OELOFF, ALEXEI FEODOBEWITCH. 



PADUCAH. 



561 



restored to Iris former position. The Diocesan 

 Coin -ontion in 1859 adopted a petition to that 

 effect in 1S59, and it was passed by a large vote 

 in the Imver house of the General Convention, 

 but failed in the House of Bishops. Since his 

 suspension, Bishop Onderdonk has lived in re- 

 tirement, and the duties of the episcopate have 

 been performed by a provisional bishop. 



OELOFF, PRINCE (or COUNT) ALEXEI FEO- 

 POREWITCII, a Russian general and statesman, an 

 Illegitimate son of Duke Feodor OrlofF, born in 

 17*7, died on his estate near St. Petersburg, 

 May 21, 1861. lie entered the army at an 

 early age, and after participating in the war 

 between Russia and France, became aide-de- 

 camp to Alexander I. and afterwards adjutant 

 on the staff of the Grand Duke Constantino, 

 and finally colonel of a regiment of Horse 

 Guards. At the insurrection of Dec. 1825, at 

 the time of the accession of Nicholas I. to the 

 throne, he saved his imperial master, and quell- 

 ed the revolt by putting himself at the head 

 of the squadrons which remained faithful, and 

 charging with terrible fury on the insur- 

 gents. Nicholas evinced his gratitude for this 

 act of bravery and fidelity by bestowing upon 

 him for thirty years his confidence in a greater 

 degree than he permitted any other subject 

 to enjoy ; and Orloff was devoted to his sov- 

 ereign's interests as no other subject in the Em- 

 pire could be. In 1828, he fought against the 

 Turks, and in the following year attained a 

 high reputation as a diplomatist by his negotia- 

 tion of the peace of Adrianople. He was sent 

 immediately after the peace, as Minister Pleni- 

 potentiary to Constantinople. In 1830-31, 

 during the Polish Revolution, he was appointed 

 to inspect the conduct of the generals at the 



siege of "VTarsa-w, and was, as there is now 

 reason to believe, unjustly accused of being 

 privy to, and probably the cause of, the death 

 of Marshal Diebitsch and the Grand Duke 

 Coustautine by poison. In 1832, he was sent 

 as ambassador to London to sustain the rights 

 of Holland against Belgium. In 1833, he vis- 

 ited Turkey, as commander of the Russian 

 troops sent to protect the Sultan against Ibra- 

 him Pacha, and signed the treaty of Unkiar- 

 Skelessi between Russia and Turkey, which 

 gave to Russia the key of the Dardanelles. 

 On his return, the Czar bestowed upon him 

 the Order of St. Andrew, made him member 

 of the Council of State bestowed a large es- 

 tate upon him and appointed him General of 

 Cavalry. He was the companion of the em- 

 peror in all his visits to other European courts 

 and attended the coronation of the Emperor 

 Ferdinand of Austria, as Russian Envoy. In. 

 1844, he was appointed to the charge of the 

 secret police of Russia, which he managed for 

 ten years with extraordinary skill and success. 

 In 1854, at the opening of the war between 

 Russia and the Allies, he was sent to Vienna 

 to secure the support or at least the neutrality 

 of Austria, but failed fully to secure either. 

 In 1856, he represented Russia as first plenipo- 

 tentiary at the Congress of Paris, and aided in 

 negotiating the treaty of March 18. On the 

 17th of April, 1856, he was appointed by the 

 Czar Alexander II. president of the Grand 

 Council of the Empire, which position he held 

 to his death. He was also prince of the Em- 

 pire, and had received almost all the orders of 

 nobility in Europe. Few men of his time 

 possessed a more elegant and yet unpretending 

 address, or more quiet and refined manners. 



PADUCAH is the capital of McCracken 

 County, Kentucky. It is on the Ohio River, 

 below the mouth of the Tennessee River, and 

 340 miles below Louisville'. The name of the 

 town was derived from an Indian chief who 

 once resided in the vicinity. It has been the 

 most important place of business on the Lower 

 Ohio. The town was occupied by Union troops 

 at about eight o'clock on the morning of Sep- 

 tember 6. The Ninth Illinois regiment, Major 

 Phelps, the Twelfth Illinois, Col. McArthnr, 

 with four pieces of artillery, left Cairo for 

 Paducnh on the previous evening. Upon their 

 arrival the disembarkation was quickly per- 

 formed. Every place of business was closed. 



At the railroad depot it appeared that all the 

 rolling stock had been sent off. A large quan- 

 tity of contraband supplies, marked for towns 

 in the Confederate States, was found in the 

 depot, and immediately seized. They were 

 marked for Fort Gibson, Memphis, Union City, 

 and New Orleans. The whole value of the 

 seizure was over twenty thousand dollars. 

 36 



On the next day, part of the Eighth Regiment, 

 the Forty-first Illinois, and the American Zou- 

 aves, from Cape Girardeau, poured in, increas- 

 ing the force to about 5,000 effective men. 



By the occupation of Paducah, there were a 

 fleet and two flanking armies to assail the Con- 

 federate position in the Southwest. The char- 

 acter of the back country was quite favorable, 

 and the line to the Southwest was shorter, and 

 less exposed than from Missouri. It had been 

 regarded as the proper point, for the departure 

 of an expedition down the Mississippi. Gen. 

 Polk, it was supposed, intended to seize Padu- 

 cah, but was barely anticipated by Gen. Grant. 

 It was necessary for him as a defence for the 

 rear of his positions on the Mississippi. He ad- 

 vanced as far as Mayfield two or three times 

 with a large force, but his prudence caused him 

 to retreat. 



Paducah is fifty miles above Cairo, and is con- 

 nected by railway with all the Southern rail- 

 roads. By the railroads alone, many car-loads 

 of flour and bacon had daily gone to the South- 



