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Worn in Maine in 1844, was brevetted major for services in the Civil War, and soon afterward entered the Signal Service. In 1881 he commanded an expedition of twenty-five men which established an observation station at the farthest point north yet attained. When rescued in 1884, only seven men had survived. He was chief of the Signal Service from 1887 to 1892. In 1887 he became a brigadier-general.