McOALL, GEORGE A. 



1856 corresponding editor of the Northern 

 Independent, an antislavery Methodist journal 

 published at Auburn, and this paper became 

 the mouth-piece of the new denomination. 

 He had a large church, holding his own 

 views, in Sixth avenue, New York, called the 

 Trinity Methodist Church. He was at the 

 same time engaged, almost constantly, in lit- 

 erary labor, and published a very able treatise 

 in defence of the doctrine of the Trinity. 

 After the Quadrennial Conference of 1864, 

 finding that the Methodist Episcopal Church 

 occupied substantially the same ground with 

 himself, on the slavery question, Dr. Mattison 

 regarded any further distinctive and indepen- 

 dent action as unwise, and made overtures 

 for a return to that Church. He was very cor- 

 dially welcomed, and assigned to the charge 

 of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church in 

 Jersey City, in the spring of 1865. In 1867 

 he resigned his charge to accept the position 

 of secretary of the American and Foreign 

 Christian Union. His first public appearances 

 in connection with this society were made in 

 the way of a most forcible onslaught upon 

 Roman Catholicism and its benign influences 

 on the hearts and lives of men. The case 

 of Marianne Smith, a young girl of Roman 

 Catholic parentage, who had united with a 

 Methodist church, and whose father had 

 caused her arrest and detention in the " House 

 of the Good Shepherd," a Roman Catholic 

 reformatory and Magdalen Asylum in New 

 York, roused his indignation, and he interested 

 himself in her behalf, preached about the 

 case, in vain appealed to the courts and to 

 the public, and, finally, published a little vol- 

 ume in regard to it. While in the midst of 

 his manifold religious and intellectual activ- 

 ities, he was seized with pneumonia, and died 

 after a -very few days' illness. 



McCALL, GEORGE ARCHIBALD, Major-General 

 of Pennsylvania Volunteers, Brigadier-General 

 XI. S. Volunteers, and formerly Colonel of Cav- 

 alry, U. S. A., a meritorious officer in the late 

 war, born in Philadelphia, March 16, 1802 ; 

 died at Westchester, Pa., February 25, 1868. 

 After receiving his early education in the 

 schools of his native city, young McCall en- 

 tered the Military Academy at West Point in 

 1818, and graduated in 1822, ranking twenty- 

 sixth in a class of forty. He was immediately ap- 

 pointed second-lieutenant in the First regiment 

 of Infantry, and in December of the same year 

 transferred to the same rank in the Fourth 

 Infantry. He served for nine years in Florida 

 and Louisiana, being promoted to a first-lieu- 

 tenancy in January, 1829, was selected by 

 General Gaines as aide-de-camp, in April, 1831, 

 and remained on his staff till March, 1836, 

 when he was ordered on recruiting service, 

 having been promoted to be captain in Septem- 

 ber, 1836, and in 1838 was sent to the northern 

 frontier, during the Canada troubles. His 

 next assignment to duty was in the Indian Ter- 

 ritory, where he remained till 1841. He was 



MoRAE, JOHN J. 



461 



actively engaged in the Florida War, in 1841- 

 '42, and distinguished himself in one of the 

 severest battles of that war (that of the Big 

 Hammock of Pilaklikaha, April 19, 1842). He 

 was thenceforth on the frontier in Kansas and 

 Texas till the Mexican War, and distinguished 

 himself for his gallantry in the battles of Palo 

 Alto and Resaca de la Palm a, winning brevets 

 of major and lieutenant-colonel. In July, 

 1846, he again received a staff appointment as 

 assistant adjutant-general, and chief of staff to 

 Major-General Patterson's Division. In De- 

 cember, 1847, he was promoted to be major 

 of the Third Infantry. At the close of the war 

 he visited Europe on leave of absence, and on 

 his return, after being in actual command of 

 his regiment for some months at Santa Fe", was 

 appointed by President Taylor Inspector-Gen- 

 eral of the Army of the United States with 

 staff rank of colonel of cavalry. After nearly 

 three years of service in this important office, 

 he resigned his connection with the army, April 

 29, 1853, and retired to his residence in Chester 

 County, Pa., where he remained till 1861. At 

 the commencement of the late civil war, he or- 

 ganized, at Governor Curtin's request, the Penn- 

 sylvania Reserve Corps, 15,000 strong, which he 

 commanded with the State rank of Major-Gen- 

 eral of Pennsylvania Volunteers, from July, 

 1861, to June, 1862. He was also appointed by 

 the President Brigadier-General, U. S. Volun- 

 teers, May 17, 1861. He was engaged in the ac- 

 tion of Drainsville, December 20, 1861, in the 

 battle of Mechanicsville (commanding the en- 

 gaged troops), June 26, 1862, where he distin- 

 guished himself for his bravery and tenacity in 

 holding his position ; at the battle of Gaines's 

 Mill, June 27, 1862, his conduct was again highly 

 creditable; and at the battle of New Market 

 Cross Roads, June 30, 1862, at the close of which, 

 while reconnoitring, he was taken prisoner, 

 and confined in Libby Prison for nearly seven 

 weeks. When exchange^ he went home on 

 sick-leave of absence, his health having been 

 much impaired by his imprisonment, and did 

 not again take any active part in the war, but 

 resigned his commissions March 31, 1863. On 

 the 26th of August, 1862, he was presented by 

 the citizens of Chester County with a superb 

 sword. In October following he was the can- 

 didate of the Democratic party for Congress, but 

 was defeated. His health continued infirm, and, 

 though able to oversee the business of his estate 

 for some time, he gradually failed in health and 

 strength to his death. A volume written by 

 Gen. McCall, entitled "Letters from the Fron- 

 tier, written during thirty years' service in the 

 U. S. Army," has been published since his death. 

 McRAE, JOHN J., a Southern politician and 

 political leader, born in Wayne County, Missis- 

 sippi about 1810; died at Balize, British Hon- 

 duras, May 30, 1868. Mr. McRae was edu- 

 cated at the University of Mississippi, and, soon 

 after graduating, entered upon the study of 

 law, rather from a desire to make it the step- 

 ping-stone to a political career than from any in- 



