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James, Jesse

(Encyclopedia)James, Jesse (Woodson), 1847–82, American outlaw, b. Clay co., Mo. At the age of 15 he joined the Confederate guerrilla band led by William Quantrill and participated in the brutal and bloody civil ...

Trent Affair

(Encyclopedia)Trent Affair, incident in the diplomatic relations between the United States and Great Britain, which occurred during the American Civil War. On Nov. 8, 1861, the British mail packet Trent, carrying J...

Hoar, Ebenezer Rockwood

(Encyclopedia)Hoar, Ebenezer Rockwood, 1816–95, American lawyer, U.S. Attorney General (1869–70), b. Concord, Mass. While serving (1846) in the Massachusetts senate, he declared that he would rather be a “Con...

Holm, Jeanne Marjorie

(Encyclopedia)Holm, Jeanne Marjorie, 1921–2010, U.S. military officer, the first female general in the U.S. air force, b. Portland, Oreg. Enlisting in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942, she soon joined (19...

Funston, Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Funston, Frederick, 1865–1917, U.S. general, b. New Carlisle, Ohio. He was a newspaper reporter and a field agent (1888–95) of the Dept. of Agriculture, exploring Death Valley and the Yukon. Love ...

Mola, Emilio

(Encyclopedia)Mola, Emilio āmēˈlyō mōˈlä [key], 1887–1937, Spanish nationalist general. Entering the army in 1904, he rose to the rank of general by 1927, when he commanded a military district in Morocco. ...

Austin, Lloyd James, 3d

(Encyclopedia)Austin, Lloyd James, 3d, 1953–, U.S. army general and secretary of defense, b. Mobile, Ala., B.S West Point, 1975, M.A. Auburn Univ., 1986, M.B.A. Webster Univ., 1989. He entered the U.S. Army (1975...

Ashcroft, John

(Encyclopedia)Ashcroft, John, 1942–, American political figure, b. Chicago, grad. Yale Univ. (B.A., 1964), Univ. of Chicago School of Law (J.D., 1967). A conservative Republican, Ashcroft was Missouri state audit...

McDowell, Irvin

(Encyclopedia)McDowell, Irvin, 1818–85, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Columbus, Ohio. He taught at West Point (1841–45) and was made captain for his service in the Mexican War. In the Civil War, M...

MacPhail, Larry

(Encyclopedia)MacPhail, Larry (Leland Stanford MacPhail, Sr.), 1890–1975, American baseball and business executive, b. Cass City, Mich., grad. George Washington Univ. (LL.B., 1910). After serving in World War I, ...