Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/27

 STEUBEN

STEVENS

center, known as the " bloody angle," at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, May 9-12, 1864; was taken prisoner with 4,000 of his men but was exchanged some months afterward, and partici- pated in the battle of Five Forks, April 1, 1865. After the war he returned to Baltimore, Md., and in 1903 was residing at South River, Anne Arundel county, Md.

STEUBEN, Friedrich Wilhelm August Hein= rich Ferdinand von, soldier, was born at Magde- burg, Prussia, Nov. 17, 1730. He entered the Prussian army in 1747, attained the rank of adjutant-general and aide-de-camp to Frederick the Great, and was distinguished during the seven years' war. He was appointed grand mar- shal to the Prince of HohenzoUern and made canon of the cathedral of Haselberg, which lucra- tive position he resigned in 1777 and sailed to America on the earnest solicitation of the Count St, Germain, the French minister of war, to in- struct the patriot soldiers in military tactics and discipline. He arrived at Portsmouth, N.H., in December, 1777, and offered his services to Gen- eral Washington, proposing that if the indepen- dence of the colonies were established, he was to

VERPLAAJCK HOUSE,MT.<3ULIAN.

FISHKILI.-ON HUPSON.N Y.

receive the income he had relinquished, and be paid for his services in the army, otherwise he was to receive nothing. He was appointed in- spector-general of the army with the rank of major-general, and did much to reorganize the military department and alleviate the sufferings of the men at Valley Forge. He established an inspector-general's departinent, and soon bronght the army into a condition of organization and discipline never before attained. He commanded the left wing at the battle of Monmouth, where he rallied the retreating troops of General Charles Lee. In 1780 he published a manual of " Regula- tions for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States." He commanded the trenches at the siege of Yorktown, and served on the staff of General Lafayette, with whom he was associated in the trial of Major Andre in 1780. At X. — 2

the close of the war he w-as ordered to Canada to demand the surrender of the frontier posts, but being unsuccessful he returned and resigned from the army. In 1790 congress voted him an annuity of $3,500, and he was presented with grants of land in Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. He retired to the New York estate, devot- ing himself to literature. He was stricken with paralysis, Nov. 23, 1794, from which he never re- covered. He left his entire property to Colonel North, his aide, and was buried near his house, wrapped in his military cloak and with the star of honor on his breast. He died in Steubenville, N.Y., Nov. 28, 1794.

STEVENS, Abel, author, was born in Phila- delphia, Pa., Jan. 19, 1815. He matriculated at Wesleyan university with the class of 1834, but he left college after completing the scientific course; was pastor of Church Street and Bennett Street church in Boston, Mass., 1834-37; traveled in Europe, 1837, and after his return was pastor at Providence, R.I., 1837-39. He edited Zioa's Herald, Boston, Mass., 1840-52; National Mag- azine, New York city, 1853-54; revisited Europe, 1855, and edited the Christian Advocate and Journal, New York city, 1856-60. He was pastor in New York city, 1860-62; at Mamaroneck, N.Y., 1862-65; joint-editor of the Methodist, 1865-73; traveled extensively in Europe and made a tour around the world, subsequently be- coming established as pastor of the Union church at Geneva, Switzerland, and also engaged in literary work. He received the honorar}- degree of A.M. from Brown university in 1839 and that of LL.D. from Indiana university in 1856. He is the author of: Memorials of the Introduction of Methodism into New England (1847-52); History of the Religious 2Iovement of the Eighteenth Cen- tury, called Methodism (ISoS-di); Life and Times of Nathan Baugs (1863); History of the 2Ietho- dist Episcopal Church in the United States (1804- 67, Vol. V, 1895); The Centenary of American Methodism (1865); The Women of Methodism; Its Tliree Foundresses (1866); ^-1 Compendious History of American Methodism (1867); Madam de Stael; A Study of her Life and Times (1881); Character Sketches (1882); Christian Work and Consolation (1885), and numerous essays, sermons and con- tributions to magazines. He died in San Jose, Cal., Sept. 11, 1897.

STEVENS, Alexander H. Hogden, surgeon, was born in New York city, Sept. 4, 1789; son of

Ebenezer and (Ledyard) Stevens. His father,

one of the company that destroyed the tea in Bos- ton harbor, served in the Patriot army as an officer of artillery; took part in the capture of Quebec and Ticonderoga, and commanded tlieartillerj- in the siege of Yorktown. Alexander attended school at Plainfield, N.J., and was graduated from