Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

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...

Justus of Tiberia

(Encyclopedia)Justus of Tiberia, fl. 1st cent. a.d., Jewish historian. Friendly to Rome, he opposed the Jewish war against the Romans and fled to Beirut where he became the private secretary of Agrippa II. He is ma...

Jayhawkers

(Encyclopedia)Jayhawkers, term applied to free-state guerrilla fighters opposed to the proslavery “border ruffians” during the struggle over Kansas in the years prior to the Civil War. Later, during the war, it...

Deventer, Sir Jacob Louis van

(Encyclopedia)Deventer, Sir Jacob Louis van yäˈkōp lo͞oēˈ fän dĕfˈəntər [key], 1874?–1922, Boer general. In the South African War he commanded guerrilla forces in the Cape Colony. During World War I he...

Davis, Benjamin Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Benjamin Oliver, 1877–1970, American general, b. Washington, D.C. After studying (1897–98) at Howard Univ., Davis served as a lieutenant in the Spanish-American War and in 1899 enlisted in ...

Browse by Subject