Bust view of Loring in uniform. Collar insignia just visible. Image is clear with good contrast. Mount is good with pencil identification on lower edge. E. & H.T. Anthony backmark.

William Wing Loring (December 4, 1818 – December 30, 1886) was an American soldier who served in the armies of the United States, the Confederacy, and Egypt.

William was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. 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 1846, Loring joined the Regiment of Mounted Rifles. 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 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 bullet, and he would later have it amputated. He received two brevets for bravery, one to lieutenant colonel, and another to colonel.

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.

When the Civil War erupted, Loring sided with the South. 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.

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.

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 was buried in Loring Park, St. Augustine, Florida until August 24, 2020, when the University of Florida Historic St. Augustine exhumed his ashes and moved them to Craig Memorial Park.  [jet] [ph:L]

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