Maj. Gen. John Charles Frémont, "The Pathfinder" (USA)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Fr%C3%A9mont

John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813 – July 13, 1890), was an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of president of the U.S., and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform opposing slavery. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder. It remains in use, and he is sometimes called The Great Pathfinder. During the American Civil War he was given command of the armies in the west but made hasty decisions (such as trying to abolish slavery without consulting Washington), and was consequently relieved of his command (fired, then court martialed - receiving a presidential pardon).

He retired from the military and moved to the new territory California, where he entered government and was soon bogged down with lawsuits over land claims between the dispossessions of various land owners during Mexican-American War, the explosion of Forty-Niners emigrants in the California Gold Rush. He became one of the two U.S. Senator's of the new state in 1850, after leading a fourth expedition which cost ten lives seeking a rail route over the mountains around the 38th parallel in winter of 1849.

Historians portray Frémont as controversial, impetuous, and contradictory. Some scholars regard him as a military hero of significant accomplishment, while others view him as a failure who repeatedly defeated his own best purposes. Historian Andrew Rolle argues the keys to Frémont's character and personality may lie in his illegitimate birth, ambitious drive for success, self-justification, and passive-aggressive behavior.

John Charles Frémont was an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of president of the U.S., and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform opposing slavery. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder. It remains in use, and he is sometimes called The Great Pathfinder. During the American Civil War he was given command of the armies in the west but made hasty decisions (such as trying to abolish slavery without consulting Washington), and was relieved. He retired to California, where he was bogged down with lawsuits over land claims.

John Charles Fremon, was born in Savannah, Ga., in 1813. His father died while John Charles was still a child, and after his death the family added a "t" .

His career as an explorer began when he left the Navy to join the United States Topographical Corps, which later became the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1838, he was commissioned a second lieutenant by President Van Buren and in that year and the next, he took part in Jean Nicollet's expedition to the plains between the upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Becoming an expert in geology and topography, he headed his own expedition into to survey the Des Moines River in 1841. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-explorerlist-f.html#Lucien%20Fon...

Eloped with Jessie and Benton eventually accepted the marriage.

Civil War

Frémont later served as a major general in the American Civil War, including a controversial term as commander of the Army's Department of the West from May to November 1861. Frémont replaced William S. Harney, who had negotiated the Harney-Price Truce, which permitted Missouri to remain neutral in the conflict as long as it did not send men or supplies to either side. Frémont ordered his Gen. Nathaniel Lyon to formally bring Missouri into the Union cause. Lyon had been named the temporary commander of the Department of the West, before Frémont ultimately replaced Lyon. Lyon, in a series of battles, evicted Gov. Claiborne Jackson and installed a pro-Union government. After Lyon was killed in the Battle of Wilson's Creek in August, Frémont imposed martial law in the state, confiscating secessionists' private property and emancipating slaves.

John C. Frémont Pres. Abraham Lincoln, fearing the order would tip Missouri (and other slave states in Union control) to the southern cause, asked Frémont to revise the order. Frémont refused to do so, and sent his wife to plead the case. Lincoln responded by publicly revoking the proclamation and relieving Frémont of command on November 2, 1861, simultaneous to a War Department report detailing Frémont's iniquities as a major general. In March 1862 he was placed in command of the Mountain Department of Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Early in June 1862 Frémont pursued the Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson for eight days, finally engaging him at Battle of Cross Keys on June 8. Jackson slipped away after the battle, saving his army. When the Army of Virginia was created June 26, to include Gen. Frémont's corps, with John Pope in command, Frémont declined to serve on the grounds that he was senior to Pope and for personal reasons. He then went to New York where he remained throughout the war, expecting a command, but none was given to him.

John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813 – July 13, 1890), was an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of president of the U.S., and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform opposing slavery. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder. It remains in use, and he is sometimes called The Great Pathfinder. During the American Civil War he was given command of the armies in the west but made hasty decisions (such as trying to abolish slavery without consulting Washington), and was consequently relieved of his command (fired, then court martialed - receiving a presidential pardon). He retired from the military and moved to the new territory California, where he entered government and was soon bogged down with lawsuits over land claims between the dispossessions of various land owners during Mexican-American War, the explosion of Forty-Niners emigrants in the California Gold Rush. He became one of the two U.S. Senator's of the new state in 1850, after leading a fourth expedition which cost ten lives seeking a rail route over the mountains around the 38th parallel in winter of 1849.

Historians portray Frémont as controversial, impetuous, and contradictory. Some scholars regard him as a military hero of significant accomplishment, while others view him as a failure who repeatedly defeated his own best purposes. Historian Andrew Rolle argues the keys to Frémont's character and personality may lie in his illegitimate birth, ambitious drive for success, self-justification, and passive-aggressive behavior.

John Fremont was featured on a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1898, and again in 1994.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Frémont