Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/670

634 came major, 15 Feb., 1809, lieutenant-colonel of the 1st light dragoons, 7 June, 1813, and colonel, 1 Aug., 1813. From 21 May, 1821, until his death he held the post of military storekeeper.

LAVALETTE, Antoine de, clergyman, b. in France, 21 Oct., 1707. The place and date of his death are unknown. He became a member of the Society of Jesus in Toulouse, 10 Oct., 1725, was or- dained priest in 1740, and in 1741 sent as mission- ary to the island of Martinique. In 1754 he was named superior-general of all the Jesuit missions in the French possessions in Central and South America. He was accused about the same time of engaging in commerce, contrary to the canon law, and summoned to Paris for trial ; but his defence was undertaken by the authorities in Martinique, and the matter was allowed to drop for the time. His conduct afterward was one of the causes that led to the downfall of his order. His mission was heavily in debt, and to restore it to financial prosperity he made extensive purchases of land in Dominica, and engaged in various commercial ven- tures, borrowing large sums of money when these proved unsuccessful. When Ricci, the Jesuit gen- eral, was informed of this, in 1757, he sent three visitors to Maitinique, all of whom met with mis- haps that prevented them from arriving. At last, in the spring of 1702, the fourth visitor, Father de la Marche, reached the island, and organized a tribunal of the principal fathers of the mission, before whom Lavalette appeared. He was con- demned and suspended from all ecclesiastical functions until their report was laid before the general of the order in Rome. Lavalette signed a confession declaring that he alone was guilty, and after his confession he went to England, where he was notified of his expulsion from the society by the Jesuit general. Lavalette gave information to his superiors by which it appeared his debts amounted to 2,400,000 livres. The French Jesuits were making an effort to settle with the creditors when the case was brought before the courts, the whole society was held responsible for the debt, and a decree was issued for the seizure of all their property. This rendered the society in France bankrupt, and led to the royal edict of November, 1764, which abolished the order in that country.

LA VALETTE, Elie A. F., naval officer, b. in Virginia about 1790; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 18 Nov., 1862. He entered the navy as a sailing- master on 25 June, 1812, was commissioned as a lieutenant on 9 Dec, 1814, promoted commander on 3 March, 1831, and became a captain on 23 Feb., 1840. He was a favorite with Com. Isaac Hull, and accompanied that officer when he took command of the Mediterranean squadron in 1837. In accordance with the recommendation of the re- tiring-board he was made a rear-admiral on the retired list on 16 July, 1862.

LAVALLE, Juan (lah-val'-yeh), Argentine sol- dier, b. in Buenos Ayres, 16 Oct., 1797 ; d. in Jujuy, 9 Oct., 1841. He entered the army at the age of sixteen, fought in 1814 and 1815 against Jose Artigas, and in 1817— '18 in the battles of Chacabuco and Maipu. In 1820 he embarked for Peru with the forces that were sent by Buenos Ayres to aid the revolutionists. He was promoted major for gal- lantry in action, took command of his regiment at Moquegua, where its colonel was wounded, and effectively protected the retreat of the army. He returned to Buenos Ayres in 1823, and shared in the campaign against Brazil from 1825 up to the conclusion of peace in 1828. His conduct at the battle of Ituzaingo gained him the grade of coronel mayor. About this time he began to take part in politics, headed a revolt against Col. Dorrego, gov- ernor of Buenos Ayres and chief of the Federal- ists, and overturned his government, 1 Dec, 1828. The governor was again defeated at Navarro, and Lavalle, obtaining possession of his person by treachery, had him immediately shot. On 26 April, 1829, Lavalle was defeated by Estjinislo Lopez y Santa-Fe, and forced to withdraw i'rom Buenos Ayres. In 1838 a French expedition was sent out against the dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, and the city of Buenos Ayres was declared block- aded. Lavalle was chosen commander-in-chief of the forces of Uruguay, united to those of Corrien- tes, and marched on Buenos Ayres; but when within sight of the city he suddenly gave orders to re- treat to Sante-Fc Rosas, who had been much alarmed by the approach of the enemy, sent his lieutenant, Oribe, to attack that city, and mean- while Lavalle learned that a treaty of peace had been signed between the French and the governor of Buenos Ayres, 29 Oct., 1840. He rejected the offer of an asylum and a pension that was made him by the French representative, and determined to continue the war against Rosas unaided. But he was pursued by a superior force, defeated at Quebracho-Herrado on 28 Nov., and again on the plains of Famailla, 19 Sept., 1841. With great difficulty he reached the capital of the province of Jujuy, escorted by about 100 soldiers, when he met a party of the enemy and was killed in a house where he had taken refuge.

LAVALLEJA, Juan Antonio (lah-val-yay'- hah), Uruguayan soldier, b. in Montevideo, 18 July, 1795; d. there, 23 Oct., 1853. He served in the army of his country during the war for independ- ence ; but little is known of his career during those years. On 19 April, 1825, a company of pa- triots of Uruguay, under the command of Col. Lavalleja, landed in Boca de Gutierrez, Uruguay, with the intention of freeing their country from Brazilian control. Four days afterward they de- feated the Brazilian forces under Gen. Laguna in San Salvador. On 29 May of the same year with other forces he surprised Gen. Rivera, who with all his men joined the popular side. On 12 Oct. he gained the battle of Sarandi, and on 23 May, 1826, the congress of the provinces of Rio de la Plata rewarded him and his comrades with pensions for life. In the battle of Ituzaingo, 20 Feb., 1827, he commanded a brigade of cavalry under Gen. Alvear and routed the left wing of the Brazilian army. In 1832 Gen. Lavalleja headed a revolu- tion against the first government of Uruguav, but was defeated and obliged to take refuge in Brazil on 20 Sept. of that year. He continued his plot- ting, and on 19 March, 1834, landed in Punta Gorda, but was defeated and again obliged to take refuge in Brazil. He then retired from politics until the year 1853, when he was the chief member of the triumvirate that was appointed to govern the republic after the deposition of President Giro.

LAVAL-MONTMORENCY, Francis Xavier de, first Canadian R. C. bishop, b. in Laval, France, 30 April, 1623 ; d. in Quebec, 6 May, 1708. He studied in the College of La Fleche, and received the tonsure at the age of nine. The death of his eldest brother left him heir to the title and estates of his family, but he persevered in his intention of becoming a priest, resigned his rights in favor of a younger brother, and, after finishing his theological course in Paris, was ordained in 1646. He entered the Congregation of the Holy Virgin, and during a visit to Paris in the interests of this order he attracted the favorable notice of the queen mother. He was nominated by the king in 1657