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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] George Stoneman Biography STONEMAN,
George (1822-94). An American soldier and Governor of California. He was
born at Busti, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., and graduated at West Point in 1846. Just
before the Civil War he was in command of Fort Brown in Texas, and was ordered
by his superior officer, General Twiggs, to surrender to the Confederates, but
refused, and escaped with his troops on a steamer to New York. After service in
West Virginia he was appointed chief of cavalry in the Army of the Potomac. By
overtaking the Confederate troops after the evacuation of Yorktown in May, 1862,
he brought on the battle of Williamsburg. During Hooker's Chancellorsville
campaign he led a cavalry raid towards Richmond. In April, 1864, he was put in
command of a cavalry corps in the Army of the Ohio, and in the Atlanta campaign
undertook raids against Macon and Andersonville. He was captured with a part of
his force at Clinton, Ga., and was a prisoner three months. In December, 1864,
he led a raid from East Tennessee into southwestern Virginia. In the following
March he again entered southwestern Virginia. In April he moved into North
Carolina, took Charlotte and other towns, and at Salisbury captured about 1400
prisoners. In recognition of his service he was brevetted major general. In 1871
Stoneman retired from the army and settled in California. There he served as a
railroad commissioner, and in 1883 was elected Governor.
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