32
\IR(iI.\IA BIOGRAPHY
Jlamptou Roads. On his return to Rich-
mond he presided over the war meeting that
resolved, without opposition, to carry on the
war till the south had achieved its independ-
ence. He opposed the bill allowing freedom
to such slaves as should serve in the Con-
federate army, and when the question came
to a vote, he acted under instructions from
his constituents and voted for the measure
under an emphatic protest. He was arrested
at the close of the war, and after imprison-
ment is Fort Pulaski for several months,
was released on parole, and in 1867 was
pardoned by President Johnson. He was an
unsuccessful candidate for United States
senator from Virginia in 1874, was elected
treasurer of the state in 1877, and at the
close of his term, in 1880, retired to his farm
in Essex county, \"irginia. He was ap-
pointed by President Cleveland United
States collector of customs at the port of
Rappahannock, Virginia, in June, 1886. He
died in Essex county, Virginia, July 18, 1887.
Seddon, James Alexander, secretary of war (q. v., p. 44).
Randolph, George Wythe, second secre- tary of war (March 24, 1862-November 17, 1862), born at Monticello, Virginia, March 10, 1818, son of Gov. Thomas Mann and Martha (Jefferson) Randolph. He attended school at Cambridge, Massachusetts, while under the care of his brother-in-law, Joseph Coolidge, of Boston, and in 1831 was war- ranted midshipman in the United States nav3'. He was given leave of absence in 1837, to attend the University of Virginia, where he studied two years. In 1839 he resigned his commission in the navy, and after studying law. practiced in Richmond.
He was one of the commissioners sent by
the state of Virginia to confer with Abraham
Lincoln at his home in Springfield, with the
hope of maintaining peace. He raised a
company of artillery at the time of the John
Brown raid, and the organization then
known as the Virginia Howitzer Battalion,
Maj. George W. Randolph, was attached to
Magruder's force in the battle of Big Bethel,
Virginia, June 10, 1861. He was commis-
sioned brigadier-general, and commanded a
brigade in Magruder's army until March 17,
1862, when President Davis appointed him
secretary of war in his cabinet to succeed
Judah P. Benjamin, transferred to the state
department. The question of the use of
hidden shells as charged against the Con-
federate troops at the evacuation of York-
town, led to his decision that it was not
admissable in civilized warfare to take life
with no other object than the destruction of
life, but that planting shells was admissible
on the parapet of a fort to prevent its cap-
ture or on the trail of a retreating army to
save the army. He resigned his seat in the
cabinet of President Davis, November 17,
1862, and returned to the army, but was
forced to resign and seek relief from a pul-
monary complaint by running the blockade
and living in southern France. He returned
to Virginia several years after the close of
the war, and died at "Edge Hill," Virginia,
i\pril ID. 1878.
Ould, Robert, assistant secretary of war, and chief of bureau of exchange ; born at Georgetown. District of Columbia, January 31. 1820. After a course of study at Jeffer- son (Pennsylvania) College, he was gradu- ated from Columbia College, Washington. D. C, in 1837, and in law from William and
