Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Fair Oaks, American Civil War battle

(Encyclopedia)Fair Oaks: see Peninsular campaign. ...

Richard, earl of Cornwall

(Encyclopedia)Richard, earl of Cornwall, 1209–72, second son of King John of England and brother of Henry III. In 1227, following an expedition to Gascony and Poitou, Richard forced Henry to grant him the land an...

Tenure of Office Act

(Encyclopedia)Tenure of Office Act, in U.S. history, measure passed on Mar. 2, 1867, by Congress over the veto of President Andrew Johnson; it forbade the President to remove any federal officeholder appointed by a...

Indian Affairs, Bureau of

(Encyclopedia)Indian Affairs, Bureau of, created (1824) in the U.S. War Dept. and transferred (1849) to the U.S. Dept. of the Interior. The War Dept. managed Native American affairs after 1789, but a separate burea...

Buena Vista, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Buena Vista, battle of, military engagement in the Mexican War, fought Feb. 22–23, 1847. The battle site was just S of Saltillo, Coahuila, in Mexico. Gen. Zachary Taylor, disobeying orders from the ...

Somme, Battles of the

(Encyclopedia)Somme, Battles of the, two engagements fought during World War I near the Somme River, N France. The first battle (July–Nov., 1916) was an Allied offensive. The British, commanded by Field Marshal S...

Tilly, Johannes Tserklaes, count of

(Encyclopedia)Tilly, Johannes Tserklaes, count of yōhänˈəs tsĕrkläsˈ tĭlˈē [key], 1559–1632, general in Bavarian and later imperial service during the Thirty Years War. A younger son of a noble family o...

Kloster-Zeven, Convention of

(Encyclopedia)Kloster-Zeven, Convention of klôsˈtər-tsāˈfən [key], 1757. Early in the Seven Years War the English army, under the command of the duke of Cumberland, son of George II, was defeated by the Frenc...

era of good feelings

(Encyclopedia)era of good feelings, period in U.S. history (1817–23) when, the Federalist party having declined, there was little open party feeling. After the War of 1812 all sections were anxious to return to a...

Charles II, king of Naples

(Encyclopedia)Charles II (Charles the Lame), 1248–1309, king of Naples (1285–1309), count of Anjou and Provence, son and successor of Charles I. In the war of the Sicilian Vespers between Charles I and Peter II...