George Pomutz

George Pomutz (Gheorghe Pomuț) was a Romanian-American soldier, lawyer, and diplomat who became a Union general during the American Civil War. He was born on 31 May 1818 in Gyula, then part of the Habsburg Empire’s Kingdom of Hungary, into an ethnic Romanian family in a town with a strong Romanian population.

Educated in law and military matters, he initially served as an officer in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–1849, taking an active part in the struggle against Habsburg rule before the defeat of the revolution forced him into exile. Like many 1848 émigrés, he emigrated to the United States, where he eventually settled in Iowa and integrated into the local immigrant community.

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, he joined the Union Army and enrolled as a first lieutenant in the 15th Iowa Infantry Regiment, quickly proving himself in field service.

Full Name	George Pomutz
Gender	Male
Occupation	American General
Date of Birth	31-May-1818 (64 years)
Birth Year	1818
Birth Location	Gyula Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire
Death Time	12-October-1882
Death Location	Saint Petersburg, Russia

He fought in several major Western Theater campaigns and was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, one of the bloody early engagements of the war.

In May 1864, he was appointed Provost Marshal of the XVII Corps under Major General Francis P. Blair, and later that year he returned to the 15th Iowa Infantry, eventually commanding the regiment at the Battle of Atlanta and participating in Sherman’s subsequent operations, including the March to the Sea.

By the end of the war he had attained the rank of brevet brigadier general in the Union Army, making him one of the few Romanians to hold a general’s rank in United States service.

After the Civil War, George Pomutz returned to Keokuk, Iowa, where he resumed civilian life before being called into diplomatic service. On 16 February 1866 he was appointed United States Consul in Saint Petersburg, in the Russian Empire, a post he held until 30 September 1870.

During his tenure in Russia, he played a role in the diplomatic context surrounding the negotiations for the Alaska Purchase, which transferred Alaska from Russian to American control in 1867.

His service in Saint Petersburg marked him as a notable representative of the growing Romanian-American community and as a figure linking Central European revolutionary traditions with American expansion and diplomacy.

In his later years, he remained in Russia in various capacities after his consular appointment ended, and he did not return permanently to the United States. He died on 12 October 1882, with sources indicating that he passed away in Saint Petersburg, where he was reportedly buried in a local cemetery, though the precise location of his grave later became uncertain.