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An American historian; born in Beekman, Dutchess County, N. Y., 1813; died near Dover Plains, N. Y., June 3, 1891. He was a voluminous writer, and equally at home in historical, biographical, and critical composition; but his most useful and enduring works were his great "Pictorial Field-Books" of the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War,- the first published in illustrated numbers 1850-52 (2 vols.), the second in 1868, the third 1866-69 (3 vols.). He was a wood engraver, and himself made the engravings for the works, the scenic ones largely from sketches on the spots. He wrote also "Outline History of the Fine Arts" (1841); "Lives of the Presidents of the United States" (1847); "Biographies of Eminent Americans" (1855); "A History of England" for schools (1871); etc.