George Stoneman: A Biography of the Union General

Front Cover
McFarland, Jul 27, 2010 - History - 207 pages

During an 1865 raid through North Carolina, Major General George Stoneman missed capturing the fleeing Jefferson Davis only by a matter of hours, timing somewhat typical of Stoneman's life and career. This biography provides an in-depth look at the life and military career of Major General George Stoneman, beginning with his participation in the 2,000-mile march of the Mormon Battalion and other western expeditions. The main body of the work focuses on his Civil War service, during which he directed the progress of the Union cavalry and led several pivotal raids on Confederate forces. In spite of Stoneman's postwar career as military governor of Virginia and governor of California, his life was marked by his inability to reach ultimate success in war or politics, necessitating a discussion of his weaknesses as well as his achievements as a commander and a politician. Period photographs are included.

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Contents

Stoneman in Command
5
West Point
11
With the Mormon Battalion
16
From California to the Rio Grande
27
With McClellan
35
Stuart Redux
48
Fredericksburg
54
The Bursting Shell
62
Payment of a Debt
101
Riots and Reconstruction
122
Arizona Territory
142
Governor Stoneman
156
Epilogue
171
Chapter Notes
175
Bibliography
189
Index
195

We were whipped
81

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Page 171 - One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, Never doubted clouds would break, Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph, Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, Sleep to wake.
Page 46 - If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you, or to any other persons in Washington. " You have done your best to sacrifice this army.
Page 54 - You seem to act as if this applies against you, but cannot apply in your favor.
Page 40 - I beg to assure you that I have never written you or spoken to you in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as, in my most anxious judgment, I consistently can. But you must act.
Page 66 - If you cannot cut off from his column large slices, the General desires that you will not fail to take small ones. Let your watchword be fight, and let all your orders be fight, fight, fight, bearing in mind that time is as valuable to the General as the rebel carcasses.
Page 36 - All your rights shall be religiously respected, notwithstanding all that has been said by the traitors to induce you to believe that our advent among you will be signalized by interference with your slaves. Understand one thing clearly. Not only will we abstain from all such interference, but we will, on the contrary, with an iron hand, crush any attempt at insurrection on their part.
Page 13 - ... infectious or immoral character. They must be able to read and write well, and perform with facility and accuracy the various operations of the four ground rules of Arithmetic, of Reduction, of simple and compound Proportion, and of vulgar and decimal Fractions.
Page 26 - The garrison of four presidios of Sonora concentrated within the walls of Tucson, gave us no pause. We drove them out, with their artillery, but our intercourse with the citizens was unmarked by a single act of injustice. Thus, marching half naked and half fed, and living upon wild animals, we have discovered and made a road of great value to our country.
Page 58 - Commanding directs that you keep your whole command in position for a rapid movement down the old Richmond road, and you will send out at once a division, at least...
Page 17 - NH (a mormon) by previous appointment at their request (see this diary of the 3rd Instant). I told them that I had consulted the Secretary of War, and that the conclusion to which we had come was that the battalion of Mormons of which mention was made on the 3rd Instant, could not be received into the service of the US until they reached California, but that on their arrival there (if the war with Mexico still continued) they would to the number of 500 be mustered into the service of the US as volunteers...

About the author (2010)

Ben Fuller Fordney teaches American history at Blue Ridge Community College in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He serves as director of the Shenandoah Civil War Associates.

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