164 BERRY, HIRAM GEORGE. 



BILLAULT, AUGUSTS A. M. 



followed the business for a few years, bnt was 

 subsequently engaged, successfully, in naviga- 

 tion. He represented his native town in the 

 State Legislature several times, and was mayor 

 of the city of Rockland. Having a taste for rdili- 

 tary affairs he originated and commanded for 

 several years the Rockland Gsard, a volunteer 

 company which had attained a very high repu- 

 tation for its perfection of drill and discipline. 

 At the commencement of the war he entered 

 the volunteer service as colonel of the 4th 

 regiment of Maine volunteer infantry. The 

 regiment left Rockland on the 17th of June, 

 1861, arrived iu Washington on the 20th, and 

 went into camp on Meridian Hill on the 21st. 

 On the 8th of July it crossed into Virginia, 

 and on the 16th marched toward Centreville, 

 where it arrived on the 18th. It participated 

 in the battle of Bull Run, in acting Gen. How- 

 ard's brigade. After the battle it returned to 

 Alexandria, and on the 24th to Meridian Hill. 

 It was afterward brigaded in Gen. Sedgwick's 

 brigade of the army of the Potomac, and 

 when the army moved to the peninsula formed 

 part of Gen. Birney's brigade, in Gen. C. S. 

 Hamilton's division, and in that division parti- 

 cipated in the siege of Yorktown. On the 4th 

 of April, 1862, Col. Berry was made a brigadier- 

 general of volunteers, his commission dating 

 from March 17th, 1862, and was placed in 

 charge of the third brigade of the third division 

 of Heintzejman's third army corps. By this 

 change he was separated from his regiment. 

 In command of this brigade he participated in 

 the battle of William sburg, where the coming 

 of his brigade brought the first relief to the 

 wearied and blood-stained heroes of Gen. Hook- 

 er's division ; fought under Gen. Kearny at Fair 

 Oaks, and won the special commendation of that 

 daring and gallant officer for his indomitable 

 bravery ; bore a conspicuous part in the seven 

 days' battles, and on the 4th of July, 1862, 

 was, with Heintzelman's corps, highly compli- 

 mented for his valor and endurance by the 

 commanding general. On the 15th of August 

 he moved with his brigade to Yorktown, and 

 thence to Alexandria; thence to Warrenton 

 Junction and Rappahannock, and on the 29th 

 and 80th of Aug. took part with Kearny's divi- 

 sion in the battles of Centreville and Manassas, 

 or the second Bull Run. On the 1st of Septem- 

 ber he participated in the battle of Chantilly, 

 where the gallant Kearny lost his life. Dur- 

 ing the campaign in Maryland ho held with 

 his brigade important fords on the Potomac, 

 and thus cut off the retreat of the enemy. At 

 the battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13th, 1862, 

 Gen. Berry led his brigade in a charge upon a 

 force considerably exceeding his own in num- 

 bers, and drove them back, thus relieving his 

 division, then commanded by Gen. Birney, 

 from imminent peril. For this brave act he 

 was complimented by Gen. Birney in his re- 

 port. In January, 1863, he was nominated by 

 the President as major-general of volunteers, 

 with rank dating from Nov. 29th, 1862, and was 



confirmed by the Senate on the 9th of March, 

 1863. He was then placed in command of 

 the second division of the third army corps, 

 which was at that time under the command of 

 Major-Gen. Sickles. At the battle of Chan- 

 cellorsville, after the flight of the eleventh 

 army corps, who were pursued with great 

 fury by Gen. Jackson's corps, Gen. Hooker 

 selected Berry's division, which had been for- 

 merly his own division, and was one of the 

 finest in the army, to charge upon the advan- 

 cing foe, and stem the overwhelming wave 

 which was sweeping his army to destruction. 

 His order was characteristic, and showed liis 

 thorough appreciation of the courage and mili- 

 tary skill of Gen. Berry. It was as follows : 

 " Go in, General ; throw your men into the 

 breach ; don't fire a shot they can't see you 

 but charge home with the bayonet." They did 

 charge home, and in the shock of battle which 

 followed, the foe went down like grass before 

 the mower's scythe. For three hours that di- 

 vision, almost alone, withstood the repeated 

 assaults of a large body of Confederate troops 

 flushed with their previous victory, and at 

 last drove them back, and regained a por- 

 tion of their lost ground. The battle was re- 

 newed early the next morning, and again Ber- 

 ry and his division were ia front, and re- 

 ceived the first assault of the enemy. In- 

 tent upon driving them back, Gen. Berry 

 headed one of his brigades in several successful 

 bayonet charges, and in one of these was in- 

 stantly killed by a shot from the enemy. Gen. 

 Berry was not only a brave and skilful com- 

 mander, but a most estimable man in private 

 and social life, and his death caused deep sor- 

 row among a wide circle of warmly attached 



BIG BLACK RIVER rises in Choctaw coun- 

 ty, Mississippi, and flowing a south-west course 

 it empties into the Mississippi river at Grand 

 Gulf, below Vicksburg. It is about 200 miles 

 in length and its course is through a fertile coun- 

 try, which before the war abounded in cotton 

 plantations. 



BILLAULT, AUGUSTS ADOLPHE MARIE, a 

 French statesman, born atVannes, in the depart- 

 ment of Morbihan, November 12th, 1805, died 

 at Gresilieres, near Nantes, October 13th, 1863, 

 After studying law at Rennes, he joined the 

 bar of Nantes at the age of 20, and practised 

 with great success. He was elected while yet 

 very young a member of the municipal council 

 of Nantes, and soon after a member of the gen- 

 eral council of the department of Loire Inferi- 

 eure. While holding these offices he published 

 several pamphlets on education in France, mu- 

 nicipal organizations, roads, &c. In 1837, be- 

 fore he had attained his 32d year, his popular- 

 ity was so great that he was chosen a member 

 of the National Chamber of Deputies, by three 

 electoral districts, those of Nantes, Paimboeuf, 

 and Ancenis, when he selected the last, which 

 he represented till 1848. In the Chamber of 

 Deputies he soon attracted attention by his 



