Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/34

 BUCHANAX.

BUCHANAN.

1826, she having been built for the Brazilian navy. He was made master-commandant in 1841, and sailed in the Mississij^pi and afterwards in the Vincennes. From 1845 to 1847 he was en- gaged in organizing, and was first superintendent ot the Annapolis naval academy, and in the latter year he was given command of the Germantotm, which was actively engaged in the taking of Vera Cruz. He commanded tlie SnsqiieJicmna, the flagship of Commodore Perry's fleet, in the famous expedition, 1853-'54, which resulted in the opening of the doors of China and Japan to the commerce and civilization of the world ; in 1855 was advanced to the rank of captain, and in 1859 was assigned to the command of the Washington navy yard. Acting upon the belief that Marj-land "was about to secede from the Union he resigned his commission in April, 1861, and, repenting his action in the light of subsequent events, he asked permission to retract his resignation, but this being refused, in Sep- tember of the same year he entered the Confed erate navy. He was placed in charge of the construction and equipment of the Merrimac, and was her commander in the engagement at Hampton Eoads when the Congress and the Cumberland were destroyed, March 8, 1862; the Confederate congress tendering him a vote of thanks for his gallantry on this occasion, and also promoting him a fvdl admiral and senior officer of the navy. A severe wound received in the encounter prevented him from participating in the Merrimac's famous battle with the Monitor on the following day. He took command in 1863 of the naval defences of Mobile, and sug- gested and superintended the building of the ironclad ram Tennessee as the most effective means of protecting that city. In command of the Tennessee he engaged in the great battle in Mobile Bay on Aug. 5, 1864, and was obliged to surrender after a desperate struggle, in which he was severely wounded and his vessel hopelessly disabled. He remained a prisoner of war for six months, his exchange being effected February, 1865. He was elected president of the Maryland agricultural college, and died in Talbot county, Md.. May 11, 1874.

BUCHANAN, James, fifteenth President of the United States, was born at Cove Gap, near Mercersburg, Pa., April 23, 1791; second son of James and Elizabeth (Speer) Buchanan. His mother was the only daughter of James Speer, who came of Scotch Presbyterian ancestry, and immigi-ated to Pennsylvania in 1756. His father was a native of County Donegal. Ireland, came to America in 1783. engaged in business as a clerk in Philadelphia, and in 1788 set up business for himself. James received his primary education in the schools of Mercersburg, and in 1807 entered

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Dickinson college in the junior class. After gi-aduating in 1809 he removed to Lancaster, and was admitted to the bar in 1812. As a Federalist, he disapproved of the war with England, but did not shirk the duties of an American citizen when the war be- (^ _

came a fact, and his r

patriotism was voiced in a speech delivered to the people shortly after the city of Washing- ton was captured by the British. He urged the enlist- ment, and Avas him- self one of the first volunteers, u n d e r Judge Shippen, to march to the de- fence of Baltimore. He was elected a member of the house of representatives in the Pennsylvania legisla- ture, Oct. 14, 1814. On the first of February fol- lowing, in considering * ' An act for the encourage- ment of volunteers for the defence of the Com- monwealth,*' he lu'ged the passage of the bill, and afterwards speaking of the incident he said: '' So open and decided was I in my course in favor of defending the country, notwithstanding my disapproval of the declaration of war, that the late WilUam Beale, the shrewd, strong-minded and influential Democratic senator from Mifllin county, called upon me and urged me strongly during the session to change my political name and be called a Democrat, stating that I would have no occasion to change my principles. " On July 4, 1815, in an oration delivered at Lancaster he characterized the action of the government in its prosecution of the war as disgraceful, while he eulogized the spirit of the American people. He retired from the legislature at the end of his second term of service with a fixed determina- tion to abandon political life, and devote himself exclusively to the practice of law. In 1820 he Avas elected by the Federalists a representative to the 17th Congress from Lancaster, York and Dauphin counties. Among his important early speeches in Congress Avere those on the deficiency in the military appropriation, in January, 1822 ; on the bankrupt law, in March following, when he successfully opposed its extension to all citi- zens, whether traders or not. There was in his speech on this subject a perceptible tendency to that line of politics which he subseqiiently adopted and to which he always adhered. This may be described as a forbearance from exercis- ing federal powers of acknowledged constitu-