|
|
VITAL STATISTICS
|
BORN: 1833 in Georgetown, DE.
DIED: 1880 in Cape Canaveral, FL.
(Drowned off the cape).
CAMPAIGNS: All major campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, Overland, Sherman's Raid on Richmond VA, and the Virginia Central Railroad, and Shenandoah Valley (1864).
HIGHEST RANK ACHIEVED: Major General.(Had the distinction of being an officer in both the Union and Confederate Armies at the same time.)
|
|
BIOGRAPHY
|
| Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert was born on July 1, 1833, in Georgetown, Delaware. He was graduated from West Point in 1855, and was given the rank of 1st lieutenant in the US Army. On leave of absence from the army in the spring of 1861, he was confirmed as an officer in the Confederate army. Torbert decided to reject the appointment, however, and remained loyal to the Union. When he returned from his leave, he worked with New Jersey volunteers until September of 1861. For two years, he commanded a regiment, then a brigade, in all the major campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. Promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on November 29, 1862, he was placed in command of a cavalry division in April of 1864. Torbert took part in the Overland Campaign and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. He returned to his rank in the Regular Army in January of 1866, but stayed in the army only until October of 1866. He held minor diplomatic positions in Central American, Cuba and France from 1869 to 1878, then worked as a businessman in Mexico. Torbert died on August 29, 1880, having drowned on a steamer that was wrecked off Cape Canaveral, Florida. |
|
>