The New International Encyclopædia/Gadsden, James
GADSDEN,  (1788-1858). An American
soldier and diplomatist, born in Charleston,
S. C. He graduated at Yale in 1806, and entered
the United States Army soon afterwards. He
served with marked efficiency in the War of 1812,
was appointed aide-de-camp to General Jackson
in 1818, participated in the Seminole War, was
appointed military inspector of the Southern
Division in 1820, and subsequently conducted the
removal of the Seminole Indians to the southern
part of Florida. In 1853 he was sent to Mexico
as United States Minister, and in December of
that year concluded the treaty which provided

for the readjustment of the boundary between
the two countries, and the acquisition by the
United States of the tract of land subsequently
known as the ‘Gadsden Purchase’ (q.v.).