Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/345

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HUNT
HUNT
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was chief of artillery in the defences of Washing- ton from July to September, 1861, and on 28 Sept. became aide to Gen. JVIcClellan with the rank of colonel. In l861-'2 he was president of a board to test rifled field-guns and projectiles, and organized the artillery reserve of the Army of the Potomac, commanding it in the peninsular campaign of 1862. In September, 1862, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers, and became chief of artillery of the Army of the Potomac, holding the office till the close of the war, and taking an active part in all the bat- tles that were fought by that army in 1862-'5. He was brevetted colonel, 3 July, 1863, for his services at Gettysburg, major-general of volunteers, 6 July, 1864, for " faithful and highly meritorious services " in the campaign from the Rapidan to Petersburg, brigadier-general in the regular army for his ser- vices in the campaign ending with Lee's surrender, and major-general, U. S. army, 13 March, 1865, for services during the war. He was president of the permanent artillery board in 1866, and then com- manded various forts, being promoted to colonel of the 5th artillery, 4 April, 1869. He was retired from active service, 14 Sept., 1883, and appointed gov- ernor of the Soldiers' home, Washington, D. C. Gen. Hunt published "Instruction for Field Ar- tillery" (Philadelphia, 1860), and was the author of various papers on artillery, projectiles, and army organization. In 1886 he contributed to the " Cen- tury " three articles on the battle of Gettysburg. — His brother, Lewis Cass, soldier, b. in Fort Howard, Green Bay, Wis., 23 Feb.. 1824; d. in Fort Union, New Mexico, 6 Sept., 1886, was gradu- ated at the U. S. military academy in 1847, and assigned to the infantry. He became captain, 23 May, 1855, and served on the Pacific coast till the civil war. He was stationed in Washington terri- tory in 1859, when Gen. Harney occupied San Juan island in Puget sound, which was then claimed by Great Britain, and, when a joint occupation of the island by British and U. S. forces was arranged by Gen. Scott, was chosen to command the Ameri- can detachment. After serving in the first part of the peninsular campaign of 1862, he became on 21 May of that year colonel of the 92d New York regiment, and was severely wounded at Fair Oaks. He was made brigadier-general of volunteers 29 Nov., 1862, and in the winter of 1862-'3 served in North Carolina, receiving the brevet of colonel for gallantry at Kinston. He was made major in the 14th infantry, 8 June. 1863, had charge of the draft rendezvous at New Haven, Conn., in 1863-'4, and, after special duty in Missouri and Kansas, com- manded the defences of New York harbor in 1864-'6. He was brevetted brigadier-general in the regular army, 13 March, 1865, for his services in the war, and afterward commanded various posts, becoming lieutenant-colonel of the 20th in- fantry, 29 March, 1868. He was transferred to the 4th infantry on 25 Feb., 1881, and promoted to colonel of the 14th infantry on 19 May.


HUNT, Isaac, lawyer, b. in Barbadoes, W. I., in 1751 ; d. in London, England, in 1809. He was the son of the Rev. Isaac Hunt, rector of St. Michael's, Bridgetown, Barbadoes, and the father of Leigh Hunt, the poet. He was sent to Philadelphia to be educated, and in 1763 was graduated at the college in that city (now University of Pennsyl- vania). He read law, was admitted to the bar in 1765, and engaged in practice. In 1765 he applied to the college for his degree as master of arts, which was refused him by the trustees on tech- nical grounds. He renewed his application the next year, but was refused on the ground of his being the "author and publisher of several scurrilous and scandalous pieces," among which were " A Letter from a Gentleman in Transylvania to his Friend in America" (1764), "A Humble Attempt at Scur- rility," and "The Substance of an Exercise had this Morning in Scurrility Hall " (1765). All of these had been published anonymously. The trustees finally, in 1771, conferred the degree. At the beginning of the Revolution he became an ac- tive loyalist, and was at one time mobbed for point- ing out to the owner of a book-store a volume of reports of trials for high treason as a proper book for John Adams to read. He also wrote pamphlets in support of the crown, which led to his arrest and imprisonment, but he bribed the sentinel of the prison, and made his escape to Barbadoes and thence to England. He was soon afterward or- dained to the ministry by Dr. Lowth, then bishop of London, and preached for a time in Bentinck chapel, Paddington. The Duke of Chandos heard him at Southgate, and was so pleased with his preaching that he invited him to become tutor to his nephew, Mr. Leigh, which the preacher did, and remained in the duke's family for several years. During this time Col. John Trumbull, son of Gov. Trumbull, of Connecticut, went to London to pur- sue his studies in art under Benjamin West. He was suspected by the government to be a spy. and was arrested and thrown into prison. Hunt, in conjunction with West, was chiefly instrumental in securing his release. Some years before Hunt's death he became a L T nitarian. Besides the publi- cations named, Hunt was the author of " The Po- litical Family, or a Discourse pointing out the Reciprocal Advantages which flow from an Un- interrupted Union between Great Britain and her American Colonies" (Philadelphia, 1775); and " Right of Englishmen, an Antidote to the Poison of Thomas Paine " (London. 1791). See the " Autobiography of Leigh Hunt " (London, 1870) ; and also the " Autobiography of John Trumbull " (New York and London. 1841).


HUNT, Jedediah, poet, b. in Candor. Tioga co., N. Y., 28 Dec, 1815. His father, Jedediah, was a captain of New York volunteers at the battle of Lundy's Lane. The son emigrated to Ohio about 1840, and became a merchant in Chilo, Clermont co. He contributed lyric poems and prose arti- cles to " Graham's Magazine," to the New York " Home Journal," and to the " Genius of the West " and other western journals, and published " The Cottage Maid, a Tale in Rhyme " (Cincinnati. 1847).


HUNT, John Wesley, physician, b. in Groveland. Livingston co., N. Y., 10 Oct., 1834. He was educated at the Wesleyan seminary, Lima, N. Y., and graduated at the University medical college. New York city, in 1859. He served on the house surgical staff in Bellevue hospital, New York city, and began practice in Jersey City, N. J. In May, 1861, he was commissioned as surgeon of a New York regiment, and served at Fortress Monroe, where he was remarkably successful in treating the disease that became known as Chickahominy fever. In May, 1862, he was made brigade-surgeon of volunteers, and placed in charge of the Mill Creek hospital, near Fortress Monroe. There he demonstrated the practicability of thoroughly ventilating a large building crowded with wounded men. In August, 1862, he was attacked with fever, and returned to the north. He resigned from the army, and after months of illness resumed his practice. He was one of the organizers of the Jersey City charity hospital, and first president of its medical board. He has read papers before the Hudson County medical society, and contributed to the " Transactions " of the New Jersey medical society.