George Stoneman Jr. (August 8, 1822 – September 5, 1894) is a United States Army cavalry officer, trained at West Point, where his roommate was Stonewall Jackson.
In the Civil War he becomes Adjutant to George B. McClellan, who does not appreciate the use of centralized cavalry, and is therefore outperformed by the Confederates, who do.
At Chancellorsville, under Joseph Hooker, Stoneman fails in an ambitious attempt to penetrate behind enemy lines, getting bogged down at an important river crossing.
Hooker's sharp criticism of Stoneman may have been partly aimed at deflecting the heavy blame being directed at himself for the loss of this major battle that most generals believed to be winnable.
While commanding cavalry under William Tecumseh Sherman in Georgia, Stoneman is captured, but soon exchanged.
During the early years after the American Civil War, Stoneman commands occupying troops at Memphis, Tennessee, who are stationed at Fort Pickering.
He has turned over control of law enforcement to the civilian government by May 1866, when the Memphis riots break out and the major black neighborhoods are destroyed.
When the city asks for help, he suppresses the white rioting with use of federal troops.
He later moves out to California, where he has an estate in the San Gabriel Valley.
He is elected as governor of California, serving between 1883 and 1887.
