Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/331

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VINTON
VIVANCO

death, being stationed successively at Chummerah, Newville, Maulmain, where he had charge of the Karen theological seminary in. 1851-2, and finally at Kemendine, a suburb of Rangoon. At one time eighteen stations, with fifteen churches, were un- der his care.— His wife, Calesta Holman, mis- sionary, b. in Union, Conn., in 1809 : d. in Rangoon, Burmah, 20 Dec, 1864, was educated at Wesleyan academy, Wilbraham, Mass., and married Mr. Vin- ton in 1834. She was successful in teaching the Karen women, and was the author of several hymn- books in their language.


VINTON, Samuel Finley, congressman, b. in South Hadley, Mass., 25 Sept., 1792; d. in Washington, D.C., 11 May, 1862. He was graduated at Williams in 1814, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1816, and began to practise in Gallipolis, Ohio. He was chosen to congress as a Whig, serving from 1 Dec., 1823, till 3 March, 1837, was a presidential elector on the Harrison ticket, and served again in congress in 1843-'51. His last public service was in 1862, when he was appointed by President Lincoln to appraise the slaves that had been emancipated in the District of Columbia by act of congress. He published numerous congressional and other speeches, including “Argument for Defendants in the Case of Virginia vs. Garner and Others for an Alleged Abduction of Slaves” (1865). His daughter, Madeline, married Admiral John A. Dahlgren.


VIOMENIL, Antoine Charles du Houx (ve- o-may-neel), Baron de, French soldier, b. in Fau- concourt, Vosges, 30 Nov., 1728: d. in Paris, 9 Nov., 1792. He was descended from an ancient family of Lorraine, entered the army when he was twelve years of age as sub-lieutenant in the regi- ment Limousin, was promoted captain in 1747, and was severely wounded at the capture of Ber- gen-op-Zoom. During the seven years' war in 1756-63 he served with credit as colonel of the Dauphinois volunteers, and he was commander of the light troops in Conde's army in the campaign of Hanover. He was promoted brigadier-general in 1762, commanded the Hainaut regiment during the Corsican campaign in 1768-'9, and assisted in the pacification of the island. He was made major- general, 3 Jan., 1770, and sent to Poland, where he captured for the confederation of Bar the fortress of Cracow. In 1780 he was appointed second in command of the army that was sent under Count de Rochambeau to assist the American colonists in their struggle for independence. He was promoted lieutenant-general, 13 June, 1781, and for his gal- lant conduct at the siege of Yorktown in October, 1781, where he led his troops in the storming of the redoubt, was given the grand cross of St. Louis. After the conclusion of peace he was gov- ernor of La Rochelle in 1783-'9, and at the time of Louis XVI. 's flight in 1791 was named to ac- company the royal family. At the attack on the Tuileries palace, 10 Aug., 1792, he was so severely wounded in defending the king that he died a few weeks later. See " Lettres particulieres du Baron de Viomenil sur les affaires de Pologne en 1771— '2 " (Paris, 1808).— His brother, Charles Joseph Hyacinthe du Houx, Marquis de, French soldier, b. in the castle of Ruppes, Vosges, 22 Aug., 1734; d. in Paris, 5 March, 1827, entered the military ser- vice in 1747, was present at the battle of Law- feld and at the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, and in 1757, as aide-de-camp to Gen. Chevert, assisted in the taking of Prague. He commanded a bri- gade in Corsica in 1768-'9, and was promoted brigadier-general in 1770 and major-general, 4 March, 1780. He came with Rochambeau to this country as commander of the French artillery, took a commendable part in the capture of York- town, and was granted a pension of 5,000 francs for his valor in the siege. From February, 1789, till November, 1790, he was governor-general of Martinique, where he vigorously repressed the revolutionary uprisings. He emigrated in 1791, served in the army of Conde in 1792-'7, and went afterward to Russia, where he became general of cavalry and commander-in-chief of the army of Samogitia. In 1801 he went to Portugal at the invitation of King Joao VI., and was commander- in-chief of the Portuguese army till 1808, when he removed to England. After the restoration of Louis XVIII. he was made a peer of France and lieutenant-general, 4 June, 1814; field-marshal, 3 July, 1816 ; and a marquis, 31 Aug., 1817. Before this he had been known as the Chevalier de Vio- menil. — His cousin, Antoine Louis du Houx, Chevalier de, French soldier, b. in Fauconcourt in 1745; d. in Dijon in 1788, entered the army in 1760, served with distinction in Germany and Poland as colonel, accompanied in 1780 his cousin Antoine to this country as his first aide-de-camp, and was severely wounded at the capture of Yorktown in October, 1781. For his services during the war he was made a knight of St. Louis, and granted a pension and a petty government in Burgundy.


VIROT, Claude Francis (ve-ro), French missionary, b. in France, 16 Feb., 1721 ; d. near Fort Niagara in July, 1759. He became a Jesuit in 1738, and in 1750 was sent to Canada, where he labored for several years among the Abnaki Indians with great success. He was then sent to Ohio river, where he founded a mission among the Delawares at Sakunk on the mouth of the Big Beaver. The influence that he was gaining over the tribe excited the jealousy of Pakanke, chief of the Wolf tribe, and he was forced to leave. He afterward acted as chaplain to a body of French soldiers, and was killed when he participated in an attempt to relieve Fort Niagara.


VIVANCO, Manuel Ignacio de (ve-vahn -co), Peruvian soldier, b. in Lima in 1806; d. in Santiago, Chili, in 1873. He was destined by his parents for a literarv career, and was a student in the College of San Carlos, of Lima, when San Martin landed with the liberating army. Leaving college, he entered the patriotic ranks, and after 1821 took part in all the campaigns for independence, being present in the battles of Junin and Ayacucho. After the war he continued in the army, and was appointed director of the military college. At different times he was prefect of several of the departments of the republic, including Arequipa, where he was idolized by the people. After the death of Gamarra and the strife between Gen. Torrico and Gen. Vidal, Vivanco proclaimed himself, on 20 April, 1843. supreme director of the nation. But the anarchy and intestine strife continued ; Castilla overthrew Vivanco's government