Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/200

174 b. in Beaufort, S. C, 10 Aug., 1801; d. in Columbia, S. C., 25 Nov., 1882. After graduation at Harvard in 1821, he studied law, and practised in his native state. He was a representative in congress from 1829 till 1833. In 1835 he was elected president of the South Carolina college. He resigned, on account of his health, in 1841. He declined reelection, but was appointed U. S. senator in place of F. H. Elmore, deceased, and in this capacity he served in 1850-'51. In December, 1860, after the passage of the ordinance of secession by South Carolina, he was appointed one of the commissioners to go to Washington to treat with the national government for U. S. property within the state. He was a delegate to the convention of the seceding states at Montgomery, Ala., and his was the casting vote that made Jefferson Davis president of the southern confederacy. He was also a member of the confederate senate.

BARR, Amelia Edith, author, b. in Ulverstone, Lancashire, England, 29 March, 1831. She was the daughter of the Rev. William Huddleston, and was educated in Glasgow high school. In 1850 she married Robert Barr, son of the Rev. John Barr, of the Scottish Free Kirk. She came to the United States in 1854, and, after a residence of several years in Austin, Texas, removed to Galveston, where in 1867 her husband and three sons died of yellow fever. She came to New York in 1869 with her three daughters, and, after teaching for two years, began to write for publication, producing chiefly sketches and miscellaneous articles for the magazines and newspapers. Her first book was "Romance and Reality" (New York, 1872) ; "Young People of Shakespeare's Time" (1882) ; "Cluny McPherson" and "Scottish Sketches" (1883); "The Hallam Succession" (1884); "The Lost Silver of Briffault" and "Jan Vedder's Wife" (1885); "A Daughter of Fife," "The Last of the McAllisters," and " A Bow of Orange Ribbon" (1886); and "Remember the Alamo" (1888).

BARRADAS, Isidro (bar-rah'-das), Spanish soldier. On 27 July, 1829, he landed on the coast of Tamaulipas with 3,500 men and invaded that section of Mexico by order of King Ferdinand VII., in revenge for the expulsion of Spaniards by Prest. Guerrero, Barradas took Tampico and other places, where he resisted the attacks of Mexican troops until 9 Sept., 1829, when, after defending themselves bravely for twelve hours against the Mexican army commanded by Generals Santa Anna and Teran, the Spaniards capitulated. Barradas departed for the United States and his soldiers were sent to Havana, This was the end of the Spanish invasion.

BARRAGAN, Miguel (bar-rah-gan'), tenth president of Mexico, b. in the state of San Luis Potosi in 1789; d. in Mexico, 1 March, 1835. He entered the army, and soon won several promotions. In 1821 he was under the command of Iturbide, but was opposed to his coronation. Being appointed commander of Vera Cruz in 1824, he held the Spaniards entirely isolated in the San Juan de Ulua castle until famine and epidemics forced them to surrender. Political troubles soon compelled Barragiin to leave the country; but afterward he was recalled by Santa Anna, and in the absence of this general he was intrusted with the presidency of the republic, which he filled with remarkable ability until his death.

BARRAS, Charles M., actor, b. in 1826; d. in Cos Cob, Conn., 31 March, 1873. He made a reputation by his various impersonations on the stage. His delineations of the character of the "Hypochondriac," an adaptation from Moliere, being especially noteworthy. He was the author of a well-known spectacular play called "The Black Crook," from which he derived a large income. His eccentric character and unconscious drollery made him extremely popular.

BARRAS, Louis, Count'de, French naval officer, b. in Aries, Provence, Prance; d. near Aries in 1789. He was lieutenant-general of marine at the time of his retirement from active service in 1783, a grade corresponding to that of admiral in modern navies. He was with Ternay in command of the French relief squadron in 1781. and with Count d'Estaing, who succeeded to the command after Ternay's death. De Barras was chosen to represent the navy at the conference between Washington and Rochambeau at Wethersfield, Conn., 23 May, 1781, but was prevented from attending by the appearance of the British squadron off Block island. He participated in the encounters and disasters that befell the two fleets during a terrible gale that followed. Later in the season he was left in command at Newport, and he sailed thence in September to effect a junction with De Grasse in the Chesapeake. The French fleet, thus strengthened, lay in the mouth of the Chesapeake during the siege of Yorktown by the allied forces of Washington and Rochambeau. But for its presence there the British fleet would, no doubt, have come to the rescue of Cornwallis, and the final surrender might have been indefinitely postponed. Count de Barras was afterward engaged in active operations in the West Indies, and especially distinguished himself in 1782 by capturing the island of Montserrat from the British.

BARRAZA, José Loreto (bar-rah'-thah), Mexican Jesuit, b. in Santiago Papasquiaro, Durango, 24 June, 1787; d. there early in October, 1843. He was a profound scholar and a brilliant orator, and obtained a professorship of theology and the rectorship of the seminary of Durango. He was also a senator in the general congress from 1824 till 1826, and a representative of his state from 1836 till 1842. Barraza's very great influence among the clergy, and also among the leading men of every political party, enabled him to render many important services to his country.

BARRÉ, Antoine Joseph Le Fevre de la (del-la-bar), naval officer, b. in Picardy about 1625; d. in Paris, 4 May, 1688. His American career began with his appointment as governor of Guiana in 1663. In 1664 he retook Cayenne, the capital, from the Dutch, and in 1667 he defeated the English in the Antilles and compelled them to raise the blockade of St. Christopher. In 1682 he was appointed governor of Canada, succeeding Frontenac, and led a military expedition up the Ottawa river to intimidate and compel the tribes to trade with Montreal rather than with New York. He was forced to sue for peace. For this failure he was recalled to France. He published "Description de la France equinoxiale, ci-devant appelée la Guiane et, par les Espagnols, El Dorado" (Paris, 1666); "Journal d'un voyage à Cayenne." which was printed at the end of "Relation de ce que c'est passé dans les iles et la terre ferme de l'Amérique pendant la dernière guerre avec l'Angleterre en 1666-'67", (Paris. 1671).

BARRÉ, Isaac, soldier, b. in Dublin, Ireland, in 1726; d. in London, 20 July, 1802. He was graduated at Trinity college, Dublin, in 1745, and joined the army as an ensign the following year. His American experience began with the expedition against Louisburg in 1755, and he attracted the attention of Gen. Wolfe, who promoted him major of brigade in 1758 and adjutant-general of the army in 1759. He was at Wolfe's side when