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cavalry, and was assigned to duty as aide-de-camp to the commanding general of the Department of the Gulf, with whom he remained till April, 1865, taking part in the Teche, Texas, and Red River campaigns, and in the latter aiding Lieut.-Col. Joseph Bailey in the construction of the Red River dam. During the same period of nearly two years he acted as military agent in Louisiana for the state of New York. When Gen. Banks was relieved, Col. Wilson was brevetted brigadier-general and sent to Port Hudson, where for a time he was in command, and in July he resigned and returned to New York city, where he has since resided, pursuing a literary career, with the exception of several years spent with his family in Europe. Since 1874 he has been a delegate from St. James's church to the New York diocesan conventions, and he was a member of the General convention that met in Richmond, Va. In 1879 he was appointed a member of the board of visitors to the U. S. naval academy, and the following year he was a visitor to the U. S. military academy, delivering the address to the cadets, and preparing the reports of both boards. Gen. Wilson was appointed in 1882, by the governor, chairman of the committee to collect $40,000 as the state's contribution to the Garfield monument. (See vol. ii., p. 604.) Since 1885 he has been president of the New York genealogical and biographical society, is a vice-president of the Association for the reform and codification of the law of nations, a member of the executive committee of the Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and an honorary member of many American and foreign historical and other societies. He was instrumental in erecting a monument over the grave of Fitz-Greene Halleck at Guilford, Conn., and a statue in Central park, New York, the first in honor of an American poet, and is active in the movement for the New York statue of Columbus. (See vol. i., p. 698.) He has published numerous addresses, including those on Col. John Bayard, Com. Isaac Hull, Chief-Justice Kirkpatrick, and Bishop Samuel Provoost, and contributed upward of a hundred articles to “Harper's” and other American and English magazines. Among the principal works that he has written or edited are “Biographical Sketches of Illinois Officers” (Chicago, 1862; 3d ed., 1863); “Love in Letters: Illustrated in the Correspondence of Eminent Persons” (New York, 1867); “Life of Gen. U. S. Grant” (1868; 3d ed., enlarged, 1885); “Life and Letters of Fitz-Greene Halleck” (1869); “Sketches of Illustrious Soldiers” (1874); “Poets and Poetry of Scotland, from the Earliest to the Present Time” (2 vols., London and New York, 1876); “Centennial History of the Diocese of New York, 1785-1885” (New York, 1886); “Bryant and his Friends: Some Reminiscences of the Knickerbocker Writers” (12mo; illustrated ed., 8vo, 1886); “Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography” (6 vols., 1886-'9); and “ Com. Isaac Hull and the Frigate ‘Constitution’ ” (1889).

WILSON, James F., senator, b. in Newark, Ohio, 19 Oct., 1828. He received a classical edu- cation, studied law, and in 1853 began practice in Iowa, making Fairfield his residence. He was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1856, and in the following year entered the legislature. He passed into the state senate in 1859, was chosen its president in 1861, and in the same year was elected to congress to fill the vacancy that was caused by the resignation of Samuel R. Curtis, taking his seat on 2 Dec. He was re-elected for the following term, serving as chairman of the judiciary committee, and on his second and third re-election was placed at the head of the same committee, and of that on unfinished business. In 1868 he was one of the managers of the impeach- ment trial of President Andrew Johnson. In 1869 he was made a commissioner for the Pacific rail- road. He was elected a senator from Iowa for the term that will expire on 4 March, 1889, and was appointed on the committee on foreign affairs.

WILSON, James Harrison, soldier, b. near Shawneetown, 111., 2 Sept., 1837. His grandfather, Alexander, a Virginian by birth, was one of the founders of Illinois, and his father, Harrison, was an ensign in the war of 1812, and captain during the Black Hawk war. The son was educated at the common schools, at McKendree col- lege, and at the U. S. military academy, where he was graduated in 1860 and assigned to the corps of top- ographical engi- neers. He served at the headquar- ters of the Depart- ment of Oregon until June, 1861, when he became 2d lieutenant, and on 19 Sept., 1861, he was made 1st lieutenant. He was

on duty as chief

topographical engineer of the Port Royal expedi- tion till March, 1862, then served in the Depart- ment of the South, including the bombardment of Fort Pulaski, and was an acting aide-de-camp to Gen. George B. McClellan in September, 1862, being present at the battles of South Mountain and An- tietam. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel in the volunteer staff of the army in November, 1862, and served as chief engineer and inspector-general of the Army of the Tennessee till October, 1863, being active in the operations before and during the siege of Vicksburg. He became captain of engineers in May, 1863, and brigadier-general of volunteers, 31 Oct., 1863, and was engaged in the operations near Chattanooga, the battle of Mis- sionary Ridge, and the relief of Knoxville, con- structing bridges till December, 1863. Gen. Wil- son, after a short tour of duty at Washington in charge of the cavalry bureau, was placed in com- mand of the 3d division of the cavalry corps in the Army of the Potomac, and bore a conspicuous part in the operations under Gen. Philip H. Sheri- dan from May till August, 1864, including the Richmond raid and combats near Petersburg. He also led his division during the Shenandoah cam- paign, including the battle of the Opequan, till October, 1864, when he was assigned to the com- mand of the cavalry corps of the military division of the Mississippi, organizing a body of 15,000 mounted men, and contributing largely to the suc- cess that attended the armies in the west under Gen. George H. Thomas and Gen. William T. Sherman, particularly by the assault and capture of Selma, Ga., Montgomery, Ala., and Columbus and Macon, Ga., on 20 April, 1865, the date of his promotion as major-general of volunteers. In twenty-eight days he captured five fortified cities, twenty-three stand of colors, 288 guns, and 6,820 prisoners, among whom was Jefferson Davis. Hav- ing been mustered out of the volunteer service in