Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/740

706 ernor of New York, a member of the peace con- vention in Washington in February, 1861. He was a man of great intelligence, of quick wit, of warm heart, of popular manners, of imposing ap- pearance, and of impressive speech, singularly happy in temperament, and making everybody happV around him. Webster and Clay, Preston and Crittenden, Edward Everett and Abbott Law- rence, and many others of all sections and parties were on terms of intimacy with him. He married in 1817 Cornelia Rutson Van Rensselaer, of Utica, N. Y., who died in 1823, leaving two children, one of whom became the wife of the late John Eliot Thayer, of Boston, and is now Mrs. Robert C. Winthrop. The other was Gideon Granger, a graduate of Yale in 1843, educated to the law, who died at Canandaigua five days after his father, 3 Sept., 1868. — Aiiios" Phelps, cousin of Francis, politician, b. in Suffield, Conn., 3 June, 1789; d. in Syracuse. N. Y., 20 Aug., 1866, settled in Man- lius, Onondaga co., N. Y., in 1811, and engaged in mercantile business. He raised and command- ed a company of militia that served at Sackett's Harbor in the war of 1812-'15. He removed to Syracuse in 1820, and acquired a fortune through real-estate investments. He was chairman of the Whig delegation from New York in the National convention of 1852 that nominated Winfield Scott for the presidency. In the Auburn convention of 1853 he wrote and offered the resolutions which, it is claimed, originated the Republican party. He was elected to congress in 1854 and in 1856.

GRANGER, Gordon, soldier, b. in New York in 1821 ; d. in Santa Fe, New Mexico, 10 Jan., 1876. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1845, and took part in the principal battles of the Mexican war, being brevetted 1st lieutenant and captain for bravery at Contreras and Churubusco and at Chapultepec. When the civil war began he served on the staff of Gen. McClellan in Ohio, then in Missouri, being en- gaged at Dug Spring, and brevetted major for gallant services at Wilson's Creek, and on 2 Sept., 1861, became colonel of the 2d Michigan cavalry. On 26 March, 1862, he was made a brigadier-general, and commanded the cavalry in the operations that led to the fall of Corinth. He became a major-general of volunteers on 17 Sept., 1862, and was placed in command of the Army of Kentucky. He conducted operations in Tennessee in the spring of 1863, repelled Forrest's raid in June, and took part in Rosecrans's Tennessee cam- paign. He distinguished himself in the battle of Chickamauga, was soon afterward assigned to the command of the 4th army corps, and took a prominent part in the operations around Chatta- nooga and in the battle of Missionary Ridge. He commanded a division at Fort Gaines, Ala., in August, 1864, and was in command of the 13th army corps in the capture of Fort Morgan, and throughout the operations that resulted in the fall of Mobile in the sprmg of 1865. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel and colonel, U. S. army, for services at Chickamauga and Chattanoo- ga, brigadier-general for gallantry in the capture of Mobile, and major-general for the capture of Forts Gaines and Morgan. He was mustered out of the volunteer service on 15 Jan., 1866, was pro- moted colonel on 28 July, 1866, and at the time of his death commanded the district of New Mexico.

GRANGER, Robert Seaman, soldier, b. in Zanesville, Oliio, 24 May, 1816; d. in Washington, D. C, 25 April, 1894. His mother was a sister of Attorney-General Henry Stanbery. He was gradu- ated at the U. S. military academy in 1838, became a 1st lieutenant of infantry in 1839, served in the Florida war, and was assistant instructor of tactics at West Point in 1843-4. He served in the war with Mexico, receiving promotion as captain on 8 Sept., 1847, and afterward on the Texas frontier. On 27 April, 1861, he was captured with Maj. Sibley's command on the coast of Texas, and put on parole not to serve in the field till August, 1862, when he was exchanged. He was made a major on 9 Sept., 1861, organized a brigade at Mansfield, Ohio, was commandant at Louisville, Ky., and on 1 Sept., 1862, was commissioned brigadier-general of Ken- tucky volunteers, and commanded the Kentucky state troops, being engaged at Shepherdsville, in the skirmish at Lebanon Junction, and in the action at Lawrenceburg, for which he was brevetted colo- nel, U. S. army. He received his commission as brigadier-general of U. S. volunteers on 20 Oct., 1862, and commanded a division, and during 1868 the districts of Nashville and middle Tennessee consecutively. In the first part of 1864 he super- intended the defences and organized the depot at Nashville. He was then assigned to the com- mand of the district of northern Alabama, and was engaged in the capture of Gen. Roddy's camp, in the expulsion of Gen. Wheeler from middle Tennessee, and in the defence against Gen. For- rest's I'aid. In October, 1864, he defended Decatur against Gen. Hood's army, made a sortie on the Confederate siege-works, and received the brevet of brigadier-general for these services. He com- manded in northern Alabama in 1865 during the occupation. He was brevetted major-general, U. S. army, for services during the rebellion, was pro- moted lieutenant-colonel on 12 June, 1865, colonel on 16 Aug., 1871, and was placed on the retired list on 1 Jan., 1873.

GRANJA, Juan de la (gran'-ha), Spanish journalist, b. in Balmaseda, Spain, about 1785 ; d. in Mexico, 6 March, 1853. He was in business in Madrid from 1800-'14, when, in consequence of the political disturbances in Spain, he resolved to settle in Mexico. After travelling widely in that country and the United States, he engaged in mercantile business in Mexico in 1820-'6, but in the latter year fixed his residence in New York, where he established the "Noticioso de Ambos Mundos," probably the first Spanish newspaper published in this country. He called the attention of the Mexican government to the proposed annexation of Texas, and in acknowledgment of his services was appointed, in May, 1838, vice-consul of Mexico in New York. When in 1842 the truth of his assertions of an intended annexation of Texas became apparent, the Mexican government declared him a Mexican citizen, and promoted him to consul-general in New York. In 1846 he resolved to share the fate of his adopted country, and sailed for Mexico, where he was elected member of congress for the state of Vera Cruz, and took an active part in the discussion of the treaty of peace with the United States in 1848, being one of the few deputies who voted in the negative. Afterward, Granja devoted himself to his long-cherished idea of establishing telegraphic communication in the republic. To obtain the means for his preliminary studies, he embarked first in a mining enterprise in San Luis Potosi, and afterward established a bookstore in the city of Mexico. After many failures he formed a company, and on 5 Nov., 1851, the first telegraphic line in Mexico, from the capital to Nopalucan, a distance of forty-five leagues, was opened. The line was now rapidly extended; but Granja had overtaxed his strength, and the unusual labor soon caused his death.