556 



DAHLGREN, ULRIC. 



DALLAS GEORGE M. 



D 



DAHLGREN, Col. ULBIO, an officer in the 

 United States Volunteer service, born in 1842, 

 killed in a skirmish at King and Queen's Court 

 House, Virginia, March 4, 1864. He "was the 

 son of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, and 

 had received a very thorough education, and 

 especially a careful training in the science of 

 gunnery, which was his father's specialty. 

 He had entered the navy as midshipman before 

 the breaking out of the war, and at the time 

 of the attack on Fort Sumter was travelling in 

 the Southwestern States. Great efforts were 

 made to induce him to join the rebels, but he 

 refused indignantly; and hastening home, he 

 assisted his father in the Ordnance Depart- 

 ment ; and when General Saxton was in com- 

 mand at Harper's Ferry, and the place was 

 first threatened, Commodore Dahlgren, having 

 received orders to place a naval battery on 

 Maryland Heights, sent his son Ulric to place 

 the guns in position, and take charge of the 

 battery. He executed this duty with great 

 skill, and when Gen. Sigel relieved Gen. Sax- 

 ton of his command, he found young Dahlgren 

 at his post as captain of artillery, and took him 

 at once upon his staff. Subsequently Gen. 

 Sigel solicited and obtained his appointment as 

 additional aide-de-camp with the rank of cap- 

 tain. He served in this capacity in Fremont's 

 mountain campaign, distinguishing himself par- 

 ticularly at Cross Keys, and served through 

 Pope's campaign, acting as chief of artillery 

 under Sigel at the second battle of Bull Run, 

 where he was specially commended by his 

 general. During the movements in the au- 

 tumn of 1862 he was actively engaged under 

 Gen. Stahel in all his reconnoissances and raids, 

 and when the Army of the Potomac moved 

 down into Virginia, in November, 1862, he 

 made that attack upon Fredericksburg at the 

 head of Gen. Sigel's bodyguard, which has 

 become famous in the history of the war. 

 For this gallant act Gen. Burnside detailed him 

 as special aid upon his staff. At the crossing 

 of the Rappahannock, at the unfortunate bat- 

 tle of Fredericksburg, he was one of the first 

 to land in that city. "When the army went 

 into winter quarters he rejoined Gen. Sigel, 

 and when that general was relieved of com- 

 mand, Gen. Hooker applied to have Capt. 

 Dahlgren transferred to his staff, which was 

 done. He again distinguished himself at the 

 battle of Chancellorsville, was with General 

 Pleasanton in all the cavalry fights in the Bull 

 Run Mountains and Aldie, joined Gen. Stahel's 

 expedition to Warrenton as a volunteer, and 

 led the most important reconnoissances then 

 made. "When Gen. Meade succeeded Gen. 

 Hooker, he requested Capt. Dahlgren to re- 

 main on his staff. Before the battles at Get- 

 tysburg he obtained from Gen. Pleasanton a 



hundred picked men, with a roving commis* 

 sion, and among other distinguished services 

 rendered the Union cause, scoured the country 

 in search of a bearer of despatches, whom ha 

 knew to be on his way from Jefferson Davi3 

 to Gen. Lee, captured him and his escort, se- 

 cured the despatches, and, by the most skilful 

 manoeuvring, succeeded in reaching Gen. 

 Meade's tent after the first day's battle, and 

 laid these important papers before him. Not 

 waiting for thanks, he returned to his men, 

 and harassed the enemy at every point, de- 

 stroying their wagon trains, and attacking their 

 rear-guard. On their retreat he led the fa- 

 mous charge into Hagerstown, when of five 

 officers in the charge two were killed, he was 

 wounded, and one of the remaining two was 

 saved by the ball striking his scabbard. He 

 was brought to "Washington, and his leg am- 

 putated, and, owing to the severe inflammation 

 which had set in, five operations were required 

 before the wound would heal, and his life was 

 despaired of. For his gallantry in this cam- 

 paign he was made colonel, and as soon as he 

 was able to move he was anxious to return to 

 active service. In concert with Gen. Kil- 

 patrick he planned the raid toward Richmond, 

 fired with the hope of being able to release the 

 Union prisoners then suffering so terribly at 

 Libby Prison and Belle Isle. Accepting with 

 delight the most dangerous part of the duty, 

 he was led into the midst of the enemy by his 

 treacherous guide, and brutally murdered when 

 endeavoring to fight his way out. His body 

 was stripped and treated with indignity, and 

 the rebels published, with abundant comments, 

 papers which they asserted were found upon 

 his person, giving instructions to his men to 

 burn Richmond, and even photographed these 

 papers, and sent copies to England. His friends 

 asserted that they were base forgeries. 



DALLAS, GEORGE MIFFLIN, an American 

 statesman, Ex- Vice President of the United 

 States, and more recently U. S. minister to the 

 Court of St. James, born in Philadelphia July 

 10, 1792, died in the same city December 31, 

 1864. He was the second son of Alexander 

 James Dallas, a distinguished jurist and Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury from 1814 to 1817. He re- 

 ceived his collegiate education at Princeton, 

 graduating in the year 1810, and then studied 

 law in his father's office, being admitted to the 

 bar of Philadelphia in 1813. The same year he 

 received the appointment of private secretary 

 to Mr. Gallatin, and accompanied that gentleman 

 on his mission to Russia to negotiate a treaty of 

 peace with England through the mediation of 

 the Emperor Alexander. On his return to this 

 country in the following year, he assisted his 

 father, for some months, in his duties as Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, and then commenced the 



