William Woods Averell (November 5, 1832 – February 3, 1900) was a career United States Army officer and a cavalry general in the American Civil War. He was the only Union general to achieve a major victory against the Confederates in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 prior to the arrival of Philip Sheridan, at the Battle of Rutherford's (Carter's) Farm and at the Battle of Moorefield. After the war, Averell was appointed by President Andrew Johnson as a diplomat to British North America, serving 1866 to 1869. Also an entrepreneur and inventor with interests in the coal, steel and related infrastructure industry, Averell became wealthy by inventing an improved technique for laying asphalt pavement. He co-wrote a history of the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, Sixtieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War years; it was published in 1905. He wrote a memoir of his Army years from 1851-1862 but did not publish it and the manuscript was lost for a time. It was discovered in the late 20th century and published in an annotated edition in 1978. Early years Averell was born in Cameron, New York. As a boy, he worked as a drugstore clerk in the nearby town of Bath. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1855 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Mounted Rifles. His early assignments included garrison duty at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and the U.S. Army Cavalry School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. During two years of service in New Mexico, he was wounded in action against the Indians in October 1858, and was placed on the disabled list until the outbreak of the Civil War. Civil War After the capture of Fort Sumter, Lt. Averell made a risky solo journey across the country to the New Mexico Territory with a message to summon his old mounted rifle regiment to the East to join the fighting. Averell first saw action at the First Battle of Bull Run while acting as assistant adjutant general to Brig. Gen. Andrew Porter. In August 1861, he was appointed colonel of the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry regiment, which he led through the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles. Immediately after that campaign, on July 6, 1862, he was given command of the 1st Cavalry Brigade in the Army of the Potomac. He missed the Battle of Antietam and most of the Maryland Campaign as