The New International Encyclopædia/Gadsden, James

GADSDEN, James (1788-1858). An American soldier and diplomatist, born in Charleston, S. C. He graduated at Yale in 1806, and entered the United States Army soon afterwards. He served with marked efficiency in the War of 1812, was appointed aide-de-camp to General Jackson in 1818, participated in the Seminole War, was appointed military inspector of the Southern Division in 1820, and subsequently conducted the removal of the Seminole Indians to the southern part of Florida. In 1853 he was sent to Mexico as United States Minister, and in December of that year concluded the treaty which provided for the readjustment of the boundary between the two countries, and the acquisition by the United States of the tract of land subsequently known as the ‘Gadsden Purchase’ (q.v.).