OUSHING, WILLIAM. B. 



DAKOTA. 



880 



approved l).v Chief- Justice Taney and the other 



Justices of tin- Supreme Court. This book 



led by another entitled "A Digest 



i-.ions nf tlu- Supremo Court of the 



I Stales in-ill the Origin of the Court to 



iosn of the December Term, 1854." AS 



tin* titlo indicates, tlii.s was ft work of the first 

 inipiirtaiiee. r. |iiirinj,' great patience as well OS 

 ability f.u- its completion. 



1 In- impeachment of President Johnson 

 brought Judge Curtis again into national prom- 

 inence. Associated with Messrs. Stonbery, 

 Kvarts, Nelson, and Groesbeck, he defended 

 < -sident with great ability and zeal. The 

 answer to the articles of impeachment, adocu- 

 meiit of nearly six columns, was read by him, 

 and was largely his work. He opened the 

 cose in a masterly speech of ten columns, 

 which occupied two days in delivery. Al- 

 though his voice was feeble and his delivery 

 unimpressive, he received the homage of re- 

 spectful attention from the Senators as well as 

 from the public who thronged the galleries. 

 1 Us forcible argument concluded with an able 

 summary of the whole case, and a calm appeal 

 to the sense of equity of the senatorial court, 

 reminding it of the great responsibility devolv- 

 ing upon it. As a jurist, he was remarkable 

 for the vast extent of his legal attainments, the 

 clearness and accuracy of his statements, and 

 the vigorous grasp of his logic. Justly proud 

 of his profession, he resisted every inducement 

 to engage in party strife, and, save as member 

 for one or two terms of the Massachusetts 

 House of Representatives, he never held a leg- 

 islative or political office. His law practice has 

 been one of the most lucrative in New Eng- 

 land. He was the Democratic candidate in the 

 protracted senatorial contest of 1874, and no 

 candidate found a more unwavering support. 

 He was also a member of the commission on 

 the new charter. His name was frequently 

 mentioned in connection with the chief-jus- 

 ticeship before the appointment of Judge 

 Waite. 



OUSHING, WILLIAM B., commander U. S. 

 Navy, a gallant and daring naval officer, born 

 in Wisconsin, November 24, 1844 ; died in the 

 Hospital for the Insane, Washington, D. C., 



December 17, 1874. lie was appointed to the 

 Naval Academy from New York, September 

 24, 1857, and resigned in 1858 ; but in May, 

 1861, was reappointed acting-midshipman, ami 

 immediately went into service at Hampton 

 1 t<ads, and on the day of his arrival captured 

 ,-md brought into port a tobacco-schooner, the 

 first prize of the war. In November, 1862, ho 

 was ordered in the steamer Ellis to capture 

 Jacksonville, Fla., and destroy the salt-works 

 at New Juliet. He accomplished both tasks, 

 but his steamer being aground, he tired her, 

 and escaped in a small boat. At Fort Fisher 

 he proceeded, under a constant and heavy fire, 

 to buoy out the channel in a small skiff, and 

 continued the work for six hours till he had 

 completed it. At the final assault on Fort 

 Fisher, he accompanied the force of sailors and 

 marines, in a " forlorn hope " attack on the sea- 

 front of the fort, and amid an unceasing fire at 

 short range, which cut down his men in wind- 

 rows, he crossed a hundred yards of the bare 

 and glittering sand, unharmed and apparently 

 unconcerned, rallied his men and lent such effi- 

 cient assistance to the struggling troops, that 

 before midnight the fort was surrendered. His 

 most remarkable exploit, and the most remark- 

 able and daring act of the whole war, was the 

 destruction of the Confederate ram Albemarle 

 at her wharf at Plymouth, N. C., while she 

 was carefully guarded and many miles within 

 the enemy's lines. The gallant officer received 

 for this daring feat a vote of thanks from Con- 

 gress, and a complimentary letter from the 

 Secretary of the Navy, as well as a prompt 

 promotion to the rank of lieutenant-com- 

 mander. Since the close of the war Lieutenant- 

 Commander Gushing had served in the Pacific 

 and Asiatic Squadrons, being in command of 

 the steamer Lancaster in 1866-'67, and of the 

 Maumee, in the Asiatic Squadron, in 1868-'69. 

 On the return of the Maumee to the United 

 States, Lieutenant-Commander Cushing was 

 advanced to the rank of commander, being 

 much the youngest officer of that rank in the 

 navy. He was allowed leave of absence, and 

 his health, which had been impaired by hia 

 over-exertions, failed completely in the last few 

 months. 



DAKOTA. No little attention was attract- 

 ed to this Territory, during the past year, by 

 the military reconnoitring expedition to the 

 country in Southwestern Dakota, known as the 

 Black Hills. The expedition was organized 

 for the purpose of exploring the unknown ter- 

 ritory in this region, with the view of discov- 

 ering practicable military routes between Fort 

 Lincoln, in the Department of Dakota, oppo- 

 site the terminus of the Union Pacific Rail- 

 road, and Fort Laramie, in the Department of 

 the Platte. 



The expedition, which was under the com- 

 mand of General Ouster, consisted of ten com- 

 panies of the Seventh Cavalry, one company 

 of the Twentieth Infantry and of the Seven- 

 teenth Infantry, vith a battery of three Gat- 

 ling and one 8-inch Rodman gun, and a de- 

 tachment of Indian scouts, guides, etc. The 

 scientific men accompanying the expedition 

 comprised, among others, William Ludlow, 

 Captain of Engineers, U. 8. A., and Chief-En- 

 gineer of the Department of Dakota ; Prof. N. 

 H. Winchell, of the University of Minnesota, 



