BURNSIDE.
BURR.
cai)ture of Newbern, Beaufort, Fort Macon, and
a number of less important points of vantage to
tlie north, and ui^on General Burnside's return
to the north he was presented with a handsome
sword, together with a vote of thanks by the
state of Rhode Island, congratulatory resolutions
from the Massachusetts and Oliio legislatures,
and was promoted major-general of volunteers
by noinination of President Lincoln and confirma-
tion of the senate. General Burnside was next
attached to the Army of the Potomac, and with
his famous 9th corps assisted General McClellan
in withdrawing from the peninsula. He marched
into Maryland in command of the right wing
of the army, reaching Frederick on September
13, and, pushing on in pursuit of the retreating
enemy, came into collision on the 14th with the
Confederate rear in the passes of South Moun-
tain. The engagement was spirited ; the enemy
was driven at all points and a signal advantage
gained. Three days later Burnside's troops pre-
vented the battle of Antietam from being alto-
gether a decisive victory for the Confederates by
carrying and holding the stone bridge which
crossed the Antietam. When General McClellan
was deprived of his command and ordered to
report at Trenton, N. J., General Burnside, on
Nov. 10, 1863, assumed command of the Army
of the Potomac. Then followed the disaster at
Fredericksburg, all responsibility for which was
generously assumed by Burnside, and after the
occurrence of several minor misfortvmes he ■was
superseded, Jan. 26, 1863, by General Hooker.
The president refused to accept his resignation,
and appointed him to the command of the depart-
ment of the Ohio, where he rendered conspicuous
service, clearing the country of guerillas, en-
forcing stringent measures against the southern
sympathizers on both sides of the river, and
affording protection to the loyal population. In
August, 1868, he marched a force of eighteen
thousand men across the Cumberland mountains,
captured Cumberland Gap, and advancing toward
Knoxville resisted an attack by Longstreet as
he proceeded. He occupied Knoxville, which
ha J been evacuated by General Buckner upon his
approach. Here he entrenched himself and sus-
tained a terrific assavilt made by Longstreet,
and held his position in the face of fearful odds,
until relieved at the end of a month b}' General
Sherman's approach. Again assigned to the
command of his old 9th corps, General Burnside
was actively engaged in the closing operations
of the war under General Grant in the Wilder-
ness, Cold Harbor and Petersburg campaigns.
The losses in his corps in the Petersburg mine
explosion were very heavy, and General Meade,
whom he had outranked, bvit to whom he had
magnanimously yielded the command when the
exigencies of the occasion seemed to indicate
that a juncture of forces would be effective,
preferred charges of disobedience against him
and ordered a court martial. General Grant dis-
approved of this method of procedure, but at
Burnside's request a court of inquiry was held.
He was judged " answerable for the want of suc-
cess," but subsequently it was determined by a
congressional committee appointed to investigate
the matter, that Genei'al Burnside's plans had
been well laid and would without doubt have
been crowned with success had they been carried
out according to his orders. At the close of the
war General Burnside resigned liis commission
and retired to private life. In 1866 he was elected
governor of Rhode Island, and being twice re-
elected served until 1869, when he refused a
fourth nomination, and once more engaged in
railroad construction and management. He was
in Paris at the time of the Franco- Prussian
war, and was requested to act as envoy between
besiegers and besieged. The attempted negotia-
tions were not consummated, but General Burn-
side won the respect of both armies through the
incident of his offices. In January, 1875, he was
elected to the United States senate from Rhode
Island, and soon gained prominence in that bodj"^.
He proved himself an able statesman, was ap-
pointed a member of several important commit-
tees, and in 1880 was reelected. See LJfe und
Public Services of Ambrose E. Burnside, by
Ben Perley Poore (1883). He died in Bristol,
R. I., Sept. 3, 1881.
BURR, Aaron, educator, was born at Fair- field, Conn., Jan. 4, 1716; son of Daniel and Eliza Burr,and grandson of Jehu (3d) and Mary (Ward) Burr. He was graduated from Yale in 1735, and awarded one of the Berkeley scholarships, which enabled him to pursue his theological studies. In 1737 he was admitted to the Presbyterian ministry, and installed as pastor of the church at Newark, N. J. There he opened a school for boys, which he managed successfulh" for some years, and in 1748 he was chosen president of the College of New Jersey, which had grown from the school started by William Tennent at Nesh- aminy, N. J., in 1736, which became known as the "Log College." The school was removed to Newark, N. J., so that he might attend to the duties of the presidency without resigning his parish. The first class was graduated in 1748, and was composed of six j'oung men. In 1753 President Burr married Esther, daughter of Jona- than Edwards. The fruit of this union was a daughter, who married Tapping Reeve, chief justice of the supreme court of Connecticut, and a son, Aaron, who became vice-president of the United States. President Burr resigned his pastorate at Newark in 1756, and removed the
