Henry Stanton Burton Henry Stanton Burton ( 1819 – 1869 ) was a graduate of West Point , a career American Army officer who served in the Second Seminole War , Mexican – American War and the American Civil War . Early life . Henry Stanton Burton was born at West Point , New York on May 9 , 1819 . Recommended from Vermont , Burton graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point on July 1 , 1839 and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant , U . S . 3rd Artillery Regiment . From 1839 to 1842 , he served in the Florida Indian War and on November 11 , 1839 was promoted 1st Lieutenant . From 1843 to 1846 he was assistant instructor of infantry and artillery tactics at West Point . Mexican War and duty in California . During the Mexican – American War he became Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers in 1846 . Accepted by the U . S . Army on August 1846 it was transported around Cape Horn to California where it served as garrisons . Elements of the Volunteers under Lt Colonel Burton were involved in operations of the Pacific Coast Campaign in Baja California , fighting in the Battle of La Paz , Siege of La Paz and in the final defeat of the Mexican forces at the Skirmish of Todos Santos . His command remained as a garrison in Baja California until the peace treaty returned it to Mexico . On September 22 , 1847 the U . S . Army promoted him Captain . As the war drew to a close , it appeared that Baja California would remain a Mexican state , while Alta California would become territory of the United States . Burton offered to help residents of Baja California move to Alta California and become United States citizens . Burton returned to Monterey with his command and the evacuated Mexicans . On July 9 , 1849 he married one of the refugees , Maria Amparo Ruiz y Aranjo at Monterey . After his Volunteer regiment disbanded in October 1848 , unlike most of them who rushed to the gold fields , Burton returned to service in the Army . In 1852 , he bought Rancho Jamul near San Diego and homesteaded it on March 3 , 1854 . In 1855 , he went to San Diego , to serve as commander of the Post at Mission San Diego de Alcalá where he first established Camp Burton , as a temporary position before occupying permanent quarters in the abandoned Mission San Diego de Alcalá . While there he was living at Rancho Jamul with his family . Civil War . Captain Burton remained in California on duty in various forts until 1862 , when , having been promoted to Major on May 14 , 1861 , the American Civil War began . He was ordered to Delaware where he commanded Fort Delaware military prison until 1863 . On July 25 , 1863 he was promoted Lt . Colonel , U . S . 4th Artillery Regiment . On August 11 , 1863 he was promoted Colonel , U . S . 5th Artillery Regiment and from commanded the artillery reserve of the Army of the Potomac from 1863 - 1864 . He was inspector of artillery in the Richmond Campaign in the Department of the East . From 1864 he was a member of the retiring board . On March 13 , 1865 , he was promoted brevet Brigadier General U . S . Army , for the capture of Petersburg , Virginia . Later life . Following the Civil War , Burton subsequently commanded the U . S . 5th Artillery Regiment at Fort Monroe , Virginia , at Columbia , South Carolina , at Richmond , Virginia and at Fort Adams , Rhode Island . From October 1868 to March 1869 he was on court martial duty at New York City . He died April 4 , 1869 at Fort Adams , in Newport , Rhode Island and was buried at West Point .