Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/585

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
CASGRAIN
CASS
551

was made brigadier-general of volunteers, 31 Aug., 1861, and charged with organizing and disciplin- ing the volunteers in and near the capital. He was afterward assigned a division in Gen. Keyes's corps of the Army of the Potomac, and, occupying with it the extreme advance before Richmond, re- ceived the first attack of the enemy at Fair Oaks, 31 May, 1863, for which he was brevetted brigadier- general, U. S. army, and made major-general of volunteers. From 1868 till 1865 he was president of the board for the examination of candidates for officers of colored troops, and on 13 March, 1865, was brevetted major-general in the regular army. In 1867 he again received the thanks of the Rhode Island legislature for his services in the rebellion, and especially for his bravery, skill, and energy at the battle of Fair Oaks. In 1862 the southern pa- pers published a letter from Gen. Casey to Sec. Stanton, said to have been found in the former's tent at Fair Oaks, and proposing a plan for the permanent military occupation of the south by an army of 160,000 men after the rebellion should be over. He was retired from active service on 8 July, 1868, and served on the retiring board. New York city, till 26 April, 1869. He published " Sys- tem of Infantry Tactics " (2 vols., New York, 1861) and " Infantry Tactics for Colored Troops " (1863). — His son, Silas, b. in Rhode Island, 11 Sept., 1841, was graduated at the U. S. naval academy, Annapolis, in 1860, became master in 1861, lieuten- ant in 1862, lieutenant-commander in 1866, and commander in 1874. He was attached to the steamer " Wissahickon " in 1861, and was in the first attack on Fort Sumter and various engage- ments with the batteries in Charleston harbor. He was equipment officer at the Washington navy- yard in 1882-'4, light-house inspector in 1885, and in 1886 commanded the receiving-ship " Dale."


CASGRAIN, Abbe Henry Raymond, Canadian author, b. at Riviere Ouelle, Quebec, 16 Dec, 1831. He pursued a course of classical studies at Ste. Anne's college, and studied medicine for a short time, but finally took a course in theology in the seminary of Quebec, and was ordained a priest on 5 Oct., 1856. He was successively professor at Ste. Anne's college until 1859, vicar of Beaufort, and afterward at Quebec cathedral from 1860 till 1873. He visited Europe in 1858, 1867, and 1873, in quest of historical material. In 1874, in consequence of a serious affection of the eyes, he was compelled to retire from active ministerial work. His "Legends Canadien" (Quebec, 1861) was favor- ably received, and followed by "L'histoire de la Marie de I'incarnation " (1864), which was translated into German by the Abbe Geiger, of Munich (Ratisbon, 1873). The most important of his other writings are " Histoire d'Hotel Dieu de Quebec " and " Ma paroisse Canadienne au xviieme siecle." A complete edition of his works was published in Montreal in 1886.


CASILEAR, John W., painter, b. in New York, 25 June, 1811 ; d. in Saratoga, N. Y., 17 Aug., 1893. He began the study of engraving under Maverick, after whose death he became a bank-note engraver. He interested himself in oil-painting, and visited Europe in 1840. and again in 1857, for study. In 1835 he was elected an associate of the National academy, and in 1851 a full academician. His studio was in New York. His principal works are " Swiss Lake " (1868) ; " Genesee Meadows " (1871) ; "September Afternoon" (1874); "Trout Brook" (1875) ; " Autumn " (1876) : " Scene in New Hamp- shire" (1877); " View on Chemung River " (1878); "View of the Rocky Mountains" (1881); "Scene on Long Island " (1883) ; " Early Autumn " (1884) ; "Genesee Valley" (1885); and "Early Summer, Long Island Sound" (1886).


CASS, George N., artist. He studied with Innes, and has painted landscapes in oil- and water-colors, exhibiting at the Boston art club and elsewhere. Among his works, which are spe- cially popular in New England, are " Evening on the Kennebec River" and "View in Medway, Mass." (1878). — His wife is also an artist, and has painted fruit, flowers, and still-life, in oil.


CASS, Lewis, statesman, b. in Exeter, N. H., 9 Oct., 1782 ; d. in Detroit, Mich., 17 June, 1866. He was the eldest son of Jonathan Cass, who at the age of nineteen entered the Continental army, and served throughout the revolution, attaining the rank of captain. After the conclusion of peace he received a commis- sion in the army as major, and was assigned to duty under Gen. Wayne in the territory northwest of the Ohio, his family remaining at Exe- ter. During this time Lewis was at- tending the acad- emy in his native town. In 1799 the family re- moved toWilming- ton, Del., where Maj. Cass was tem- porarily stationed, and where Lewis

became a school-teacher. The next year the family migrated westward, travelling partly on foot and partly by boat, ,and reaching Marietta, the pioneer town of southern Ohio, in October. Maj. Cass settled upon a tract of land, granted him by the government for his military services, on Muskingum river, near Zanesville, while Lewis remained at Marietta to study law in the office of Gov. Meigs. In 1803 he was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Zanesville. His abilities as a jurist and pleader were speedily manifest, and soon secured him a lucrative business and a wide reputation in the thinly settled district north of the Ohio. Becoming well established in his profession, in 1806 he married Elizabeth Spencer, of Virginia, and shortly afterward entered upon his public career as a member of the Ohio legislature. Being placed on the committee instituted to inquire into the supposed treasonable movements of Aaron Burr, he framed the law that enabled the authorities to arrest the men and boats provided for the expedition down the river. He also drew up the official communication to the president embodying the views of the Ohio legislature on the subject. The marked ability of this document attracted Mr. Jefferson's attention, and in 1807 Mr. Cass was appointed marshal of the state, a place which he filled until 1818. At the beginning of the second war with England he joined the forces at Dayton imder Gen. Hull, and was made colonel of the 3d Ohio volunteers. He commanded the advanced guard when the army crossed from Detroit into Canada, drew up the proclamation addressed by the general to the inhabitants, and commanded the detachment that drove in the British outposts at the bridge of Aux Canards. Shortly after this Col. Cass was included in the capitulation known as Hull's surrender, and. being paroled, hastened to Washington, full of indignation against