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 TX, 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
JEB 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
