Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/73

 BURNSIDE.

BURR.

cai)ture of Newbern, Beaufort, Fort Macon, and a number of less important points of vantage to tlie north, and ui^on General Burnside's return to the north he was presented with a handsome sword, together with a vote of thanks by the state of Rhode Island, congratulatory resolutions from the Massachusetts and Oliio legislatures, and was promoted major-general of volunteers by noinination of President Lincoln and confirma- tion of the senate. General Burnside was next attached to the Army of the Potomac, and with his famous 9th corps assisted General McClellan in withdrawing from the peninsula. He marched into Maryland in command of the right wing of the army, reaching Frederick on September 13, and, pushing on in pursuit of the retreating enemy, came into collision on the 14th with the Confederate rear in the passes of South Moun- tain. The engagement was spirited ; the enemy was driven at all points and a signal advantage gained. Three days later Burnside's troops pre- vented the battle of Antietam from being alto- gether a decisive victory for the Confederates by carrying and holding the stone bridge which crossed the Antietam. When General McClellan was deprived of his command and ordered to report at Trenton, N. J., General Burnside, on Nov. 10, 1863, assumed command of the Army of the Potomac. Then followed the disaster at Fredericksburg, all responsibility for which was generously assumed by Burnside, and after the occurrence of several minor misfortvmes he ■was superseded, Jan. 26, 1863, by General Hooker. The president refused to accept his resignation, and appointed him to the command of the depart- ment of the Ohio, where he rendered conspicuous service, clearing the country of guerillas, en- forcing stringent measures against the southern sympathizers on both sides of the river, and affording protection to the loyal population. In August, 1868, he marched a force of eighteen thousand men across the Cumberland mountains, captured Cumberland Gap, and advancing toward Knoxville resisted an attack by Longstreet as he proceeded. He occupied Knoxville, which ha J been evacuated by General Buckner upon his approach. Here he entrenched himself and sus- tained a terrific assavilt made by Longstreet, and held his position in the face of fearful odds, until relieved at the end of a month b}' General Sherman's approach. Again assigned to the command of his old 9th corps, General Burnside was actively engaged in the closing operations of the war under General Grant in the Wilder- ness, Cold Harbor and Petersburg campaigns. The losses in his corps in the Petersburg mine explosion were very heavy, and General Meade, whom he had outranked, bvit to whom he had magnanimously yielded the command when the

exigencies of the occasion seemed to indicate that a juncture of forces would be effective, preferred charges of disobedience against him and ordered a court martial. General Grant dis- approved of this method of procedure, but at Burnside's request a court of inquiry was held. He was judged " answerable for the want of suc- cess," but subsequently it was determined by a congressional committee appointed to investigate the matter, that Genei'al Burnside's plans had been well laid and would without doubt have been crowned with success had they been carried out according to his orders. At the close of the war General Burnside resigned liis commission and retired to private life. In 1866 he was elected governor of Rhode Island, and being twice re- elected served until 1869, when he refused a fourth nomination, and once more engaged in railroad construction and management. He was in Paris at the time of the Franco- Prussian war, and was requested to act as envoy between besiegers and besieged. The attempted negotia- tions were not consummated, but General Burn- side won the respect of both armies through the incident of his offices. In January, 1875, he was elected to the United States senate from Rhode Island, and soon gained prominence in that bodj"^. He proved himself an able statesman, was ap- pointed a member of several important commit- tees, and in 1880 was reelected. See LJfe und Public Services of Ambrose E. Burnside, by Ben Perley Poore (1883). He died in Bristol, R. I., Sept. 3, 1881.

BURR, Aaron, educator, was born at Fair- field, Conn., Jan. 4, 1716; son of Daniel and Eliza Burr,and grandson of Jehu (3d) and Mary (Ward) Burr. He was graduated from Yale in 1735, and awarded one of the Berkeley scholarships, which enabled him to pursue his theological studies. In 1737 he was admitted to the Presbyterian ministry, and installed as pastor of the church at Newark, N. J. There he opened a school for boys, which he managed successfulh" for some years, and in 1748 he was chosen president of the College of New Jersey, which had grown from the school started by William Tennent at Nesh- aminy, N. J., in 1736, which became known as the "Log College." The school was removed to Newark, N. J., so that he might attend to the duties of the presidency without resigning his parish. The first class was graduated in 1748, and was composed of six j'oung men. In 1753 President Burr married Esther, daughter of Jona- than Edwards. The fruit of this union was a daughter, who married Tapping Reeve, chief justice of the supreme court of Connecticut, and a son, Aaron, who became vice-president of the United States. President Burr resigned his pastorate at Newark in 1756, and removed the