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Zeppelin, Ferdinand, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Zeppelin, Ferdinand, Graf von zĕpˈəlĭn, Ger. fĕrˈdēnänt gräf fən tsĕpˌəlēnˈ [key], 1838–1917, German army officer and airship inventor and builder. He entered the Prussian army in 185...

Rodgers, Christopher Raymond Perry

(Encyclopedia)Rodgers, Christopher Raymond Perry, 1819–92, American naval officer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Appointed midshipman in 1833, he served in the Mexican War. In the Civil War he took part in the Union reductio...

Walker, Robert John

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Robert John, 1801–69, American public official, b. Northumberland, Pa. A lawyer, he practiced for a time in Pittsburgh. In 1826 he moved to Natchez, Miss. As a Democratic Senator (1836–45)...

Crittenden Compromise

(Encyclopedia)Crittenden Compromise, in U.S. history, unsuccessful last-minute effort to avert the Civil War. It was proposed in Congress as a constitutional amendment in Dec., 1860, by Sen. John J. Crittenden of K...

Fishers Hill

(Encyclopedia)Fishers Hill, bluff, near Strasburg, Va., in the Shenandoah Valley; site of Union Gen. Philip Sheridan's defeat of Gen. Jubal Early on Sept. 22, 1864, during the Civil War. ...

Curtis, Samuel Ryan

(Encyclopedia)Curtis, Samuel Ryan, 1805–66, Union general in the Civil War, b. Clinton co., N.Y., grad. West Point, 1831. Curtis won a decisive victory at Pea Ridge (1862) and was therefore promoted to major gene...

Price, Sterling

(Encyclopedia)Price, Sterling, 1809–67, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Prince Edward co., Va. After moving to Missouri, he practiced law and entered politics. He served in Congress (1844–46),...

Rustin, Bayard

(Encyclopedia)Rustin, Bayard, 1910–87, African-American civil-rights leader, b. West Chester, Pa. He attended three colleges but did not obtain a degree. A Quaker, he was imprisoned as a conscientious objector fo...

Dodge, Grenville Mellen

(Encyclopedia)Dodge, Grenville Mellen, 1831–1916, Union general in the Civil War and railroad builder, b. Danvers, Mass. Before the war Dodge, a civil engineer, did railroad work in the West. After he distinguish...

Johnson, Richard W.

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Richard W., 1827–97, Union general in the Civil War, b. Livingston co., Ky., grad. West Point, 1849. Before the Civil War he served principally on the frontier. Johnson, made a brigadier ge...