Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/551

Rh x April till 9 June, 1863, had charge of the district of Indiana and Michigan during the draft riots, and then engaged in the operations in eastern Tennessee till March, 1864. He commanded a di- vision in the 9th corps of the Army of the Potomac in the Richmond campaign, and on 1 Aug., 1864, was brevetted major-general of volunteers "for distinguished and gallant servioes in the several actions since crossing the Rapidan." At Petersburg his division was the first to break through, and re- ceived the actual surrender of the city. From 26 April till 28 July, 1865, he had charge of the district of Washington, N. C, and from 7 Aug., of that year, till 15 Jan., 1866, he commanded that of Michigan. On the latter day he was mustered out, and returned to the practice of law at Detroit, where he was also made TJ. S. assessor of internal revenue ; but on 28 July, 1866, he was recommis- sioned in the regular army, as colonel of the 29th infantry, and on 2 March, 1867, he received the brevets of brigadier-general for Spottsylvania, and major-general for the capture of Petersburg. He was transferred to the 12th infantry on 15 March, 1869, was superintendent of the general recruit- ing service in New York city in 1873-'4, and com- manded various posts and departments till his promotion to brigadier-general, 13 Oct., 1886. While in command of the Department of Arizona, he received the thanks of the territorial legislature on 19 Feb., 1881, for "his constant and vigilant care, his untiring effort and military skill in pro- tecting the people and freeing the territory of Ari- zona from the cruel and brutal outrages of the hostile Indian tribes within the military depart- ment." On 16 April, 1887, he was placed on the retired list, at which time he was in command of the Department of the Missouri. Gen. Wilcox has published " Shoepack Recollections " (Boston, 1856), and "Faca, an Army Memoir, by Major March " (1857).

WILLEKENS, Jacobus, Dutch admiral, b. in Breda in 1571 ; d. in Ternate in 1633. He was in the employ of the East and West Indian company for years, and in 1620 presented to John Usseling, president of the board of directors, a memoir in which he advocated a combined attack on the Spanish possessions of the Atlantic and Pacific coast. Usseling commended the memoir to the directors, and in 1623 the expedition was decided upon. Willekens, being appointed commander-in- chief, directed the armament of two fleets. One, in command of Jacob L'Hermite-Clerk, sailed from Amsterdam, 29 April, 1623, to operate against Peru and Mexico, while the main fleet, under Wille- kens, was to attack Brazil, and sailed from Texel, 22 Dec, 1623. Early in June, 1624, he began oper- ations against San Salvador da Bahia, and after his vice-admiral. Piet Hein (q. v.), had crossed the bar on 10 June and captured the Portuguese fleet, the city surrendered at discretion on the following day. Bishop Texeira preached the war against the heretics among the Indians, and the Portu- guese, having rallied, besieged Willekens : but the latter repelled them, and led an expedition into the interior, on his return from which he was de- feated by the Indians. Surrendering the com- mand to Hein, he sailed, 24 Aug., 1624, for Am- sterdam to obtain re-enforcements. He returned in June, 1625, but found Bahia abandoned by Hein and in the possession of a Spanish-Portu- guese fleet, which he attacked. Being driven back, he sailed to the south, landing at intervals and destroying the Portuguese establishments. Chased by the Spanish fleet, he returned to Holland, where he learned of the new expedition that had been sent to Brazil under command of Hein in 1626 and sailed to his succor. He made a successful attack against Rio de Janeiro, which paid ransom, and joined Hein ; but the two admirals disagreeing as to the chief command, they separated and Wille- kens returned to Amsterdam. He afterward com- manded in the East Indies, dying at Ternate after a successful attack against Manila. Willekens's clerk wrote an account of the expedition to Brazil, and it was published in Dutch (Amsterdam, 1626), but is best known in the French version, entitled " Journal de l'expedition entreprise par ordre de nos seigneurs des Etats-Generaux, au Bresil, et du siege et de la capture de Bahia, sous les ordres de l'Amiral Jacob Willekens " (1629).

WILLET, Joseph Edgerton, educator, b. in Macon, Ga., 17 Nov., 1826. He was graduated at Mercer university in 1846 and elected in 1847 ad- junct professor of natural philosophy and chemis- try, but spent some time in the analytical labora- tory of Yale college before fully taking up the du- ties of his chair. Since 1849 he has been engaged in teaching natural science in Mercer university, having been made full professor in 1848. During the civil war he was employed by the Confederate government to superintend the laboratory at At- lanta, in which all kinds of ammunition were manufactured, and in recent years he has served on the U. S. commission to investigate the habits, nature, and ravages of the cotton caterpillar. Prof. Willet has delivered a course of lectures on " Sci- ence and Religion," besides lecturing before agri- cultural societies. He is the author of a prize-book, " The Wonders of Insect Life " (1869).

WILLETT, Thomas, merchant, b. in England in 1611 ; d. in Barrington, R, I., 4 Aug., 1674. He came with Isaac Allerton from Leyden in 1630, and became a trader and sea-captain of Plymouth colony, but lived much of the time in New Amsterdam, and in 1650 acted as a commissioner on behalf of the New Netherlands to settle boundary disputes with New England. In 1651 he became a magistrate of Plymouth colony. He was the first to inform Peter Stuyvesant of the coming of a hostile English fleet in 1664. After the surrender he accompanied the officers that went to take possession of Albany as a mediator with the Indians, and on 12 June, 1665, was appointed by Gov. Richard Nicolls the first mayor of New York. On 23 Aug. he was nominated one of the commissioners of admiralty. He was a councillor under Gov. Richard Lovelace. When the Dutch retook the colony in 1673, his property in New York was confiscated, and he retired to New England. — His son, Thomas, soldier, b. in Plymouth, Mass., 1 Oct., 1646, was major commanding the militia of Queens county, and summoned them to meet the French under the Marquis Denonville in 1687. He was a councillor under Sir Edmund Andros, and was continued in the office under Gov. Henry Sloughter. — The first Thomas's great-grandson, Marinus, soldier, b. in Jamaica, L. I., 31 July, 1740; d. in New York city, 22 Aug., 1830, served with distinction as a lieutenant in Gen. James Abercrombie's expedition against Fort Ticonderoga in 1758, and participated in the capture of Fort Frontenac. He was one of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty in New York city, and on 6 June, 1775, prevented the sending of arms from the arsenal to the British troops in Boston harbor. He joined Gen. Richard Montgomery's force, was commissioned as captain, took part in the expedition against Canada, and remained in command of the post at St. John's after its capture. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 3d New York regiment, and was en-