George R Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.
53 Facts About George Crook
2.
George Crook was born to Thomas and Elizabeth Matthews George Crook on a farm near Taylorsville, Ohio.
3.
George Crook served in Oregon and northern California, alternately protecting or fighting against several Native American tribes.
4.
George Crook commanded the Pitt River Expedition of 1857 and, in one of several engagements, was severely wounded by an Indian arrow.
5.
George Crook established a fort in Northeast California that was later named in his honor; and later, Fort Ter-Waw in what is Klamath Glen, California.
6.
George Crook was promoted to first lieutenant in 1856, and to captain in 1860.
7.
George Crook was ordered east and in 1861, with the beginning of the American Civil War, was made colonel of the 36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
8.
George Crook was in command of the 3rd Brigade in the District of the Kanawha where he was wounded in a small fight at Lewisburg.
9.
George Crook returned to command his regiment during the Northern Virginia Campaign.
10.
George Crook led his brigade at the Battle of South Mountain and near Burnside's Bridge at the Battle of Antietam.
11.
George Crook was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on September 7,1862.
12.
George Crook's division was detached from the IX Corps for duty in the Department of the Ohio.
13.
George Crook fought at the battle of Chickamauga and was in pursuit of Joseph Wheeler during the Chattanooga Campaign.
14.
In February 1864, George Crook returned to command the Kanawha Division, which was now officially designated the 3rd Division of the Department of West Virginia.
15.
The 35-year-old George Crook reported to army headquarters where the commanding general explained the mission in person.
16.
George Crook was then to destroy the railroad bridge over New River, a few miles to the east.
17.
George Crook did not reveal the nature or objective of their mission, but everyone sensed that something important was brewing.
18.
In places, George Crook's engineers had to build bridges across wash-outs before the army could advance.
19.
George Crook stationed himself with Hayes' brigade, which was to lead the assault.
20.
General George Crook was unable to provide leadership as the excitement and exertion had sent him into a faint.
21.
Unopposed, George Crook moved his command into Dublin, where he laid waste to the railroad and the military stores.
22.
George Crook then sent a party eastward to tear up the tracks and burn the ties.
23.
George Crook pulled up on the west bank, and a long, ineffective artillery duel ensued.
24.
General George Crook, supplies running low in a country not suited for major foraging, now entertained second thoughts about his orders to push on east and join Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley.
25.
George Crook led his corps in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 at the battles of Opequon, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek.
26.
In February 1865 General George Crook was captured by Confederate raiders at Cumberland, Maryland, and held as a prisoner of war in Richmond until exchanged a month later.
27.
George Crook first went into action with his division at the battle of Dinwiddie Court House.
28.
George Crook later took a prominent role in the battles of Five Forks, Amelia Springs, Sayler's Creek and Appomattox Court House.
29.
George Crook had fought Indians in Oregon before the Civil War.
30.
George Crook was assigned to the Pacific Northwest to use new tactics in this war, which had been waged for several years.
31.
George Crook arrived in Boise to take command on December 11,1866.
32.
George Crook had his cavalry approach the Paiute on foot in attack at their winter camp.
33.
George Crook used Indian scouts as troops as well as to spot enemy encampments.
34.
George Crook later defeated a mixed band of Paiute, Pit River, and Modoc at the Battle of Infernal Caverns in Fall River Mills, California.
35.
In 1873, George Crook was appointed brigadier general in the regular army, a promotion that passed over and angered several full colonels next in line.
36.
From 1875 to 1882 and again from 1886 to 1888, George Crook was head of the Department of the Platte, with headquarters at Fort Omaha in North Omaha, Nebraska.
37.
On 28 May 1876, Brigadier General George Crook assumed direct command of the Bighorn and Yellowstone Expedition at Fort Fetterman.
38.
George Crook had gathered a strong force from his Department of the Platte.
39.
Accordingly, George Crook stopped to rest his men and animals at 0800.
40.
In 1879, Crook spoke on behalf of the Ponca tribe and Native American rights during the trial of Standing Bear v Crook.
41.
George Crook was made head of the Department of Arizona and successfully forced some members of the Apache to surrender, but Geronimo continually evaded capture.
42.
In March, 1886, George Crook received word that Geronimo would meet him in Canon de los Embudos, in the Sierra Madre Mountains about 86 miles from Fort Bowie.
43.
George Crook captured Geronimo and the Chiricahua Apache band, and detained the Chiricahua scouts, who had served the US Army, transporting them all as prisoners-of-war to a prison in Florida.
44.
George Crook sent numerous telegrams protesting their arrest to Washington.
45.
George Crook served in Omaha again as the Commander of the Department of the Platte from 1886 to 1888.
46.
George Crook spent his last years speaking out against the unjust treatment of his former Indian adversaries.
47.
George Crook died suddenly in Chicago in 1890 while serving as commander of the Military Division of the Missouri.
48.
In 1890, George Crook's remains were transported to Arlington National Cemetery, where he was reinterred on November 11.
49.
Nearby and between Deadwood and Sturgis, South Dakota is George Crook Mountain, named for him.
50.
Crook by Captain John W T Gardiner, 1st Dragoons, as Crook was recovering there from an injury.
51.
Fort George Crook was an Army Depot in Bellevue, Nebraska, first used as a dispatch point for Indian conflicts on the Great Plains.
52.
The site formerly known as Fort George Crook is part of Offutt AFB, Nebraska.
53.
The George Crook Walk in Arlington National Cemetery is near General George Crook's gravesite.