George Pomutz

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
George Pomutz
Kingdom of Hungary
United States of America
Service/branchHonved Army
15th Iowa Infantry Regiment
Commands held(Provisional) Iowa Battalion
Provost Marshal, XVII Corps
Battles/warsHungarian Revolution of 1848
American Civil War
Other workU.S. Consul

George Pomutz (in Romanian: Gheorghe Pomuț, in Hungarian: Pomucz György or Pomutz György; May 31, 1818 – October 12, 1882) was a Romanian-American officer during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 against the Habsburgs, a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War, a lawyer, and a diplomat.

Early life

George Pomutz was born in the

Decatur, Iowa.[2]

Civil War

At the beginning of the Civil War, Pomutz enrolled in the Union Army as a

Francis P. Blair appointed Pomutz as Provost Marshal of his XVII Corps. In August 1864, Pomutz returned to the 15th Iowa Infantry, which he commanded in the Battle of Atlanta
.

On May 4, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Pomutz for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on May 18, 1866.[3]

Postbellum career

After the end of the Civil War, Pomutz returned to

Imperial Russia, serving in that capacity until September 30, 1870. During that period, he was involved in the negotiations for the Alaska Purchase.[4] Later he became the American consul general in Saint Petersburg, serving from June 17, 1874, until his death there, in 1882. He was buried in Smolensky Cemetery, Saint Petersburg, Russia but his grave seems to have disappeared, possibly after the re-purposing of cemetery lands by the Bolsheviks, after the 1917 Russian Revolution.[5]

Legacy

The

SS George Pomutz
was named after him. Launched August 3, 1944, the ship served till 1970.

On August 14, 2004, a statue of Pomutz was unveiled at the

Cleveland, Ohio
.

A street in Timișoara, Romania bears his name.

Quotation

Memorial tablet of Pomutz in Gyula, Hungary

From the address by Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania, at a Joint Meeting of the United States Congress, July 15, 1998:[6]

I would like to close with a true story. One hundred and fifty years ago, a young Romanian who had fought for freedom in the 1848 revolution, emigrated to America. His name was George Pomutz, which in Romanian means "little tree." Once on American soil, he volunteered for Lincoln's Army and fought in some of the key battles of the Civil War including Vicksburg and Atlanta. Our "little tree" went on to become a general in your army and later an American diplomat, serving in Russia where he helped negotiate the American purchase of Alaska. In 1944, long after his death, the Romanian community in the United States donated money to build a battleship, named for Romanian-American General George Pomutz. The ship named for the "little tree" served in peace and war, always a symbol of strength and vigilance.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wertsman, Vladimir F. Romanian americans . everyculture.com
  2. ^ 1860 US Census, Decatur, Iowa. commons.wikimedia.org (JPG image).
  3. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1
    . p. 755.
  4. ISBN 978-606-543-970-2
    .
  5. ^ http://romanintezet.hu/files/lumina/Lumina%201999_k.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ http://transilvaniareporter.ro/actualitate/alaska-o-afacere-intre-americani-si-rusi-intermediata-de-un-roman/ Alaska: o afacere între americani şi ruşi, intermediată de un român (in Romanian)

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Pomutz.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Pomutz&oldid=1145475439"