staffs of Gen. Patterson and Gen. Banks in the Virginia campaign of 1861-'63. He was severely injured at Frederick, Md., in 18(52, and subsequently served on Gen. Gillmore's staff, having attained the rank of major in 1803. He resigned on 25 June, 1864. For a short time he was an examiner of patents in Washington, and later he became professor of mathematics and drawing in the University of Missouri, at Rolla. He is a contributor to current literature in science, art, and history.—Silvanus Thayer, civil engineer, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 22 July, 1828. He was educated at Princeton, and in 1848 began his engineering career in the government service on the construction of the James river and Kanawha canal. For eleven years he was actively engaged on government work at various localities. In 1859 he was appointed engineer in charge of all the works of construction at the Pensacola navy-yard. During the civil war he served at first on the staff of Gen. Banks in his Virginia campaign, and later under Gen. Meade with the Army of the Potomac. From 1865 to 1866 he was engaged on the surveys of the Magdalena river for the Colombian government. On his return he again joined the engineering corps, and has been occupied on numerous government surveys. Since 1873 he has been in charge of the geographical division extending from Washington, D. C, to Wilmington, N. C. Col. Abert is the author of numerous valuable reports on his work, and has also published "Notes, Historical and Statistical, upon the Projected Route for an Interoceanic Ship Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans" (Cincinnati, 1872).—William Stretch,
soldier, b. in Washington, D. C., 1 Feb., 1836 ; d. in
Galveston, Tex., 25 Aug., 1867. He was appointed
lieutenant in the artillery in 1855, and at the out-
break of the civil war in 1861 was stationed at Fort
Monroe, Va. He was appointed captain in the
cavalry in 1861, and fought in the battles of Williamsburg and Hanover Court House. Later he
joined Gen. McClellan's staff, and was at Antietam. From November, 1862, to October, 1864, he
was assistant inspector-general at New Orleans
under Gen. Banks, after which he served in the
defences of Washington as colonel of the 3d Massachusetts artillery. Subsequent to the war he
was with his regiment in Texas, and became assistant inspector-general of the district of Texas.
In June, 1867, he was advanced to the rank of
major in the 7th U. S. cavalry. He received several brevets, the highest of which was that of lieutenant-colonel.
ABOVILLE, Francois Marie, Comte d',
French soldier, b. in Brest, 23 Jan., 1730; d. 1 Nov., 1817. He distinguished himself as a young officer of artillery at the siege of Miinster, came to
America with the rank of colonel, commanded the artillery of Rochambeau's army at the siege of Yorktown, and was made a brigadier in 1789. He
commanded the French army of the north and Ardennes in 1792, with the rank of lieutenant-general, and was governor of Brest in 1809. Embracing the cause of the Bourbons, he was made a peer of France after the restoration in 1814.
ABRAHAMS, Simeon, physician and philanthropist, b. in 1809 : d. in New York, 14 April, 1867. He practised medicine in New York with success, and bequeathed large sums to Jewish and other charities in that city.
ACAMAPICTLI (ah-kah-mah-petch'-tli). I. An
Aztec king, d. in 1389. He succeeded to the throne in 1352, and consolidated the kingdom, collecting the tribes and making new laws. He constructed roads and aqueducts, and was the founder of the
city of Tenochtitlan. IL The third Aztec king, second grandson of the preceding. He assisted King Quinatzin, of Texeoco, against his two rebellious sons, and finally routed them. He ruled his own country in peace for forty-one years, and died in 1402.
ACCAULT, Michel (ak-ko), explorer. He was
one of the trusted lieutenants of La Salle, discoverer of the Mississippi, and was sent by him with
Louis Hennepin during the summer of 1679 to explore the upper part of that river. This expedition
has been fully chronicled by Father Hennepin, who
represented the church, while Accault and Du Gay
were the military aids. They ascended the river to
the falls of St. Anthony, were captured by the Sioux
Indians, rescued by the gallant French officer Daniel Duluth, and reached the trading-station at Green bay in the autumn. See Hennepin.
ACLAND, Christina Harriet Caroline Fox,
daughter of Stephen, first earl of Ilchester, b. 3 Jan., 1750; d. at Tetton, England, 21 July, 1815.
She married, in September, 1770, Maj. John Dyke
Acland, accompanied him to America, and shared
in all the vicissitudes of Burgoyne's campaign,
which culminated in the surrender of the British
army, 17 Oct., 1777. In the second battle of Saratoga,
7 Oct., Maj. Acland was severely wounded
and carried a prisoner within the American lines.
On the night of the 9th, accompanied by the chaplain
and her maid, she set out from the British
camp in a frail boat and in the midst of a driving
storm to rejoin her husband. She was received
with the utmost cordiality by Gates, shared her
husband's captivity, and carefully nursed him until
restored to health. The kindness that had been
shown to his wife Maj. Acland reciprocated, while
on parole in New York, by doing all in his power
to mitigate the sufferings of the American prisoners.
The oft-repeated story that after her
husband's death she became insane for a time, and
finally married Chaplain Brudenell, is totally
untrue. She died the widow of Maj. Acland, as is
attested by the burial register. The story that her
husband was killed in a duel is equally unfounded.
He received a paralytic stroke on 29 Nov., 1778,
while directing some improvements about his place,
and died on 2 Dec. In person Lady Harriet was
highly graceful and delicate, and her manners were
elegantly feminine. Mrs. Perez Norton commemorated
her sufferings in a touching poem, and
before she left New York a painting representing
her standing in a boat, with a white handkerchief
in her hand as a flag of truce, was exhibited at the
royal academy, London. There is a striking
portrait of her by Sir Joshua Reynolds, at Killerton,
Exeter, the seat of Sir Thomas Dyke Ackland.
She suffered for years from cancer, but bore it with
great fortitude. She is still remembered for her numerous charities.
ACOLHUA I. (ah-kol-hoo'-ah), a king of Azcapotzalco. He ascended the throne in 1168. II. (also called by some historians Tetzotzomoc), a king of Azeapotzalco. He began to rule in 1239.
ACOSTA, Cecilio, Venezuelan jurist and writer, b. in Caracas in 1831; d. there, 8 July, 1881. He was the editor of the penal code now in force in his country, Venezuela. He was a great Spanish and Latin scholar, and had a thorough knowledge of the French, English, and Italian literatures. Acosta was among the first South Americans honored with the appointment of corresponding member of the Spanish academy.
ACOSTA, Joaquin, Colombian general and author, b. in Guaduas, Colombia, 29 Dec, 1799; d. there in 1852. He entered the Colombia army at
