hide Matching Documents

Browsing named entities in Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing). You can also browse the collection for 1781 AD or search for 1781 AD in all documents.

Your search returned 182 results in 164 document sections:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ...
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Finley, James Bradley 1781-1856 (search)
Finley, James Bradley 1781-1856 Clergyman; born in North Carolina, July 1, 1781; became a Methodist minister in 1809; was a missionary among the Wyandotte Indians in 1821-27. His publications include History of the Wyandotte mission; Sketches of Western Methodism; Personal reminiscences illustrative of Indian life, etc. He died in Cincinnati, O., Sept. 6, 1856.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Fish, Nicholas 1758-1833 (search)
Fish, Nicholas 1758-1833 Military officer; born in New York City, Aug. 28, 1758; studied law in the office of John Morin Scott, and was on his staff as aide in the spring of 1776. In June he was made brigademajor, and in November major of the 2d New York Regiment. Major Fish was in the battles at Saratoga in 1777; was division inspector in 1778; and commanded a corps of light infantry in the battle of Monmouth. He served in Sullivan's expedition in 1779; under Lafayette, in Virginia, in 1781; and was at the surrender of Cornwallis, behaving gallantly during the siege. For many years after 1786, Fish, who had become lieutenantcolonel during the war, was adjutantgeneral of the State of New York, and was appointed supervisor of the United States revenue in 1794. In 1797 he became president of the New York State Cincinnati Society. He died in New York City, June 20, 1833.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Gadsden, Christopher 1724-1805 (search)
Gadsden, Christopher 1724-1805 Patriot; born in Charleston, S. C., in 1724; was educated in England; became a merchant in Charleston; and a sturdy champion of the rights of the colonies. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, and ever advocated openly republican principles. He was also a member of the first Continental Congress. Chosen a colonel in 1775, he was active in the defence of Charleston in 1776, when he was made a brigadier-general. He was active in civil affairs, and was one of the many civilians made prisoners by Sir Henry Clinton and carried to St. Augustine. He was exchanged in 1781 and carried to Philadelphia. In 1782 he was elected governor of his State, but declined on account of infirmity. He died in Charleston, S. C., Aug. 28, 1805.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Gansevoort, Peter 1749-1812 (search)
Gansevoort, Peter 1749-1812 Military officer; born in Albany, N. Y., July 17, 1749; was appointed major of a New York regiment in July, 1775, and in August joined the army, under Montgomery, that Peter Gansevoort. invaded Canada. He rose to colonel the next year; and in April, 1777, he was put in command of Fort Schuyler (see Stanwix, Fort), which he gallantly defended against the British and Indians in August. He most effectually co-operated with Sullivan in his campaign in 1779 and afterwards in the Mohawk region. In 1781 he received from the legislature of New York the commission of brigadiergeneral. General Gansevoort filled civil offices, particularly that of commissioner for Indian affairs, with great fidelity. In 1803 he was made military agent and brigadier-general in the regular army. He died in Albany, N. Y., July 2, 1812.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Grasse-Tilly, Francois Joseph Paul, Count de 1723-1788 (search)
led to strike his colors only two men besides himself were left standing on the upper deck. By this defeat and capture there fell into the hands of the English thirty-six chests of money and the whole train of artillery intended Count De Grasse's autograph. for an attack on Jamaica. The French lost in the engagement, in killed and wounded, about 3,000 men; the British lost 1,100. For more than a century the French had not, in any naval engagement, been so completely beaten. The family of De Grasse were ruined by the fury of the French Revolution, and four of his daughters (Amelia, Adelaide, Melanie, and Silvia) came to the United States in extreme poverty. Congress, in February, 1795, gave them each $1,000, in consideration of the extraordinary services rendered the United States in the year 1781 by the late Count de Grasse, at the urgent request of the commander-in-chief of the American forces, beyond the term limited for his co-operation with the troops of the United States.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Graves (Lord), Thomas 1725- (search)
Graves (Lord), Thomas 1725- Was born in 1725; died Jan. 31, 1802. Having served under Anson, Hawke, and others, he was placed in command of the Antelope, on the North American station, in 1761, and made governor of Newfoundland. In 1779 he became rear-admiral of the blue, and the next year came to America with reinforcements for Admiral Arbuthnot. On the return of the latter to England in 1781, Graves became chief naval commander on the American station. He was defeated (Sept. 5) by De Grasse. In 1795 he was second in command under Lord Howe, and was raised to an Irish peerage and admiral of the white on June 1, the same year.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Greene, Christopher 1737- (search)
Greene, Christopher 1737- Military officer; born in Warwick, R. I., May 12, 1737; was major in the army of observation authorized by the legislature of Rhode Island. He accompanied Arnold through the wilderness to Quebec in the fall of 1775, and was made prisoner in the attack on that city at the close of Decem ber. In October, 1776, he was put in command of a regiment, and was placed in charge of Fort Mercer, on the Delaware, which he gallantly defended the next year. He took part in Sullivan's campaign in Rhode Island in 1778, and in the spring of 1781 his quarters on the Croton River, Westchester co., N. Y., were surrounded by a party of loyalists, and he was slain May 13, 1781. For his defence of Fort Mercer, Congress voted him a sword in 1786, and it was presented to his eldest son.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Greene, Nathanael 1742- (search)
rsued almost to the edge of the city by the partisan troops. The main army occupied a position between General Greene crossing the River Dan. that city and Jacksonboro, where the South Carolina legislature had resumed its sessions. Greene had failed to win victories in battle, but had fully accomplished the object of his campaign— namely, to liberate the Carolinas and Georgia from British rule. In the course of nine months he had recovered the three Southern States, and at the close of 1781 he had all the British troops below Virginia hemmed within the cities of Charleston and Savannah. After the disaster at the Cowpens, Cornwallis placed his force in light marching order and started in pursuit of Morgan, hoping to intercept him before he could cross the Catawba River. The earl ordered all his stores and superfluous baggage to be burned, and his whole army was converted into light infantry corps. The only wagons saved were those with hospital stores, salt, and ammunition
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Griffin, Cyrus 1749- (search)
Griffin, Cyrus 1749- Jurist; born in Virginia in 1749; was educated in England; was connected by marriage there with a noble family; and when the Revolution broke out he espoused the cause of the patriots. From 1778 to 1781, and in 1787-88, he was a member of the Continental Congress, and in the latter year its president. He was commissioner to the Creek nation in 1789, and from that year until his death in Yorktown, Va., Dec. 14, 1810, he was judge of the United States District Court in Virginia.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Hamilton, Alexander 1757- (search)
rk City in 1774, when only seventeen years of age, remarkable in every particular, and he aided the patriotic cause by his writings. In March, 1776, he was made captain of artillery, and served at White Plains, Trenton, and Princeton; and in March, 1777, became aide-de-camp to Washington, and his secretary and trusted confidant. He was of great assistance to Washington in his correspondence, and in planning campaigns. In December, 1780, he married a daughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler, and in 1781 he retired from Washington's staff. In July he was appointed to the command of New York troops, with the rank of colonel, and captured by assault a redoubt at Yorktown, Oct. 14, 1781. After the surrender of Cornwallis he left the army; studied law; was a member of Congress (1782- 83), and soon took the lead in his profession. He was a member of the New York legislature in 1787, and of the convention at Philadelphia, that year, that framed the national Constitution. With the aid of the abl
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ...