at the head of which he marched against the Nat- chez, defeated them, and released over 200 French and negro captives. He was placed in command of a small vessel and ordered to push on to Red river, 21 Dec, which he was to ascend, in order to ascertain where the main body of the Natchez In- dians was stationed. Having learned its position, he returned, and, on the surrender of the savages. he was one of three officers to whom the custody of their chiefs was intrusted. Knowing their lan- guage thoroughly, he learned from them that other bodies of Natchez and kindred tribes were prepar- ing to attack the French. He laid this informa- tion before the general and guaranteed that if he were allowed a picked company he would overcome the savages. This offer was refused. He appears to have gone to France some time afterward, and to have died at sea when returning to Canada.
LETCHER, John, governor of Virginia, b. in
Lexington, Va., 29 March, 1813 ; d. there. 26 Jan.,
1884. He was graduated at Randolph Macon in
1833, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1839,
and while practising
edited a newspaper
in Lexington, Va.
He was a member of
the State constitu-
tional convention in
1850, and in 1852 was
elected to congress
as a Democrat, serv-
ing till 1859. At the
latter date he be-
came governor of
Virginia, and was in
office when the con-
vention passed the
ordinance of seces-
sion in 1801. Al-
though he had op-
posed this policy, he
sustained the action
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of the convention, and immediately placed all the state's forces at the disposition of the Confederate government, without waiting for the popular vote. After the failure of the Confederacy he resumed his profession, and retired from politics.
LETCHER, Robert Perkins, statesman, b. in
Goochland county, Va., 10 Feb., 1788 ; d. in Frank-
fort, Ky., 24 Jan., 1861. He was educated in the
common schools, removed to and began the practice
of law in Lancaster county, Ky. He was frequently
a member of the legislature, at one time speaker of
the house, and in 1822 was elected to congress as a
Clay Democrat, serving one term. Mr. Letcher's
seat was contested by Thomas P. Moore, but the
house, after prolonged discussion, gave the seat to
Mr. Letcher. He was a presidential elector in 183(5
on the Harrison and Granger ticket, was governor
of Kentucky in 1840-'4, and in 1849 was appointed
minister to Mexico, serving till 1852.
LETHIERE, Gnillauine Guillon (leh-te-air),
West Indian artist, b. in Guadeloupe, 16 Jan..
1760; d. in Paris, 22 April, 1832. He acquired
the elements of design in his own country, and,
showing great capacity, was sent by his father to
France in 1774, where he pursued his artistic
studies during three years under the direction of
Deschamps, professor at the Academy of Rouen.
Then he went to Paris, where he was befriended
by Doyen, the king's painter, and remained until
1786, when one of his pictures gave him the first
prize and an opportunity to go to Rome. Here he
painted his "Junius Brutus," which obtained a
prize and may be considered his masterpiece. He
returned to Paris in 1792, in 1811 was appointed
director of the Academy of Rouen, and in 1815
member of the Academy of arts. He founded at
Paris in 1819 a school of painting, and travelled
often through England, Spain, and Italy, to study
the customs and habits of those countries for re-
production in his works. Among his pictures in
the Museum of painting of Paris the most notable
are "Junius Brutus ordering the Execution of his
Son" (1791); "The Treaty of Leoben" (1806);
"View of the Town of Medicis" (1807); "Palace
of the French Academy at Rome " (1807) ; " ^Eneas
and Dido surprised bv a Storm" (1819); and "Ve-
nus on the Waves" (1819).
LEUTZE, Emanuel, historical painter, b. in
Gmünd, Würtemberg, 24 May, 1816; d. in
Washington, D. C., 18 July, 1868. His parents
emigrated to the United States soon after his birth,
and at first settled in Philadelphia, but
subsequently removed to Fredericksburg, Va. His
early education was good, though not especially in
the direction of art. The first development of his
artistic talent occurred while he was attending the
sick-bed of his father, when he attempted drawing
to occupy the long hours of waiting. He soon
became skilful, and projected a plan for publishing,
in Washington, portraits of eminent American
statesmen, in which, however, he met with but
slight encouragement. About 1840 he produced a
painting whose merits were such as to procure him
many orders, so that in 1841 he was enabled to
study in Düsseldorf under Lessing. He devoted
himself to historical subjects, choosing in preference
those having a relation to the discovery or
history of America. His first noteworthy painting
in Europe, “Columbus before the Council of
Salamanca,” was purchased by the Düsseldorf art
union; and a companion picture, “Columbus in
Chains,” procured him the gold medal of the Brussels
art exhibition, and was subsequently
purchased by the Art union in New York. In 1843
he studied the works of Cornelius and Kaulbach at
Munich, and, while there, finished his “Columbus
before the Queen.” On the completion of this
picture he visited Venice and Rome, making studies
from Titian and Michael Angelo, and, after a tour
in Italy, returned to Düsseldorf in 1845, where he
married and made his home. For fourteen years
he continued in that city, during which period
he painted “Landing of the Norsemen in America,”
“Cromwell and his Daughter,” “The Court
of Queen Elizabeth,” “Henry VIII. and Anne
Boleyn,” “The Iconoclast,” “John Knox and
Mary Stuart,” and the series of pictures illustrating
striking events in the war of the Revolution,
of which the more important were “Washington
Crossing the Delaware,” “Washington at
Monmouth,” “Washington at the Battle of
Monongahela,” “News from Lexington,” “Sergeant Jasper,”
and “Washington at Princeton.” In 1859
Mr. Leutze returned to the United States and
opened a studio in New York city. Early in 1860
he received a commission from the government for
a large mural picture, to be painted on one of the
staircases in the Capitol at Washington. The
subject chosen was “Westward the Star of Empire
takes its Way,” and the painting was to be executed
in fresco. So earnestly did the artist enter into
this work that he not only made the then difficult
journey to the base of the Rocky mountains, for
the purpose of local study, but, on his return, again
departed for Munich, that he might learn from
Kaulbach the mechanism of fresco-painting. He
was elected a member of the National academy in
1860, and in 1867 exhibited his “Elaine” there.