Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

214 results found

Perrot, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Perrot, Nicolas pĕrōˈ [key], 1644–c.1718, French explorer in Canada and the Old Northwest. He came to New France as a child and, in service of the Jesuit missionaries, became acquainted with the...

Wolcott, Oliver, signer of the Declaration of Independence

(Encyclopedia)Wolcott, Oliver, 1726–97, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. South Windsor (then in Windsor), Conn.; son of Roger Wolcott. He fought in King G...

Smith, Edmund Kirby

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Edmund Kirby, or Edmund Kirby-Smith, 1824–93, American soldier, Confederate general in the Civil War, b. St. Augustine, Fla. A West Point graduate, he was cited for gallantry in the Mexican W...

Davis, Jefferson

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Jefferson, 1808–89, American statesman, President of the Southern Confederacy, b. Fairview, near Elkton, Ky. His birthday was June 3. Davis took little part in the secession movement until ...

Daniel, Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Daniel, Antoine (Saint Antony Daniel) äNtwänˈ dänyĕlˈ [key], 1600–1648, French missionary in the New World, a Jesuit priest. He came in 1632 to Canada and in 1634 went with Father Jean Brébeu...

Chabanel, Noël

(Encyclopedia)Chabanel, Noël (St. Noël Chabanel) nôĕlˈ shäbänĕlˈ [key], 1613–49, French missionary in North America, a Jesuit. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1630, came as a missionary to New France ...

Confederate cruisers

(Encyclopedia)Confederate cruisers, in U.S. history, warships constituting the South's seagoing navy. At the outbreak of the Civil War the United States ranked next to Great Britain in merchant marine. Since almost...

Libby Prison

(Encyclopedia)Libby Prison, in Richmond, Va., a Confederate prison for captured Union officers in the American Civil War. It was previously a tobacco warehouse. Living conditions were extremely bad; the food, somet...

Fort Pickens

(Encyclopedia)Fort Pickens, fortification on the western end of Santa Rosa Island at the entrance to Pensacola Bay, NW Fla. When Florida joined the Confederacy in Jan., 1861, Fort Barrancas on the mainland was evac...

Fitzpatrick, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Fitzpatrick, Benjamin, 1802–69, governor of Alabama (1841–45), b. Greene co., Ga. As a youth, he moved to Alabama (then still part of Mississippi Territory), where after two terms as governor, he ...