George W. Wingate

[Pollaco]

Years ago I joined an organization that a Mr. George Wingate was a cofounder of. Every now and then I'd attempt to look him up in one of the good bios that are available. Well no wonder I could never find anything on him. I was misspelling his name. I heard it as Windgate, like the British General, Sir Reginald. Now that I have the spelling corrected it'll be easier to find out more about him. Any one know anything about him? He was in a NY regiment wasn't he? What was his rank?

 

[luinrina]

Any one know anything about him? He was in a NY regiment wasn't he? What was his rank?

Not sure if you've looked him up already, but here's in short what I found:

George Wood Wingate was born on July 1, 1840 in New York. He was a lawyer; in 1864 he founded the law firm Wingate & Cullen. His son practiced there too. The law firm still exists today under the name Wingate Kearney & Cullen LLP.

Wingate served in the 22nd New York National guards, enlisting as a private and receiving promotions until reaching the rank of captain.

From his experiences in the field, he was troubled by soldiers' poor marksmanship so he prepared rifles for them to practice on. He wrote rules in 1867 for systematic rifle practice. The publication of these rules eventually led to the organization of the N.A.R. in 1871.

In addition to the rifle practice rules he wrote:

• The Great Cholera Riots (1880)
• Through the Yellowstone Park on Horseback (1886)
• History of the 22d Regiment, N. G. N. Y. (1896)

He received the rank of Brigadier-General when he was appointed general inspector of rifle-practice in 1874. He resigned five years later.

He died on March 22, 1928 (aged 87) and is buried in Friends Quaker Cemetery in Brooklyn.


Sources:
- Wikipedia
- Find a Grave
- http://famousamericans.net/georgewoodwingate/
- https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/...-war-soldier-who-helped-give-the-n-r-a-birth/