Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/395

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ST. CLAIR
SAINTE-CLAIRE DEVILLE

In July, 1775, he was made colonel of militia, and in the autumn he accompanied as secretary thr commissioners that were appointed to treat with tin' western tribes at Fort Pitt. On 3 Jan., 1776, hr became colonel of the 2d Pennsylvania regi- ment, and, being ordered to Canada, he joined Gen. John Sullivan after the disastrous affair at Three Rivers, and aided that officer by his coun- sel, saving the army from capture. He was ap- pointed brigadier-general on 9 Aug., 1776, having resigned his civil offices in the previous January. Joining Gen. Washington in November, 1776. he was appointed to organize the New Jersey militia, and participated in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. On the latter occasion he rendered valuable service by protecting the fords of the Assanpink. He was appointed major-general on 19 Feb., 1777, and, after serving as adjutant-gen- eral of the army, succeeded Gen. Horatio Gates in command at Ticonderoga. The works there and at Mount Independence on the opposite shore of Lake Champlain were garrisoned by less than 2.000 men, poorly armed, and nearly destitute of stores. The approach of a force of more than 7,000 men under Gen. John Burgoyne warned Gen. St. Clair to prepare for an attack. His force was too small to cover all exposed points, and, as he had not discovered Burgoyne's designs, he neglected to for- tify Sugar Loaf mountain over which the British approached. St. Clair and his officers held a coun- cil of war, and decided to evacuate the fort. The blaze of a house that had been set on fire con- trary to orders discovered their movements, and immediately the British started in pursuit. St. Clair fled through the woods, leaving a part of his force at Hubbardton. which was attacked and defeated by Gen. Eraser on 7 July, 1777, after a well-contested battle. On 12 July, St. Clair reached Fort Edward with the remnant of his men. The evacuation," wrote Washington, when the news reached him, " is an event of chagrin and surprise not apprehended, nor within the compass of my reasoning. This stroke is severe indeed, and has distressed us much." Gen. St. Clair remained with his army, and was with Washington at Brandy- wine, 11 Sept., 1777, acting as voluntary aide. A court-martial was held in 1778, and he was ac- quitted, "with the highest honor, of the charges against him," which verdict was approved by con- gress. He assisted Gen. John Sullivan in prepar- ing his expedition against the Six Nations, was a commissioner to arrange a cartel with the British at Amboy, 9 March, 1780, and was appointed to command the corps of light infantry in the absence of Lafayette, but did not serve, owing to the re- turn of Gen. George Clinton. He was a member of the court-martial that condemned Maj. Andre, commanded at West Point in October, 1780, and aided in suppressing the mutiny in the Pennsyl- vania line in January, 1781. He was active in rais- ing troops and forwarding them to the south, and in October joined Washington at Yorktown a few days before the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. In November he was placed in command of a body of troops to join Gen. Nathanael Greene, and remained in the south until October, 1782. He was a mem- ber of the Pennsylvania council of censors in 1783, a delruate tn thr < 'onl mental con^ivss I'l-oiii _' Nov.. 1785, till 28 Nov., 1787, and its [.resident in 1787, and a member of the American philosophical soci- ety. On the formation of the Northwestern terri- tory in 1789 Gen. St. Clair was appointed its gov- ernor, holding this office until 1802. The last words of Washington on his departure were: " Re- ware of a surprise." He made a treaty with tin- Indians at Fort Ilarmar in 17N9. anil in 1790 he fixed the seat of' justice of the territory at Cincin- nati. ( Hiio, which he named in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which he was president for Pennsylvania in 1783-'9. He was appointed com- mander-in-chief of the army that was operating against, the Indians on 4 March, 1791, and moved toward the savages on Miami and Wabash rivers, suffering so severely from gout that he was carried on a litter. He was surprised near the Miami vil- lages on 4 Nov., and his force was defeated by a horde of Indians led by Blue Jacket. Little Turtle, and Simon Girty. the renegade. Washington re- fused a court of inquiry, and St. Clair resigned his general's commission on 3 March, 1792. but con- gress appointed a committee of investigation, which exonerated him. On 22 Nov., 1802, he was removed from his governorship by Thomas Jefferson. Re- tiring to a small log-house on the summit of Chest- nut ridge, he spent the rest of his life in poverty, vainly endeavoring to effect a settlement of his claims against the government. The legislature of Pennsylvania granted him an annuity of $400 in 1813, and shortly before his death he received from congress $2,000 in discharge of his claims, and a pension of $00 a month. He published " A Narrative of the Manner in which the Campaign against the Indians in the Year 1791 was con- ducted under the Command of Maj.-Gen. St. Clair, with his Observations on the Statements of the Secretary of War " (Philadelphia, 1812). See The Life and" Public Services of Arthur St. Clair, with his correspondence and other papers, arranged by William H. Smith (Cincinnati, 1883).


ST. COME, John Francis Buisson de, Canadian missionary, b. in France about 1658 ; d. near Mobile in 1707. He was ordained in 1683. Some time before 1700 he was sent from Canada, and be- gan a mission among the Natchez Indians. He soon gained the confidence of the chief, who, was a woman, and the affection of the people, although he was not very successful in converting them. Being obliged to visit Mobile in 1707, he embarked with three Frenchmen, and while sailing down the river the whole party were slain by the Sitimacha Indians. The Natchez avenged his death by the almost entire destruction of that tribe, and to pre- serve his memory gave his name to the " Lesser Sun," or second chief.


ST. CYR, John Mary Ireiins, clergyman, b. near Lyons, France, 2 Jan., 1804 ; d. in Carondelet, Mo., 21 Feb., 1883. He studied for the priesthood and received the tonsure in Lyons, 5 June, 1830. Soon afterward he embarked as a missionary for the valley of the Mississippi, and was received into the vicariate of St. Louis. He was ordained in the cathedral of St. Louis, 6 April, 1833. He re- ceived his first appointment from Bishop Rosati, 17 April, 1833, who assigned him to Chicago, which was then a frontier post. After a journey of two weeks he arrived there, and in September, 1833, he secured the erection of the first church, and became the first resident priest. He remained in Chirac till 1837, when he went to Quincy, 111., and thrncc to Kaskaskia, Sainte Genevieve, and Carondelet, Mo., where he died.


SAINTE-CLAIRE DEVILLE, Charles, French geologist, b. in the island of St. Thomas. West Indies, in 1814: d. in Paris, France, 10 Oct., 1876. After having pursued the regular course of studies as out-door pupil at the Ecole des mines in Paris, he undertook a journey of scientific investigation at his own expense,' and in 1839-'43 visited the Antilles and the islands of Teneriffe and Cape Vrrd. His geological exploration of