William Starke Rosecrans
was born in Kingston, Ohio on September 6, 1819. He graduated (1842) from West Point and after 12 years in the army resigned to enter the kerosene business in Cincinnati. Returning to the army in 1861, Rosecrans--a talented strategist who often argued with his superiors--served ably under General George B. McClellan and General John Pope. As an army commander he won the battles of Luka and Corinth in 1862 and in 1863 brilliantly maneuvered the Confederates out of Chattanooga without a battle. He was relieved of his command, however, after his forces were routed by General Braxton Bragg at nearby Chickamauga in September 1863. After the war, Rosecrans served as minister to Mexico from 1867 to 1869 and as a U.S. Congressman from California in 1881 to 1885.
Rosecrans died on March 11, 1898.
Bibliography: Lamers, William M., The Edge of Glory: A Biography of General William S. Rosecrans (1961).