706 



OBITUARIES, UNITED STATES. 



sympathies being upon the side of the Union, 

 he came to theUnited States to aid in its main- 

 tenance. He first joined a company of light 

 artillery in New York city, and proceeded to 

 Rochester for recruits. He afterward joined 

 the Harris Guards, and rose to the office of 

 lieutenant-colonel. During the peninsular cam- 

 paign he commanded a battalion of his regi- 

 ment then in the service on the Chickahominy. 

 He was a brave and chivalrous officer, and lost 

 his life while making a reconnoissance with a 

 part of his men, and bravely assailing a force 

 of the enemy which he encountered. 



May 3. RINGOLD, Ool. BENJAMIN, was kill- 

 ed in the fight before Suffolk, Va. He entered 

 the army as a captain, was promoted to be 

 major, and subsequently became colonel of the 

 103d New York volunteers. He commanded 

 his regiment at South Mountain, Antietam, and 

 Fredericksburg. At Antietam he particularly 

 distinguished himself by his bravery and daring 

 in driving a Georgia regiment from a strong 

 position at tfhe point of the bayonet, and taking 

 the colors of the regiment. He was for a long 

 time attached to Col. Hawkins's brigade. 



May 4. BUTLER, Rev. FRANCIS EUGENE, died 

 from wounds received in battle at Suffolk, Va., 

 aged 38 years. He was a native of Suffolk, 

 Conn., and for a number of years was engaged 

 in mercantile pursuits in New York city, where 

 he was well known as secretary of the New 

 York Bible Society, as one of the founders of 

 the Young Men's Christian Association, and as 

 an active friend of other religious institutions. 

 When twenty-nine years old he entered Yale 

 College with the determination of fitting him- 

 Belf for the ministry. He graduated in 1857, 

 after which he spent three years in the study 

 of theology at Princeton, and subsequently one 

 year at Andover. Having been licensed to 

 preach, he supplied for a time the pulpit of a 

 church in Bedford Springs, Penn., and after- 

 ward that of the Second Presbyterian church 

 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was next engaged as 

 minister of the Congregational Church in Pater- 

 Bon, N. J. When the 25th regiment of New 

 Jersey volunteers was organized, he accepted 

 the post of chaplain, and accompanied the regi- 

 ment to Suffolk, Va. In an engagement near 

 that place, May 3d, learning that some men of a 

 Connecticut regiment on the right were suffer- 

 ing for want of surgical assistance, he went to 

 their relief, and in so doing, being greatly ex- 

 posed, he was shot by a sharpshooter and died 

 the next day. 



May 4. PLUMMER, JOSEPH B., a brigadier- 

 general in the United States volunteer service, 

 died at Corinth, aged about 44 years. He 

 graduated at West Point in 1841, in the same 

 class with the late Gens. Lyon, Richardson, 

 Reynolds, and Whipple, the late Col. Garesch6, 

 and Gens. Buell and Wright of the army of the 

 United States. After serving with distinction 

 in Florida and Mexico, he was stationed for 

 several years at the West. At the commence- 

 ment of the present war he was a captain of the 



First United States infantry, and accepted the 

 command of a regiment of Missouri volunteers. 

 In tins capacity he participated in the battle 

 of Springfield, and subsequently distinguished 

 himself at the battle of Fredericktown, Mo., for 

 which he was promoted to the rank of briga- 

 dier-general of volunteers. He participated in 

 the campaign of the Mississippi river and dis- 

 tinguished himself at Island No. 10, and other 

 engagements in that vicinity. Becoming pros- 

 trated by his severe labors in the service, he 

 obtained leave of absence to recruit his health. 

 After a short visit to bis family, he returned to 

 his command while yet unfit for duty, and died 

 the day after his arrival in the camp of Gen. 

 Rosecrans, at Corinth. 



May 5. STEVENS, Col. WILLIAM OLIVER, died 

 from injuries received in the battle near Chan- 

 cellorsville, Va., aged 36 years. He was born 

 in Belfast, Maine, was fitted for college at 

 Phillips Academy, Andover, and graduated at 

 Harvard College in 1848. After leaving col- 

 lege he studied law with his father in Lawrence, 

 and subsequently with Hon. Thomas Wright, 

 of the same place, and went to Florida, where 

 he practised his profession for a few months, 

 but was obliged to leave on account of the de- 

 bilitating effects of the climate. In 1852 he 

 went into the practice of his profession in Dun- 

 kirk, New York. In 1859 he was elected dis- 

 trict attorney of Chautauque county, filled the 

 office for two years to the entire satisfaction of 

 the people, and resigned his position for the 

 military service of his country, in 1861. He 

 joined the Excelsior Brigade at Staten Island, 

 as captain of a company raised in Dunkirk, was 

 elected major before leaving the island, and 

 took a conspicuous part in the battles of Wil- 

 liamsburg, Fair Oaks, White Oak Swamp, and 

 Malvern Hill. In October, 1862, he was com- 

 missioned colonel, dating back to September, 

 and his regiment was attached to the third 

 army corps under Gen. Sickles. At the bat- 

 tle of Chancellorsville, May 3d, his horse being 

 shot under him early in the engagement, he led 

 his regiment on foot, and soon after received 

 a mortal wound and was carried to the hos- 

 pital, where, after enduring the most terrible 

 suffering with heroic fortitude, he died the fol- 

 lowing Tuesday. 



May 5. WHIPPLE, Gen. AMIEL W. died at 

 Washington, D. C. 



May 7. HOLMES, JOHN E., died at Annapolis 

 from the effects of confinement in a Richmond 

 prison. He was born in Hartford county, Con- 

 necticut, in 1809, was educated in the Univ'er- 

 salist Academy at Hamilton, N. Y., and com- 

 menced the study of law, but subsequently'en- 

 tered the ministry. After preaching three 

 years he returned to the study of law, and was 

 admitted to the bar in Illinois. In 1843 he 

 removed to Jefferson, Wisconsin, and soon after 

 became a member of the Territorial Council. 

 In 1848 he was lieutenant-governor, and in 

 1852 was elected to the State Legislature, all 

 of which positions he filled with honor and 



