William Wing Loring: Loring by Loring

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Loring by Loring

Despite his many writings on Egypt, William Loring rarely said much about his own life. Presented here (for the first time in 120 years) is a biography that preceded an 1879 magazine article written by the general. While it is uncertain if Loring actually wrote the bulk of this sketch, it’s obvious he provided much of the information. Despite some inaccuracies (which are highlighted and discussed), this biography presents a view of Loring that mostly complements and often expands upon what was previously known about “Old Blizzards.”

GEN. W. W. LORING.

(Late “Fereek Pasha” in the army of the Khedive.)

Among American military men who have distinguished themselves as soldiers of fortune, perhaps no one has been so noticeable as the brilliant soldier whose counterfeit presentment is given herewith. Gen. Loring’s career in the United States army, in the service of the late Confederacy, and more recently under the Oriental potentate whose character seems to have been such a strange compound of despotic craft, Eastern sensualism, and enthusiasm for progress in the arts of civilization, has been in many respects a very striking one. A brief sketch of a life so rich in diversified experiences will be of interest to large numbers of our readers.

Gen. Loring was born in Wayne county, North Carolina, in 1823,[1] but removed to Florida at an early age with his family, who thereafter became identified with the new State. The taste for fighting developed itself at a very boyish age. When only twelve years old [2] he fought in the Texan ranks as a volunteer in the strike against Mexico, and remained till the end of the war. One year later he became a member of a company raised to participate in the Seminole campaign of 1836. He was in all the engagements of that episode of Indian warfare, which, though now almost forgotten, was one of the most stubbornly contested in our history. Before the close of the war the boyish soldier had risen to be a captain,[3] and actually commanded the expeditionary force, in consequence of the disablement of his superiors, at the desperate battle of Alaqua, which closed the campaign and broke the power of the savages.

Two years later we find the subject of this sketch a student in Georgetown College, and in 1842, having completed his collegiate studies and his legal preparation in the office of the late Senator Yulee, he was admitted to practice at the bar. The aspirations of Gen. Loring at this time seem to have been largely political, for he was elected to the Florida Legislature, where he served three successive terms with marked credit. This short diversion, though, was soon to cease. Nature had designed him for a different calling. The difficulties on the Rio Grande gave warning of coming war, and started the young politician with their trumpet note as effectually as the clash of armor stirred the blood of Achilles. The regiment of Mounted Rifles was organized in 1846, and Loring was appointed senior captain, taking active part in recruiting and organizing the force. At the breaking out of the Mexican war in 1847, the Mounted Rifles, under Gen. Winfield Scott, took active part in the campaign. At the battle of Rio Medio and Cerro Gordo, as also at the storming of Vera Cruz. Loring’s regiment covered itself with glory, and Major Loring, as he had then become, specially distinguished himself. In his report of the last great victory, Gen. Scott signalized four officers as those to whom he was peculiarly indebted for his triumph—Generals Harney and Plympton, and Majors Loring and Childs. The major of the Rifles subsequently took part in the battles of Contreras, Cherubusco, Chapultepec and City of Mexico. It was while leading the advance on the latter city that his left arm was carried off by a cannon ball, about a hundred yards from the Belen Gate. He was carried to the rear and his arm amputated the same day. After Loring’s recovery he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the Rifles, and, after that, always commanded his regiment, being the youngest officer of his rank in the army. In 1849, he led them across the continent, protecting emigrant trains en route, and after arriving in Oregon, commanded that department for three years. Colonel Loring, by his vigilance and firmness, kept the savages in subjection, and though resolute in punishing depredations, he gained the confidence of the red men so perfectly as to prevent any Indian war during this period. In 1852, he was transferred to the Rio Grande frontier, and punished the Comanche and Apache tribes, who have always been so difficult to keep in subjection, in frequent and sharp conflicts. Five years of continual Indian fighting, in which he traversed the then unbroken wilderness, including New Mexico and Arizona, many times, brings us to the Mormon campaign of 1858 under Gen. Albert Sydney Johnson. Colonel Loring marched the Rifles in the dead of winter across the plains to reinforce Johnson, and arrived in time to take part in the closing operations of the campaign. At this time he was promoted to be full colonel of the regiment,[4] and after the close of the war enjoyed a well-earned leave of absence, extending over two years, by extensive travel in the East. During this time Colonel Loring made his first acquaintance with that mysterious and remarkable country with which his future was to be so intimately connected.

On returning from abroad Colonel Loring was assigned to the command of the Department of New Mexico. At the breaking out of the late war in 1861, he, in common with other Southern officers, resigned his commission. Though opposed to secession, he followed the fortunes of his State, in obedience to the doctrine of State rights. It may be stated in this connection that Gen. Loring and his family had long since manumitted their slaves, and provided generously for their future fortunes.

Of this gallant soldier’s connection with the Confederacy it is unnecessary to speak in long detail. He was successively promoted to be brigadier, major, and lieutenant-general.[5] He took a brilliant part in the earlier Virginian campaigns, and was one of the few Confederate generals uniformly successful in Western Virginia.

In 1863 he was assigned to command in the Western division of the Confederate operations, in connection with Pemberton, Hood, and Joe Johnston; and it was with the army of the latter that General Loring surrendered at the final collapse in 1865. During the whole of this war he served with distinguished zeal, ability and gallantry, and displayed the qualities of the brilliant captain as well as of the daring soldier.

For several years after the close of the war Gen. Loring was engaged in business in New York, but his heart was not in mercantile pursuits, and he eagerly welcomed an invitation to enter the military service of Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, who was ambitious to raise his army to the European standard of excellence. He entered the service as brigadier-general, and was shortly after promoted to be major-general, with the special grade of “Fereek Pasha”—the highest rank ever bestowed on a foreigner. He was in active command of the larger portion of the Egyptian troops, with special control over all the forts. He had headquarters at both Alexandria and Cairo, where he kept open house at the magnificent palaces placed at his disposal,[6] and lived in a style becoming his rank.

In 1875 Gen. Loring was sent to take part in the Abyssinian campaign, as second in command and chief-of-staff. He was in all the battles of this war, narrowly escaping with his life on several occasions. It is asserted by competent military critics that had Gen. Loring’s advice been followed by Ratib Pacha, his superior in command, the whole of Abyssinia would have been added to the Egyptian domain. For his brilliant services in Abyssinia, Gen. Loring Pacha received two decorations—one from the Khedive, the Osmahneyah, an honor only awarded to veterans who have commanded armies in the field; the other from the Sultan of Turkey, the Medejedah, the most brilliant honor ever conferred on a foreign officer.

Gen. Loring has recently returned from Egypt to his native country, which will henceforward be his permanent home. He has consented to furnish one or more articles on “Modern Egypt and the Khedive”—subjects just now largely interesting the public mind, and which his thorough knowledge make him so competent to treat—for the columns of THE AMERICAN QUEEN. His scholarly attainments and experience will be illustrated in his papers, we believe, in a style which will shed lustre on his pen, as his military campaigns have on his sword.

[1] Loring was actually born in 1818, in Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. [Back]

[2] He would have been 17, but this also correlates with the previous mistake about the year of Loring’s birth. [Back]

[3] Loring was promoted to second lieutenant. He did not become a captain until 1846. [Back]

[4] He had been promoted a full colonel two years earlier, the youngest (to that time) in the history of the U.S. Army. [Back]

[5] Loring was never actually promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, although he did perform those duties by serving as a corps commander during two separate periods. It is important to note that after Leonidas Polk was killed at Pine Mountain, 34 officers signed and sent a petition to Jefferson Davis asking that Loring be promoted to lieutenant general and given command of the Army of Mississippi. [Back]

[6] While Loring adored the two palaces he occupied while in Alexandria, other observers were not so impressed: “An old, small, and dilapidated royal palace was assigned the general for his headquarters. They were very commodious and very uncomfortable. The faded brocades and silks of the curtains and divans were in rags, and moth-eaten rugs were scattered over the floors which did not look as if they had been swept since the days when some of the Pharaoh princes dwelt there. I spent one night under its roof and then fled to the Hôtel d’Angleterre. The myriads of fleas and things, such as an occasional scorpion dropping on to a bed, were too much for me.” James Morris Morgan, Recollections of a Rebel Reefer (1917). [Back]