Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/332

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Washington, William, born in Stafford county, Virginia, February 28, 1752, son of rJailey Washington and Catherine Storke, his wife. He was intended for the church, and received a much more careful education than his great kinsman, George Washing- ton. At the outbreak of the revolution he was a young man of twenty-four. If he had intended to be a clergyman, he soon aban- doned that idea, and early in the war was commissioned captain in the Third Regi- ment Virginia line, and had under him as a lieutenant, James Monroe, a future Presi- dent of the United States. He was with Washington at New York, and was severely wounded at the battle of Long Island. He was with the army in the retreat through New Jersey, and at the battle of Trenton led a daring charge upon a battery, capturing the guns, but receiving a severe wound. Later he was transferred to the dragoons, and promoted to major. Joining Gen. Lin- coln's army in the South, he was given com- mand of a regiment. He defeated the Brit- ish cavalry leader, Tarleton, and was sur- prised by him in turn. At the Cowpens he led a daring charge at a critical moment, and worsted Tarleton in a hand to hand en- counter. For his gallantry he received the congressional medal. At the battle of Eu- taw Springs in 1781 he was unhorsed, wounded and taken prisoner. After the war he married a Miss Elliott, of Charleston, South Carolina, and removed to that city; was elected to the legislature, and put for- ward as a candidate for governor: he de- clined the latter nomination because, as he declared, he "could not make a speech.*' When Gen. George Washington accepted the position of commander-in-chief of the army under President Adams, he called Col.

Washington to his staff as an aide, with the rank of brigadier-general. Gen. William Washington died July 19, 1798, *ieaving be- hind him an unsullied reputation, an amia- ble temper, lively manner, a hospitable dis- position, and a truly benevolent heart."

Deuxponts, William, born June 18, 1754; became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment commanded by his brother, Christian Deux- ponts, October 2, 1779. and was wounded in the attack on the redoubt at Yorktown, October 14, 1781, and for his services there was made by the King of France a^ cheva- lier of the military order of St. Louis, and was mentioned particularly in Baron Viomesnil's report to Gen. Rochambeau. He afterward held the honorable post of commander of the palace guard at the Ba- varian court. Col. Trumbull's painting of the surrender of Gen. Cornwallis, in the rotunda of the capitol at Washington. D. C. contains a portrait of Count des Deux- ponts. He left in manuscript **Mes cam- pagnes d' Amerique," which was found on a Paris book-stall in 1867 by Dr. Samuel Abbott Green, and published by him, with an English translation and notes (Boston, 1868).

Todd, Thomas, born in King and Queen county. Virginia, January 23, 1765, son of Richard Todd and Elizabeth Richards, his wife. He was orphaned in childhood and gained an education with difficulty. In 1 78 1, at the age of sixteen, he joined the army, at the time of the British invasion by Gens. Phillips and .Arnold, serving six months. He then entered Liberty Hall .Academy, and graduated when eighteen years old. in 1783. In the summer of that year he went to Bedford county, Virginia,

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