at the opening of the civil war, and was made lieutenant-colonel of the 74th Ohio regiment. He was soon afterward made assistant inspector-gen- eral on the staff of Gen. George H. Thomas, and served with credit at Chickamauga, Stone river, Chattanooga, the Atlanta campaign, and Nashville. On 13 March, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier- general of volunteers. In 1867 he was commis- sioned major of the 23d regular infantry and as- signed to duty as acting assistant inspector-general of the district of Louisiana.
VOORHEES, Daniel Wolsey, senator, b. in
Butler county, Ohio, 26 Sept., 1827. He was taken
to Indiana in infancy by his parents, was graduated
at Indiana Asbury (now De Pauw) university in
, studied law,
was admitted to
the bar in 1851,
and began to prac-
tise in Covington,
Ind., in the same
year. He was
an unsuccessful
Democratic can-
didate for con-
gress in 1856, and
in 1858 was ap-
pointed U. S. dis-
trict attorney for
Indiana, which of-
fice he held until
1861. In 1859 he
went to Virginia,
at the request of
Gov. Ashbel P.
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Willard, of Indiana, to defend John E. Cook, the governor's broth- er-in-law, who had been put on trial for participa- tion in John Brown's raid. He was then chosen to congress and served from 1861 till 23 Feb., 1866, when his seat was contested successfully by Henry D. Washburn, but he sat in that body again in 1869-'73. During his service in the house he was a member of the committees on elections, appro- priations, the judiciary, the revision of laws, and the Pacific railroad. On the death of Oliver P. Morton, Mr. Voorhees was appointed to fill his seat in the U. S. senate, serving from 12 Nov., 1877, and he was elected for a full term in 1879, and re-elected in 1885. In early life Mr. Voorhees ob- tained the name of " The Tall Sycamore of the Wabash," by which he is still frequently called. He has made a reputation as an orator.
VOORHEES, Philip Falkerson, naval officer,
b. in New Brunswick, N. J., in 1792 ; d. in An-
napolis, Md., 26 Feb., 1862. He entered the navy
as a midshipman, 15 Nov., 1809, and was engaged
in the second war with Great Britain, taking part
in the capture of the " Macedonian " by the " United
States," and of the " Epervier " by the " Peacock,"
for which he received a medal from congress. He
was promoted to commander, 24 April, 1828, and
to captain, 28 Feb., 1838, and in 1842-5 was as-
signed the frigate " Congress " on her first cruise,
during which he assisted in rescuing the stranded
British steamer " Gorgon " in La Plata river. In
1844 Capt. Voorhees captured an armed Argentine
squadron and an allied cruiser which had fired
into his convoy, a Boston bark, where some fish-
ermen, chased by the cruiser, had taken refuge.
Capt. Voorhees released this squadron after an
apology had been made, but detained the cruiser,
which had aggravated the assault by firing under
a false flag. Com. Daniel Turner afterward re-
leased the cruiser, but justified Capt. Voorhees's
action in a letter to the Argentine commander,
and Voorhees was also highly praised by U. S.
diplomatic and consular representatives and for-
eign naval officers in South America. Yet this
capture was made the occasion for a series of
charges on which he was tried by courts-martial in
1845. The sentences of these courts were not ap-
proved, and after a few months' suspension Presi-
dent Pal k, in 1847, restored Capt. Voorhees to his
full rank in the navy, and gave him command of
the East India squadron— the post of an admiral
at the present day, that grade not having been es-
tablished at that time, " in manifestation of his
complete rehabilitation in honor as well as in rank
in the judgment of the government " as declared
in the official opinion of Attorney-General Caleb
Gushing, which also declared the proceedings of
the courts-martial " null and void." He returned
in 1851 in his flag-ship, the " Plymouth," and in
1855 was placed on the reserved list. He regarded
this as an injustice, and appealed to congress for
reinstatement, but a court of inquiry reaffirmed
the decision of the board. On a second appeal
President Buchanan referred the whole matter to
Attorney-General Jeremiah S. Black, who, in an
opinion dated 15 Oct., 1858, said : " The history,
even of the American navy, hardly contains an-
other instance where one man has been the victim
of so many blunders." President Buchanan, with
the consent of the senate, therefore restored him
to the leave pay-list, and at the opening of the civil
war Capt. Voorhees urged his assignment to active
duty, but he died a few months afterward.
VOORHIES, John Stevens, publisher, b. in
New York city, 9 May, 1809; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y.,
19 Nov., 1865. He was a clerk for Oliver Halsted,
who had established a law-book store in New York
city in 1820, became his partner, and finally suc-
ceeded him in 1842, becoming well known as a
publisher of legal works. He was specially kind
to young lawyers in furnishing books on liberal
terms, and great reliance was placed on his judg-
ment and knowledge in the selection of law libra-
ries. After his death his business was continued
by the firm of Baker, Voorhies, and Co. He pro-
jected and published " Sedgwick on Damages " (New
York, 1848); "Voorhies's Code of Civil Procedure"
(New York, 1851); "Burrill's Voluntary Assign-
ments " (1853) ; " Greenleaf's Overruled Cases "
(1856) ; " Burrill's Circumstantial Evidence " (1856);
"Abbott's Digest" (5 vols., 1860); "Cleveland's
Banking Laws " (1860) ; and many other works.
VOSE, George Leonard, civil engineer, b. in
Augusta, Me., 19 April, 1831. He was educated in
Augusta and in Salem, Mass. During 1849-'50 he
studied at the Lawrence scientific school of
Harvard, then began his career as assistant engineer
on the Kennebec and Portland railroad, and until
1859 was engaged on various railroads. From
1859 till 1863 he was associate editor of “The
American Railway Times” in Boston, and then for
three years he resided in Salem, Mass. In 1866
he removed to Paris, Me., and was occupied with
projects in Maine and New Hampshire. He was
professor of civil engineering in Bowdoin college
from 1872 till 1881, and held a similar chair in the
Massachusetts institute of technology from 1881 till
1886. His larger works include “Handbook of
Railroad Construction” (Boston, 1857);
“Orographic Geology, or the Origin and Structure of
Mountains” (1866); “Manual for Railroad
Engineers and Engineering Students” (1873); “A
Graphic Method for solving Algebraic Problems”
(New York, 1875); “Elementary Course of Geometric
Drawing” (Boston, 1878); “Memoir of George