American lawyer, senator, and volunteer soldier; born in London, England, on the 24th of February 1811; was brought to America as a child; worked his own way to the bar at Springfield, IL; was member of Congress for two terms; served with distinction as colonel of volunteers through the Mexican War; went to California in 1851, where he gained fame for oratory and legal skill; removed to Oregon, and in 1860 was elected United States Senator; he was killed at the head of his brigade of Union troops at Ball’s Bluff, VA, on the 21st of October 1861. See also “His Reply to Breckenridge.”
