Afred T.A. Torbert was born July 1, 1833 in Georgetown. He earned an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point (class of 1855). After the start of the Civil War, Torbert became the regimental and brigade commander of the New Jersey troops.
He later was named commander of the first cavalry division of the Army of the Potomac, the Union Force that engaged with General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
As the war neared its conclusion Torbert was placed in charge of the cavalry for the Army of the Shenandoah. After the Confederate surrender, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Torbert as minister of San Salvador. Later he was consul to Cuba and France. Torbert died after a shipwreck off the Florida coast in 1880