Dictionary.net

An American astronomer and soldier; born in Union County, Ky., in 1809 or 1810; died in Beaufort, S. C., of yellow fever, Oct. 30, 1862. He graduated at West Point in 1829; became professor of mathematics and astronomy at Cincinnati College, O., 1834, and was largely instrumental in building and equipping the observatory there, and was director of the Dudley Observatory, Albany, N.Y., 1859. He was made brigadier-general in the Federal service, 1861; won the battle of Huntsville, Ala., April 1862; was promoted to major-general and commander of the Department of the South. He delivered many popular lectures on astronomy, and published "Planetary and Stellar Worlds"; "The Orbs of Heaven"; "Elementary Treatise on the Sun"; and "Astronomy of the Bible".