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Montgomery, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Montgomery, city (1990 pop. 187,106), state capital and seat of Montgomery co., E central Ala., near the head of navigation on the Alabama River just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa r...

Merryman, ex parte

(Encyclopedia)Merryman, ex parte, case decided in 1861 by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney sitting as a federal circuit judge in Baltimore. John Merryman, a citizen of Maryland, was imprisoned by the U.S. army on suspi...

Gorgas, Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Gorgas, Josiah gôrˈgəs [key], 1818–83, chief of ordnance in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, b. Dauphin co., Pa.; father of William Crawford Gorgas. He was commissioned in the ...

Cobb, Howell

(Encyclopedia)Cobb, Howell, 1815–68, American politican, b. Jefferson co., Ga. In 1837 he became solicitor general of the western judicial circuit of Georgia, a district populated largely by small farmers of Unio...

Jogues, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Jogues, Isaac (Saint Isaac Jogues) ēzäkˈ zhôg [key], 1607–46, French Jesuit missionary and martyr in the New World; one of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America. He arrived in Quebec in 1636 and i...

Spotswood, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Spotswood, Alexander, 1676–1740, colonial governor of Virginia, b. Tangier, Morocco. Appointed in 1710, he was officially lieutenant governor under the nominal governorship of George Hamilton, 1st e...

Brulé, Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Brulé, Étienne ātyĕnˈ brülāˈ [key], c.1592–1632, French explorer in North America. He arrived (1608) in the New World with Samuel de Champlain, who sent him (1610) into the wilderness to lea...

Fort Monroe

(Encyclopedia)Fort Monroe, SE Va., commanding the entrance to Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads; named for President James Monroe. The fortress (80 acres/32 hectares) was built (1819–34) by the U.S. government on ...

Clay, Clement Claiborne

(Encyclopedia)Clay, Clement Claiborne, 1816–82, U.S. Senator (1853–61), b. Huntsville, Ala. A legislator and then a judge in his native state, he was twice elected to the U.S. Senate and became an ardent defend...

Thames, battle of the

(Encyclopedia)Thames, battle of the, engagement fought on the Thames River near Chatham, Ont. (Oct. 5, 1813), in the War of 1812. Gen. William H. Harrison led an American force of about 3,000 against a British army...