Hobson

the running of the works after they were com-
pleted In 1866 he became superintendent and
mechanical engineer for the Union Metallic Car-
tridge Company, at Bridgeport, Conn. In this
position he patented many improvements in car-
tridge-making machinery and designed some of
the best machine tools of the period. His ability
in the manufacturing part of the business is said
to have contributed as much to its success as the
sales and organizing ability of the owners.
Hobbs remained with the company until 1890,
and died at Bridgeport, the following year, sur-
vived by a wife and two children,

[Minutes of the Proc. of the Inst. of Civil Engineers,
London, vol. XIII (1854) \ Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. En-
gineers, vols. V (1884), VI (1885), XIII (1892);
George Price, A Treatise on Fire and Thief-Proof De-
positories and Locks and Keys (1856); The Standard's
Hist, of Bridgeport (1897) ; New Haven Evening Reg-
ister, Nov. 6, 1891; information from Remington Anns
Co.3 F.A.T.

HOBSON, EDWARD HENRY (July 11,
i825-Sept. 14, 1901), Union soldier, was the son
of Capt. William Hobson and Lucy (Kirtiey)
Hobson, of Greensburg, Ky. His father was well
established both as an owner of steamers on
Green River and as a merchant. Young Hobson
attended the common schools of Greensburg and
Danville, and entered upon a business career
with his father at the age of eighteen. He went
to Mexico as second lieutenant of Company A,
2nd Kentucky Infantry, starting from Louisville
by steamer in June 1846. For heroism at Buena
Vista he became first lieutenant. He was mus-
tered out in June 1847, and returning home, re-
sumed his commercial life. On Oct. 12, 1847, he
married Kate, daughter of Alexander and Eliza-
beth Adair and niece of Gov. John Adair [g.z/.].
He rose steadily in commerce and banking, be-
coming a director of the Greensburg Branch
Bank of Kentucky in 1853 and president in 1857.
In 1861, when the Confederates under Gen. S. B.
Buckner [#.z/.] were threatening western Ken-
tucky, Hobson with five companions carried the
bank's funds to Louisville. He was promptly
recognized in the call to arms, as colonel of the
2nd Kentucky Infantry; he subsequently recruit-
ed the 13th Infantry and as its colonel was mus-
tered into service, Jan. 12, 1862, receiving the
rank of brigadier-general of volunteers on Nov.
29, 1862. Under Gen. J. T. Boyle [q.v] he de-
fended several posts during the Confederate at-
tacks of 1862. He fought well in the center at
Shiloh. On Dec. 25,1862, he drove part of Mor-
gan's forces out of Munfordville, where his com-
mand included Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan
units besides his original I3th Kentucky.

His most noteworthy exploit was his pursuit
in 1863 of the Confederate leader, Gen. John H.

Hobson

Morgan [#.#.]. From Marrowbone, Ky., he fol-
lowed his enemy for nearly 900 miles, being in
the saddle with very little rest for twenty-one
days. Overtaking his foe at Buffington, Ohio,
on July 19, with the aid of General Judah's troops
he captured five guns, "enough equipment to load
a steamboat," and 575 men. He did not, how-
ever, receive the surrender of Morgan, nor of all
his command. In 1864, after a brief campaign on
the Cumberland River, he led an expedition
against Saltville, Va., but was checked by the
counter attacks of Morgan, who had returned to
the Confederate service after his imprisonment
at Columbus. In minor battles at Mount Ster-
ling, Lexington, and Keller's Bridge (Cynthi-
ana), Morgan won victories. Hobson, approach-
ing Cynthiana with a relief force, June n, 1864,
was surprised and defeated; and he himself,
wounded in the arm, was sent by Morgan to Cin-
cinnati under a pledge, which he declared was not
a parole, to be exchanged for a Confederate of-
ficer of equal rank. During his absence Union
troops under Stephen Gano Burbridge \_q.v.] re-
captured Cynthiana, released the Union prison-
ers, and scattered Morgan's forces the next day
(June 12). Thus the pledge to General Morgan
was nullified, and Hobson was detained by the
War Department for technical violation of his
parole. (See a full account of this episode in
the Official Records, i sen, XXXIX, pt. i, pp.
32-36.)

After the war, Hobson was the unsuccessful
Radical candidate for clerk of the court of ap-
peals in the election of August 1866, against Al-
vin Duvall. In 1869 President Grant appointed
Hobson collector of internal revenue in the
fourth district He held various offices in the
Grand Army of the Republic, being commander
of the department of Kentucky in 1892-93. He
was active in the Republican party, serving as
vice-president of the National Convention in
1880. In his home community he promoted the
construction of the railroad from Greensburg to
Lebanon, and was president of the Cumberland
& Ohio (later absorbed by the Louisville &
Nashville), southern division. He engaged in
enterprises of various types, including lumber-
ing, real estate, and merchandise, until his death
at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1901, during the G. A. R.
encampment.

[Biog. Cyc. of the Commonwealth of Ky. (1896);
War of the Rebellion: Official Records, i ser. X (pt.
i), XX (pt. i), XXIH (pt. i), XXXIX (pts. i and 2);
E. M. Coulter, Civil War and Readjustment in Ky.
(1926); Lewis and R. H. Collins, Hist, of Ky. (2 vols.,
1874) ; Who's Who in America, 1901-02; Courier-Jour-
nal (Louisville, Ky.), Sept. 15, 1901; information as
to certain facts from Hobson's son, John A. Hobson,]

KT.

96