Stoneman, George

Stoneman, George, 1822–94, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Busti, N.Y. As commander of Fort Brown, Tex., in Feb., 1861, he refused to obey the order of General Twiggs to surrender to Texas authorities but evacuated the fort and sailed for the North with part of his command. He was made a brigadier general of volunteers in Aug., 1861, was chief of cavalry in General McClellan's Peninsular campaign (1862), and commanded an infantry corps at Fredericksburg. In 1863, Stoneman made a spectacular but unsuccessful raid to General Lee's rear just before the battle of Chancellorsville. In the Atlanta campaign (1864) he commanded the cavalry of the Army of the Ohio. While making a raid on Andersonville, Ga., he was captured. Exchanged after a three-month imprisonment, he resumed cavalry operations in E Tennessee, W Virginia, and W North Carolina. He retired from the army in 1871 and moved to California. He served as governor of California from 1883 to 1887.

Bibliography

See I. W. Van Noppen, Stoneman's Last Raid (1961).