By Reg Page
Special to the Herald

As the Herald reported, the city of Benicia celebrated its 170th birthday on May 19 of this year. In an earlier article published in the Herald, I wrote that the city might not have been established at all were it not for fortuitous timing and the efforts of its founders: Robert Semple, Mariano Vallejo and Thomas Larkin.
Regardless, of one thing we can be sure: the location was of enormous value militarily and this is precisely where one Charles P. Stone enters the story. It was Stone who selected Benicia as the location for the first Arsenal west of the Rocky Mountains and, once gold was discovered, its strategic significance to the United States increased significantly as a result of the Gold Rush and Westward expansion. Stone oversaw the construction of the first permanent sandstone buildings at the Arsenal which now house the Benicia Historical Museum at the Camel Barns.
But Stone’s time in Benicia was by no means the end of his story, and Dr. Blaine Lamb has written a fascinating biography – “The Extraordinary Life of Charles Pomeroy Stone” – about his life and, particularly, his exploits after leaving Benicia. It turns out that, after leaving the military for several years, he returned to military service on the eve of the Civil War. He was given the responsibility to protect President-elect Abraham Lincoln before and during his inauguration in early March of 1861 and, afterward, tasked to secure the city of Washington D.C. from the threat of an attack by Southern forces. Subsequently, he went on to help modernize the military in the nation of Egypt and, later still, returned to the United States to take charge of the construction of the Statue of Liberty.
Stone selected Benicia as a site for the Arsenal after arriving in 1851. He had to begin construction of building No. 9– the main Museum exhibit area– with his own money because of foot-dragging in Washington over how to pay for the endeavor. He was later reimbursed, but military pay being what it was, sought other opportunities with which to support his family.
His career in the private sector did not turn out well and he returned to military service late in 1860. In Washington, he met with General Winfield Scott who was the commanding General of the US Army and Scott asked him to take charge of organizing the protection of the city of Washington, D.C. as civil war became imminent.
Stone had to distinguish between those volunteers loyal to the union of the United States and those who would likely seek to undermine or destroy it to preserve slavery. The safety of Abraham Lincoln was a major concern. Numerous threats to his life were reported even before his inauguration. One threat was credible enough to prompt Stone to convince Lincoln to change his schedule as he traveled through Baltimore on his way to Washington. It was then up to Stone to be sure that the inauguration ceremonies were secure and he even rode in the procession near the president and president-elect, leading the security detail.
Following that, he had to construct a plan to use a limited number of volunteers to protect the Capitol. Union troops in numbers sufficient to defend the capitol had yet to arrive. Stone had to commandeer trains and volunteers to travel north to repair and then guard the tracks. This was successfully accomplished and sufficient forces were able to move freely by rail throughout the duration of the war.
What followed turned out tragically both for the country and General Stone. He was assigned the job of ensuring that rebel forces did not cross from northern Virginia into southern Maryland along the Potomac River, north of the capitol. If the opportunity presented itself he was also told he could advance on Leesburg Virginia, located within a mile of the river. Stone determined that the time was right and, on the morning of Oct. 21, 1861 his troops crossed into Virginia but were routed when they were discovered by rebel forces.
There were numerous casualties and the commanding officer in charge on the ground, Col. Edward Baker, was himself killed. Baker was a United States Senator and a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. Naturally, Congress investigated. Without any proof of negligence, but undermined by accusations that he was a Southern sympathizer, Stone was imprisoned by the military for 189 days. No charges were ever filed, but his career in the military was obviously truncated.
In spite of this, Stone was held in high regard by Grant as well as Generals McClellan and Sherman. In 1870 he was recommended to assist the nation of Egypt in the modernization of its military. When he returned to the United States Grant and Sherman recommended that he be appointed to oversee the construction of the foundation for a monument to liberty then being built in France. Ironically, it was to be placed on Bedloe’s Island within only a few miles of where he had been imprisoned during the Civil War. Nevertheless, being the good soldier that he was, he took charge of the pouring of a large concrete foundation topped by the granite pedestal that would support the statue itself. Stone was also responsible for assembling the statute on its frame as it had to be shipped to the United States in pieces. It was completed in late October of 1886. Sadly, Stone died in January of the following year (1/24/87).
No biography of Stone had ever been published prior to the release of Dr. Lamb’s book. It is an inspiring read and we were pleased to have Dr. Lamb speak at the opening reception of the “Benicia Arsenal in War and Peace” permanent exhibit this past November. The book is available at the Museum where you can also view the Arsenal exhibit and the new “Drop by Drop” exhibit curated by Mary Shaw, which is a brief history of Benicia water through the eyes of its artists augmented by narrative story boards about our water history, a collaborative exhibit partnership with Arts Benicia and the Benicia Community Sustainability Commission.

Reg Page is a member of the Benicia Historical Museum’s board and was a contributor to “Great Expectations – The Story of Benicia California.”

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