FREDERICKSBURG 210 TREE COMPANIES mont railroads; 61 miles N. of Richmond. It is situated in a valley surrounded by hig-h hills. Here are a public library, a military school, an orphan asylum, waterworks, electric lights, a National bank, and several daily and weekly news- papers. It has tanneries, iron works, cigars, ice, and shoe factories, woolen, silk, and flour mills, etc. It was the scene of several battles during the Civil War. Pop. (1910) 5,874; (1920) 5,882. FREDERICKSBURG, BATTLE OF. On Dec. 13, 1862, General Burnside crossed the Rappahannock river at Fredericksburg, and attacked the Con- federates, who, under General Lee, occu- pied a strong position on the heights. The Union forces were estimated at 100,- 000 men and the Confederate at 80,000. The battle, after raging with desperate violence through the day, terminated in the defeat of General Burnside. Little fighting took place Dec. 14 and 15, and on Dec. 16 the Union forces recrossed the river with opposition. The Union loss was 1,138 killed, 9,105 wounded, and 2,078 missing; while the Confederate loss amounted to 595 killed, 4,061 wounded, and 653 missing. FREDERIKSBERG, a city of Den- mark, a western suburban municipality near Copenhagen, the Danish capital. It is laid out with handsome residences and public parks. One of its prominent features is the Royal Military Academy, in the Frederiksberg Palace, an ancient building of historical interest. Here, also, is located the Royal Porcelain Works, in which the king himself is financially in- terested. Pop. about 97,000. FREDONIA, a village of New York, In Chautauqua co. It is on the Dun- kirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad. The town is the center of an important fruit-growing region and has canning establishments and patent medi- cine factories. It is in the famous grape belt district of New York. The village is the seat of a State normal school and has a public library. Pop. (1910) 5,285; (1920) 6,051. FREE CHURCH, a name often given by English Noncomformists to the Chris- tian denominations in England free from state patronage and control. In ecclesi- ologi'^ and English Church history, an as- sociation which has for one object to abolish in the Church of England pew rents as well as pews, maintaining the equal right of all parishioners to the free use of seats in churches. The society was founded in 1866. This association at times aids various churches with pecuniary grants, but only if they are "free." FREE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, an evangelical Protestant denomination founded on the basis of recognizing only two orders — the first being presbyters, and the second deacons. "Nevertheless, the first order is divided into two distinct offices, viz., bishops and presbyters. This Church maintains the ecclesiastical parity of presbyters, whether episcopally or otherwise ordained." The governing body is the Convocation, consisting of all the clergy and laity in the several churches. The impulse which gave the Church birth was communicated by the Tractarian movement of 1832, a reaction against which created a few "free churches" in the W. of England; the Shore controversy (1843-1849) and the Gorham case (1849-1850) promoted its development. It was enrolled in chancery by a deed poll in 1863. A primus was consecrated in 1876 by a bishop of the Reformed Church in America. The bishops are in the Canterbury line of Episcopal succession. FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, the name assumed by the large number of ministers and their adherents who left the Scottish Establishment at the "Dis- ruption" of May 18, 1843. They had se- ceded in vindication of what they called the "Headship of Christ," i. e., to gain liberty to obey what they deemed the will of their Divine Lord in all Church arrangements. When the disruption took place, the financial difficulties which the secessionists had to face were very for- midable. Wherever the Free Church had adherents, which was in nearly every parish, fresh places of worship had to be provided for the ministers whose sti- pends were gone. All the Scottish estab- lished missionaries to the Jews or the Gentiles, having joined the seceding party, had to be provided for. _ Theo- logical colleges had also to be built, day schools and manses provided in connec- tion with the several churches. One part of the financial arrangements which has attracted most notice, was the sustenta- tion fund. FREE COMPANIES, bands of dis- charged soldiers, who ravaged France after the conclusion of the peace of Bretigny, May 8, 1360. Bertrand du Guesclin, born in Britain in 1314, put himself at their head, and led them against Peter the Cruel, King of Castile, whom he dethroned in 1365, placing Henry, Count of Trastamara, on the throne. Edward the Black Prince re- called the free companies, defeated Henry at Najara, April 3, 1367, and re- stored Peter the Cruel, who was, how- ever, defeated March 14, 1369, an.d killed by Henry of Trastamara, March 23.
