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Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone (b: September 30, 1824 ; d: January 24, 1887) Born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and son of the village doctor in a family of proud Puritan heritage, Stone graduated from West Point in 1845. He was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant of ordnance and served in the Mexican War, where he earned two brevets for distinguished conduct. In 1856, Stone resigned from the Army. When the Civil War began, Stone became a colonel for the District of Columbia Volunteers in April of 1861 becoming the first volunteer officer mustered into the Union Army before the war. In this role, he secured the capital for the arrival of President-elect Abraham Lincoln, and was personally responsible for security at the new president's inaugural. After fighting in the Shenandoah Valley, he engaged in the Rockville Expedition, one of the first offensive movements by Union forces. Stone was promoted to Colonel,14th US Infantry Regiment and a brigadier general of volunteers in May 1861. He commanded a brigade in the Army of the Shenandoah during the 1st Bull Run Campaign and afterward commanded a division, the Corps of Observation, guarding the upper Potomac River. In October 1861, during the Battle of Ball's Bluff, McClellan ordered General McCall to intimidate Confederate General "Shanks" Evans into abandoning Leesburg, Virginia. Evans did move out of the city, taking up defensive positions on the Leesburg Turnpike. McClellan was uncertain Evans had actually evacuated, and ordered General Stone to stage a "demonstration" at Edwards' Ferry to distract the Confederates and glean positions and intentions. Stone personally supervised the crossing at Edwards' Ferry; also deciding on a second "demonstration" two miles upriver, and he delegated that task to one a brigade commander, Colonel Edward D. Baker, a sitting U.S. Senator and close personal friend of President Lincoln. The senator was a novice at warfare, never formally accepting his star of brigadier on fear of losing his congressional seat. He believed the words "demonstration" and battle were synonymous and so he and his troops were soundly defeated at the ensuing Battle of Ball's Bluff. Colonel Baker, arguably the most at fault for the defeat, was killed in battle. However, Stone bore the brunt of much public criticism and anger over the defeat. Suspected for disloyalty and treason, Stone was arrested on February 9, 1862. Contrary to Army regulations, no charges were ever filed against Stone, but he was imprisoned for 189 days. Stone was released without explanation or apology on August 16, 1862. Without assignment until May 1863, Stone was ordered to the Department of the Gulf, where he served as the controversial Chief of Staff to General Nathaniel Banks at Port Hudson, serving as a member of the surrender commission at Port Hudson and in the Red River Campaign but he was again unfairly blamed for the Union’s lack of success. In April 1864, Stone was mustered out of his volunteer commission as a brigadier general and he reverted to his rank of colonel in the regular army. He served briefly as a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac in the Siege of Petersburg, but finally resigned from the Army in September 1864. He was chief engineer of a mining company in Virginia from 1865 to 1870, when he entered the military service of the khedive of Egypt, becoming chief of staff and general aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-general and the honorary title of "Ferik Pasha." He returned to the United States in 1883, and resumed his engineering work. He died at the age of 62 on January 24th, 1887 in New York City and is buried at West Point. A man of many accomplishments, he is little known outside the small circle of Civil War historians and buffs.


As always, Ratings and Teaching Abilities are subject to change by voting or new info.

Ratings:

Leadership: 2
Tactics: 2
Initiative: 3
Command: 3
Cavalry: 0

Teaches: Independent ; Wild ; ????

Copied, thanks.

Nice bio. Stone's an interesting guy, one of the real victims of the political side of the war. Why are his ratings below average? His service was cut short, but everything one knows about him (including Scott's confidence in him on the basis of their Mexican War experience) would predict above average performance.

Here's Stone's bio, which is certainly interesting. In addition to some rephrasing, I took out the following sentence because it can apply to so many of the generals: “A man of many accomplishments, he is little known outside the small circle of Civil War historians and buffs.” I took out the fact that he was part of the surrender commission at Port Hudson, since there doesn’t seem to have been anything especially interesting about that particular surrender (as there was, for example, at Fort Sumter). And I reordered the events of spring/summer 1861, since I don’t think he served in the Shenandoah before Rockville (which was in mid-June: http://home.comcast.net/~hilld1/CWExhibit/ ), while his promotion would have been before. Also, while Wikipedia says he was made a colonel of the 14th U.S. Infantry Regiment on May 14, 1861 and then a brigadier general that August (to date to May 17), Heidler says he was made a brigadier general just after Fort Sumter – I’ll go with that, unless someone has information to the contrary, since while Heidler does have mistakes, Wikipedia tends to have more (and also, the Wikipedia page on the 14th Infantry says it was organized in Connecticut on May 3). Otherwise, no significant changes were made that aren’t in bold.

By the way, based on General Quarters’ comment, I added one rating point per category, but I’m open to further discussion. Also, Bill, any particular reason for his teaching "independent" and "wild"?

Brig. Gen. Charles Pomeroy Stone (b. 1824, d. 1887). Born on September 30, 1824 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, Stone graduated from West Point in 1845. He was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant of ordnance and served in the Mexican War, where he earned two brevets for distinguished conduct; in 1856, he resigned his commission. As the secession crisis flared, Stone became inspector general of the District of Columbia Militia at the rank of colonel (dating to January 1, 1861), making him the first volunteer officer mustered into the U.S. Army before the war. In this role, he secured the capital for the arrival of President-elect Abraham Lincoln, and was responsible for security at the new president’s inauguration. Stone was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers that May, and a month later engaged in the Rockville Expedition, one of the first offensive movements by Union forces, which established a garrison, “Camp Lincoln,” in this (at the time) small Maryland town to protect Washington from the northwest. During the First Bull Run Campaign, he commanded a brigade in the Department of Pennsylvania, the force which failed to prevent the Confederate Army of the Shenandoah from reinforcing Manassas, and then in the new Department of the Shenandoah under Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks. He next commanded a division in the Army of the Potomac, the Corps of Observation, guarding the upper Potomac River. In mid-October, Gen. George B. McClellan ordered Gen. George A. McCall to intimidate Confederate Gen. Nathan “Shanks” Evans into abandoning Leesburg, Virginia, which led Evans to leave the city and take up defensive positions on the Leesburg Turnpike. Uncertain of the situation, McClellan ordered Stone to stage a “demonstration” at Edwards’ Ferry to distract the Confederates and learn about their positions and intentions. Stone oversaw the crossing of the river at Edwards’ Ferry, while on his own initiative he also sent a second “demonstration” two miles upriver, assigning that expedition to Col. Edward D. Baker, a U.S. Senator and close personal friend of Lincoln who had been offered a generalship. The senator, who had not formally accepted the brigadier’s star because to do so would require giving up his seat, was a novice at warfare. He believed the words “demonstration” and “battle” were synonymous and so he and his troops were soundly defeated on October 21 at the ensuing Battle of Ball’s Bluff, and Baker himself, who was primarily at fault for walking into a trap without proper reconnaissance, was killed. However, Stone, a Democrat, bore the brunt of much public criticism and anger. Suspected of disloyalty and treason, he was arrested on February 9, 1862. Contrary to Army regulations, no charges were ever filed against Stone, but he was imprisoned for 189 days, until his release on August 16. Without assignment until May 1863, Stone was ordered to the Department of the Gulf, where he served as the controversial chief of staff to Banks beginning with the Siege of Port Hudson. During the Red River Campaign the following spring, he was unfairly blamed for the Union’s lack of success (HEIDLER’S ENCYCLOPEDIA SAYS HE WAS REMOVED “WITHOUT ANY APPARENT REASON”; WIKIPEDIA SAYS THAT SEC. OF WAR STANTON ORDERED HIS REMOVAL. I’LL KEEP THIS AS IS UNLESS THERE’S MORE INFO WORTH INCLUDING.), and in April 1864 Stone was mustered out of his volunteer commission as a brigadier general and he reverted to his rank of colonel in the regular army. He briefly commanded a brigade during the Siege of Petersburg, but finally resigned from the army in September. After the war, Stone was chief engineer of a mining company in Virginia from 1865 to 1870, and then entered the military service of the khedive of Egypt, becoming chief of staff and general aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant general and the accompanying honorary title of “Ferik Pasha.” He returned to the United States in 1883, and resumed his engineering work. He died on January 24, 1887 in New York City and is buried at West Point. (Bio by Bill Hawthorne)

Ratings:
Leadership: 3
Tactics: 3
Initiative: 4
Command: 4
Cavalry: 0

Start date: 8 or 9
“Death” date: 78

Teaches: Independent, Wild

Gil,

A couple of other interesting facts from the book: "Who was Who in the Civil War", by Stewart Sifakis:

(It mentions at the outset: "Ironically, the man who would later lay the foundation for the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, Charles P. Stone, had been confined, without charges, for 189 days in the same harbor during the Civil War." It finishes the Bio with: "In the last year of his life he constructed the pedestal for France's gift to the United States."


Concerning Baker's death, it says: "He (Stone) appeared several times before the Jopint Committee on the Conduct of the War where he was accused of being too friendly with secessionists and enemy commanders, even of having gone so far as to return an escaped slave to his master. Late on the night of February 8, 1862, Stone was arrested without charges and whisked away to Fort Lafayette in New York harbor and eventually transferred to solitary confinement in Fort Hamilton."

Thanks. I added the bit about the Statue of Liberty, slightly rewriting the first two sentences to stay under 3900 characters:

Brig. Gen. Charles Pomeroy Stone (b. 1824, d. 1887). Born on September 30, 1824 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, Stone graduated from West Point in 1845 and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant of ordnance. He served in the Mexican War, earning two brevets for distinguished conduct, but resigned his commission in 1856. As the secession crisis flared, Stone became inspector general of the District of Columbia Militia at the rank of colonel (dating to January 1, 1861), making him the first volunteer officer mustered into the U.S. Army before the war. In this role, he secured the capital for the arrival of President-elect Abraham Lincoln, and was responsible for security at the new president’s inauguration. Stone was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers that May, and a month later engaged in the Rockville Expedition, one of the first offensive movements by Union forces, which established a garrison, “Camp Lincoln,” in this (at the time) small Maryland town to protect Washington from the northwest. During the First Bull Run Campaign, he commanded a brigade in the Department of Pennsylvania, the force which failed to prevent the Confederate Army of the Shenandoah from reinforcing Manassas, and then in the new Department of the Shenandoah under Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks. He next commanded a division in the Army of the Potomac, the Corps of Observation, guarding the upper Potomac River. In mid-October, Gen. George B. McClellan ordered Gen. George A. McCall to intimidate Confederate Gen. Nathan “Shanks” Evans into abandoning Leesburg, Virginia, which led Evans to leave the city and take up defensive positions on the Leesburg Turnpike. Uncertain of the situation, McClellan ordered Stone to stage a “demonstration” at Edwards’ Ferry to distract the Confederates and learn about their positions and intentions. Stone oversaw the crossing of the river at Edwards’ Ferry, while on his own initiative he also sent a second “demonstration” two miles upriver, assigning that expedition to Col. Edward D. Baker, a U.S. Senator and close personal friend of Lincoln who had been offered a generalship. The senator, who had not formally accepted the brigadier’s star because to do so would require giving up his seat, was a novice at warfare. He believed the words “demonstration” and “battle” were synonymous and so he and his troops were soundly defeated on October 21 at the ensuing Battle of Ball’s Bluff, and Baker himself, who was primarily at fault for walking into a trap without proper reconnaissance, was killed. However, Stone, a Democrat, bore the brunt of much public criticism and anger. Suspected of disloyalty and treason, he was arrested on February 9, 1862. Contrary to Army regulations, no charges were ever filed against Stone, but he was imprisoned for 189 days, until his release on August 16. Without assignment until May 1863, Stone was ordered to the Department of the Gulf, where he served as the controversial chief of staff to Banks beginning with the Siege of Port Hudson. During the Red River Campaign the following spring, he was unfairly blamed for the Union’s lack of success, and in April 1864 Stone was mustered out of his volunteer commission as a brigadier general and he reverted to his rank of colonel in the regular army. He briefly commanded a brigade during the Siege of Petersburg, but finally resigned from the army in September. After the war, Stone was chief engineer of a mining company in Virginia from 1865 to 1870, and then entered the military service of the khedive of Egypt, becoming chief of staff and general aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant general and the accompanying honorary title of “Ferik Pasha.” He returned to the United States in 1883, and resumed his engineering work, constructing the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal. He died on January 24, 1887 in New York City and buried at West Point. (Bio by Bill Hawthorne)