Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/727

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
IZARD
JANSSEN

tant works relating to America are " Voyage aux regions equinoxiales du nouveau continent dans les annees 1799 a 1804" (Paris, 1807-16), and '•Essai politique sur le royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne " (Paris, 1811).


IZARD, George, soldier, b. in London, Eng- land, 21 Oct., 1776 ; d. in Little Rock, Ark., 22 Oct., 1828. He was a son of Ralph Izard (vol. iii., p. 372). He came to this country, and, after re- siding with his family in Charleston, graduated at the College of Philadelphia (now University of Pennsylvania) in 1792, was sent by his father to a military school near London and then to one at Marburg in Hesse-Cassel. Subsequently, through the agency of James Monroe, he spent two years in the French government school for engineers of the army at Metz. While there he was commis- sioned lieutenant in the IT. S. corps of artillerists and engineers. Returning, he was ordered to Charleston as engineer of Fort Pinckney, then served as aide-de-camp to Alexander Hamilton during the threat of the French war, and was then allowed to accept the place of secretary of legation at Lisbon. In 1803 he resigned from the army on account of the secretary's having assigned him to the artillery instead of the engineers in the reduc- tion of the army under Jefferson. Early in 1812 he was appointed colonel of the 2d artillery, and com- manded the Department of Pennsylvania, Mary- land, and Delaware. In February, 1813, he com- manded District No. 3, with New York as head- quarters, and was promoted brigadier-general. In August of that year, the English fleet having left the vicinity of New York, he was ordered to com- mand one of the brigades under Gen. Wade Hamp- ton, holding the line of Chateaugay river near Lake Champlain. In Hampton's defeat of 26 Oct. he handled his brigade with ability, and conducted the retreat in an orderly manner. He was pro- moted major-general in March, 1814, and on 4 May took command of the division of the right with headquarters at Plattsburg. There he found only 2,000 badly-equipped and half-disciplined men, which number was increased by August to 7,000. all raw recruits. Izard was unremitting in their instruction and active in fortifying the post. The arrivals on the British side in the mean time

amounted to more than 30,000 men,

all regulars, and mainly Welling- ton's veterans. Late in August he was ordered to Sackett's Harbor and Niagara with 4,000 men, leav- ing Plattsburg in condition successfully to resist Prevost’s attack. After an arduous marchof400miles over bad roads he marshalled his troops, with those of General Ja- cob Brown, on the Canada side Niagara river, " and found the British general, Drummond, intrenched behind Chippewa river. His carefully considered opinion was that he outnumbered the enemy but by a few hundred men. He offered battle in the open, but it was declined, and, being deficient in artillery, and winter weather being at hand, he decided not to attempt to turn Drummond's position. His entire evacuation of the peninsula, including the destruc- tion of Fort Erie, which followed, was approved by the president and secretary of war. Gen. Izard was the only officer of the war of 1812 who had been completely educated in the schools. The war was undertaken without an adequate military establish- ment, and when, after repeated disasters, an officer with a complete education and good record was placed in command, he was paralyzed in his efforts by the overwhelming odds against him. Izard's military judgment seems to have been correct, and in reading the severe strictures against him by Ingersoll and Armstrong, not only the conditions surrounding him should be taken into account, but the competency of his judges as military crit- ics should also be considered. Gen. Izard resigned from the army in January, 1815, and was appoint- ed governor of Arkansas in 1825.


JACKSON, Richard Henry, soldier, b. in Ire- land, 14 July, 1830. He was educated in Dublin, came to this country in early life, enlisted in the U. S. army in 1851, and became 1st sergeant in the 4th artillery. After serving in Florida and the west, he passed his examination for a 2d lieuten- ancy, receiving his commission, 13 Sept., 1859. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant, 14 May, 1861, com- manded a company at Fort Pickens, Fla., during its bombardments, and in the capture of Pensacola, and was made captain, 20 Feb., 1862. He after- ward served as assistant inspector-general, and was also acting chief of artillery on Morris and Folly islands during the operations against Fort Sumter, and then chief of artillery of the 10th and 25th corps, Army of the James. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, 1 Jan., 1865, for services in the campaign of 1864, and commanded the 2d division of the 25th corps in the operations that preceded Lee's surrender. He was commis- sioned full brigadier-general of volunteers, 19 May, 1865, and brevet major-general on 24 Nov. Gen. Jackson also received during the war the regular army brevets of major for Drury's Bluff, lieutenant- colonel for Newmarket Heights, and colonel and brigadier-general for services in the war. Since the war Gen. Jackson has served in various posts. He was promoted major 1 July, 1880, and is now (1889) in command of Fort Schuyler, N. Y.


JANSSEN, John, R. C. bishop, b. in Keppelnf, Rhenish Prussia, 3 March, 1835. He was educated at the bishop's colleges in Gaesdonckand Munster 1 . In 1858 he came to the United States and was ordained priest in Alton, 111., on 19 Nov. of that year. He was then appointed pastor of the German Catholic congregation in Springfield, 111., and also had charge of the German Catholics in the counties of Sangamon, Morgan, and Menard. In 1863-'8 he was secretary of Bishop Henry D. Juncker, and he was chancellor of the diocese of Alton from 1863 till 1870. Father Janssen was vicar-general to Bishop Peter J. Baltes in 1870-'86, and rector of St. Boniface's church, Quincy, 111., in 1877-9. On the death of Bishop Baltes in 1886 he was admin- istrator of the diocese until the appointment of a new bishop. In January, 1887, the diocese of Alton was divided, and the new diocese of Belleville was erected. He was then made administrator of both dioceses, and on 28 Feb., 1888, became bishop of Belleville, being consecrated on 25 April, 1888.