Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Coppée, Henry

COPPÉE, Henry, educator, b. in Savannah, Ga., 13 Oct., 1821; d. in Bethlehem, Pa., 22 March, 1895. He spent two years at Yale in the class of 1839, then studied civil engineering, entered the U. S. military academy in 1841, and after graduation in 1845 served as an officer of artillery through the Mexican war, receiving the brevet of captain for gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco. He was principal assistant professor of geography, history, and ethics at West Point from 14 Jan., 1850, until 16 May, 1855, and on 30 June, 1855, resigned from the army and became professor of English literature in the University of Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1866, when he accepted the presidency of Lehigh university at Bethlehem, Pa. In 1875 he exchanged the presidency for the professorship of history. In 1874 Dr. Coppée was appointed one of the regents of the Smithsonian institution, and twice he served on the assay commission of the U. S. mint. In 1864-'6 he edited the “United States Service Magazine.” He published “Elements of Logic” (Philadelphia, 1857); “Gallery of Famous Poets” (1858); “Elements of Rhetoric” (1859); “Gallery of Distinguished Poetesses” (1860); “Select Academic Speaker” (1861); “Manual of Battalion Drill” (1862); “Evolutions of the Line”(1862); “Manual of Court-Martial” (1863); “Songs of Praise in the Christian Centuries” (1864); “Life and Services of Gen. U. S. Grant” (New York, 1866); a manual of “English Literature” (Philadelphia, 1872); “Lectures on English Literature” (1872); “The Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors” (Boston, 1881); and “Life of General Thomas,” in Great Commanders Series (New York, 1893). He also edited a translation of Marmont's “Esprit des institutions militaires” (1862), and one of “La guerre civile en Amérique” by the Comte de Paris.