Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/153

Rh vessel bound for Portsmouth, N. H., where he died and was buried a few days after his arrival. &mdash; Sir William Howe, soldier, only son of the preceding, b. in New York about 1781; d. in June, 1815, in consequence of wounds received at the battle of Waterloo. He was educated in England, and early entered the British army. He served with great distinction under Wellington in Spain, and was several times honorably mentioned in his despatches. At the close of the war he was made a Knight of the Bath. When Napoleon landed from Elba, Wellington, in forming his staff, insisted on having De Lancey appointed as his quartermaster-general. The officer really entitled to the promotion was Sir William's brother-in-law, Sir Hudson Lowe; but, as Wellington had conceived a dislike for him, he refused to accept that officer in that capacity. The military authorities, however, insisted on his appointment, and it was only when Wellington made the promotion of De Lancey a sine qua non of his acceptance of the supreme command that the former yielded. Six weeks before the battle of Waterloo, Sir William married the daughter of Sir James Hall, of Dunglass, the Scotch scientist. His bride accompanied him on the continent. On the second day of the battle Sir William was knocked from his horse by a spent cannon-ball, and it was at first supposed that he had been instantly killed. Thirty-six hours afterward he was discovered still alive and in his senses, but incapable of motion, although without any visible wound. Notwithstanding the skill of the surgeons, and the tender care of his wife, he succumbed to his injuries nine days after the battle. &mdash; Oliver, Jr., soldier, brother of the preceding, b. in New York city in 1752; d. in Edinburgh, Scotland, 3 Sept., 1822. He was educated in England, and entered the 14th dragoons, as cornet, in 1766. In May, 1773, he was appointed captain in the 17th light dragoons, in which he remained for forty-nine years, rising through every grade, and succeeding the first Duke of Newcastle as its colonel, 20 May, 1795. In 1774 he was sent to America with despatches for the commander-in-chief, and orders to provide accommodation and remount horses for the regiment. Having discharged his commissions, he joined his comrades on their arrival at Boston, 24 May, 1775, and in the following month witnessed the engagement on Bunker Hill. On the landing of Howe at Gravesend bay in August, Capt. De Lancey, with a detachment of the 17th, captured an American patrol, and seized the pass through the Long Island hills, which enabled the British general to turn the American left and win the battle of Long Island. On the evening of the 28th of the same month Sir William Erskine, with the 17th light dragoons and the 71st foot, about 700 men in all, surprised and seized at Carpenter's house, Jamaica, L. I., Gen. Woodhull and many of his men. The general, who tried to escape under cover of the night, being discovered by the sentries getting over a board fence, was cut down, severely wounded in the head and arm, and only saved from instant death by the interference of Capt. De Lancey. He, however, died of the injuries then received, in spite of careful nursing, on the 20th of the following month. In an affidavit made by Lieut. Robert Troup, 17 Jan., 1776, before the committee of the New York convention, it is declared that Woodhull said he surrendered to Oliver De Lancey, and that after the delivery of his sword the latter struck him; and that others of the party, following his example, cut and hacked him &ldquo;in the manner he then was.&rdquo; On this sole authority rests

the charge against De Lancey, first made public in 1846. On the other hand, William Warne swore before the New York committee of safety, fourteen days after the occurrence, that &ldquo;one of the light-horsemen told him that he had taken Gen. Woodhull in the dark in a barn, and that before he would answer, when he spoke to the general, he had cut him on the head and both arms.&rdquo; These are the only statements made under oath that refer to the matter, while the weight of all the other testimony is to the effect that De Lancey, by his interference, saved Woodhull's life. The two families were related, and one of the great-great-grandsons of the American general to-day bears the Christian name of De Lancey. In 1777-'8 De Lancey served with his regiment in Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, being promoted major, 3 June, 1778, and deputy quartermaster-general in the South Carolina expedition. He was present at the siege of Charleston. In 1781 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, and appointed adjutant-general in America, in 1780, to succeed Maj. André. After the conclusion of hostilities he was made the head of a commission to settle the accounts of the war. In 1794 he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, and subsequently colonel. After serving as deputy-adjutant-general, he was appointed barrack-master-general, an office which he held for ten years. On 3 Oct., 1794, he was named major-general, in 1801 lieutenant-general, and in 1812 general. He sat for many years in parliament as a representative of Maidstone. Gen. De Lancey never married. He died while on a visit to his sister, Lady Dundas.

DELANO, Amasa, traveller, b. in Duxburv, Mass., 21 Feb., 1763; d. in 1817. His father, Samuel, was a soldier in the old French war, and an earnest patriot in 1776. Amasa enlisted in the army in 1777, but was compelled by his father to leave on account* of his youth. He afterward served in the militia, and in 1779 sailed one cruise in the privateer "Mars." He became a sailor on a merchantman in 1781, and in 1783-6 assisted his father in his trade of ship-building. His first voyage as commander was in 1786 in a vessel belonging to his uncle. He afterward made many voy- ages to all parts of the world. In 1810 the authorities of St. Bartholomew, West Indies, tried to sieze his ship, the "Perseverance," for an alleged violation of the revenue laws, but he put to sea under fire of their batteries and escaped. He published a work entitled " Narrative of Voyages and Travels " (Boston, 1817).

DELANO, Columbus, congressman, b. in Shoreham, Vt., 5 June, 1809; d. in Mount Vernon, Ohio, 23 Oct., 1896. He was educated at the common schools, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1831. He practised at Mount Vernon, and became eminent as an advocate and criminal lawyer. He was a delegate in 1860 to the National republican convention at Chicago which nominated Lincoln and Hamlin. He served as state commissary-general of Ohio in 1861, and was a member of the Ohio house of representatives in 1863, and was elected a member of congress from that state in 1844, 1864, and 1866. He was a delegate in 1864 to the National republican convention at Baltimore which nominated Lincoln and Johnson. On 5 March, 1869, he was appointed by President Grant commissioner of internal revenue, and while he held office reorganized the bureau, thereby increasing the receipts over 100 per cent in eight months. He succeeded Jacob D. Cox as secretary of the interior in October, 1870, a portfolio that he retained till 1875. Mr. Delano was for many years