Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/77

 LUDLOW

LUERS

the battles of Averysboro and Bentonville, in the occupation of Goldsboro, and in the capture of Raleigh, N.C. He was bre vetted lieutenant- colonel, U.S.A., March 13, 1865, for meritorious conduct in the campaign in the Carolinas; raised

and commanded a company of engineers at Jefferson barracks, Mo., 1865-66; com- manded the depot and company at Jefferson barracks, 1866-67: was promoted cap- tain, March 7, 1867; served as assistant engineer under Major Gillmore, 1867-72; as chief engineer of the department of Da- ^ ., kota, 1872-76; as as-

CMA.^-uo^'y^^ ^^t^u,9iLZ(tyrju^ sistant engineer to

Lieutenant - Colonel Kurtz, 1876-77; assistant engineer under Colo- nel Macomb, 1877-81; in charge of Delaware river and harbor improvements and works of de- fence, 1881-82, and was promoted major, June 30, 1882. He was engineer secretary of the light- house board, 1882-83; chief engineer of the Phila- delphia water department by authority of con- gress, 1883-86; engineer commissioner of the District of Columbia, 1886-88; engineer of the 4th light-house district, March to December, 1888; in charge of river and harbor work in western Michigan and engineer of the 9th and 11th light- house districts, 1888-93; military attache of the U.S. embassy at London, England, 1893-96, and president of U.S. Nicaragua canal commis- sion in 1895. He was promoted lieutenant-colo- nel of the corps of engineers, Aug. 13, 1895, as- signed to the command of the lighthouse depot and had charge of the river and harbor work of New York harbor. He was commissioned briga- dier-general of volunteers, May 4, 1898, and as- signed to the staff of the commanding general as engineer-in-chief of the armies in the field, and on June 29, 1898, was assigned to the command of the 1st brigade, 2d division, 5th army corps, under General Shaf ter, and served in the Santiago campaign, where he was promoted major-general of volunteers, Sept.* 7, 1898. He was made presi- dent of the board to establish the military trans- port service; then assigned to the command of a division with head-quarters at Columbus, Ga. He was appointed, military governor of the city of Havana, Dec. 13, 1898, and on April 13, 1899, he was honorably discharged from the volunteer service, and the same day was commissioned brigadier-general, U.S. volunteers. He was pro- moted brigadier-general in the U.S. army, January

21, and vacated liis commiBsion as lieutenant- colonel, corps of engineers, Jan. 29, 1900. He left Havana in February to become president of the board of officers appointed to consider the establishment of a war college for the army, and he visited France and Germany in the interests of this project. In April, 1901, he was ordered to the Philippines to command the department of the Visayas but was compelled to return immedi- ately on sick-leave. He was married in 1866 to Genevieve A. Sprigg, of St. Louis, Mo. He was elected to membership in many scientific societies in America and abroad. He is the author of: Explorations of the Black Hills and Yellow- stone Country; Report of the U.S. Nicaragua Canal Commission, and several annual and special reports. He died at Convent, N. J., Aug. 30, 1901. LUERS, John Henry, R.C. bishop, was born at Leutten, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, Germany, Sept. 29, 1819. He came to the United States with his parents in January, 1833, and settled on a farm in Piqua, Ohio. He was a clerk in a store, and in 1835 the bish- op of Cincinnati per- suaded him to study for the priesthood, and he was ordained by Bishop Purcell at Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 11, 1846. He was pastor of St. Joseph's church, Cin- cinnati, Ohio, 1846- 57, and completed the church building, cleared the parish from debt and built several schools. The diocese of Fort

Wayne, Ind., was established Sept. 22, 1857, and on Jan. 10, 1858, he was consecrated bishop of Fort Wayne by Archbishop Purcell, assisted by Bishops St. Palais and Carrell. He built the cathedral and many churches, and held a synod in 1863 at tl«e University of Notre Dame, where statutes were enacted that resulted in the abolition of the sys- tem of lay trustees. He visited Rome in 1864, and was authorized to make a distinct and sep- arate society of the " Sisters of the Holy Cross" in the United States, and he founded St. Ignatius' academy at Lafayette, Ind., and also established the "Sisters of the Most Precious Blood" and placed them in charge of St. JIary*s Home, Dick, Jay county, Ind. He erected an asylum for sol- diers' orphans at Rensselaer. Ind.. in 1868, and also built a hospital within liis dioce.se. He or- ganized the Catholic Clerical Benevolent associa- tion for pensioning aged priests, and attended all the provincial councils of Cincinnati and the

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