Los Angeles County California Biographies

Surnames staring with R

William Starke Rosecrans

(September 6, 1819 – March 11, 1898) was an inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was the victor at prominent Western Theater battles such as Second Corinth, Stones River, and the Tullahoma Campaign, but his military career was effectively ended following his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863.

From 1868 to 1869, Rosecrans served as U.S. Minister to Mexico, but was replaced when his old nemesis, Ulysses Grant, became president. He turned down the Democratic nomination for Governor of Ohio in 1869. He returned to private mining business in Mexico and California for ten years. He was elected as a congressman from California, serving from 1881 to 1885, and was appointed as a registrar for the U.S. Treasury, serving from 1885 to 1893. He died in 1898 at Rancho Sausal Redondo, Redondo Beach, California, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, outside of San Diego, California, is named in his honor.