Cover of Blaine Lamb’s latest book. (Image from State Archives website)
On Thursday, October 20, at the California State Archives, author Blaine Lamb will be speaking about his latest book The Extraordinary Live of Charles Pomeroy Stone: Soldier, Surveyor, Pasha, Engineer.
As the secession crisis came to a head in the winter of 1861, an obscure military engineer, Charles Pomeroy Stone, emerged as the rallying point for the defense of Washington, D.C. He was protector of the president and right hand man of the army’s commanding general. Nevertheless, just a year later, this same hero sat in prison branded as an incompetent soldier and likely traitor.
Readers of Civil War history know Stone best for his disgrace and imprisonment. His story, however, goes far beyond this unfortunate occurrence – all the way from the Halls of the Montezumas to Gold Rush California, and from the pyramids of Egypt to the Statue of Liberty.
About the Author
A native of San Diego, California, Blaine Lamb obtained his BA and MA degrees in history from the University of San Diego. He then moved to Tempe, Arizona, and entered the doctoral program in history at Arizona State University, receiving his PhD in 1982. Dr. Lamb returned to California and joined staff of the State Railroad Museum as an archivist and later became a senior archivist at the California State Archives. In 2007, he took the position of Chief of the Archaeology, History and Museums Division of California State Parks, where he remained until his retirement in 2012. Since retirement, he completed work on his biography of General Charles Pomeroy Stone, which was published in 2016. In addition to the Stone biography, Dr. Lamb’s publications include articles and reviews in California History,Journal of Arizona History, Western Historical Quarterly, Journal of America’s Military Past, Journal of the West, and Overland Journal.
Special Note
The event is free, but tickets are required. Click here for more information about the event, including a link for tickets.