Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/287

Rh Ireuee, b. in Paris, France, 24 June, 1771 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 31 Oct., 1834. His tastes turned early toward scientific pursuits, and his father's friend, Lavoisier, the eminent chemist, whom Tur- got had made superintendent of the government powder-mills, offered to take him in charge and se- cure his reversion to that important post. This led to his going to the royal mills at Essonne to acquire a practi(!al knowledge of the manufacture of gunpowder, where he remained until the French Revolution seemingly changed his whole career. He was summoned to Paris, 8 June, 1791, to take charge of the printing and publishing house that his father had established, and found Iiimself con- ducting a great business almost alone. He was three times imprisoned, and was in the utmost peril after 10 Aug., 1792, when he and his father were at the Tuileries among the armed supporters of Louis XVL When the Jacobins, beaten at the polls, called in Augereau's soldiers to overthrow the government, 5 Sept.. 1797, his father was im- prisoned, and the pi-inting-house was sacked and destroyed. The family sailed for the United States in 1799. Some months after his arrival an acci- dental circumstance called Irenee du Pout's atten- tion to the bad quality of the gunpowder made in this country, and gave him the first idea of erect- ing works for its manufacture. He went back to France in January, 1801. and revisited Essonne to procure plans and models, returning to the United States in August with some of the machinery. Thomas Jefferson was very anxious that the works should be built in Virginia ; but there, as in Mary- land, Irenee Du Pont was deterred by the institu- tion of slavery and its effects upon the white race. In June, 1802, he bought a tract of land, with water-power, on the Brandywine river, near Wil- mington, Bel., arrived there with his family on 19 July, and set to work at once. After many disappointments and losses, his energy and cour- age surmounted every obstacle. His works, the largest of their kind in the country at the time of his sudden death from cholera, have been greatly increased under the management of his sons, Al- fred Victor (1798-185G), Henry, and Alexis Ire- nee (1814-1857), and of his grandsons, Eleuthere Irenee (1829-1877), Lammot (1831-1884), Eugene, Francis Gurney, Henry Algernon, and William. Since 1850 the business has been under the direction of Henry Du Pont, second son of its founder, b. near Wilmington, Del., 8 Aug., 1812, a graduate of the U. S. military academy. — Samuel Francis, naval officer, son of Victor Marie Du Pont de Ne raours, b. at Bergen Point, N. J., 27 Sept., 1803 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 23 June, 18(35. He was appoint- ed a midshipman in the navy from the state of Dela- ware in December, 1815, his first sea service being on the " Franklin," in the European squadron. In 1821 he served for a year on the "Constitution," after which he was attached to the " Congress " in the West Indies and on the coast of Brazil. He was in the Mediterranean in 1824 on the " North Carolina," of which vessel he became sailing-mas- ter, four months of this cruise being spent on the " Porpoise," to which he was ordered soon after his promotion as lieutenant. 28 April. 1826. He was attached to the " Ontario " in 1829, made another three years' cruise in European waters, and from 1835 till 1838 was executive officer of the "Warren " and of the " Constellation," and commanded the " Grampus "' and the " Warren " in the Gulf of Mexico. In the latter year he joined the " Ohio," the flag-ship of Com. Hull, in the Mediterranean squadron, his cruise ending in 1841. He was promoted commander in 1842, and sailed for China on the " Perry," but a severe illness forced him to give up his command and return home. In 1845 he was ordered to the Pacific as commander of the " Congress," the flag-ship of Com. Stockton. When they reached California the Mexican war had begun, and Du Pont was at once assigned to the command of the " Cyane," 23 July, 1846. With this ves- sel he captured San Diego, took possession of La Paz, the capital of Lower Cali- fornia, spiked the guns of San Bias, and en- tered the har- bor of Guay- mas, burning two gun-boats and cutting out a Mexican brig under a heavy fire. These op- erations cleared the Gulf of California of hostile ships, thirty of which were taken or destroyed. He took part in the capture of Mazatlan under Com. Shubrick, 11 Nov., 1847, leading the line of boats that entered the main harbor. On 15 Feb., 1848, he landed at San Jose with a naval force, and engaged a large body of Mexicans, marching three miles inland and successfully relieving Lieut. Heywood's detach- ment, which was closely besieged in the Mission- house and about to surrender. Later he led, or sent out, various expeditions into the interior, which co-operated with Col. Burton and Lieut, (afterward General) Henry W. Halleck, who were moving southward, clearing the country of hostile troops and taking many prisoners. He was or- dered home in 1848, became captain in 1855, and two years later went on special service to China in command of the " Minnesota,'" witnessing while there the naval operations of the French and Eng- lish forces, notably their capture of the Chinese forts on the Peiho. After visiting Japan, India, and Arabia, he returned to Boston in May, 1859. Placed in command of the Philadelphia navy-yard, 31 Dec, 1860, he took the most prompt and ener- getic measures, on his own responsibility, when communications were cut off with Washington, sending a naval force to the Chesapeake to protect the landing of troops at Annapolis. In June, 1861, he was made president of a board convened at ■Washington to elaborate a general plan of naval operations against the insurgent states. He was appointed flag-officer in September, and led the expedition that sailed from Norfolk in the follow- ing month, no American officer having ever com- manded so large a fleet. On 7 Nov, he success- fully attacked the fortifications defending Port Royal harbor, which were ably planned and skil- fully executed. This engagement is justly regarded as one of the most brilliant achievements of naval tactics. His unarmored vessels, divided into main and fianking divisions, steamed into the harbor in two parallel columns. The flanking division, after engaging the smaller fort and driving back the enemy's ships, took position to enfilade the princi- pal work, before which the main column, led by the flag-ship '• Wabash," passed and repassed in an elliptic course, its tremendous fire inflicting heavy