George Henry Thomas

George Henry Thomas 1816-70, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Southampton co., Va. He served in the Seminole War and in the Mexican War. Later he taught at West Point and served in Texas. As a brigadier general of volunteers, he was sent to Kentucky, where he defeated the Confederates at Mill Springs (Jan., 1862). Thomas served under General Buell at Shiloh, Corinth, and Perryville. In the Chattanooga campaign, his stand on Sept. 20, 1863, which saved the Union army from complete rout, won for him the sobriquet "Rock of Chickamauga." Appointed brigadier general in the regular army, he succeeded General Rosecrans in command of the Army of the Cumberland (Oct., 1863) and served under Ulysses S. Grant around Chattanooga and under General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign. With the fall of Atlanta (Sept., 1864), Grant ordered Thomas to pursue the army of General Hood into Tennessee. Although accused by Grant of moving too slowly, and threatened with the loss of his command, Thomas waited and finally defeated Hood at Nashville (Dec., 1864). This victory brought him a promotion to major general in the regular army. After the war he held various commands. At the time of his death he was commander of the Military Division of the Pacific.

Bibliography: See biographies by F. F. McKinney (1961) and W. D. Thomas (1964).

Thomas, George Henry (1816–1870) Union army officer. Born in Southampton County, Virginia, on July 31, 1816, Thomas studied law before attending West Point. He was graduated from West Point and commissioned in the 3rd Artillery in 1840. Following service in the South, on the frontier, and in the Mexican War (1846–48) (in which he earned brevet promotions for gallantry at Monterrey and Buena Vista), he fought the Seminoles in Florida (1840–1842, 1849–1850), taught tactics at West Point (1851–1854), and served as Lt. Col. of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry campaigning against the Indians in Texas (1856–1860). One of the few Virginians to remain loyal to the Union at the beginning of the Civil War, Thomas served in the Shenandoah Valley campaign in 1861 and in Kentucky in 1862. He was appointed brigadier general of volunteers in 1861 and major general of volunteers in April 1862. Commanding the XIV Corps in the Army of the Cumberland, his steadfast defense during the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19–20, 1863) earned him the sobriquet “The Rock of Chickamauga,” but, being a Virginian, he was suspect and did not receive subsequent promotions and commands commensurate with his abilities. Nevertheless, he eventually rose to command the Army of the Cumberland in the battles around Chattanooga (1863) and in the Atlanta campaign (1864). In late 1864, Thomas led his army north into Tennessee and gained a major victory over Confederate forces in the Battle of Nashville (December 15–16, 1864). Following the Civil War, he commanded in Tennessee and Kentucky and then the Military Division of the Pacific (1869–1870).