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* SPOTTISWOODE. 468 SPRAGUE. London. He was educated at Balliol College, Ox- ford. His memoirs on the contact of curves and surfaces in the Philosophical Transactions and various other scientific journals are important and original. Among his works are: Medita- tiones AnalyticcE (1847); Elementary Theorems Jielaiing to Determinants (1851 ; a second edition appeared in Crelle's Journal, 1856) ; A Tarantasse Journeif Throui/h Eastern Russia (1857) ; Polar- ■isatio7i'of Liyht (1874) ; A Lecture on the Elec- trical DiKvhiirii'-, its Form anil Functions (1881). SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOITSE, B.T- TLES OF. A series of battles during the Civil War, fought between May 7 and May 21, 1864, at and near Spottsyivania Court House in Virginia, 49 miles north by west of Richmond, between the Federal Army of the Potomac, under Cieneral Jleade, and the Confed- erate Army of Northern Virginia, under General Lee. As in the battle of the Wilderness (q.v.), the movements of the Federal army were directe'd by General Grant. Both armies paused for lii-eath after the battle of the Wilderness (ilay 5th, 6th), and prepared to renew the struggle. The Federal wagon trains were early in the afternoon of the 7th drawn to the eastward to clear the direct road to Spottsyivania Court House, upon which a night march had been ordered. This was. however, anticipated by General Lee. and Longstreet's corps (under R. H. Anderson) moved toward the same point, which (having a shorter line) they reached early on the morning of the 8th in time to oppose the advance of War- ren's corps. Anderson had been ordered to liegin his march at about the hour when (forced to move earlier by the burning forest in which he could not bivouac) he actually arrived at his destination. Notwithstanding the celerity with which Anderson moved. Watson's division of the Federal cavalry reached the Court House some hours earlier, a'nd had not, as alleged, Sheridan's dispositions been countermanded by ileade, the result might have been different. Anderson im- mediately intrenched, and, although attacked by Warren with vigor, was enabled to maintain his position until heavily reinforced. By noon of the 9th the relative positions of the opposing forces were as follows : The Con- federate line formed a semicircle in front of the Court House, facing north, northwest, and northeast, with Anderson, Ewell. and Early from left to right. Confronting them were Warren, Sedgwick, and Burnside from right to left in order named; Hancock had not yet arrived, but had been ordered to threaten Lee's left. In the course of these movements the distinguished commander of the Sixth Corps — General Sedgwick — was killed by a sharpshooter, and was succeeded by General Wright. It was discovered that Han- cock's movement had caused Lee to draw troops from his right, and Grant thereupon (on the 10th) delivered a severe blow upon that part of his enemy's line. Combining for the purpose the Fifth, Sixth, and part of the Second Corps, all under Hancock, while Burnside was to cooperate (a storming party of 12 regiments under Colonel Upton being a feature of the attacking column), he scaled the enemy's intrenchments and took sev- eral guns and some hundreds of prisoners. The general attack failed, and was repulsed with loss; it was renewed with success and Upton's men (their commander severely wounded) were final- ly withdrawn, bringing their prisoners with tiicni, but leaving the guns behind. On the 11th there was no fighting. A reconnaissance made on the 11th from Han- cock's corps discovered a salient, at the right centre of the Confederate intrenchments. At 4 o'clock the next morning a combined attack of Hancock and Burnside was made, resulting in the capture of 4000, prisoners, 30 guns, sev- eral thousand stand of arms, and many colors. This success was only achieved after the most severe hand-to-hand fighting that occurred dur- ing the war. The captured artillery was turned upon the defenders of the position, who, heavily reinforced, resisted most strenuously. Five times Lee's men made desperate attempts to dis- lodge Hancock, each time losing heavily. It was 3 o'clock next morning before the fighting ceased, after the troops had been for nearly twenty hours under fire. Lee retired to a fresh position in rear of the one previously occupied and strongly intrenched. Until the 18th the two armies lay facing each other, engaging in sev- eral minor conflicts, and Grant then, on Jlay 19th-21st, transferred his army to the North Anna River. On the 8th Sheridan had been de- tached with his command and sent on a raid in the direction of Richmond and against Lee's com- nuniications. He was promptly followed by the Confederate cavalry, but, notwithstanding their efforts, succeeded in passing entirely around Lee's army. He had four severe engagements with Stuart's cavalry, in one of which that dis- tinguished leader was mortally wounded, re- captured 400 Federal prisoners, captured large quantities of supplies and war material, de- stroyed miles of railroad and telegraph, passed within the outer defenses of the enemy's capital, and after a fortnight's absence reached Grant's headquarters. The Federal losses at Spottsyi- vania are estimated at 6820 ; those of the Con- federates at 9000, in killed, wounded, and missing. Consult: Offi<-ial Records; Johnson and Buel (eds.). Battles and Leaders of the Ciril ^yar (New York, 1887); Humphreys. The Vir- ffinia Campaign of ISG-i and ISOo (New York, 1883) ; Grant, Personal Memoirs (last ed.. New York, 1895) : Badeau, Military History of Ulysses S. Grant (New York, 1868-81) ; and Swinton, Campaicins of the Army of the Potomac (new ed.. New York, 1882). S. P. Q. R. The abbreviation of Senatus populusque Romanus (the senate and the Roman people), the motto surmounting the Roman stand- ards. SPRAGUE, sprag, Charles (1791-1875). An American poet, born in Boston, Mass. Leaving school at an early age, he became a merchant's clerk, and in 1820 teller in a bank. From 1825 to 1865 he was cashier in the Globe Bank of Boston. His literary skill was chiefly shown in occasional poems, which were first collected in 1841. In 1850, 1855, and 1876 editions of his Poetical and Prose Writings were pub- lished. Much of his verse i.s in the familiar rhymed couplet of the eighteenth century, to which period its literary feeling chiefly belongs. SPRAGUE, William (1830—). An Ameri- can manufacturer and politician, bom at Cranston, R. 1. After studying at the Irving Institute, Tarrj'town, N. Y., he entered his fa-