Loring, William Wing (1818-86) Confederate army officer, born in Wilmington, North Carolina. Loring held several assignments and commands during the course of the Civil War, but these repeated changes failed to bring any notable victory or particular distinction. Among them: defense of the Shenandoah Valley (1861); the Romney expedition (1861-62); an encounter at Fort Pemberton, Mississippi (1862), where he turned back a formidable Union force; a skirmish with troops of Gen. William T. Sherman in northwestern Georgia (1864); the advance to Nashville and retreat to Tupelo (1864); and battles with troops of Sherman in the Carolinas (1865). After the war Loring spent ten years as a mercenary in Egypt (1869-79). A career soldier prior to offering his services to the Confederacy, Loring had participated in the Mexican War (1846-48), losing an arm at Chapultepec (1847).

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