George
Stoneman was born in Busti (later incorporated as the village
of Lakewood) NY on August 8, 1822, the son of George and Katharine
Cheney Aldrich. His grandfather, Richard Stoneman, had settled
in New Berlin in western New York from Exeter, England in the
early 1800's. There Richard had met and married Mary Perkins,
whose family had come to New York from Rhode Island. Richard and
Mary's eldest son was named George after Richard's uncle, who
was killed while serving with the British army at the Battle of
the Nile. George and Katherine (whose family was from Baltimore
MD) eventually had ten children, eight of whom reached adulthood.
The eldest son, George Jr., was educated
at the Jamestown Academy in Jamestown NY until age 18. His headmaster,
E. A. Dickinson, wrote that young George was a pupil "in
good standing as a scholar and had made exceedingly good proficiency
in those branches to which he has directed his attention."
George studied arithmetic, algebra, and higher math at the Academy.
His headmaster also reported George to be "a correct moral
man." Considering his family's pioneer, average status, George
made the surprising decision to seek an appointment to the United
States Military Academy at West Point.
His chances for such an appointment seemed
rather remote, as his family had no influential connections. In
spite of this, George wrote a letter, seeking the appointment,
directly to the Secretary of War, Abe Bell, saying, "It is
with the greatest diffidence that I approach you feeling as I
do the vast difference in our situations... A military life has
ever comported with my inclination. But to make a military man
he wants a proper education. I have therefore concluded to apply
for the privilege of becoming a Cadet at West Point." As
fate happened, George's congressman did not have a sufficient
number of candidates for appointments for the year 1842, so he
offered Stoneman a slot, which he eagerly accepted on May 9. Young
George became a plebe of the West Point Class of 1846.
The naturally sad-eyed, quiet Stoneman would
graduate with such future military notables as George McClellan,
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (his roommate), Ambrose P.
Hill, Darius Couch, Jesse Reno, and George Pickett. Stoneman and
Jackson seemed to be perfect roommates; the reclusive, unsociable
Jackson was a match for the quiet, demure six foot, four inch"
New Yorker. He, like Stoneman, also came from a modest family
background. Stoneman graduated 33rd out of his class of 59. In
1895, Couch wrote that Stoneman was "esteemed by his personal
associates as a generous-hearted, whole-souled companion."
He also noted that Stoneman, like Jackson, was more of a "thinker"
than a "talker."
After graduation, Stoneman was commissioned
a brevet 2nd lieutenant in the Mormon Battalion. The battalion
had been established by President James K. Polk to enlist the
Mormons in the U.S. army and support the U.S. occupation of California.
The unit was recruited to march from Iowa to California to assist
the army in taking that territory from the Mexicans. The march
was made during the winter of 1846-47. Stoneman was assistant
quartermaster for the train of 25 mule-drawn wagons. The epic
march, plagued by extreme heat, devastating cold, hunger and exhaustion,
opened new roads to be used by settlers, railroads, and gold seekers
in the future. Drawn to the beauty of the area, Stoneman vowed
to return to California one day and make his home in the San Gabriel
Valley.
On July 25, 1854, he was promoted to 1st
Lieutenant. Stoneman served on the frontier during those years
leading up to the Civil War as he slowly made his way up in the
ranks of the peacetime army. He became a proficient Indian fighter
with serving under Major General Persifor Smith, commander of
the Pacific Division, at the battles of Clear Lake and Russian
River in California, and at Fort Orford in Oregon. Jefferson Davis,
then Secretary of War, ordered railroad surveys to be done in
order to find the best routes to the frontier West. Stoneman was
assigned to conduct surveys in the Sierra Nevadas and the Coast
Range to look for feasible mountain passes in which to lay track
that would connect the far territory with Oregon and Washington.
With a solid reputation for courage under
fire and concern for men in his command, Stoneman was assigned
to the newly-formed 2nd U.S. Dragoons, organized in St. Louis
MO. Jefferson Davis himself selected its officers, a prime collection
of military talent: Albert Sidney Johnston as colonel in command,
Robert E. Lee as lieutenant colonel, and William J. Hardee and
George Thomas as majors. Stoneman was named one of the 2nd's captains
on March 3, 1855. The unit was assigned to frontier duty in Texas
where it chased Mexican insurgents who were stealing cattle and
threatening American settlers from across the border. Stoneman
found life at Camp Cooper, a remote post in the Comanche Reserve,
to be intolerable. Writing to a friend back in California, Stoneman
was blunt: "This is god forsaken country and the lord only
knows when I will get out of it again. I will embrace the first
opportunity to get to California and it is altogether probable
that when once there I shall never again leave it."
During the Mexican War, he would serve as
quartermaster of the Iowa Volunteer Battalion. Stoneman eventually
reached position as the third senior captain of the 5th US Cavalry,
until the outbreak of the Civil War. In command of Fort Brown,
Texas, in February 1861, Stoneman refused to surrender the fort
to Texas authorities, instead evacuating and sailing north with
part of his command. On May 9, 1861, he was promoted to major
of the 1st United States Cavalry and served on George McClellan's
staff in West Virginia as assistant inspector general. When McClellan
was promoted to command of the Army of the Potomac, Stoneman was
appointed Chief of Cavalry and was then promoted to Brigadier
General of Volunteers on August 13.
However, McClellan's lack of appreciation
for the abilities and use of the cavalry severely limited Stoneman's
effectiveness as its leader. The most glaring mistake was McClellan's
method of assigning cavalry regiments to duty amongst the infantry.
In effect, then, Stoneman and his officers were symbolic officers
under the control of the infantry commanders. The error of this
policy became painfully evident during McClellan's Peninsula Campaign
in the spring of 1862, where the poor coordination of cavalry
with infantry led to disastrous results. The cavalry simply didn't
have a clearly-defined role in operations. At the battle of Williamsburg,
however, Stoneman held his own well against J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate
horsemen.
On November 22, 1861, Stoneman married the
vivacious Mary Oliver Hardisty, who, like his mother, came from
Baltimore. They eventually had four children: Cornelius, the oldest
son; George Jr. (who later became a prominent lawyer in Los Angeles
and Arizona); and two daughters - Katherine Cheney and Adele.
After the Peninsula Campaign, he commanded a division of infantry,
and at the battle of Fredericksburg, Stoneman commanded the Third
Corps. Although Robert E. Lee inflicted disaster on the Army of
the Potomac, Stoneman performed with distinction in a supporting
role. Stoneman's division commanders, brigadier generals David
B. Birney and Daniel Sickles, saw active combat as they saved
the Federal position during a disorderly retreat of other divisions
early in the battle.
In March of 1863, he was promoted to major
general to date to the previous November. When Joseph Hooker was appointed to command the
army, the Cavalry Corps was reorganized into a cohesive unit and
Hooker placed Stoneman in command. Now back to commanding cavalry,
Stoneman had long suffered from an intolerable case of hemorrhoids,
and always seemed to be uncomfortable in the saddle. The condition
would plague him throughout his life as attempts at surgery were
unsuccessful. During the Union disaster at the battle of Chancellorsville,
Hooker characteristically searched for scapegoats among his commanders
to blame for his own failures. Hooker had designed a cavalry raid
behind Confederate lines, with Stoneman in the lead. It would
soon be known as "Stoneman's Raid." It was a daring,
risky maneuver that failed. However, it boosted the morale of
the troopers and ranks as one of the significant precursors to
the turning of the war in the East. The troopers were long proud
of their participation in "Stoneman's Raid," and it
effectively diverted much Confederate infantry from the Chancellorsville
battle. But Hooker, reeling from his own loss, blamed Stoneman
and unofficially relieved him from command of the Cavalry Corps
by packing him off to Washington to seek "medical treatment"
for his hemorrhoids.
Stoneman became chief of the newly-formed
Cavalry Bureau there, while Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton
rose to command of the Cavalry Corps by default, a position he
had long coveted and which he knew would finally bring him his
own promotion to major general. As head of the bureau, Stoneman
established a large purchasing and organizational depot at Giesboro
Point DC, near the Potomac River. It was quickly name "Camp
Stoneman," and accommodated up to 12,000 horses for drilling
and training. Stoneman and his old friend, John Buford, had long
respected each other's abilities and were close friends. Buford
was disappointed when Stoneman was relieved of command of the
Corps.
When Buford became increasingly ill in November
1863, he left the field for Washington DC to stay at Stoneman's
home. Under Stoneman's watchful eye, Buford's health rapidly deteriorated
in early December and he died there on December 16. Early that
morning, knowing that Buford's end was near, Stoneman requested
a major general's commission for his old friend. President Lincoln
approved the promotion, which arrived just a few short hours before
Buford died. At Buford's subsequent Washington funeral, Stoneman
directed the procession's military escort.
During the winter of early 1864, Stoneman
wearied of his administrative duties at Washington and longed
to get back to the field. He was anxious to redeem his reputation
in the wake of the Chancellorsville raid. When Major General John
Schofield, a fellow New Yorker and friend, was given command of
the Department of the Ohio in January, he arranged for Stoneman
to take command of the XXIII Corps of infantry in the Western
Theater. However, on April 4, Schofield took his place while retaining
command of the Department. Stoneman was assigned to command a
special cavalry force, but Schofield instead placed him in command
of the Department's entire Cavalry Corps.
Buford's closest aide, Myles Keogh, distraught
at Buford's death, requested a transfer to be appointed to Stoneman's
staff. Keogh became Stoneman's aide-de-camp. During a raid planned
for Macon, Georgia and the Andersonville Confederate prison camp
designed by Stoneman to free captives there, he was captured on
July 31, 1864, along with Keogh. Stoneman suffered the distinction
of being the highest-ranking officer that the Confederates captured
during the war. Both were specially exchanged at General
William T. Sherman's request that fall, Stoneman being exchanged
for Confederate Brigadier General Daniel C. Govan.
After his return to the army, in late 1864,
Stoneman finally salvaged his reputation by leading a raid into
southwestern Virginia to destroy the salt works there, one of
Lee's army's major resources, and the ironworks near Wytheville.
He then led 6,000 men on another raid into North Carolina and
Virginia in March 1865. His command nearly captured Confederate
President Jefferson Davis. As Davis moved his government into
North Carolina, Stoneman's horsemen closed in. Davis was finally
captured by the 4th Michigan Cavalry, of Major General James Wilson's
command, in Georgia on May 10.
In June 1865, Stoneman was appointed commander
of the Department of the Tennessee and headquartered in Memphis,
a city torn by racial tension since Black troops comprised a part
of the occupying Union army. After a riot broke out on May 1 between
the black soldiers and black citizens, it led to charges that
Stoneman had not intervened quickly enough to restore order. White
Irish-born immigrants, competing with the blacks for manual labor
jobs, had killed 46 blacks. Making matters worse was the fact
that the Memphis police force was predominately Irish. Later,
a Congressional committee investigated the riots and both thanked
Stoneman for his assistance as well as rebuking him for not acting
as quickly as he perhaps could have.
During the Congressional campaigns of 1866,
Stoneman became a Democrat since he was opposed to the radical
policies of Reconstruction. Republicans, however, won a sweeping
victory and began establishing military districts in the south,
placing some ten states under military rule. Stoneman was first
tapped to head the sub-district in Petersburg Virginia and then
the district of the state itself. Stoneman, like his predecessor
and old friend John Schofield, supported more moderate policies
that eased the state through the process. For his services, Stoneman
received a brevet to major general in the Regular Army and was
mustered out of volunteer service on September 1, 1866. Upon mustering
out, Stoneman reverted to his Regular Army rank of lieutenant
colonel of the 3rd Cavalry. Effective back to July 28, 1866, he
was appointed colonel of the 21st Infantry, and commanded the
Department of Arizona, 1st Military District.
On May 3, 1870, Stoneman took command of
the Arizona Military Department with headquarters at Drum Barracks.
A controversial commander in his dealings with Indian uprisings,
Stoneman was relieved of his command in May 1871, retiring with
the rank of major general and replaced by George Crook. He had
sought retirement due to "injuries" suffered during
the Civil War, but President Ulysses Grant discovered that Stoneman's
"disability" was due to the hemorrhoid condition and
revoked Stoneman's rank, reverting him to colonel.
Moving to California, and realizing his
life-long dream since first seeing it as a young 2nd Lieutenant
over 30 years before, Stoneman and wife Mary settled on a 400-acre
estate in San Gabriel Valley which he called "Los Robles
(The Oaks)." Stoneman cultivated a lush vineyard on the property.
The home no longer stands, but the area is today a state historical
landmark.
In 1882, he was elected Governor of California
and served a four-year term after serving as a Railroad Commissioner
from 1876-78. Stoneman had several influential supporters in his
nomination, three being Judge David S. Terry, Stephen M. White,
and James T. Ayers, the latter the editor of the Evening Express.
Stoneman's principal opponent for nomination was the owner of
the San Francisco Examiner, George Hearst, who led in the early
balloting. However, Stoneman's rural-based supporters rallied
and Stoneman was finally nominated on the 14th ballot.
In the election, Stoneman faced the Republican
Morris M. Estee, an experienced California politician and Speaker
of the Assembly. Stoneman campaigned hard throughout the state,
hampered by his poor speech-making. His wife Mary, who called
her husband "Stony," hated the rigors of campaigning.
She once even wrote that seeing her husband in the political arena
made her "sick." Stoneman won the race handily, capturing
40% of the total vote among four candidates. His administration
was early on marked by the controversial issues of the state railroads,
but he nevertheless established progressive programs in several
arenas. Two new state hospitals were established in 1885, as well
as a home for the blind. A Forestry Board, sorely needed, was
established.
On July 17, 1885, a fire destroyed Stoneman's
ranch home. The family wasn't home at the time, but Stoneman's
papers, his Civil War mementos, and most personal possessions
were lost. Stoneman's political supporters, as well as many newspapers,
proclaimed the fire to have been set by the Governor's political
enemies. Mary was devastated by the fire, and more so upon learning
that her husband had let the insurance lapse so there was no recovery
available. His party did not nominate Stoneman for re-election,
as he faced strong opposition within his own party. Without the
necessary political skill to build support, Stoneman was not even
considered for a second term. In fact, at the convention, his
record as governor was hardly even mentioned. In 1887 he asked
for restoration to the military retirement list upon leaving office,
which elicited negative comments since there was a perception
that his ranch had made him a wealthy man, irrespective of losing
his home.
He became estranged from his wife over an
alleged affair, which she vigorously denied. Broken financially
and in poor health, he traveled to New York City and there had
surgery to alleviate his hemorrhoids, described by his sister
as a "severe operation." He stayed at her home in Albany
to recuperate. On November 28, 1888, Stoneman left Albany and
traveled to Buffalo NY, to visit another sister, Charlotte Williams.
After more traveling to visit his children and other family, he
died at Charlotte's home in Buffalo on September 5, 1894. His
final years had been anything but the happy ones he had expected
to spend at his home in the beloved California valley. At the
funeral, all of his pallbearers were civilians, and neither of
his sons attended. He is buried in the very small Bentley Cemetery
in Lakewood NY, not far from his Busti childhood home, in the
Stoneman family plot. A simple family monument in the center briefly
tells of Stoneman's accomplishments, and he is surrounded by his
parents and other members of his family. Stoneman's family home
in Busti disappeared long ago, and a new home, built in the 1990's,
now stands on the spot.
The Army however remembered George Stonemen.
In Pittsburg, California a large camp was established during World
War II as part of the San Francisco Port of Embarkation. Hundreds
of thousands of soldiers remember Camp
Stoneman as the place the left for war and returned to the
United States during World War II and the Korean War.
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George
Stoneman was born in Busti (later incorporated as the village
of Lakewood) NY on August 8, 1822, the son of George and Katharine
Cheney Aldrich. His grandfather, Richard Stoneman, had settled
in New Berlin in western New York from Exeter, England in the
early 1800's. There Richard had met and married Mary Perkins,
whose family had come to New York from Rhode Island. Richard and
Mary's eldest son was named George after Richard's uncle, who
was killed while serving with the British army at the Battle of
the Nile. George and Katherine (whose family was from Baltimore
MD) eventually had ten children, eight of whom reached adulthood.