Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/248

222 professor of mathematics at the military academy I'll >m January till July. 18411. secretary of aboard ti> prepare a "system of instruction for heavy artil- lery" in 1849-'oO, assistant to the ordnance board at Washington arsenal. D. C., in 1851-'3, and on topographical duty in Minnesota in 1853-'4. He was chief of ordnance in the Utah expedition in 1857-'9, and in command of Mount Vernon arsenal, Ala., from 1859 until its seizure by the Confederates in January, 18(31. On 1 July, 1860, he was promot- ed captain for fourteen years' continuous service. From '2 Feb. till 6 Dec., 1861, he was in charge of the arsenal at Leavenworth, Kan. After being made brigadier-general of volunteer.-. 12 No., isi;i, he was in i-i.inmand of the 2d brigade during Gen. Ambrose K. Burnside's expedition into North Carolina, being engaged in the capture of Roanoke island, where he led an attack against Fort Bartow, and the bat- tles of New Berne and Camden. From April till August, 1862, he was in command of a division in the Department of North Carolina, and on 18 July he was commissioned major-general of volunteers. In the campaign in northern Virginia, in the fol- lowing month,"he was at the head of the 9th army corps, and took part under Gen. John Pope in the battles of Manassas and Chantilly. Still at tin- head of the 9th corps, Gen. Reno was in the ad- vance at the battle of South Mountain, where lie was conspicuous for his gallantry and activity during the entire day. Early in the evening he was killed while leading an assault.

RENO, Marcus Albert, soldier, b. in Illinois in 1835 ; d. in Washington, D. C., 29 March, 1889. He v.-is graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1857, and assigned to the dragoons. After serving on the frontier and being made lieutenant, he was commissioned captain. 12 Nov.. isiil. Sub- sequently he took part, among other engagements, in the battles of Williamsburg. (James's Mills, Malvern Hill, Antietam, and the action at Kelly's Ford, Va.. IT March, 1863, where he was wounded, and was I ire vetted major for gallant and meritorious conduct. lie was also present at Cold Harbor ami Trevillian Station, and at Cedar Creek on 19 Oct., 1804, when he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel. From January till July, 1805, as colonel of the 12th Pennsylvania cavalry, he was in command of a brigade and encountered Mosby's guerillas at Harmony. Va. On 13 March, 1865, he was bre- vetted colonel in the regular army and brigadier- general of volunteers for meritorious services during the civil war. After serving as assistant instructor of infantry tactics in the V. S. military academy, and in the Preedmen's bureau at New Orleans, he was assigned to duty in the west. On 2(1 I >ee.. isii.s, ]H. was promoted major of the 7th cavalry, and in lN?li he was engaged with Gen. George A. Custer (q. i:), in the expedition against the hostile Sioux Indians. His conduct in that campaign led to a court of inquiry, but he was held blamele-s. For other caiisc^ he was dismissed the service, 1 April, 1880.

RENSHAW, William Bainbridge, naval of- ficer, b. in Brooklyn. N. Y., 11 Oct., 1816; d. near Galveston, Tex., 1 Jan., 1863. He was appointed a midshipman on 22 Dec.. ls:;i. pa--eil I he exami- nation for advancement in 1837, and was promoted lieutenant on 8 Sept., 1841, and commander on 26 April, 1861. He was assigned the steamer " West- field," of Admiral David G. Farragut's squadron, and was by him placed in command of the gun- boats blockading Galveston, which place he cap- tured on 10 Oct., 1802. The city and island were held as a landing-place for future operations by lin- gua-boats alone, until in the latter part of December, 1862. a detachment of troops arrived. Be- fore others could follow, the Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder attacked and captured the town. As the action began, the " Westfield," in taking position, ran aground on a sand-bank. Af- ter the defeat, Commander Renshaw determined to transfer his crew to another of the gun-boats and blow up his own vessel, on which there was a large supply of powder. After his men had been placed in the boats, he remained behind to light the fuse, but a drunken man is supposed to have ignited the match prematurely, and in the explosion the com- mander was killed, together with the boat's crew that was waiting for him alongside.

RENWICK, James, physicist, b. in Liverpool, England. 30 May, 1790: d.' in New York city, 12 Jan., 1863. He was born during his parents' return from a visit to Scotland, where his mother, formerly a Miss Jeffrey, the daughter of a Scottish clergyman, had been a famous beauty. Bums celebrated her in three of his songs. James was graduated at Columbia in 1807, standing first in his class. and in 1813 became instructor in natural and experimental philosophy and chemistry in that college. In 1820 he was called to the chair of these sciences, which he then held until 1853, when he was made professor emeritus. He entered the U. S. service in 1814 as topographical engineer with the rank of major, and spent his summers in this work. In 1838 he was appointed by the U. S. government one of the commissioners for the exploration of the noil heast boundary-line between the United States and New Brunswick. From 1817 till 1820 he was a trusice of Columbia, and in 1829 he received the degree of LL. D. from that college. Prof. Renwick was a vigorous writer and a frequent contributor to the first "New York Review," and on the establishment of the ' Whig Review" he became one of its most valued writers, also contributing to the "American Quarterly Review." Ik-translated from the French Lallemand's "Treatise on Artillery" (2 vols.. New York, 1820). and edited, with notes, American editions of Parkes's " Rudiments of Chemistry " (1824); Lardner's " Popular Lectures on the Steam-Engine " (1828) : Daniell's "Chemical Philosophy " (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1832); and Moseley's "" Illustrations of Practical Mechanics " (New York, 1839). His own works include, besides official reports, lives of " David Rittenhouse" (1839); "Robert Fulton" (1845); and "Count Rumford" (1848), in Sparks's "Library of American Biography": also "Outlines of Natural Philosophy," the earliest extended treatise on this subject published in the United States (2 vols., New York, 1822-'3): "Treatise on the Steam-Engine " (1830), which was translated into several languages; " Elements of Mechanics" (Philadelphia, 1832) ; " Applications of the Science of Mechanics to Practical Purposes" (New York, 1840); "Life of De Witt Clinton, with Selections of his Letters " (1840); "Life of John Jay [with Henry B. Henwick] and Alexander Hamilton" (1841); " Fir-t Principles of Chemistry " (1841) ; anil "First Principles of Natural Philosophy" (1842). Prof. Renwick printed privately for the use nl' his classes "First Principles in chemistry" (is::s). and "Outlines of Geology" (1838), and a synopsis of his lectures on " Chemistry Applied to the Arts," taken down by one of his class, was printed. His son, Henry Brevoort, engineer, b. in New York city, 4Sept., 1 s! Ti d. there. 27 Jan. .1895. He was graduated at Columbia, ami became assistant engineer in the U. S. service. He served as assistant astronomer of the U. S. boundary commission, and in 1S48 was appointed examiner in the U. S. patent-office. In