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See also: American general, was See also: born in Southampton county, Virginia, on the 31st of See also: July 1816
.
Graduating from West Point in 184o, he served as an artillery subaltern in the war against the See also: Seminole See also: Indians in See also: Florida (1841), and in the Mexican War at the battles of Fort See also: Brown, Resaca de la Palma,
See also: Monterey and Buena Vista, receiving three brevets for distinguished gallantry in See also: action
.
From 1851 to 1854 he was an instructor at West Point
.
In 1855 he was appointed by Jefferson See also: Davis, then secretary of war, a major of the 2nd Cavalry
.
His regimental superiors were A
.
S
.
See also: Johnston, R
.
E
.
See also: Lee and
See also: Hardee
.
All three resigned at the outbreak of the See also: Civil War and See also: Thomas was long in doubt as to his duty
.
He finally decided to adhere to the
See also: United States
.
He was promoted in rapid succession to be See also: lieutenant-colonel and colonel in the See also: regular army, and brigadier-general of See also: volunteers
.
In command of an See also: independent force in eastern See also: Kentucky, on the 19th of See also: January 1862, he attacked the See also: Con-federate General Zollicoffer at See also: Mill Springs, and completely routed him, gaining by vigorous attack and relentless pursuit the first important Union victory in the West
.
He served under
See also: Buell and was offered, but refused, the chief command in the anxious days before the See also: battle of See also: Perryville
.
Under Rosecrans he was engaged at See also: Stone
See also: River and was in See also: charge of the most important See also: part of the manoeuvring from Decherd to See also: Chattanooga
.
At the battle of Chickamauga (q.v.) on the 19th of See also: September 1863 he achieved See also: great distinctions his firmness on that disastrous See also: field, where he gained the name of " The
See also: Rock of Chickamauga," being all that saved a terrible defeat from becoming a hopeless rout
.
He succeeded Roseicrans in command of the Army of the See also: Cumberland shortly before the great victory of Chattanooga (q.v.), in which Thomas and his army played a most conspicuous part, his divisions under Sheridan, See also: Wood and See also: Baird carrying Missionary See also: Ridge in superb See also: style
.
In Sherman's advance through See also: Georgia in the spring of 1864, the Army of the Cumberland numbered over 6o,000 men See also: present for duty
.
Thomas handled these with great skill in all the engagements and flanking movements from Chattanooga to See also: Atlanta
.
When J
.
B
.
See also: Hood broke away from Atlanta in the autumn of 1864, menaced Sherman's long See also: line of communica tions and endeavoured to force Sherman to follow him, Sherman determined to abandon his communications and See also: march to the
See also: sea, leaving to Thomas the difficult task of dealing with Hood
.
Thomas hastened back with a comparatively small force, racing with Hood to reach See also: Nashville, where he was to receive reinforcements
.
At the battle of See also: Franklin on the 3oth of See also: November 1864, a large part of Thomas's force, under command of See also: Schofield, checked Hood long enough to cover the concentration at Nashville (q.v.)
.
Here Thomas had to organize his force, which was See also: drawn from all parts of the West and included many See also: young troops and even quartermaster's employes
.
He declined to attack until his army was ready and the ice which covered the ground had melted sufficiently to enable his men
to move
.
The whole of the See also: North, and even General See also: Grant himself, were impatient of the delay
.
General
See also: Logan was sent with an See also: order to supersede Thomas, and soon afterwards Grant See also: left the Army of the See also: Potomac to take command in See also: person
.
Before either arrived Thomas made his attack (See also: December 15th–16th, 1864) and inflicted on Hood the most crushing defeat sustained in the open field by any army on either See also: side in the whole war
.
Hood's army was completely ruined and never again appeared on the field
.
For this brilliant victory Thomas was made a major-general in the regular army and received the thanks of Congress
.
After the termination of the Civil War he commanded military departments in Kentucky and See also: Tennessee until 1869, when he was ordered to command the division of the Pacific with headquarters at See also: San Francisco
.
He died there of apoplexy, while writing an answer to an article criticizing his military career, on the 28th of March 1870
.
Thomas was beloved by his soldiers, for whom he always had a fatherly solicitude
.
He was a See also: man of solid rather than brilliant attainments; he remained in the army all his See also: life, and never had any ambitions outside of it; the See also: nickname of " Slow Trot Thomas " given him by the cadets at West Point characterized him physically and mentally; his mind acted deliberately, and his temperament was somewhat sluggish; but his See also: judgment was accurate, his knowledge of his profession was See also: complete in every detail, and when he had finally grasped a problem, and the See also: time arrived for action, he struck his See also: blow with extra-ordinary vigour and rapidity
.
The only two battles in which he was in chief command—Mill Springs and Nashville, one at the beginning and the other near the end of the war—were See also: signal victories, without defect and above See also: criticism
.
His service during the intervening three years of almost incessant conflict and manoeuvring was marked by loyal obedience to his superiors, skilful command of his subordinates, and successful accomplishment of every task entrusted to him . |
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