US soldier, born in Southampton Co, Virginia, USA. He trained at West Point (1840), and fought in the Seminole War, on the W frontier, and in the Mexican War. After teaching at West Point (18515) he joined a new cavalry division. Although a Virginian, he stayed with the Union and commanded units at several major campaigns and battles. His greatest moment came at Chickamauga (1863), where his stubborn defence earned him the sobriquet Rock of Chickamauga. Forces under Thomas's command stormed Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga (1863), and his Army of the Cumberland decisively defeated a Confederate army under Hood at Franklin and Nashville, TN (NovDec 1864), for which he was one of 15 officers voted Thanks of Congress. He stayed in the army after the war, and died in San Francisco while in command of the Military Division of the Pacific.
| George Henry Thomas | |
|---|---|
| July 31, 1816 – March 28, 1870 | |
|
General George H. Thomas |
|
| Nickname | "Rock of Chickamauga", "The Sledge of Nashville", "Slow Trot Thomas", |
| Place of birth | Newsom's Depot, Virginia |
| Allegiance | U.S. Army, Union Army |
| Rank | Major General |
| Battles/wars |
Mexican-American War American Civil War *First Battle of Bull Run *Battle of Mill Springs *Battle of Chickamauga *Battle of Nashville |
George Henry Thomas (July 31, 1816 – March 28, 1870), the "Rock of Chickamauga", was a career U.S. Army officer and a Union general during the American Civil War, one of the principal commanders in the Western Theater.
Early life
Thomas was born in Newsom's Depot, Southampton County, Virginia.
Civil War
At the outbreak of the Civil War, three of Thomas's regimental superiors—Albert Sidney Johnston, Robert E. Nevertheless, Thomas stayed in the Union Army with some degree of suspicion surrounding him.
Thomas was promoted in rapid succession to be lieutenant colonel (April 25, 1861) and colonel (May 3) in the Regular Army, and brigadier general of volunteers (August 17). Thomas was assigned to command the 1st Division of Maj. Thomas, promoted to major general effective April 25, 1862, was given command of the Right Wing, consisting of four divisions from Grant's former Army of the Tennessee and one from the Army of the Ohio. Thomas successfully led this putative army in the siege of Corinth.
Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga
Thomas resumed service under Don Carlos Buell. During Confederate General Braxton Bragg's invasion of Kentucky in the fall of 1862, the Union high command became nervous about Buell's cautious tendencies and offered command of the Army of the Ohio to Thomas, who refused. Thomas served as Buell's second-in-command at the Battle of Perryville;
Fighting under Rosecrans in the newly renamed Army of the Cumberland, Thomas gave an impressive performance at the Battle of Stones River, holding the center of the retreating Union line and once again preventing a victory by Bragg. Future president James Garfield, a field officer for the Army of the Cumberland, visited Thomas during the battle, carrying orders from Rosecrans to retreat; when Thomas said he would have to stay behind to ensure the Army's safety, Garfield told Rosecrans that Thomas was "standing like a rock."
Thomas succeeded Rosecrans in command of the Army of the Cumberland shortly before the Battle of Chattanooga (November 23 – November 25, 1863), a stunning Union victory that was highlighted by Thomas's troops storming the Confederate line on Missionary Ridge. As the Army of the Cumberland advanced further than ordered, General Grant, on Orchard Knob asked Thomas, "Who ordered the advance?" William Tecumseh Sherman's advance through Georgia in the spring of 1864, the Army of the Cumberland numbered over 60,000 men, and Thomas's staff did the logistics and engineering for Sherman's entire army group. At the Battle of Peachtree Creek (July 20, 1864), Thomas's defense severely damaged Lt. Gen. Thomas, with a smaller force, raced with Hood to reach Nashville, where he was to receive reinforcements.
At the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, a large part of Thomas's force, under command of Maj. At Nashville, Thomas had to organize his forces, drawn from all parts of the West and including many young troops and even quartermaster employees. Logan was sent with an order to replace Thomas, and soon afterwards Grant started a journey west from City Point, Virginia to take command in person.
Thomas attacked on December 15, 1864, in the Battle of Nashville and destroyed Hood's command. Thomas sent his wife, Frances Lucretia Kellogg, the following telegram, the only communication surviving of the Thomas's correspondence: "We have whipped the enemy, taken many prisoners and considerable artillery."
For this brilliant victory, Thomas was made a major general in the regular army and received the thanks of Congress:
... Thomas and the officers and soldiers under his command for their skill and dauntless courage, by which the rebel army under General Hood was signally defeated and driven from the state of Tennessee.
Thomas also received another nickname from his victory: "The Sledge of Nashville".
Later years
After the end of the Civil War, Thomas commanded military departments in Kentucky and Tennessee until 1869. President Andrew Johnson offered Thomas the rank of lieutenant general—with the intent to eventually replace Grant, a Republican and future president, with Thomas as general in chief—but the ever-loyal Thomas asked the Senate to withdraw his name for that nomination because he did not want to be party to politics.
Thomas's legacy
His cadets at West Point gave him the nickname of "Slow Trot Thomas", and this sobriquet was used to diminish his reputation.
Thomas was in chief command of only two battles in the Civil War, the Battle of Mill Springs at the beginning and the Battle of Nashville near the end.
Thomas has generally been held in high esteem by Civil War historians; Bruce Catton and Carl Sandburg wrote glowingly of him, and many consider Thomas one of the top three Union generals of the war, after Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. Beginning in the 1870s, many Civil War generals published memoirs, justifying their decisions or refighting old battles, but Thomas, who died in 1870, obviously could not publish his own memoirs.
Grant and Thomas also had a cool relationship, for reasons that are not entirely clear, but are well-attested by contemporaries. When a rain-soaked Grant arrived at Thomas's headquarters before the Chattanooga campaign, Thomas, caught up in other activity, did not acknowledge the general for several minutes until an aide intervened. Thomas's perceived slowness at Nashville—although necessitated by the weather—drove Grant into a fit of impatience, and Grant nearly replaced Thomas. In his Personal Memoirs, Grant tended to minimize Thomas's contributions, particularly during the Franklin-Nashville Campaign, saying his movements were "always so deliberate and so slow, though effective in defence." Sherman, who had been close to Thomas throughout the war, also repeated the accusation after the war that Thomas was "slow", and this damning with faint praise tended to affect perceptions of the Rock of Chickamauga well into the 20th century.
In memoriam
A fort south of Newport, Kentucky was named in his honor, and the city of Fort Thomas now stands there and carries his name as well. A memorial honoring General Thomas can be found in the eponymous Thomas Circle in downtown Washington, D.C.
A distinctive engraved portrait of Thomas appeared on U.S. paper money in 1890 and 1891.
In 1999 a statue of Thomas by sculptor Rudy Ayoroa was unveiled in Lebanon, Kentucky.
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