Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Schofield, John McAllister skōˈfēld [key], 1831–1906, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Gerry, N.Y. He taught at West Point (1855–60) and on the outbreak of the Civil War became chief...

(Encyclopedia) Scott, Thomas Alexander, 1823–81, American railroad president, b. Fort Loudon, Pa. He was employed by the Pennsylvania RR as a station agent in 1850 and rose to become general superintendent (1858) ...

(Encyclopedia) Reconstruction, 1865–77, in U.S. history, the period of readjustment following the Civil War. At the end of the Civil War, the defeated South was a ruined land. The physical destruction wrought by t...

(Encyclopedia) O'Brien, Fitz-James, 1828?–1862, Irish-American author and journalist, b. Ireland. He settled in New York in 1852. He is remembered for two of his short stories, “The Diamond Lens” and “The Wo...

(Encyclopedia) Newbury, town (1991 pop. 31,488), West Berkshire, S central England. In a farming region, Newbury trades in wool, malt, and farm products. Paper, furniture, and metal products are also made. In the Mi...

(Encyclopedia) Fort Henry, Confederate fortification on the Tennessee River, S of the Ky.-Tenn. line; site of the first major Union victory of the Civil War (Feb. 6, 1862). The fort was attacked and reduced by Union...

(Encyclopedia) Smyrna, city (1990 pop. 30,981), Cobb co., NW Ga., a residential suburb of Atlanta; inc. 1872. Manufactures include computer equipment, building materials, plastics, ordnance, and chemicals. Originall...

(Encyclopedia) Bellows, Henry Whitney, 1814–82, American clergyman, b. Boston. From 1839 until his death he was pastor of the First Congregational Society, Unitarian (later Church of All Souls) in New York City. B...

(Encyclopedia) Balls Bluff, hill on the south bank of the Potomac River, near Leesburg, Va. In the Civil War, Union troops who had crossed the river were severely repulsed there on Oct. 21, 1861. Dissatisfaction wit...

(Encyclopedia) Glasgow, University of, at Glasgow, Scotland; founded 1451. Its charter provided for studies in theology, canon and civil law, arts, and “any other lawful faculty.” Today it has faculties of arts,...