Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/566

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
536
FRANKLIN
FRANSIOLl

the U. S. military academy in 184B at the head of his class, among the members of which were Ulys- ses S. Grant, Christopher C. Augur, and James A. Hardie. He served in the topographical engineers imtil the outbreak of the civil war, the dates of his various commissions being as follows : 2d lieuten- ant, 21 Sept., 1846; 1st lieutenant, 3 March, 1853; and captain, 1 July. 1857. He was brevetted 1st lieutenant, 23 Feb., 1847, for gallantry at the battle of Buena Vista. In the Mexican war he was at- tached to the staff of Gen. Taylor as a topographi- cal engineer, was engaged in making reconnois- sances, and carried Taylor's orders on the battle- field of Buena Vista. His other service prior to 1861 was such as ordinarily falls to an engineer oflRcer. He was engaged in surveys on the western plains and mountains, as assistant professor at "West Point, as engineer-secretary of the light-house board, and in charge of the construction of light- houses and public buildings. At the beginning of the civil war he was stationed in Wash- ington in charge of the construction of the capitol, the treasury depart- ment, and the gen- eral post-office. He was appointed col- onel of the 12th infantry, 14 May, 1861, brigadier- general of volun-

teers, 17 May, 1861,

July, 1862. He received the brevet of brigadier-general in the regular army, 30 June, 1862, for his gallant conduct in the battles before Richmond, and of major-general, 13 March, 1865, for services during the rebellion. His first active service was at Bull Run, where he commanded a brigade in Heintzleman's division, ^nd was engaged in the heaviest part of the battle, around the Henry house. On the organization of the Army of the Potomac he received a division, and, when the 6th army corps was formed, he was placed in its command, retaining it throughout the year 1862. He was in most of the battles on the peninsula — Yorktown, West Point, White Oak Bridge, Savage's Station, Malvern Hill, and Harri- son's Landing. After his return to Maryland with the army, he was in command on the field of Cramp- ton's Gap, South Mountain, 14 Sept., 1862, and was engaged in the battle of Antietam, 17 Sept., 1862. At" the battle of Fredericksburg, 13 Dec, 1862, he commanded the left grand division, consisting of his own corps, the 6th, under William F. Smith, and the 1st corps, under John F. Reynolds. (See BuR^'SIDE.) Gen. Burnside complained to the com- mittee on the conduct of the war that Franklin did not obey his orders in this battle, and the latter was sharply censured by the committee. He was also one of the generals removed by Burnside for insubordination, and the failure of the president to approve the order of removal led to Burnside's resignation of his command. After being on wait- ing orders for several months. Gen. Franklin was returned to active service in July, 1863, and on 15 Aug., 1863, was assigned to the command of the 19th army corps. He took part in the Red river expedition of 1864, and was wounded in the battle of Sabine Cross-Roads, 8 April, 1864. He was obliged to leave the army on account of ill- ness, 29 April, 1864. and remained on leave of ab- sence till 2 Dec, when he was assigned to duty on a retiring board at Wilmington, Del. During his leave he was captured by Confederate raiders while he was riding on the Philadelphia and Bal- timore railroad, 11 July, 1864, but escaped from them on the following night. He resigned, 15 March, 1866, and since has been engaged as vice- president of the Colt's fire-arms company at Hart- ford, Conn., and in various other manufacturing enterprises. He has had charge of the construc- tion of the new state-house at Hartford, was state commissioner at the Centennial exposition of 1876, presidential elector in 1876, adjutant-general of Connecticut in 1877 and 1878, and president of the board of managers of the National homes for dis- abled soldiers in 1880-'97. He has contributed vari- ous articles to the " American Cyclopiedia " and to periodical literature on military subjects. — His brother, Samuel Rhoads, naval officer, b. in York, Pa., 25 Aug., 1825, was appointed midshipman, 18 Feb., 1841, attached to the frigate " Cumberland," of the Pacific squadron, in 1841-'3, and to the frigate "United States "and store-ship "Relief," in the Pacific, in 1845-7. He was present at the demon- stration on Monterey during the Mexican war, pro- moted to passed midshipman, 10 Aug., 1847, and assigned to duty on the " Independence," of the Mediterranean squadron for 1849-'52, and to the coast survey, 1853-'5. He was commissioned mas- ter, 18 April, 1855, and lieutenant, 14 Sept. follow- ing, served in the naval academy in 1855-'6, on the sloop "Falmouth," of the Brazil squadron, in 1857-'9, on the " Macedonian " in 1859-"60, and on the steam sloop " Dacotah," on the Atlantic coast, in 1861-'2. He was a volunteer on board the " Roanoke " in the action with the " Merrimac " in March, 1862, in which the "Congress" and the " Cumberland " were destroyed. He became ex- ecutive officer of the " Roanoke," and engaged with the forts at Sewell's point, but the sloop grounded, and did not get fairly into action. He was com- missioned lieutenant-commander, 16 July, 1862, commanded the "Aroostook," of the James river flotilla, in 1862, the " Aroostook," of the western Gulf blockading squadron, in 1863, and was on special duty in New Orleans in 1864. During the operations in Mobile bay in the spring of 1865 he was on the staff of acting rear-admiral Thatcher, and was the naval representative in the demand for the surrender of the city of Mobile. He was made commander, 26 Sept., 1866, and given the steamer " Saginaw," of the north Pacific squadron, in 1866-'7, on ordnance duty at Mare Island, Cal., in 1868-'9, was advanced to the grade of captain. 13 Aug., 1872, and commanded the " Wabash " and afterward the " Franklin " until transferred to duty as hydrographer to the bureau of navigation at Washington, D. C. He was promoted to commo- dore, 15 Dec, 1880, assigned to special duty in the bureau of equipment department, and became presi- dent of tiie board of examiners, 16 June, 1883. He received the appointment of rear-admiral, 24 Jan., 1885, was assigned to duty as superintendent of the naval observatory, and in 1886 became command- ant of the European station. In August, 1887, he was retired after forty-two years' service.


FRANSIOLI. Joseph, clergyman, b. in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, 30" Nov., 1817; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 18 Oct., 1890. He studied in the seminaries of Monza and Milan, and in 1840 was ordained priest. His first missionary work was in his native canton, but he was soon promoted to the rectorship of the Church of St. Maurice, where