Roy Stone (general)
{{short description|United States Army general}}
{{about|the American general and engineer|the British civil servant|Roy Stone (civil servant)|the British judoka|Roy Stone (judoka)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name= Roy Stone
|birth_date= {{birth date|1836|10|16}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1905|8|5|1836|10|16}}
|birth_place= Plattsburgh, New York, US
|death_place= Mendham, New Jersey, US
|office = Division of Public Roads
|term_start = October 3, 1893
|term_end = October 13, 1899
|predecessor = Position Established
|successor = Martin Dodge
|image= Col.Roy Stone.jpg
|caption= Roy Stone in the Civil War
|allegiance= United States of America
Union
|branch= United States Army
Union Army
|serviceyears= 1861–1865, 1898
|rank= Brigadier General
|commands= 149th Pennsylvania Infantry
|unit=
|battles= American Civil War
Spanish–American War
|laterwork=
}}
Roy Stone (October 16, 1836 – August 5, 1905) was an American soldier, civil engineer, and inventor. He served in the American Civil War, distinguishing himself during the Battle of Gettysburg, and took part in the Spanish–American War. He pursued a civil engineering career in a peacetime and became in 1893 the first head of the Office of Road Inquiry, which was the Federal Highway Administration's predecessor.Richard F. Weingroff. [https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/autumn-1993/peaceful-campaign-progress-and-reform-federal-highway-administration-100 The Federal Highway Administration at 100], Public Roads, No. 2, Vol. 57, Autumn 1993
Early life and family
Stone was born in Plattsburgh, New York, to Ithiel V. and Sarah Stone. His family had been among the early settlers of the region, and his father owned a large estate. As a young man, he was an engineer and lumberman before the Civil War. Stone married Mary Elizabeth Marker at the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh on August 14, 1862. They had two children, a son, Richmond and a daughter, Romaine (Mrs. L. Turnure Jr. and later Lady Monson).{{cite book|last1=MacColl|first1=Gail|last2=Wallace|first2=Carol McD.|title=To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery in the Gilded Age (An Inspiration for Downton Abbey)|publisher=Workman Publishing|isbn=9780761171980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rr7MRSed7h8C&dq=romaine+stone+turnure&pg=PA352|page=352|year=2012|access-date=1 August 2021|language=en}}[https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/stone_ny.pdf General Roy Stone and The New York Times, by The Rambler.]
Civil War
Stone served as a Union Army officer during the Civil War and became noted for his stubborn defense of the McPherson Farm during the Battle of Gettysburg.
He first served as major of the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, a regiment that saw action at several early war battles, including Antietam. Stone returned to Pennsylvania to help recruit new regiments; he was commissioned as colonel of the newly raised 149th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in 1863. He commanded a brigade in the third division of I Corps of the Army of the Potomac in the Battle of Chancellorsville but did not see serious combat. During the Gettysburg Campaign, Stone retained command of his three Pennsylvania regiments.
File:Abraham Lincoln and the battles of the Civil War (1887) (14576296257).jpg
On July 1, 1863, on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, his brigade, largely composed of green troops, was posted on McPherson's Ridge south of the Chambersburg Pike. Although the brigade had not seen previous combat, it was instrumental in holding back several assaults by the Confederates. Stone moved his regiments to block attacks by Colonel John Brockenborough and Brigadier General Junius Daniel. His troops held until the Iron Brigade and other Federal units fell back.Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg—The First Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001.{{rp|196–199}} Stone's men were among last to withdraw from their sector. Stone was severely wounded in the hip and arm in the fighting, and he returned home to recuperate.Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001, p. 514. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}
After his return to active duty, Stone served briefly as a brigade commander in James Wadsworth's 4th Division, V Corps during Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign. He was removed from command during the Battle of the Wilderness. Stone's horse fell on him on May 5, but many presumed he had been drunk on the battlefield.Rhea, Gordon C. The Battle of the Wilderness May 5–6, 1864. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004.{{rp|237–238}}
Stone commanded Camp Curtin, Pennsylvania, September 7, 1864–December 15, 1864, and the Alton Military Prison in Alton, Illinois, December 15, 1864–January 27, 1865. He resigned from the volunteers on January 27, 1865.
On December 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Stone for appointment as brevet brigadier general, U.S. Volunteers, to rank from September 7, 1864, for "gallant services during the war, and especially at Gettysburg" and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on February 20, 1865.Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}. p. 758.
Postbellum
File:General LeRoy Stone's Centennial Monorail of 1876.jpg
Stone became a leading advocate of the Good Roads Movement which is now known. His contributions led to major changes and improvements in highway construction and design. He served as one of the early heads of the Division of Public Roads from October 3, 1883 - October 13, 1899.
Among his inventions was a steam-driven monorail at the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia.[https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/stone_ny.cfm General Roy Stone and The New York Times][http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/centen/centen.htm General Roy Stone's Centennial Monorail] A larger version was built in 1878 as Bradford and Foster Brook Railway, Pennsylvania.[http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/History.html Monorail History]Mark
Reinsberg. General Stone's Elevated Railroad: Portrait of an Inventor, The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, 1966, Vol. 49, No. 3.
Stone briefly returned to active military duty with the rank of Brigadier General in 1898, serving in the Puerto Rican Campaign of the Spanish–American War.
Death
Roy Stone died August 5, 1905, at Mendham, New Jersey.[https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/stone.pdf PORTRAIT OF A GENERAL: GENERAL ROY STONE, by Richard F. Weingroff.] He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgVzdG9uZRIDcm95/ Burial detail: Stone, Roy]. ANC Explorer.
Honors
Stone Avenue in the Gettysburg National Military Park is named in his honor and memory. The palm genus Roystonea is named in memory of the work he did in road building in Puerto Rico during the capture of the island.{{cite journal| last = Cook| first = O.F.| author-link = Orator F. Cook| year = 1901| title = A Synopsis of the Palms of Puerto Rico| journal = Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club| volume = 28| issue = 10| pages = 525–69| jstor = 2478709| doi = 10.2307/2478709| quote = no| publisher = Torrey Botanical Society| url = https://archive.org/details/synopsisofpalmso00cook}}
See also
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J. Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-3641-1}}.
- Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg—The First Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8078-2624-3}}
- Rhea, Gordon C. The Battle of the Wilderness May 5–6, 1864. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004.{{ISBN|0-8071-3021-4}}
- Weingroff, Richard F. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200212053411/https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/stone.pdf Portrait of a General: General Roy Stone], Federal Highway Administration Biography of Stone
External links
- [https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/stonegal.cfm General Roy Stone Photo Gallery], Federal Highway Administration
- [https://patents.google.com/?inventor=%22Roy+Stone%22&oq=%22Roy+Stone%22 Inventor Roy Stone], Google Patents
- [http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/centen/centen.htm General Roy Stone's Centennial Monorail]
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Category:American Presbyterians
Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
Category:People from Alton, Illinois
Category:People from Plattsburgh, New York
Category:United States Army generals
Category:Pennsylvania Reserves
Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War
Category:Administrators of the Federal Highway Administration