Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert
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Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert (July 1, 1833 – August 29, 1880) was a career U.S. Army officer, a Union Army general commanding both infantry and cavalry forces in the American Civil War, and a U.S. diplomat.
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[edit] Early life
Torbert was born in Georgetown, Delaware. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1855 and was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Infantry regiment.
[edit] Civil War
Just before the start of the Civil War, Torbert was appointed a first lieutenant in the Confederate States Army on March 16, 1861, but he refused the appointment and remained a lieutenant in the U.S. Army. By September 16, he was appointed Colonel of the 1st New Jersey Infantry and, by August 29, 1862, he was a brigade commander in the VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac. In the Maryland Campaign of 1862, he was wounded at Crampton's Gap in the Battle of South Mountain. He was promoted to brigadier general on November 29, 1862. On April 10, 1864, he was given command the 1st Division of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, which he commanded during the Overland Campaign.
During Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's Valley Campaigns of 1864, Torbert commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Shenandoah and was promoted to brevet major general on September 9, 1864. He received brevet promotions in the regular army for his service at Gettysburg, Haw's Shop, Winchester, and Cedar Creek. Torbert commanded the Army of the Shenandoah from April 22, 1865, to June 27, 1865.
[edit] Postbellum
After the war, Torbert served in a number of diplomatic posts: as U.S. Consul to El Salvador in 1869, U.S. Consul General in Havana, Cuba, in 1871, and U.S. Consul General in Paris, France, in 1873.
Alfred Torbert drowned off Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the sinking of the S.S. Vera Cruz on August 29, 1880. His body was recovered August 31, 1880, and he is buried in the Methodist Episcopal Cemetery, Milford, Delaware.
[edit] References
- Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
