War Date Letter Signed

Besides fighting in the Mexican War & the Civil War General Stone was the Chief Engineer of the Statue of Liberty project at Bedloe's Island, New York City Harbor

(1824-87) Born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, he was a descendant of Puritan ancestors who had fought in every war in which Americans had been engaged. He graduated from West Point 7th in the class of 1845, and earned the brevets of 1st lieutenant and captain during the Mexican War. He saw action at Veracruz, Contreras, Molino del Rey and he was promoted brevet first lieutenant for "gallant and meritorious conduct" during the war. Stone served at the U.S. Military Academy, as an assistant professor teaching geography, history, and ethics from 1845-46. Afterwards, he was posted to the Watervliet Arsenal in New York as Assistant Ordnance Officer, and then to Fortress Monroe at Old Point Comfort, Virginia. While there Stone worked in the facilities arsenal and was an assistant to Captain Benjamin Huger, who threw his lot in with the Confederate army during the War Between the States. Early in 1861, Stone, under orders from General Winfield Scott, served as Inspector General of the District of Columbia with the rank of colonel and secured the capital and the personal safety of President elect Abraham Lincoln. He was personally responsible for security at the new president's inauguration. One of his most important acts in this role was to frustrate an attempt by southern militiamen and the secret society known as the "Knights of the Golden Circle" to carry out a coup against the new Lincoln administration. Lincoln came to trust Stone implicitly. Stone's prompt actions disintegrated the plot against the inaugural, and he was appointed Colonel of the 14th U.S. Infantry Regiment on May 14, 1861, and then brigadier general in the Union Army that August. He commanded a brigade in the Shenandoah Valley, and during the 1st battle of Bull Run, and a division at Ball's Bluff. Stone was made a scapegoat for the Union debacle at Ball's Bluff, Va., the Radicals in Congress led by Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner who already disliked Stone because of his views on slavery, clambered for his removal. Stone lost about 1,000 men who were either killed, wounded, captured, or drowned during Ball's Bluff, while the Confederates lost less than 160. The Union total included Colonel Edward Baker, the only sitting U.S. Senator killed in combat when "four bullets ripped into him, and he was dead before he hit the ground." On February 8, 1862, at midnight, without charges being then or ever preferred, Stone was arrested and subsequently confined for 189 days in Forts Lafayette and Hamilton, in New York Harbor. He was grudgingly released on August 6th without reparation or even acknowledgement of an error in judgement made, a black eye for sure against the U.S. Army, especially since he was a favorite of President Lincoln. He was later requested by General Nathaniel P. Banks, and served with gallantry at Port Hudson, Louisiana, and in the Red River campaign. After the war he served 13 years as chief of staff of the Army of the Khedive of Egypt, having been recommended by General in command of the U.S. Army, William T. Sherman, where Stone greatly distinguished himself, earning the rank of ferik, equal to a lieutenant general, and the title of Ferik Pasha. Stone later returned to the United States, where he worked as an engineer for the Florida Ship Canal Company in 1883. In 1884, he accepted the position of Chief Engineer of the Statue of Liberty project at Bedloe's Island, New York Harbor, and planned and supervised the construction of the Statue of Liberty's pedestal, concrete foundation and the reassembly of the Statue of Liberty after its arrival from France. He served as the grand marshal of the dedication parade in Manhattan on October 28, 1886, and fell ill some months afterwards, and died of pneumonia at his home in New York City. General Stone is buried in the West Point Cemetery, at the United States Military Academy.

War Date Letter Signed: 7 3/4 x 10, in ink.

Head Quarters, Rockville Expedition
Camp near Poolesville, June 29th, 1861

Col. Cake
Comdg. Batln. 25th Penn. Regt.

En route-

Colonel,

I am informed by General Mansfield, Comdg. Dept. of Washington, that you were to leave Washington this day to join this command with the battalion under your command, and to come via Rockville.

You will please march as rapidly as practicable via Darnestown to this place, being careful not to break down your troops by too long marches.

A messenger (mounted) will be dispatched by you to these Head Quarters announcing your arrival at Darnestown.

Very respectfully, I am,
Colonel,
Your most obt. Servt.,
Chas. P. Stone
Col. 14th U.S. Inf., Comdg. Exp.[edition]

Light wear and age toning. Very fine condition. Excellent content.

The recipient of this letter was Colonel Henry L. Cake, 25th Pennsylvania Infantry. Cake was born on October 6, 1827, at Northumberland, Pa. He was a 33 year old publisher from Pottstown, Pa., when he enlisted on April 17, 1861, at Harrisburg, Pa. He was promoted to colonel of his regiment on May 1, 1861. He later served as colonel of the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry. He served as a member of the United States Congress from Pennsylvania, 1867-71. He died on August 26, 1899, in Northumberland, and is buried in Riverview Cemetery, Northumberland, PA.

The General Mansfield mentioned in Stone's letter was General Joseph K.F. Mansfield, who was mortally wounded in the Battle of Antietam, Md., on September 17, 1862, and he died the next day, September 18, 1862.