Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography

Thousands of short American lives — soldiers, inventors, preachers, governors, novelists — each given a paragraph: born where, did what, and why anyone remembered.

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Bushnell, David

soldier, inventor, was born in 1742 in Saybrook, Conn. During his college course he matured plans that led to the production of what may be called the earliest of torpedoes. He invented several other machines for the annoyance of the British shipping. He served continuously during the war, attaining the rank of captain in the corps of sappers and miners, and was on duty at New York, Hudson Highlands, Philadelphia, Yorktown, and elsewhere. He died in 1824 in Warrenton, Ga.

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