Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Bayard, George Dashiell

BAYARD, George Dashiell, soldier, b. in Seneca Falls, N. Y., 18 Dec, 1835 ; d. 14 Dec, 1862. His parents removed to Iowa in his early youth, and he attended a military school kept by Maj. Dorn. He learned fencing from Col. Korponay, an exiled Hungarian soldier, and from him acquired the military spirit that led him to seek an appointment as a cadet. After graduation at the U. S. military academy in 1856 he was assigned to the 1st cavalry. Four years were passed in frontier and garrison duty. He was severely wounded in a fight with the Kiowa Indians. In 1861 he was cavalry instructor at West Point, and on 16 March of that year was promoted to first lieutenant in the 3d cavalry; captain 4th cavalry, 20 Aug., and was granted leave of absence, to become colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania cavalry volunteers, 14 Sept., 1861. He became brigadier-general of volunteers 28 April, 1862, and served in the arduous campaigns of the Shenandoah, northern Virginia, and on the Rappahannock, distinguishing himself by the dash and bravery of his reconnoissances. He was mortally wounded at Fredericksburg, 13 Dec, 1862, and died the following day. He was buried with military honors at Princeton, N. J. A memorial volume by his father, Samuel J. Bayard, was published in New York in 1874.