HUNT, Henry Jackson, American soldier: b. Detroit, Mich., 14 Sept. 1819; d. Washington, D. C., 11 Feb. 1899. He was graduated from West Point in 1839, receiving a commission in the artillery. He saw service in the Canadian Rebellion 1837-38; afterward in the Mexican War. In General Scott's advance on the City of Mexico he distinguished himself as officer of the artillery at Contreras (18 Aug. 1847) and Chnrubusco (20 Aug. 1847) and subse quently received the brevet rank of major for gallantry. In 1856 he was placed on he board engaged in revising the system of light artillery tactics. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was stationed at Fort Pickens, Fla., 1861, and the same year commanded the artillery at the battle of Bull Run, and in the defense of Washington. He subsequently or ganized and commanded the reserve artillery of the Army of the Potomac. As commander of artillery he was present at the battle of Malvern Hill (1 July 1862) and he also took part in the battle of South Mountain. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers in 1862, and was present at the battles of Antie tam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettys burg, served in the Wilderness campaign and at the end of the war retired from his position with the rank of brigadier-general in the United States army. In 1866 he received the commis sion of colonel in the reorganized army, and in 1883 became governor of the National Sol diers' Home at Washington. Among his writ ings are 'Instruction for Field Artillery' (1860) and Battle of Gettysburg' (in (Battles and'Leaders of the Civil War) (New York 1887).
HUNT, (James Henry) Leigh, English journalist, essayist and critic: b. Southgate, Middlesex, England, 19 Oct. 1784; d. Putney, near London, 28 Aug. 1859. He was the young est of a large family of children, and was de scended on the one side from Tory cavaliers of West Indian adoption, and on the other from American Quakers of Irish extraction. From his father, an improvident and engaging clergyman of convival habits and of lax doc trines, Hunt seems to have inherited his op timism of temperament, his liberal views and his courage of conviction; from his mother, a passionate love of nature and of books. From birth a delicate child, he early developed hypo chondriacal tendencies that never left him. The years from 1791 to 1799 were spent at Christ's Hospital, and were his only formal preparation for a literary life. In 1801 his father pub
lished 'Juvenilia,' a collection of Hunt's poems written from the age of 12 to 17. They show wide reading and some fluency in versification, bat are mostly poor imitations. From 1803 to 1805 he worked in his brother Stephen's law office and, at the same time, began his long career as ajournalist with contributions to The Traveller, The News and other papers. His theatrical criticisms were reprinted separately in 1807.
His next prisition was in the office of the Secretary of War, resigned in 1808 in order to start his political journal, The Examiner, in its 7 far-reaching effects the most step of his career. With his brotherJohn as pub lisher, he continued editor unti 1821. The Examiner was a departure from the standards of contemporary journalism in its combination of the news-giving quality of the daily sheets with the essay style of the weeklies (Fox Bourne, (English Discussion of politics was its chief object. The liberal policy and boldness of attack of the editor caused one charge of libel by the Tory govern ment to follow closely upon the heels of an other. The third resulted in prosecution and conviction for applying to the Prince Regent, afterward George IV, the phrase "a fat Adonis of fifty.° The two brothers were sentenced to imprisonment of two years, dating from 15 Feb. 1813, in separate prisons, and a fine of f1,000 to be divided between them. They re jected offers from the government to remit the punishment on condition that The Examiner should change its attitude, and served the full sentence. Hunts finances, which up to this time had been good, became greatly in volved during his incarceration. Not until 1844 was he free from want. His health suffered greatly from the long confinement. The Re flector (1810-12) had much the Sam, , olitical and literary character as The Examw,r. The chief measures for which Hunt labored through these journals w re Catholic emancipation, re form of Parliamentary representation, liberty of the press, reduction and equalization of taxes, greater discretion in increasing the pub lic debt, education of the poor and ameliora tion of their sufferings, cessation of child labor, abolition of the slave trade, reform of mili tary discipline and of prison conditions and of criminal and civil laws. After Hunt's re lease from prison he was never again so active in political matters.