January 1864 - Within days of returning to Culpeper and to the camp of Buford’s former Division, Keogh accepted an appointment to join the staff of General George Stoneman (left). It was at Stoneman’s rented home in Washington where Buford had spent his final weeks so Keogh would have become well acquainted with George Stoneman during November and December, 1863.From accounts written by Civil War historians, Major General George Stoneman could have easily been dubbed ‘the nearly man’.
Many times he was on the cusp of a successful mission or a famous victory, only to be thwarted by ill fate or poor decision making. However, taking into account many of his actual achievements - militarily and politically - history should not harshly judge George Stoneman.
Born on a family farm in Busti, New York, George was the first-born of ten children. His father, George Stoneman, Sr., was a lumberman and justice of the peace in Busti. George Jr. studied at the Jamestown Academy before being accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was a student in the famed class of '46, who graduated just as the Mexican War began. Fifty-three of the fifty-nine members in this class (the largest in the Academy's history to that point) fought in Mexico. When the Civil War erupted, ten members of that class became Confederate generals; twelve became Union generals. Stoneman's roommate at West Point was none other than the skilled and wily Confederate general, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson while another of Stoneman's classmates was Samuel D. Sturgis, later to be Myles Keogh's commanding officer in the 7th Cavalry.
George Stoneman's first assignment was with the 1st U.S. Dragoons, serving on the western frontier and in California. As quartermaster of the Mormon Battalion, he partook of their march from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to San Diego, California. Stoneman obviously formed a strong bond with this part of his country as he was later quoted wishing - "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." This love of “The Golden State” would be renewed in later life. He also took part in a number of Indian campaigns, protecting and supervising the survey parties that mapped the Sierra Nevada range for railroad lines.
After promotion to captain of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry in March 1855, he served mainly in Texas and by the start of the Civil War in 1861, Stoneman (right) was in command of Fort Brown, Texas. It was here that he famously refused the order of Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs to surrender the fort to the newly established Confederate authorities. Stoneman hastily readied his troops and escaped to the north with most of his command. Returning east, he served as a Major in the 1st U.S. Cavalry and then as adjutant to Major General George B. McClellan in western Virginia. As the cavalry was being organised in the Army of the Potomac, he was given command of the Cavalry Reserve before being promoted on merit to the post of Chief of Cavalry.Stoneman was soon assigned the rank of Brigadier General on August 13, 1861, but despite this rapid rise in rank, Stoneman did not relate well to his commander, McClellan. In Stoneman's opinion, 'Little Mac' did not understand the proper use of cavalry in warfare, relegating it to assignments in small units attached to infantry brigades. This type of organisation fared poorly in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles of 1862, where the centralised Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart seriously outperformed their Union counterparts.
A welcome distraction to this frustration came on November 22, 1861, when George Stoneman married the vivacious Mary Oliver Hardisty (left), 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, Stoneman was back in the field, this time with an infantry division, commanding the II and III Corps. By November 1862, he was again promoted, this time to the rank of Major General of the volunteers. As the Union army again changed command with the appointment of Joseph Hooker, Stoneman found himself switched back to command of the Cavalry Corp. Hooker, it seemed, had a better understanding of the strategic value of a centralised Cavalry Corps that could undertake long raids into enemy territory, destroying supplies, and gathering intelligence about the enemy forces. They were no longer subject to the commanders of small infantry units.
Stoneman [seated centre] and personal staff, 1863 - Keogh's friend, A.J. Alexander, seated right.The plan for the Battle of Chancellorsville was strategically daring. Hooker assigned Stoneman a key role in which his Cavalry Corps would raid deeply into enemy territory, destroying vital railroad lines and supplies, distracting Lee from Hooker's main assaults. Buford and Keogh accompanied Stoneman on this 1863 raid but the mission was continually hampered by severe rain and floods. A more detailed article on this raid can be read here.
The Union defeat at Chancellorsville was crushing and Hooker considered Stoneman's raid as one of the principal reasons for this lack of success. Hooker also needed to deflect criticism from himself and immediately relieved Stoneman from his cavalry command, sending him back to Washington, D.C., for medical treatment (chronic hemorrhoids, exacerbated by cavalry service), where in July he became a Chief of the U.S. Cavalry Bureau - a desk job.
In early 1864, Stoneman was impatient with garrison duty in Washington and requested another field command from his old friend Maj. Gen. John Schofield, who was in command of the Department of the Ohio. Although originally slated for an infantry corps, Stoneman assumed command of the Cavalry Corps of what would be known as the Army of the Ohio. Myles Keogh was to leave the First Cavalry Division to accompany him.
General Stoneman as illustrated in Harper's Weekly
As the army fought in the Atlanta Campaign under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, Stoneman and his aide, Major Keogh, were captured by Confederate soldiers outside Macon, Georgia, becoming the highest ranking Union general imprisoned. He was incarcerated for three months before being exchanged relatively quickly based on the personal request of Sherman to the Confederates.
Stoneman returned to duty in December 1864 and led a raid from East Tennessee into southwestern Virginia before leading a final devastating raid into Virginia and North Carolina in 1865, taking Salem, destroying the Moratock Iron Furnace (a Confederate foundry) and sacking Salisbury in an effort to free about 1,400 prisoners thought to be held in the local prison.
During the final days of the war, his command nearly captured Confederate president Jefferson Davis during his flight from Richmond, Virginia and, in recognition of his service, George Stoneman was retained in the regular army and brevetted a Major General."Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,
Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again..."From the song 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'
By June 1865 and with Myles Keogh still posted as his top aide, Stoneman was appointed commander of the Department of Tennessee and administered occupied Memphis. The Memphis riots broke out among the still rebellious citizens who were angry at the presence of black Federal soldiers in the military government. Stoneman was criticized for inaction and was investigated by a congressional committee, although he was exonerated after being equally censured and praised.
In 1866, Stoneman became opposed to the radical policies of Reconstruction and joined the Democratic Party. As he administered the military government in Petersburg, Virginia, he established a reputation of applying more moderate policies than some of the other military governors in Reconstruction thereby easing some of the reconciliation pain for Virginians. He was mustered out of the volunteer service in September 1866 and reverted to his regular army rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He took command of the Department of Arizona, First Military District, headquartered at Drum Barracks. He was a controversial commander in that role because of his dealings with Indian uprisings and he was relieved of his command in May 1871.
Stoneman moved to California, the place of which he had dreamed since his service as a young officer before the war. He and his wife settled in the San Gabriel Valley on a 400 acre estate called 'Los Robles' [The Oaks], which is now 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. 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.
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, as a result of a stroke suffered in April. At the military funeral, all of his pall-bearers 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. His simple tombstone reads: “George Stoneman – Chief of Cavalry, Army of the Potomac – Commander of Third Army Corps at Fredericksburg – Pensioner of Mexican and Civil Wars.”
Stoneman ended his life as a tragic figure, “broken in health and finances”, with a young wife whose behaviour scandalised him. In looking at the photographs of Stoneman, one cannot help but observe the difference between the look of fire in the young general’s eyes with the vacant, exhausted stare found in his twilight years. Destined never to achieve any brilliant success or to acquire legions of devotees across the generations, Stoneman nevertheless is a pivotal figure in the early years of the war, particularly in the development and organisation of the Union cavalry.
As the war progressed, he was tasked with some of the most difficult cavalry missions while suffering extreme hardship due to his medical problems. Through the many raids deep into enemy territory, including three months as a prisoner of war, Stoneman seems to have maintained a quiet dignity and, while not necessarily an inspirational leader of men, he was someone who gained the loyalty of his cavalry troops. As Lieutenant General John M. Schofield once wrote, George Stoneman was "a man with the highest sense of honor."
