Description
Carte view of General Charles Pomeroy Stone. A veteran of the Mexican War, Stone was asked by General. Scott to return to the army and organize the DC militia for the defense of the capital in the war which Scott felt was inevitable. Stone organized some 30 companies of militia and also oversaw the security arrangements for President-elect Lincoln’s inauguration. Named brigadier general of volunteers in August, 1861 and given command of the right flank division of the Army of the Potomac along the line of that river opposite Leesburg, Virginia. On October 21st, the disastrous battle of Ball’s Bluff was fought which resulted in his eventual arrest and the end of his promising army career. Stone was arrested in February, 1862 and spent six months in prison at Forts Lafayette and Hamilton in New York Harbor. No charges ever were filed against him despite his frequent attempts to be granted a court-martial, and he was released the following August with no explanation from the War Department. Assigned to General Nathaniel Banks in New Orleans in May 1863, Stone arranged the surrender of Port Hudson and then served as Banks’ Chief of Staff until April 16, 1864 when Banks relieved him after a falling out. The following August, General Grant brought him back east and gave him a brigade in the V Corps. Typhoid and an impending nervous breakdown however resulted in his decision to resign from the army, effective September 13, 1864. This one is mounted to a double sided carte view. The reverse of the card bears an image of an individual who I have not been not been able to identify. It is marked by Brady however.
