Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/44

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\IR(iI.\IA BIOGRAPHY

Jlamptou Roads. On his return to Rich- mond he presided over the war meeting that resolved, without opposition, to carry on the war till the south had achieved its independ- ence. He opposed the bill allowing freedom to such slaves as should serve in the Con- federate army, and when the question came to a vote, he acted under instructions from his constituents and voted for the measure under an emphatic protest. He was arrested at the close of the war, and after imprison- ment is Fort Pulaski for several months, was released on parole, and in 1867 was pardoned by President Johnson. He was an unsuccessful candidate for United States senator from Virginia in 1874, was elected treasurer of the state in 1877, and at the close of his term, in 1880, retired to his farm in Essex county, \"irginia. He was ap- pointed by President Cleveland United States collector of customs at the port of Rappahannock, Virginia, in June, 1886. He died in Essex county, Virginia, July 18, 1887.

Seddon, James Alexander, secretary of war (q. v., p. 44).

Randolph, George Wythe, second secre- tary of war (March 24, 1862-November 17, 1862), born at Monticello, Virginia, March 10, 1818, son of Gov. Thomas Mann and Martha (Jefferson) Randolph. He attended school at Cambridge, Massachusetts, while under the care of his brother-in-law, Joseph Coolidge, of Boston, and in 1831 was war- ranted midshipman in the United States nav3'. He was given leave of absence in 1837, to attend the University of Virginia, where he studied two years. In 1839 he resigned his commission in the navy, and after studying law. practiced in Richmond.

He was one of the commissioners sent by the state of Virginia to confer with Abraham Lincoln at his home in Springfield, with the hope of maintaining peace. He raised a company of artillery at the time of the John Brown raid, and the organization then known as the Virginia Howitzer Battalion, Maj. George W. Randolph, was attached to Magruder's force in the battle of Big Bethel, Virginia, June 10, 1861. He was commis- sioned brigadier-general, and commanded a brigade in Magruder's army until March 17, 1862, when President Davis appointed him secretary of war in his cabinet to succeed Judah P. Benjamin, transferred to the state department. The question of the use of hidden shells as charged against the Con- federate troops at the evacuation of York- town, led to his decision that it was not admissable in civilized warfare to take life with no other object than the destruction of life, but that planting shells was admissible on the parapet of a fort to prevent its cap- ture or on the trail of a retreating army to save the army. He resigned his seat in the cabinet of President Davis, November 17, 1862, and returned to the army, but was forced to resign and seek relief from a pul- monary complaint by running the blockade and living in southern France. He returned to Virginia several years after the close of the war, and died at "Edge Hill," Virginia, i\pril ID. 1878.

Ould, Robert, assistant secretary of war, and chief of bureau of exchange ; born at Georgetown. District of Columbia, January 31. 1820. After a course of study at Jeffer- son (Pennsylvania) College, he was gradu- ated from Columbia College, Washington. D. C, in 1837, and in law from William and