Claim: Although he was known for engineering and artillery because of his siege operations in Fort Pulaski, Quincy Adams Gillmore's first independent command came at the head of a cavalry expedition against Confederate General John Pegram whom he defeated at the battle of Somerset.
Evidence: He was noted for his actions in the Union victory at Fort Pulaski, where his modern rifled artillery readily pounded the fort's exterior stone walls, an action that essentially rendered stone fortifications obsolete. Though long associated with engineering and artillery, Gillmore's first independent command came at the head of a cavalry expedition against Confederate General John Pegram. Gillmore defeated the Confederates at the battle of Somerset for which he was given a brevet (military) promotion to colonel in the U.S. Army.