 1855, and assigned to the artillery. He served in Florida, Minnesota, and for three years as assistant professor at West Point, became 1st lieutenant in the 2d U.S. Artillery, 28 April, 1861, captain in the 11th U.S. Infantry, 14 May, and major of the 1st Rhode Island Artillery on 14 September. He was present at Bull Run and in the defences of Washington until 1862, when he participated in the battles of the Peninsula Campaign of the Army of the Potomac and as chief-of-staff of the 5th Corps during the Maryland and Rappahannock Campaigns till 23 June, 1863. He was then commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, and placed in command of a brigade of the 2d Corps, serving with great credit at the battle of Gettysburg. At the "angle" he met the famous charge of Pickett's Confederate division, and took the major part in its repulse. He was wounded while leading his men, and received from General George G. Meade a bronze medal for "distinguished personal gallantry on that ever-memorable field. During the Rapidan Campaign he commanded a division in the battle of Bristow Station and auxiliary affairs. General Webb then returned to the command of his brigade, and led it with ability during the Wilderness Campaign, being severely wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania in May, 1864. On his return from sick-leave he was appointed chief-of-staff to General George G. Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac in the operations before Petersburg. From June, 1865, till February, 1866, General Webb was acting as inspector-general of the military Division of the Atlantic, and then he was professor at the military academy till August, 1868. On the reorganization of the army he became lieutenant-colonel of the 44th U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866, and commanded his new regiment in 1868-'9 and (with his brevet rank) the 5th Military District in April, 1869, and was, at his own request, discharged the service, 3 December, 1870. He was brevetted major, U. S. A., 3 July, 1863, "for gallant and meritorious services " at Gettysburg; lieutenant-colonel, U. S. A., 11 October, 1863, for Bristow Station, colonel, U. S. A., 12 May, 1864, for Spottsylvania, major-general of volunteers, 1 August. 1864, "for gallant and distinguished conduct and brigadier-general and major-general, U. S. A., 13 March, 1865, " for gallant and meritorious services in the campaign terminating with the surrender of the insurgent army under General Lee." General Webb has been since 21 July, 1869, president of the College of the City of New York, and in 1870 the degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Hobart College. He has published "The Peninsula: McClellan's Campaign of 1862" (New York, 1882) and articles on the Civil War, in the " Century " magazine. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 403.
WEBER, Gustav C. E., physician, born in Bonn, Prussia, 26 May, 1828. His father, Dr. M. I. Weber, became professor of anatomy in the University of Bonn on its foundation in 1818, and is the author of many professional works. The son studied at the university till the revolutionary movement of 1848 caused him to emigrate to the United States, where he settled near St. Louis, Missouri., and engaged in fanning. He afterward completed his studies in Vienna, Amsterdam, and Paris, and in 1853 began to practice medicine in New York City. In 1856-'63 he was professor of surgery in Cleveland Medical College, and in 1861, as surgeon-general of the state, he organized a system for the better medical care of the troops in the field. In 1864 he organized Charity hospital Medical College, where he became professor of clinical surgery and dean of the faculty, and he was also consulting surgeon to the Charity Hospital, which had been founded chiefly through his efforts. The school subsequently became the medical department of the University of Wooster, Dr. Weber retaining his chair. He is the originator of a new method of closing large arteries in surgical operations without a ligature, and of a method for removing stone from the bladder. In 1859 Dr. Weber established the Cleveland "Medical Gazette," which he conducted for several years. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 405.
WEBER, Max, soldier, born in Achern, Baden, 27 August, 1824. He was graduated at the military school of Carlsruhe, in 1843, as a lieutenant of infantry, and held a commission in the army of Baden until 1849, when he served with the revolutionists under General Franz Sigel. He came to this country in the same year, settled in New York City, and on 16 May, 1861, became colonel of the 20th New York Regiment. He was stationed at Fort Monroe and took part in the capture of Fort Hatteras, and from September, 1861, till May, 1862, commanded Camp Hamilton, near the former post, being commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 28 April, 1862. He was at Newport News during the fight between the "Monitor " and " Merrimac," in anticipation of a Confederate attack by land, took part in the capture of Norfolk in May, and then commanded at Suffolk till September, when he was ordered to the Army of the Potomac. He led a brigade at South Mountain and Antietam, where he received a wound that crippled his right arm for life. He served under General David Hunter and General Franz Sigel in the Shenandoah valley in 1864, and, while commanding at Harper's Ferry, repelled General Jubal A. Early's attack of 4-7 July. General Weber resigned his commission on 13 May. 1865. He was assessor of internal revenue in New York in 1870-'2, and then collector till April, 1883, when he resigned. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 405
WEBSTER, John Adams, naval officer, born in Harford County, Maryland, 19 September, 1785; died there, 4 July, 1876. He entered the merchant marine, but at the beginning of the war of 1812 became 3d lieutenant on the privateer "Rossie," under Commodore Joshua Barney. Afterward he received a sailing-master's warrant in the navy, and was placed by Barney in command of a barge, of which he had charge till on the advance of the British on Washington he was transferred to shore duty. He commanded a detachment of sailors under Barney at Bladeusburg, serving his guns till the powder was exhausted, and had charge of Battery Babcock, near Baltimore, during the attack on that place. This battery of six guns was old and dilapidated, the guns were corroded, the carriages rusty, and the trucks immovable, the earthworks were defective, and the place was overgrown with briers, but in forty-eight hours Webster had it ready for action. On the night of 13 September, Webster' discovered the British landing-party, and opened fire on it, and his battery, together with Fort Covington, repelled the enemy after a brisk engagement, saving Baltimore. For this service he was specially mentioned in Commodore John Rodgers's report to the Secretary of the Navy, and presented with swords by the citizens of Baltimore and the state of Maryland. On 22 November, 1819, he was commissioned captain in the revenue service, and during the Mexican War he commanded a fleet of eight cutters to co-operate in the campaign on Rio Grande River and before Vera Cruz. In 1865 he retired from active duty, and at his death he was the senior officer in the service.—His son, John Adams, born in the homestead, Mount Adams, Harford County, Maryland. 26 June, 1823; died in Ogdensburg, New York, 6 April, 1875. entered the revenue service in 1842, was promoted captain in 1860, and saved his vessel, the "Dobbin," from capture by the Confederates at Savannah and Hampton Roads. At the latter place she was the only U. S. vessel that escaped, While on the New England coast he received a gold watch from the British board of trade for services to English seamen. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 415-416.
WEBSTER, Joseph Dana, soldier, born in Old Hampton, New Hampshire, 25 August, 1811; died in Chicago, Illinois, 12 March, 1876. His father, Josiah (1772-1837), was pastor at Hampton from 1808 until his death. The son was graduated at Dartmouth in 1832, and read law in Newburyport, Massachusetts, but became a clerk in the engineer and war offices in Washington, was made a U. S. civil engineer in 1835, and on 7 July, 1838, entered the U.S. Army as 2d lieutenant of Topographical Engineers. He served through the Mexican War, and was promoted 1st lieutenant in July, 1849, and captain m March, 1853, but resigned in April, 1854, and moved to Chicago, where he engaged in business. He was president of the commission that perfected the remarkable system of sewerage for that place, and also planned and executed the operations whereby the grade of a large part of the city was made from two to eight feet higher, whole blocks being raised by jack-screws while new foundations were inserted. He entered the service of the state at the opening of the Civil War, took charge of the construction of fortifications at Cairo, Illinois, and Paducah, Kentucky, in April, and was made paymaster, with rank of major, of U. S. volunteers on 1 June, but in February, 1862. he became colonel of the 1st Illinois Artillery. He was chief of General Grant's staff for several months, was present at the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and at Shiloh was also chief of artillery. At the close of the first day's fight at Shiloh he occupied with all available artillery the ridge that covered Pittsburg Landing, thus checking the hitherto victorious Confederates. He received the highest commendation in General Grant's official report, and continued to be his chief of staff till, in October, 1862, he was detailed by the War Department to make a survey of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 29 November, 1862, and, after serving for some time as military governor of Memphis, Tennessee, and as superintendent of military railroads, was again Grant's chief of staff in the Vicksburg Campaign, and from 1864 till the close of hostilities held the same post under General William T. Sherman. He was with General George H. Thomas at the battle of Nashville. General Webster was given the brevet of major-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865, resigned on 6 November, and returned to Chicago, where he remained during the rest of his life. He was assessor of internal revenue in that city in 1869-'72, and then assistant U. S. Treasurer there till July, 1872, when he became collector of revenue. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 416.
WEBSTER, Warren, surgeon, born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, 7 March, 1835. He was educated in New Hampshire and at medical schools in Boston and Paris, and graduated at the medical department of Harvard in 1860. Dr. Webster was appointed assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army, 23 June, 1860. and after brief service on the frontier was ordered to Washington, where in 1861 he was placed in charge of Douglas General Hospital, at the same time engaging in the organization and superintending the construction of other permanent military hospitals at Washington. He was on duty on the field at the second battle of Bull Run. and: was made a medical inspector in the Army of the Potomac in 1862. Dr. Webster was present in the battle of Fredericksburg and active in the care of the wounded after Chancellorsville (1863), where he organized numerous field hospitals, passing to and fro for the purpose within the opposing lines under flag of truce. He was in charge of McDougall General Hospital, Fort Schuyler. New York, in 1863-4, and then of De Camp General Hospital, where in 1866, during the cholera epidemic, he greatly distinguished himself. He was promoted surgeon with rank of major, 28 July, 1866, was medical director of the 5th Military District in 1868-'70, when he organized a quarantine system for the Texas Coast, and afterward served at various military stations in California and the east. Dr. Webster was brevetted captain "for gallant and meritorious services" at Chancellorsville, major "for faithful and meritorious services" during the war, and lieutenant-colonel "for meritorious and distinguished services at Hart's and David's Islands, New York Harbor, where cholera prevailed." He is the author of "The Army Medical Staff" (Boston, 1865); "Regulations for the Government of De Camp General Hospital" (New York. 1865); "Quarantine Regulations, 5th Military District" (Austin, Texas, 1869): and "Sympathetic Diseases of the Eve." translated (New York, 1881). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 418.
WEED, Stephen Hinsdale, soldier, born in New York City in 1834; died near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 2 July, 1863. He was graduated at the New York Free Academy in 1851, and at the U. S. Military Academy in 1854, and assigned to the artillery. After frontier duty in Texas, and service against the Seminoles in 1856-'7, he was engaged in quelling the Kansas disturbances in 1858, and then on the Utah Expedition, participating in skirmishes with hostile Indians at Egan Canyon, 11 August, 1860, and Deep Creek on 6 September. He was promoted captain on 14 May, 1861, and served in the Peninsular, Northern Virginia, and Maryland Campaigns, in command of a battery. From 3 December, 1862, till 23 January, 1863, he was chief of the artillery corps at Falmouth, Virginia After a short leave of absence he took part in the battle of Chancellorsville, and on 6 June, 1863, was made brigadier-general of volunteers for gallant conduct there. After 10 May, 1863, he commanded an artillery brigade in the 5th Army Corps. At Gettysburg, while holding the position on Little Round Top, he was mortally wounded, exclaiming as he fell: "I would rather die here than that the rebels should gain an inch of this ground." The point was essentially important to retain, and it is historically marked as " Weed's Hill." Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 419.
WEIGHTMAN, Richard Hanson, soldier, born in Maryland in 1818; died near Wilson's Creek, Missouri., 10 August, 1861. He entered the U. S. Military Academy in 1837, but was expelled in the same year for cutting a comrade in the face in a personal encounter. With the same knife he afterward killed a Santa Fe trader in a quarrel. He was a captain in the Missouri Light Infantry Volunteers in the Mexican war. He became an additional paymaster in the U. S. Army in 1848, was honorably discharged in 1849, settled in New Mexico, and was chosen provisionally a senator, when in 1850 the territory unsuccessfully applied for admission into the Union. In 1851-3 he served in Congress, having been elected as a Democrat. At the beginning of the Civil War he became colonel of a regiment of the Missouri state guard, participated in the battle of Carthage, 5 July, 1861, and was killed while commanding a brigade at Wilson's creek. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 421.
WEIGHTMAN, Roger C. librarian, born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1786; died in Washington, D. C., 2 February, 1876. He adopted the printing business, settled in Washington, D. C., and at one time was congressional printer. During the second war with Great Britain he was an officer of cavalry, and subsequently he became a general of District of Columbia Militia. He was mayor of Washington in 1824-'7, became cashier of the Washington bank, and was for many years librarian of the patent office. He commanded the troops that were quartered in that building during the Civil War. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 421.
WEITZEL, Godfrey, soldier, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1 November, 1835; died in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. 19 March, 1884. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1855, became 1st lieutenant of engineers in 1860. and was attached to the staff of General Benjamin F. Butler as chief engineer of the Department of the Gulf. After the capture of New Orleans he became assistant military commander and acting mayor of the city. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, 29 August, 1862, routed a large force of the enemy at Labadieville, Louisiana, in October of that year, and was brevetted major in the U. S. Army for that service. He became captain of engineers, 3 March, 1863, commanded the advance in General Nathaniel P. Banks's operations in western Louisiana in April and May, 1863, a division at the siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, and a division in the 19th Army Corps in the Lafourche Campaign. On 8 July, 1863, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, U. S. Army, "for gallant and meritorious services at the siege of Port Hudson." He joined in the western Louisiana Campaign, and from May till September, 1864, was chief engineer of the Army of the James, being engaged at Swift's Creek, the actions near Drury's Bluff, and in constructing the defences of Bermuda Hundred, James River, and Deep Bottom. In August,1864, he was brevetted major-general of volunteers "for meritorious and distinguished services during the Civil War." He commanded the 18th Army Corps from September till December, 1864, was brevetted colonel in the U. S. Army " for gallant and meritorious services at the capture of Fort Harrison, 30 September, 1864," became full major-general of volunteers on 7 November, was second in command of the first expedition to Fort Fisher, and in March and April, 1865, was in charge of all troops north of Potomac River during the final operations against General Robert E. Lee's army, taking possession of Richmond, 3 April, 1865. In March,1865, he was brevetted brigadier-general in the regular army for services in that campaign, and major-general in the same rank " for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the Civil War." He commanded the Rio Grande District, Texas, in 1865-'6, and was mustered out of volunteer service on 1 March of the latter year. He became major of engineers in 1866, and lieutenant colonel in 1882, and from that date was in charge of various works of improvement in and near Philadelphia, and chairman of the commission advisory to the board of harbor commissioners of that city. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 423.
WELLES, Gideon, 1802-1878, newspaper editor. Secretary of the Navy, Lincoln’s cabinet. Opposed the extension of slavery. Allowed African American refugees to join the U.S. Navy. Secretary of the Navy 1861-1869. (Appletons’, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 427; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 10, Pt. 1, p. 629; Welles’ diaries, manuscripts, Library of Congress)
WELLES, Gideon, Secretary of the Navy, born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, 1 July, 1802; died in Hartford, Connecticut, 11 February, 1878, entered Norwich University, Vermont, but, without being graduated, began to study law. In 1826 he became editor and part owner of the Hartford “Times” with which he remained connected till 1854, though he retired from the responsible editorship in 1836. He made his paper the chief organ of the Democratic Party in the state. It was the first to advocate the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency, and earnestly upheld his administration. Mr. Welles was a member of the legislature in 1827-‘35, and both in that body and in his journal attacked with severity the proposed measure to exclude from the courts witnesses that did not believe in a future state of rewards and punishments. He also labored for years to secure the abolition of imprisonment for debt, opposed special and private legislation, and secured the passage of general laws for the organization of financial corporations. He began an agitation for low postage before the subject had begun to attract general attention. He was chosen comptroller of the state by the legislature in 1835, and elected to that office by popular vote in 1842 and 1843, serving as postmaster of Hartford in the intervening years. From 1846 till 1849 he was chief of the bureau of provisions and clothing in the U.S. Navy department at Washington. Mr. Welles had always opposed the extension of slavery. He identified himself with the newly formed Republican Party in 1855, and in 1856 was its candidate for governor of Connecticut. In 1860 he labored earnestly for the election of Abraham Lincoln, and on the latter's election Mr. Welles was given the portfolio of the U.S. Navy in his cabinet. Here his executive ability compensated for his previous lack of special knowledge, and though many of his acts were bitterly criticised, his administration was popular with the navy and with the country at large. His facility as a writer made, his state papers more interesting than such documents usually are. In his first report, dated 4 July, 1861, he announced the increase of the effective naval force from forty-two to eighty-two vessels. This and the subsequent increase in a few months to more than 500 vessels was largely due to his energy. In the report that has just been mentioned he also recommended investigations to secure the best iron-clads, and this class of vessels was introduced under his administration. In the cabinet Mr. Welles opposed all arbitrary measures, and objected to the declaration of a blockade of southern ports, holding that this was a virtual acknowledgment of belligerent rights, and that the preferable course would be to close our ports to foreign commerce by proclamation. By request of the president, he presented his ideas in writing; but the cabinet finally yielded to the views of Secretary Seward. Early in the war, on 25 September, 1861, he ordered that the Negro refugees that found their way to U. S. vessels should be enlisted in the navy. He held his post till the close of President Johnson's administration in 1869. In 1872 he acted with the Liberal Republicans, and in 1876 he advocated the election of Samuel J. Tilden, afterward taking strong grounds against the electoral commission and its decision. After his retirement from office he contributed freely to current literature on the political and other events of the civil war, and provoked hostile criticism by what many thought his harsh strictures on official conduct. In 1872 he published an elaborate paper to show that the capture of New Orleans in 1862 was due entirely to the navy, and in 1873, a volume entitled “Lincoln and Seward.” Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI. pp. 427.
WELLS, Clark Henry, naval officer; born in Reading, Pennsylvania, 22 September, 1822; died in Washington, D. C., 28 January, 1888. He was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, 25 September, 1840, attended the naval academy at Annapolis in 1846, and became a passed midshipman on 11 July of that year. During the Mexican war he served in the brig "Somers," which was capsized and sank in a squall off Vera Cruz, after which he joined the " Petrel," in which he participated in covering the landing of Scott's army and in the bombardment of Vera Cruz, he also took part in the expeditions that captured Tampico and Tuspan in 1846-'7. He was promoted to master, 1 March, 1855, and to lieutenant. 14 September, 1855, served in the steam frigate "Niagara," laying the first Atlantic submarine cable in 1857. When the Civil War opened he was appointed executive of the steamer " Susquehanna," in which he participated in the capture of Port Royal, South Carolina. He led several boat expeditions in engagements with batteries in the inland coast waters of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and was present at the capture of Fernandina. He commanded the sloop " Vandalia," on the blockade of Charleston, and took the sloop "Dale " home in 1862. He was commissioned a lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, was executive of the Philadelphia Navy-yard in 1863, and commanded the wooden steamer "Galena" in the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1863-'4. He participated in the battle of Mobile, in which his vessel was lashed to the " Oneida." When they were passing the forts a shell from the ram "Tennessee " exploded in one of the " Oneida's" boilers, and he towed her along, in command of both vessels because the commander of the " Oneida" had been wounded. He was highly commended by Admiral Farragut in his official report and by a special letter. He served in the Eastern Gulf Squadron for a few months, was refitted at Philadelphia and joined Admiral Porter's fleet at Hampton Roads, where he remained until the close of the war. He commanded the steamer "Kansas" on the Brazil Station in 1865-6, where he rendered assistance to a British gun-boat that was stranded in the River Plate, and also to a British merchant vessel, for which he received a letter of thanks from the British government through the president. He was commissioned a commander, 25 July, 1866, captain, 19 June, 1871, and with the "Shenandoah " rendered valuable assistance to the iron-clad " Compt de Verde " which had broken from her moorings at Spezia. He received the decoration of the Legion of honor from President Thiers of France for this service. He was chief signal officer of the U.S. Navy in 1879-80, was promoted to commodore, 22 January, 1880, and on 1 August, 1884, to rear-admiral, and he was placed on the retired list, 22 September, 1884. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 428.
WELLS, Henry Horatio, lawyer, born in Rochester, New York, 17 September, 1823. He was educated at Romeo Academy, Michigan, studied law in Detroit with Theodore Romeyn, was admitted to the bar in 1846, and in 1854-'6 was a member of the legislature. He entered the army in September, 1862, as colonel of the 26th Michigan Infantry, and served until September, 1866. In February, 1863, he was made provost-marshal-general of the defences south of Potomac River, which office he held until the close of the war. In May, 1865, he received the brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers, and, settling in Virginia in 1868-'9, was military governor of that state. He was the Republican candidate for governor in the latter year, but was defeated by Gilbert C. Walker. On the assassination of President Lincoln, he took charge of the investigation in Washington that resulted in the capture of the conspirators, and afterward he was associate counsel in the criminal proceedings against Jefferson Davis for treason. In 1870-'l he was counsel, with Henry A. Wise, in the Chohoon and Ellyson mayoralty case, during the trial of which he was almost fatally injured by the falling of a gallery, crowded with people, in the capitol at Richmond. In 1871-'2 he was U. S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and he then moved to Washington, where, in 1875-'80, he was U. S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 430.
WELLS, William, soldier, born in Waterbury, Vermont, 14 December, 1837. He attended academies in Vermont and New Hampshire, and became a merchant, but in September, 1861, enlisted in the 1st Vermont Cavalry, becoming 1st lieutenant on 14 October, captain on 18 November, 1861, and major, 30 October, 1862. He took part in General Nathaniel P. Banks's Shenandoah Campaign, and General John Pope's Virginia Campaign in 1862, and then served in the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac till the close of the war, except from August, 1864, till March, 1865, when he was under Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. He became colonel of his regiment, 4 J line, 1864, was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, 22 February, 1865, received his full commission on 19 May, and was brevetted major-general on 30 March. General Wells commanded the 2d Brigade of the 3d Cavalry Division in the Army of the Potomac, and for some time was temporarily at the head of that division. After June, 1865, till he was mustered out, 15 January, 1866, he commanded the 1st separate Brigade of the 2d Army Corps at Fairfax Court House. His regiment took part in numerous battles and skirmishes, and he was twice wounded. General Wells was in the Vermont Legislature in 1865-'6, adjutant-general and inspector-general of the state in 1866-'72, collector of internal revenue in 1872-'85, and state senator in 1880-'7. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 432.
WELSH, John, merchant, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 9 November, 1805; died there, 10 April, 1886. His father, of the same name, was a Philadelphia merchant. The son received a collegiate education, but was not graduated. After conducting a mercantile business of his own, he entered in 1874, into partnership with his brothers in the West India trade, and was at the time of his death the senior member of the Arm, which had been established since 1834. For many years he was active in public affairs, giving largely of his time and means, service as member of the select council of Philadelphia. For twenty years he was a member of the sinking fund commission, and for the same length of time a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, of which he was also a patron. He was president of the Philadelphia board of trade and of the Merchants' fund for fifteen years. He was one of the founders of the Episcopal Hospital and its largest contributor. In 1862 he was appointed Commissioner of Fairmount park. During the Civil War he was active in measures of relief, and in 1864 he became president of the executive committee of the Sanitary Fair, which disbursed over $1,000,000 for the use of army hospitals and ambulances. His best-known work was as president of the Centennial Board of Finance, to which he was elected in April, 1873. The success of the exhibition was in a great measure due to his executive ability, in recognition of which he was presented by the city with a gold medal and with 150,000. With this sum he endowed the John Welsh chair of English literature in the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Welsh was an active Republican, and in 1878 was appointed minister to England, but he resigned within two years. The degree of L.L.D, was conferred upon him by the University of Pennsylvania in 1878, and by Washington and Lee in 1880, and many foreign decorations were given him for courtesies that he extended during the Centennial exhibition.—His brother, William, philanthropist, born in Philadelphia about 1810: died there, 11 February, 1878, was also a merchant in his native city, where he occupied many public posts, among them those of president of the board of trusts, director of Girard College, and trustee of Wills hospital. He was also largely identified with the philanthropic interests of the city, especially as a member of the Indian peace Commission during General Grant's administration, which place he resigned upon meeting with difficulties in the Indian Bureau. For several years he was proprietor of the "North American" and the "Philadelphia Gazette," which he had purchased in order to elevate the morals of the daily press. Mr. Welsh published, besides various papers, "Lay Co-operation in St. Mark's Church" (Philadelphia. 1861); "Letters on the Homo Missionary Work of the Protestant Episcopal Church (1863); "The Bishop Potter Memorial House" (1868); and "Taopi and his Friends, or Indians' Wrongs and Rights," with Bishop Henry B. Whipple and the Reverend Samuel Dutton Hinman (1869). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 433-434.
WELSH, Thomas, soldier, born in Columbia, Pennsylvania, 5 May, 1824; died in Cincinnati, Ohio, 14 August, 1863. He received a common-school education, and engaged in the lumber trade. Enlisting as a private for the Mexican War, he was wounded at Buena Vista, and promoted lieutenant for gallantry. At the beginning of the Civil War he raised a company, was mustered into the volunteer service as captain, and was elected lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Pennsylvania Regiment, which served in the Shenandoah Valley until it was disbanded at the end of three months. He re-entered the service as colonel of the 45th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and commanded a brigade at South Mountain and Antietam, as also at Fredericksburg, where he won promotion by his services on the right centre, being commissioned as brigadier-general of volunteers on 13 March, 1863. He was transferred to the west with the 9th Army Corps, and. after doing duty for some time in Kentucky, was sent to Vicksburg. After the fall of that place he marched with General William T. Sherman to Jackson, Mississippi, and contracted a malarial fever, from which he died while travelling homeward. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 434.
WERDEN, Reed, naval officer, born in Delaware County, Pa,. 28 February, 1818; died in Newport, R. I., 13 July, 1886. He was appointed from Ohio a midshipman in the U.S. Navy, 9 January, 1834, became a passed midshipman, 16 July, 1840, was commissioned lieutenant, 27 February, 1847, and served in the sloop " Germantown " during the Mexican War in 1847-'8, in which he commanded a detachment of men from that ship in the expeditions against Tuspan and Tampico. When the Civil War began he was attached to the steam frigate "Minnesota," in which he participated in the attacks on the forts at Hatteras Inlet and operations in the sounds of North Carolina in Stringham's squadron. He commanded the steamers "Yankee" and "Stars and Stripes" on the North Atlantic Blockade in 1861-'2, and in the latter led the First Division in the capture of Roanoke Island. He was commissioned commander, 16 July, 1862, had charge of the steamer "Conemaugh," on the South Atlantic Blockade, in 1862-'3, was fleet-captain of the Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1864-'5, and commanded the steamer "Powhatan," in which he blockaded the Confederate ram "Stonewall" in the port of Havana, Cuba, until she was surrendered by the Spanish authorities. He was commissioned a captain, 25 July, 1866, promoted to commodore, 27 April, 1871, was made rear-admiral, 4 February, 1875, and commander-in-chief of the South Pacific Station in 1875-'6. He was then placed on the retired list at his own request. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 436-437.
WESSELLS, Henry Walton, soldier, born in Litchfield, Connecticut, 20 February, 1809. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1833, assigned to the 2d U.S. Infantry, and was in the war with the Seminole Indians in 1837-'40, being promoted 1st lieutenant on 7 July, 1838. He served in the Mexican War, taking part in Scott's campaign, and was promoted captain, 16 February, 1847. At Contreras, Captain Wessells, though wounded, seized the regimental flag on the death of the color-sergeant, and led his men against the enemy. For gallant conduct there and at Churubusco he was brevetted major, and on his return from Mexico the state of Connecticut presented him with a jeweled sword "for distinguished services at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, and Churubusco." He served on the Pacific Coast in 1849-'54, and on the northwestern frontier in 1855-'61, being engaged in the Sioux Expedition of 1855. He was promoted major, 6 June, 1861, and from 22 August till 15 February, 1862, was colonel of the 8th Kansas Volunteers, being engaged on the Missouri border. In March, 1862, he was transferred to the Army of the Potomac, and on 25 April he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers. After serving in the Peninsular Campaign, being wounded at Fair Oaks, where he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, and commanding the rear-guard from Haxall's to Harrison's landing. 2-3 July, 1862, he engaged in the defence of Suffolk, Virginia, from 20 Sept, till 9 December, and afterward took part in the operations in North Carolina. He was at Kinston and Goldsboro, and in the defence of New Berne, 21 December, 1862, till 1 May, 1863. On 3 May he was placed in command of the sub-district of the Albemarle. On 17 April, 1864, the town of Plymouth, North Carolina, which General Wessells held with a garrison of 1,600 men, was attacked by General Robert F. Hoke with about 7,000 Confederates, assisted by the iron-clad ram "Albemarle." After a fight of four days, in which the enemy was driven back repeatedly, and one refusal to capitulate, General Wessells finally surrendered, with 1,600 troops, 25 cannon, and 2,000 small-arms, besides valuable stores. After the destruction of the "Albemarle" the town fell again into the hands of the National troops. After confinement at Richmond, Danville, Macon, and Charleston, where he was placed under the fire of the National batteries on Morris Island. General Wessells was exchanged on 3 August, and from 11 November, 1864, till 31 January. 1865, was commissary of prisoners. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel, 16 February, 1865, and received the brevet of colonel, 20 April, 1864, for "gallant and meritorious services during the rebel attack on Plymouth, North Carolina" and that of brigadier-general, U. S. Army, 13 March, 1865, for services during the war. General Wessells then served on the northwestern frontier till his retirement, 1 January, 1871, since which time he has resided in his native place. He has two sons in the army, one of whom, Henry Walton, a captain in the 3d U.S. Cavalry, has attained note as an Indian fighter. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp. 438-439.
WEST, Joseph Rodman, U. S. Senator, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, 19 September, 1822. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, but was not graduated, served in the war with Mexico as a captain of volunteers, and emigrated in 1849 to California, where he engaged in commercial pursuits. At the opening of the Civil War he was proprietor of the San Francisco " Prices Current." He entered the army as lieutenant-colonel of the 1st California Infantry, saw service in New Mexico, and afterward in Arkansas and the southwest, was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 25 October, 1862, and became brevet major-general, 4 January, 1866, when he was mustered out of the service. After the war he settled for a short time in Texas, and then moved to New Orleans, where he served as chief deputy U. S. marshal and auditor of the customs, and afterward as administrator of improvements, till he was elected U. S. Senator from Louisiana as a Republican, serving from 4 March, 1871, till 3 March, 1877. Moving afterward to Washington, D. C, he engaged in business, and in 1882-'5 was a commissioner of the District of Columbia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 440.
WEST, Nathaniel, clergyman, born in Ulster, Ireland, in September, 1794; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2 September, 1804. He studied theology in Edinburgh, Scotland, was ordained in 1820, labored there for several years as a missionary, and was one of the founders of the first temperance society in that city. He came to this country in 1834, was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Meadville, Pennsylvania, 11 May, 1836, and after 1838 was pastor successively of churches in Monroe, Michigan, and Northeast, Pittsburg, McKeesport, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania In 1853 he received the degree of D. D. from Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, and he was elected a corresponding member of numerous literary and scientific societies. At the opening of the Civil War he resigned his pastoral charge in Philadelphia, and in May, 1862, was appointed chaplain of the Satterlee U. S. General Hospital at West Philadelphia, one of the largest military hospitals in the country, where he served till his death. He published "The Ark of God the Safety of the Nation" (Pittsburg. 1850); "Popery the Prop of European Despotisms" (1852); "The Fugitive-Slave Law" (1852); "Babylon the Great " (1882); "Right and Left-Hand Blessings of God" (Philadelphia, 1852); "Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible, containing the Whole of the New and Old Testaments " (New York, 1853); "The Overturning of Tyrannical Governments," a sermon preached before Louis Kossuth when he was in the United States, which, by his order and at his expense. was translated and published in Magyar; "Lecture on the Causes of the Ruin of Republican Liberty in the Ancient Roman Republic" (Philadelphia, 1861); and " History of the U. S. Army General Hospital, West Philadelphia" (1863). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 441.
WESTCOTT, James Diament, jurist, born in Tallahassee, Florida, 18 June, 1839, was educated in his native town, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He entered the Confederate service at the beginning of the war, and attained the rank of major. In 1885 he became attorney-general of Florida, but resigned this post a year later, and was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 442.
WESTON, Sullivan Hardy, clergyman, born in Bristol, Maine, 7 October, 1816; died in New York City, 14 October, 1887. He was graduated at Wesleyan University in 1841, was ordained deacon in Trinity Church, New York City, in 1847, and priest in the same church in 1852. His ministerial life was passed in Trinity parish, of which he was an assistant minister, in special charge of St. John's chapel. He was elected bishop of Texas in 1852, but declined the office. He served as chaplain to the 7th New York Regiment, and accompanied that regiment to Washington, in 1861, at the opening of the Civil War, and again when the regiment volunteered in the summer of 1863. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Columbia in 1861. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 443.
WETHERILL, Samuel, inventor, born in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, 27 May, 1821, is the son of John Price Wetherill, who was vice-president of the Academy of Natural Sciences in his native city in 1834-'53. In 1850 Samuel began to experiment with the newly discovered product of zinc ores, and to determine whether this could be substituted for white lead as a paint. His experiments led to his engagement with the New Jersey zinc Company in 1850-'2, and in the latter year he invented the "furnace process," which consists in reducing mixed coal and ore by the direct action of heat and a cold blast upon a furnace-lied having small holes, each producing the reducing flame. Subsequently he invented the tower process of separating the solid impurities, in which the velocity of the fan-attachment, which impels the products into the collecting bags, lifts the white zinc seventy feet into a tower, leaving the ashes at the base. This was afterward improved by Mr. Wetherill by causing the products thus treated to pass through a film of water. In March, 1853, with Charles J. Gilbert and several New York capitalists, he entered into a contract for forming the Pennsylvania and Lehigh Zinc Company, and he erected works under his patents, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to reduce the zinc ores in Lehigh County. These works went into operation on 13 October, 1853, when the first "zinc white" made in the United States was manufactured by Wetherill's process in combination with the bag process of collecting that was previously invented by Samuel T. Jones. The works were conducted by Gilbert and Wetherill in 1853-'7, and in that time delivered 4,725 tons of white oxide of zinc. In 1854-'9 he conducted a series of experiments for the manufacture of spelter, the first spelter from the Lehigh ores being made by him in 1854 by passing the vapor of oxide of zinc through a lied of incandescent coal in a muffle-furnace. Afterward he experimented with vertical retorts, which he patented, and his services were procured for the manufacture of metallic zinc at Bethlehem under the Pennsylvania and Lehigh Zinc Company. In 1857 he sent an ingot of his spelter to a firm of sheet-iron rollers, and they returned to him the first sheet of zinc that was rolled from metal extracted from Pennsylvania ores. At the beginning of the Civil War Mr. Wetherill recruited a squadron for the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and entered service as captain on 19 August. 1861. He became major on 1 October, 1861, and was mustered out on 30 September, 1864. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, U. S. volunteers, on 13 March, 1865. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 445.
WHARTON, Gabriel Caldwell, soldier, born in Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky, 13 June. 1839; died in Louisville, Kentucky, 22 February, 1887. He was the son of a farmer, and was educated at the public schools, the academy of his native town, and the law department of Louisville University. In 1860, at the age of twenty-one. he began the practice of law at Springfield with immediate success. The next year, at the opening of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 10th Kentucky Infantry in the U. S. volunteer army, and in November was commissioned major of that regiment. With the regiment, Major Wharton shared in the engagements and marches of the Army of the Cumberland, and in March, 1863, was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel. He commanded and bore a gallant part in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge and the engagements of the Atlanta Campaign in 1864, until, at the expiration of his three years' service, he was mustered out. He then resumed his law-practice at Louisville, and in 1866 was appointed assistant U. S. Attorney for the District of Kentucky. On the appointment of Benjamin H. Bristow as Secretary of the Treasury, Colonel Wharton succeeded to the district attorney ship, holding that office for ten years. In 1880 he opened an office in Washington, and, after two years practice there, spent some time in Mexico in the interest of a railroad company. Returning, after a year's absence, he resided in New York City, where he soon had a lucrative practice. He was on a visit to Louisville when he died while alone in his room at a hotel. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 446.
WHEATON, Frank, soldier, born in Providence, Rhode Island, 8 May, 1813. He was educated in common schools, became a civil engineer and engaged in California and in the Mexican boundary surveys from 1850 till he was commissioned 1st lieutenant in the 1st U. S. Cavalry, 3 March, 1855. He served at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri., and in Kansas until 1850, and in the field against Cheyenne Indians till 1857, being in action near Fort Kearny, Nebraska. He was on the Utah Expedition till August, 1858, on duty with his regiment in the Indian Territory, and then on recruiting service till July, 1861, having been promoted captain in March. He received permission to accept the commission of lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Rhode Island Volunteers in July, 1861, became colonel in the same month, and took part in the battle of Bull Run, also serving in the principal engagements of the Army of the Potomac, including the Peninsula and Maryland Campaigns. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers in November, 1869, commanding a brigade during the operations of the same army in 1863-'4, and then a division of the 6th Corps, distinguishing himself in the operations in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864, and those that culminated in the surrender at Appomattox in 1865. He was brevetted major-general of volunteers for gallant and meritorious services at the Opequan, Fisher's Hill, and Middletown, Virginia, and received brevets in the regular army to the grade of major-general for the battles of the Wilderness, Cedar Creek, and Petersburg, respectively. He became lieutenant-colonel of the 39th U.S. Infantry, 28 July, 1866, was transferred to the 21st U.S. Infantry in March. 1869, and promoted colonel of the 2d U.S. Infantry; 15 December, 1874. Since the war General Wheaton has held commands in Dakota, Montana, and Nebraska. In July, 1866, he was presented with a sword by his native state for gallant services in the above-mentioned battles. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 450.
WHEELER, Junius Brutus, soldier, born in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, 21 February, 1830; died in Lenoir, North Carolina, 15 July, 1886, was educated at the University of North Carolina, volunteered at the beginning of the Mexican War, and participated in every battle from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico. He was promoted lieutenant in 1847. but resigned at the end of the war, entered the U. S. Military Academy, and was graduated in 1855. He was transferred to the Topographical Engineers in 1856, became 1st lieutenant on 1 July, 1860, was assistant professor of mathematics at the U. S. Military Academy in 1859-'61, and principal assistant professor there in 1861-'3. He became a captain in the Engineer Corps in March, 1863, chief engineer of the Department of the Susquehanna in June and September of that year, and chief engineer of the Army of the Arkansas from September, 1863, till May, 1864. He participated in engagements at Elkins Ferry, Prairie D'Ane, the occupation of Camden, and the battle of Jenkins Ferry, on the Saline River, 30 April, 1864, for which he was brevetted major, U. S. Army. In March, 1865, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel and colonel for meritorious service during the Civil War. He was chief engineer of the Military Division of the Missouri in May and June, 1865, commanded the engineer depot at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, in July and December of that year, was assistant engineer on the Mississippi levees in 1865-'6, and superintendent engineer of harbor improvements in 1866. He became major of engineers. U. S. Army, in 1866, and was then professor of mining and civil engineering at the U. S. Military Academy, which post he held till his retirement in 1885. He wrote a valuable series of military text-books that were adopted by the U. S. War Department, and published under the titles "Civil Engineering" (New York, 1877): "Art and Science of War, (1878); 'Elements of Field Fortifications" (1882); and "Military Engineering" (2 vols., 1884-'5). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 453.
WHEELER, Joseph, soldier, born in Augusta, Georgia, 10 September, 1836. He was graduated at the U. S. Military Academy in 1859, and assigned to the dragoons. After a year's service at the cavalry school for practice at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he received the full rank of 2d lieutenant, but on 22 April, 1861, resigned and entered the Confederate Army. He was made colonel of the 19th Alabama Infantry on 4 September, 1861, and served principally in the west. At Shiloh he commanded a brigade and covered the Confederate retreat from the field. In July, 1862, he was transferred to a cavalry command, and engaged in raiding western Tennessee. During the Kentucky Campaign of that year he had charge of General Braxton Bragg's cavalry, and fought at Green River and Perryville. He commanded the rear-guard of the Confederate Army when it retreated into Tennessee, and on 30 October, 1862. was promoted brigadier-general. At Murfreesboro he was in charge of the cavalry, and thereafter he was continuously active in contesting General William S. Rosecrans's advance, also attacking his flanks, raiding in the rear, and destroying his trains. On 19 January, 1863, he received his commission as major-general and opposed the National advance on Chattanooga. He commanded the cavalry at Chickamauga, and after the battle crossed Tennessee River and fell upon Rosecrans's line of communications, defeating the force that was sent against him and destroying over 1,200 wagons, with stores. On this raid he succeeded in damaging National property to the value of $3,000,000, but, after losing 600 men, was driven back to northern Alabama. Subsequently he took part in the siege of Knoxville and covered Bragg's retreat from Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain. During the winter and spring he continually harassed the National troops, and, on the advance of General William T. Sherman's army toward Atlanta, he opposed every movement and fought almost daily, often with his men dismounted. During July 27-30 he fought the raiding force of Generals George Stoneman, General Kenner Garrard, and General Edward M. McCook, and captured many prisoners, including General Stoneman, and all the artillery and transportation. On 9 August, 1864, he was sent by General John B. Hood to capture the National supplies, burn bridges, and break up railways in the rear of General Sherman's army. Passing through northern Georgia, he went into eastern Tennessee as far as the Kentucky line, and thence through middle Tennessee back into northern Alabama. During this raid, which lasted one month, he was continuously engaged and ruined much property. He was unsuccessful in destroying Sherman's communications, and was finally driven back by the National cavalry. When the Confederate commander became convinced of the impossibility of arresting Sherman's advance, Wheeler was sent in front of the army to prevent the National troops from raiding and foraging. He then engaged in the defence of Savannah, and for his defence of Aiken received the thanks of the legislature of South Carolina. General Wheeler received his promotion to the rank of lieutenant-general on 38 February, 1865, and continued in charge of the cavalry under General Joseph E. Johnston until the surrender in April, 1865. The death of General James E. B. Stuart, on 11 May, 1864, made him senior cavalry general of the Confederate Armies. After the war, he studied law, which profession and the occupation of cotton-planting he followed until 1880, when he was elected to Congress as a Democrat, and took his seat on 5 December, 1881; but his place was successfully contested by William M. Lowe, and he was unseated, 3 June, 1882. He was re-elected to the same Congress on the death of Mr. Lowe, a few months later, and has served since 4 March, 1885. In January, 1888, he was appointed a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 453-454.
WHEELOCK, Charles, soldier, born in Claremont, New Hampshire, 14 December, 1812; died in Washington, D. C, 21 January, 1865. He was educated in the common schools of New Hampshire and New York and became a farmer and provision-dealer in Oneida County, New York. Immediately after the fall of Fort Sumter he abandoned business and devoted his time to raising recruits, pledging himself to provide for their families. In the summer of 1861 he had thus given or pledged $5,000, about half of his possessions. Soon afterward he raised the 97th New York Regiment, of which he became colonel on 10 March, 1862, and subsequently he engaged actively in the war in the Army of the Potomac, being taken prisoner at the second battle of Bull Run, and serving, after his exchange, till his death from disease. On 19 August, 1864, he was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 455.
WHEELOCK, Julia Susan, hospital nurse, born in Avon, Ohio, 7 October, 1833. She was taken to Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 1837, and in 1855 went to Michigan, where she was educated in Kalamazoo College. In September, 1862, she was summoned from Ionia, Michigan, where she was teaching, to the bedside of her brother, who had been wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, and after his death she continued to serve in hospitals till the end of the war. In 1865-'73 she held a clerkship in the U. S. Treasury Department, and on 28 May, 1873, she married Parter C. Freeman, with whom she has since resided in Middleville, Michigan, and Springfield, Missouri. Her journal was published as " The Boys in White: the Experience of a Hospital Agent in and around Washington " (New York, 1870). Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, pp.
WHELAN, Peter, clergyman, born in County Wexford, Ireland, in 1800; died in Savannah, Georgia, 5 February, 1871. He received a classical education in his native county, volunteered for missionary duty in the United States, finished his theological course in the diocesan seminary at Charleston, South Carolina, and was ordained by Bishop England in 1830. He was given charge of the eastern part of North Carolina, and in 1833 was transferred to Locust Grove church, a mission that embraced northeastern Georgia, where he remained until 1850. He administered the diocese of Savannah from 1859 till 1861, and as administrator took part in the eighth provincial council of Baltimore, where he was offered the vacant seat, but declined. During the Civil War he was general chaplain at all the stations in Georgia from Anderson to Tybee. In this capacity his devotion to the National prisoners was very marked, especially at Andersonville, where he shared with them all he possessed, even to his wearing-apparel. He was engaged in administering the sacraments to the sick at Fort Pulaski when it was taken, and was sent a prisoner to the north. He was confined in Fort Lafayette for some time, and, on his release, returned to Georgia. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. VI, p. 458.
