Hunter of Secessionville on June 16, and was forced to suspend further operations. When he left his department on leave to seek more active duty, he was employed as president of courts martial which tried Gen. Fitz-John Porter [^.^.] and inquired into the loss of Har- per's Ferry. Returning to his department, he conducted minor operations until "temporarily" relieved in June 1863, when he was again em- ployed on court-martial duty and in making an extensive inspection of the troops and conditions in the Mississippi Valley. In May 1864, upon the defeat of Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley, Hunter was recalled and assigned to command this important sector. He was ordered to move up the Valley, cross the Blue Ridge to Charlottes- ville, and then proceed to Lynchburg, living on the country and cutting all railroads and canals. It was left to his discretion as to whether, upon completion of his mission, he should return to the Potomac, or join Grant's army near Rich- mond. He marched south, and on June 5 won the battle of Piedmont. He captured many pris- oners and forced Lee to detach Breckinridge's division, and later Early's corps, to prevent the serious loss of supplies and destruction of com- munications which Hunter was accomplishing. On June 16 he invested Lynchburg, but the next day Early's forces commenced to arrive, and skirmishing resulted. Since his ammunition was nearly exhausted, Hunter decided not to fight, and in order to avoid an engagement retired into West Virginia. He thus left the Shenandoah Valley open to Early, who, quick to seize his ad- vantage, marched down the Valley and threat- ened Washington. Hunter made every effort to reach railroads so as to be on the Potomac ahead of Early, but he failed to arrive in time to pre- vent the Confederates from raiding in the vicin- ity of the Capital. Hunter has been criticized for this campaign, though he succeeded in his principal mission, which was to weaken Lee's army at a critical hour. On Aug. 4, Grant arrived at Hunter's head- quarters, bringing with him Sheridan, whom he had selected to be the leader of the field forces under Hunter's direction, with a view to driving the enemy once for all from the Shenandoah Valley, Hunter thought it better to resign his command so as to leave Sheridan entirely free, and his resignation was accepted on Aug. 8. He was again engaged on court-martial duty from Feb. i, 1865, until the end of the war. Directed to accompany the remains of President Lincoln to Springfield, 111., he was recalled to become president of the military commission which tried the conspirators. He later became president of Hunter the Special Claims Commission and of the Cav- alry Promotion Board. Brevetted brigadier- general and major-general for gallant and mer- itorious conduct during the war, he was retired from active service in 1866 as a colonel, and re- sided thereafter in Washington, where he died. Hunter was a handsome man, a typical beau sabreur. He was not a great general, but he had the highly commendable qualities of initiative and energy and he never allowed personal inter- ests to stand between him and duty. [War of the Rebellion: Official Records (Army), i ser., II (Bull Run), III, VIII (Missouri), XX, LXV, LXVI (Atlantic Coast), LXX, LXXI (Shenandoah); Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (4 vols., 1887- 88) ; R. M. Johnston, Butt Run (1913); G. W. Odium, Biog. Reg. (srd ed., 1891); Report of the Military Services of Gen. David Hunter during the War of the Rebellion (1873),a short autobiography; R.C Scbenck, "Major-General David Hunter," Mag. of Am. Hist., Feb. 1887; Papers of the Mil. Hist. Soc. of Mass., vol. VI (1907) ; Seventeenth Ann. Report Asso. Grads. U. S. Mil. Acad. (1886) ; T. C Stockton, The Stockton Family of N. J. (1911); A. T, Andreas, Hist, of Chi- cago, vol. I (1884); Army and Navy four., Feb. 6, 1886; Washington Post, Feb. 3, 1886.] CH.L. HUNTER, ROBERT (d. March 1734), royal governor of New York and New Jersey and later of Jamaica, was bom at Hunterston, Ayr- shire, Scotland, the son of James and Margaret (Spalding) Hunter. According to William Smith, the early historian of New York, he was apprenticed as a youth to an apothecary, only to flee from his master and join the English army; but Hunter's friend Cadwallader Golden later questioned Smith's statement. Hunter mani- fested marked ability as a soldier and distin- guished himself with the forces of the Duke of Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Suc- cession. He fought in the battle of Blenheim in 1704, probably with the 5th Royal Irish Dra- goons. Shortly afterwards he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in which capacity he served until 1707. The Earl of Orkney, gov- ernor of Virginia, secured for Hunter, who was a stanch Whig, the lieutenant-governorship of that colony. He embarked for America in 1707 but was destined not to reach Virginia, being captured en route by an enemy privateer and taken to France as a prisoner. The French evi- dently treated their captive leniently and his confinement was soon" translated into a series of social successes. These successes continued when he was returned to England in an ex- change of prisoners which brought the Bishop of Quebec back to France, It was fats wi