Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/280

252 force numbered 6,000 men. The immediate command of the attacking party was assigned to Lieut.-Col. Solomon Van Rensselaer, who, on the morning of 13 Oct., with 300 militia and 300 regulars, under Lieut-Col. John Chrystie, crossed the river. After a brilliant attack by Van Rensselaer, who received wounds that compelled him to withdraw, Capt. John E. Wool assumed command and stormed and captured the heights. The next day British re-enforcements, numbering 1,300 soldiers and 500 Indians, arrived under command of Gen. Roger H. Sheaffe. The militia on the American shore could overlook the battle-field and see the approach of Sheaffe; but when Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer attempted to move them across the river to the support of the American force, they refused to stir. The law provides that militia shall not be compelled to serve beyond the bounds of their state against their will. They fell back on this privilege, and Van Rensselaer was powerless to induce them to fight. The Americans on the heights were unable to hold their position, and on the afternoon of 14 Oct. surrendered in a body. In his official despatches Gen. Van Rensselaer ascribes the disaster to the refusal of the militia to go to the aid of the captors of the heights. He was severely censured for his tardiness in making the attack, and the fact that he was a leader of the Federalist party, and opposed to the war, increased public dissatisfaction. On 24 Oct. he resigned his command and left the service. At the close of the war he again became canal commissioner, and chairman of the commission. When the Erie and Champlain canals were completed in 1825 he had been president of their boards for fourteen years. He was chosen to the assembly in 1818, served in the State constitutional convention in 1821 and in congress in 1823-'9, having been elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Solomon Van Rensselaer. In that body he earnestly supported John Quincy Adams for the presidency. He became a regent of the University of New York in 1819, and was subsequently its chancellor until his death. He promoted the interests of the State agricultural society, and was its president in 1820. Under his direction and at his expense Prof. Amos Eaton made a geological survey along the line of the canal from Albany to Buffalo, N. Y., in 1821-'3, and of another line that began in Massachusetts. From the data collected in these surveys he became convinced of the need for further technical education; to supply which he founded Rensselaer polytechnic institute at Troy, defraying for a long time half of its expenses. Yale gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1825. Gen. Van Rensselaer was tall, of commanding presence, and had dark, expressive eyes. He was the patron of benevolent objects. His second wife, whom he married in 1802, was Cornelia, daughter of Chief-Justice William Paterson, of New Jersey. He published &ldquo;An Agricultural and Geological Survey of the District adjoining the Erie Canal&rdquo; (Albany, 1824). &mdash; His eldest son, Stephen, the last patroon, b. in Albany, N. Y., 29 March, 1789; d. there, 25 May, 1868, was graduated at Princeton in 1808, and inheriting the manor by his father's will, at his death became the last patroon. During the anti-rent troubles in 1839 he sold his townships, and at his death the manor passed out of the hands of his descendants. He was an accomplished gentleman of the old school, and served as major-general of militia. He married Harriet Elizabeth, daughter of William Bayard, of New York. &mdash; Another son of Gen. Stephen, Cortlandt, clergyman, b. in Albany, N. Y., 26 May, 1808; d. in

Burlington, N. J., 25 July, 1860, was graduated at Yale in 1827, studied at Union theological seminary, Prince Edward county, Va., and at Princeton theological seminary. He was a missionary to the slaves in Virginia in 1833-'5, was ordained the latter year, became pastor of the Presbyterian church in Burlington, N. J., in 1837, of the 2d Presbyterian church, Washington, D.C., in 1841, and agent of Princeton theological seminary in 1844, raising $100,000 for its endowment. He was secretary of the Presbyterian board of education in 1846-'60, and founded and edited the &ldquo;Presbyterian Magazine&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Home, the School, and the Church.&rdquo; The University of New York gave him the degree of D. D. in 1845. Much of his large fortune was devoted to benevolent objects and to the religious enterprises of the Presbyterian church. After his death, selections from his published writings appeared under the title of &ldquo;Miscellaneous Sermons, Essays, and Addresses,&rdquo; edited by his son, Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (Philadelphia, 1861). &mdash; Another son of Stephen, Henry, soldier, b. in Albany, N. Y., in 1810; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 23 March, 1864, was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1831, but resigned from the army the next year and engaged in farming near Ogdensburg, N. Y. He was a member of congress in 1841-'3, having been chosen as a Whig, and in 1855-'60 was president of mining companies. At the beginning of the civil war he was appointed chief-of-staff to Gen. Winfield Scott, with the rank of brigadier-general, and he became inspector-general with the rank of colonel on the retirement of Gen. Scott, served in the Department of the Rappahannock in April and August, 1862, subsequently in the 3d army corps, and in the Department of the Ohio from 17 Sept. until his death. &mdash; The elder Stephen's brother, Philip S, mayor of Albany, b. in Albany, 15 April, 1767; d. there, 25 Sept., 1824, became mayor of Albany in 1799, and held office for nineteen years, the longest service of any mayor of that city. He was a public-spirited, energetic officer, and active in promoting educational, moral, and religious interests. He married Ann Van Cortlandt. He was president of the Albany Bible society for many years, a trustee of. Union, and a founder of Albany academy. &mdash; Gen. Stephen's kinsman, Jeremiah, congressman, b. in New York in 1741; d. in Albany, N. Y., 22 Feb., 1810, was graduated at Princeton, in 1758, actively supported the Revolution, and was a member of the 1st congress, serving in 1789-'91. He was a presidential elector in 1800, and lieutenant-governor of New York in 1800-'4. He was active in the promotion of schemes for internal improvement, and a member of the Inland navigation company, of which Philip Schuyler was the first president. &mdash; The second son of the first Jeremias, Hendrick, landowner, b. near Albany, N. Y., about 1667; d. there in July, 1740, was the founder of the Claverack branch of the Van Rensselaer family. He received as his