William W . Loring William Wing Loring ( December 4 , 1818 – December 30 , 1886 ) was a soldier from North Carolina who served in the armies of the United States , the Confederacy , and Egypt . Biography . Early life . William was born in Wilmington , North Carolina , to Reuben and Hannah Loring . He was a fifth great grandson of New England pioneer Deacon Thomas Loring . When he was four , his family moved to Saint Augustine , Florida , where , at the young age of fourteen , he began a military career that spanned fifty years . As a fourteen - year - old , Loring joined the Florida Militia and gained his first combat experience fighting the Seminole Indians in minor skirmishes that would culminate in the Seminole Wars . When he was seventeen , he ran away to fight in the Texas War for Independence , but was soon retrieved by his father and taken home . For the next few years he would fight in the second Seminole War and end up being promoted to second lieutenant . In 1837 , Loring was sent to Alexandria Boarding School in Alexandria , Virginia , completing his secondary education . He attended Georgetown University from 1839 to 1840 and then went on to study law , and was admitted to the Florida bar in 1842 . In 1843 , he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives where he served from 1843 to 1845 . In 1845 he ran unsuccessfully for the Florida Senate . Mexican - American War . In 1846 , Loring joined a newly formed regiment , the Regiment of Mounted Rifles , originally created to protect the Oregon Territory . He was promoted to major even before the regiment saw battle . Shortly thereafter the Mounted Rifles were sent to Mexico to fight in the Mexican - American war . Loring ' s regiment saw action in most of the battles of the war and he was wounded three times . While leading the charge into Mexico City , Loring ' s arm was shattered by a Mexican bullet , and he would later have it amputated . He received two brevets for bravery , one to lieutenant colonel , and another to colonel . Antebellum years . In 1849 , during the California gold rush , Loring was ordered to take command of the Oregon Territory and led a train of 600 mule teams 2 , 500 miles from Missouri to Oregon . He was in command of the Oregon Territory for two years and was then transferred to being commander of the forts of the frontier , such forts as Fort Ewell , Fort McIntosh , and Fort Union . During some five years he engaged in many skirmishes with the Indians , most notably with the Comanches , Apaches , and Kiowas . Loring was promoted to colonel at the age of 38 in December 1856 , the youngest in the army . He left the United States and traveled to Europe in May 1859 . While there , he , like many of his fellow American officers , studied the military tactics that had been invented in the recent Crimean War . Before he returned home , Loring would visit Great Britain , France , Sweden , Prussia , Switzerland , Austria - Hungary , Italy , Russia , Turkey , and Egypt . Civil War . When the Civil War erupted , Loring sided with the South . In a conference in New Mexico , just before he left to defend his homeland , Loring told his officers , " The South is my home , and I am going to throw up my commission and shall join the Southern Army , and each of you can do as you think best . " He resigned from the U . S . Army on May 13 , 1861 . Upon offering his services to the Confederacy , Loring was promptly commissioned a brigadier general and given command of the Army of the Northwest . His first assignment was to defend western Virginia from Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan , who was invading from Ohio . He soon acquired the nickname , " Old Blizzards " for his battle cry , " Give them blizzards , boys ! Give them blizzards ! " Loring famously butted heads with superior officers . He went over General Jackson ' s head in requesting that his command be relieved from Romney ( now in West Virginia ) during the winter of 1861 - 62 prompting Jackson to threaten resignation . There were incidents with General Pemberton during the Vicksburg Campaign as well . During the Vicksburg Campaign he was cut off from the rest of the army at the Battle of Champion Hill . He then marched down to join forces with Gen . Joseph E . Johnston and was under the command of Johnston and Lt . Gen . Leonidas Polk , respectively . Loring took over command of Polk ' s corps temporarily when Polk was killed at Pine Mountain on June 14 , 1864 , and was replaced on July 7 , 1864 by Lt . Gen . Alexander P . Stewart . After being wounded at Ezra Church on July 28 , 1864 , Loring was out of action until after the fall of Atlanta . Upon returning he fought at Franklin on November 30 , 1864 , Nashville in mid - December , and in the Carolinas in March 1865 . Egypt . After the Confederate defeat in the Civil War , Loring served for nine years in the army of Isma ' il Pasha , the Khedive of Egypt . He joined about fifty Union and Confederate veterans who had been recommended to the Khedive by William Tecumseh Sherman . Loring began as Inspector General of the army , a position in which he suggested various ways to modernize the army . He was then placed in charge of the country ’ s coastal defenses , where he oversaw the erection of numerous fortifications . In 1875 he was promised the command of an Egyptian invasion of Abyssinia , however Ratib Pasha was given the assignment instead , and Loring was named chief of staff . Ratib Pasha was the ex - slave of the late Said Pawshar , the viceroy of Egypt , with negligible military qualifications ; according to one of Loring ' s American compatriots , the freedman was " shrivelled with lechery as the mummy is with age . " The campaign against Abyssinia ended in disaster at the Battle of Gura , and the Egyptians blamed the Americans for the disaster . While the rest of the Egyptian army returned home , they were ordered to remain in Massawa until further notice , where they endured the summer months , then spent the next two years enduring endless frustration and humiliation in Cairo . In 1878 , partially due to finances , the American officers were dismissed . During his service to Egypt , Loring attained the rank of Fereek Pasha ( Major General ) . After his return to the United States , he wrote a book about his Egyptian experiences , entitled " A Confederate Soldier in Egypt " ( 1884 ) . Loring was also the posthumous co - author of " The March of the Mounted Riflemen " ( 1940 ) . Return to United States . Loring returned to Florida where he unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate against Charles W . Jones . He then moved to New York City , where he died . He is buried in Loring Park , Woodlawn Cemetery , St . Augustine , Florida .