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Gorgas, Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Gorgas, Josiah gôrˈgəs [key], 1818–83, chief of ordnance in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, b. Dauphin co., Pa.; father of William Crawford Gorgas. He was commissioned in the ...

Jelgava

(Encyclopedia)Jelgava yĕlˈgävä [key], also Yelgava, Ger. Mitau, city (2011 provisional pop. 59,449), in Latvia, on the Lielupe River. It is a major rail hub and a trade center for grain and timber. The city gre...

LeMay, Curtis Emerson

(Encyclopedia)LeMay, Curtis Emerson ləmāˈ [key], 1906–90, U.S. general, b. Columbus, Ohio. Commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. army air corps in 1930, he advanced through grades and in World War II co...

Posse Comitatus Act

(Encyclopedia)Posse Comitatus Act, 1878, U.S. federal law that makes it a crime to use the military as a domestic police force in the United States under most circumstances. The law was designed to end the use of f...

Polk, Leonidas

(Encyclopedia)Polk, Leonidas, 1806–64, American Episcopal bishop and Confederate general in the Civil War, b. Raleigh, N.C. He left the army to study for the ministry and was ordained in 1831. He served as missio...

Porter, Fitz-John

(Encyclopedia)Porter, Fitz-John, 1822–1901, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Portsmouth, N.H.; nephew of David Porter. He saw service in the Mexican War and was an instructor at West Point (1849–55)....

Central Valley project

(Encyclopedia)Central Valley project, central Calif., long-term general scheme for the utilization of the water of the Sacramento River basin in the north for the benefit of the farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley ...

Bradley, Omar Nelson

(Encyclopedia)Bradley, Omar Nelson, 1893–1981, U.S. general, b. Clark, Mo. A graduate of West Point, he served in World War I and filled various army administrative and academic posts before assuming (1943) comma...

Stoneman, George

(Encyclopedia)Stoneman, George, 1822–94, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Busti, N.Y. As commander of Fort Brown, Tex., in Feb., 1861, he refused to obey the order of General Twiggs to surrender to Tex...

Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of

(Encyclopedia)Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of, New York City, the world's largest Gothic cathedral. The Episcopal cathedral was begun in 1892 in the Byzantine-Romanesque style after designs by G. L. Heins and C...