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selective service

(Encyclopedia)selective service, in U.S. history, term for conscription. Conscription was established (1863) in the U.S. Civil War, but proved unpopular (see draft riots). The law authorized release from service to...

Lee, Fitzhugh

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835–1905, Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, b. “Clermont,” Fairfax co., Va.; nephew of Robert E. Lee. He campaigned against the Comanche in Texas and later w...

Kühlmann, Richard von

(Encyclopedia)Kühlmann, Richard von rĭkhˈärt fən külˈmän [key], 1873–1948, German diplomat. Appointed foreign secretary in Aug., 1917, he led the delegation that negotiated (Mar., 1918) the Treaty of Bres...

Mikulov

(Encyclopedia)Mikulov mĭˈko͝olôf [key], Ger. Nikolsburg, town, SE Czech Republic, in Moravia, near the Austrian border. Mikulov was the site in 1621 of the signing of a treaty between Emperor Ferdinand II and G...

Marne, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Marne, river, c.325 mi (520 km) long, rising in the Langres plateau, NE France, and flowing in an arc generally NW to the Seine River near Paris. It passes through Chaumont and Châlons-en-Champagne. ...

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...

Napier, Sir William Francis Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Napier, Sir William Francis Patrick nāˈpēr, nəpērˈ [key], 1785–1860, British general and historian; brother of Sir Charles James Napier. He served in the Peninsular War and wrote a famous and ...

Andersonville

(Encyclopedia)Andersonville, village (2020 pop. 215), SW Ga., near Americus; inc. 1881. In Andersonville Prison, officially known as Camp Sumter, tens of thousands of Union soldiers were confined during...

Gibson, Randall Lee

(Encyclopedia)Gibson, Randall Lee, 1832–92, Confederate general and U.S. legislator, b. Woodford co., Ky. Gibson served in most of the Western campaigns of the Civil War, first as an artillery officer and later a...

Fort Walton Beach

(Encyclopedia)Fort Walton Beach, city (2020 pop. 20,922), Okaloosa co., NW Fla., on the Gulf of Mexico; inc. 1941. It is a year-round beach and fishing resort east of...