born July 1, 1818, Dauphin county, Pa., U.S.
died May 15, 1883, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
U.S. army officer.
A graduate of West Point, he entered the U.S. Army in 1841. In keeping with the sympathies of his Alabama-born wife, he resigned his commission when the South seceded from the Union in 1860–61. As chief of ordnance for the Confederate army during the American Civil War , he sought arms from abroad while establishing factories in the South to produce rifles, small arms, bullets, powder, and cannons. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1864.