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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Benjamin Stone Roberts Biography ROBERTS,
Benjamin Stone (1811-75). An American soldier, born at Manchester, Vt. He
graduated at West Point in 1835, but in 1839 resigned from the army. He then
became a civil engineer, built the Champlain and Ogdensburg Railway, and in 1842
helped to construct Russian railways. Reëntering the army in 1846, he served
with distinction in the Mexican War, especially at Chapultepec, Matamoros, and
the Pass of Galaxara. During the Civil War be was for a time in New Mexico as
commander of the Southern District, becoming brigadier general of volunteers in
1862. Afterward be was transferred to Virginia, where, as chief of cavalry and
acting inspector general, he fought at Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, and
in the second battle of Bull Run. Next he commanded an expedition against the
Chippewa Indians. In 1864 he was made chief of cavalry in the Department of the
Gulf and in 1865 was put in command of the District of West Tennessee. He became
brevet brigadier general in the regular army, major general of volunteers, and
in 1866 lieutenant colonel of the Third Cavalry. From 1868 to 1870 Roberts was
professor of military science at Yale. He was the inventor of the Roberts
breech-loading rifle. |