Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Lee, William Henry Fitzhugh, known as Rooney Lee, 1837–91, Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, b. Arlington House, near Alexandria, Va.; son of Robert E. Lee. He entered Harvard i...

(Encyclopedia) nightingale, common name for a migratory Old World bird of the family Turdidae (thrush family), celebrated for its vocal powers. The common nightingale of England and Western Europe, Luscinia megarhyn...

(Encyclopedia) Morgan, Daniel, 1736–1802, American Revolutionary general, b. probably in Hunterdon co., N.J. He moved (c.1753) to Virginia and later served in the French and Indian Wars and several campaigns again...

(Encyclopedia) Delany, Martin Robinson dəlāˈnē [key], 1812–85, American black leader, b. Charles Town, Va. (now in West Virginia). The son of free blacks, he attended a black school in Pittsburgh and studied m...

(Encyclopedia) Dove, Rita, 1952–, American poet, b. Akron, Ohio, studied Iowa Writers' Workshop (M.F.A., 1977). Her first poetry collection, Ten Poems, was published in 1977. Her verse is at once concise, precise,...

(Encyclopedia) Calamity Jane kəlămˈĭtē jānˈ [key], c.1852–1903, American frontier character, b. Princeton, Mo. Her real name was Martha Jane Canary, and the origin of her nickname is obscure. Little is know...

(Encyclopedia) Citadel, The–The Military College of South Carolina sĭtˈədəl, –dĕlˌ [key], at Charleston; state supported; chartered (1842) as The Citadel, opened 1843. From 1882 to 1910 it was named the So...

(Encyclopedia) Hampton Roads, roadstead, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 40 ft (12.2 m) deep, SE Va., through which the waters of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth rivers pass into Chesapeake Bay. One of the finest natural...

(Encyclopedia) Stoneman, George, 1822–94, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Busti, N.Y. As commander of Fort Brown, Tex., in Feb., 1861, he refused to obey the order of General Twiggs to surrender to Tex...

(Encyclopedia) tomahawk [from an Algonquian dialect of Virginia], hatchet generally used by Native North Americans as a hand weapon and as a missile. The earliest tomahawks were made of stone, with one edge or two e...