Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 April 1870 — Major General George H. Thomas. [ARTICLE]

Major General George H. Thomas.

Ths brief, but sad istelligsnce. tehT graphed from Bah Francisoo, that Major will create a profound feeling of grief, not alone among the surviving actors of the war of the rebellion and among hlstowu soldiers in the Army of the Onibetlami, who loved him moat because they knew him best, but throughout the country andthe civilised world, which have learned to regard him as one of the greatest Generals and purest hearts of whom history makes mention.

General Thothas was bohi in Soulhampton county, Ta. (the rteae'bf Nat Turner 8 insurrection), July fit, 1816. Ill* father was of English and his mother u( Huguenot extraction. He received a good idu-, cation, and in his early life accepted lhe position of deputy to his Unde, then County Clerk, end soon after began the study of the law. This was of abort duration, however, for, in 1888, at the awe of 20, he received an appointment as cadet, and entered the Military Academy nt West Point, from Which he graduated twelfth

in a class of forty-five, June 80, IMO, and on the Ist of July received his first appointment as brevet Second Lieutenant In the Third Artillery, and Joined his regiment in Florida November 6,1841. lie was brevetted First Lieutenant for gallant conduct in the war against the Seminole Indiana Ilia regiment was ordered from Florida in January, 1842, and Lieutenant Thomas, with bis company, to New Orleans Barracks, and thence to Fort Moultrie, in Charleston harbor. Where he re mained until December, 1843, When he was ordered to ditty with Opmpany C, Third Light Artillery, at Fort McHenry, Maryland. On the 17th pf May, 1843,1 m was promoted First- Lieutenant Of Arfil lery, and in the spring of 1844 joined Company E, Th ini Artillery, at Fort Moultrie.

When war with Mexico became unavbtdable, Lieutenant Thomas was ordered with his company to Texas in July, 1845, to report to General Taylor. During the Mexican war he distinguished UiiilHelf at Fort Brown, Resaca ae la Palma, Monterey (for gallant conduct ait which he was brevetted Captain, September 23, 1846), and at Buena Vista, which scared him a brevet Majorship (February 23, 18ft). He remained in Mexico on duty until August 20,1848, When he recrossed Jhto .Texas, and thence went to Fort Adams, Rhode Island. He was ordered to Florids again tn 1849, upon the renewal of the war With the Indians, and served there until December, 1850, when he was ordered to Fort Independence. He remained there until March 28,1851, whan he waaaasigned. to duty as Instructor of Artillery ana Cavalry at West Point. He retained this popi tion until May 31,1854, having been .promoted meanwhile, December 24, 1853, to a Captaincy in the -'l'll ird Artillery. In 1854, Captain Thomas was assigned io Fort luma, California, where he received the appointment lit Junior Major of the Second Cavalry. From May 1, 1856, to November 1, 1860, be was on.duty- in Texas. .

la April, 1861, Major Thomas was ordered to Carlisle Barreeks, Pa., to remount the Second Cavalry, which had been dismount*! by General Twigge, and on the Ist of May, 1801, he reported to the commander, of the Department of Pennsylvania for duty. Aprii-25,1864, he Was Sromoted Lieutenant Colonel, and, on [ay 3d, Colonel. From May tjirtd July he commanded the First Brigade of Major Ganeral Patterson’s army in Northern Virginia, and subsequently, under General Banks until August 26th. On the 17th of Augustus was appointed a Brigadier General of volunteers, and on the

36th took command of Camp- Dick Robinson, in Kentucky,'where, on the 26th of October, at the battle of Wild Cat, the rebel General Zolliooffer was completely routed, and his troops <!nve’ri”back to Cumberland Gap. General Thomas .then advanced to Lebanon, ana* organised lhe First Division of the Army of the Cum bsrland, and immediately - upon Tils arrival he found ’ himself confronted by Zolliooffer, who had takes up a strong position st Mill Spring. Zolliooffer. mttqe the attack, but was completely rcu'ei, and him«alf killed; and the ensmf abandoned their provisions, ammunition, arrhs, and camp equipage of every-description, fleeidg in wild dismay over lhe mountifliis, and leaving General Thomas’ the hero of the first decisive victory of the ' For gallant conduct in the battle lie 'was appointed andvonfirmed Major. General of VdlunteersfAprH 25,1869 )'* Ills division was then ordered to Nashville; but, as itwas In the reserves; he did upt paujmpete in the battle of Pittsburg Landing. 'May 1,1862, his division was transferred to the Army of the Tennessee, and he qofitinneil in command oi the right wing until June 10, when he was transferred to the Army of the Ohio under General Buelltj. When the command was assumed bf General Rosecrans, the name of the army was changed again to that of the Army ot (he Cumberland, and Gedbral Thomas fodk command of the centr^,—th'e Foiirteenth Corps. Under the command of General ■ Rosecrans he served- with distinguished ability and valor in that tetriMii series of battles on Stone River. ' »

From that time to this his record is fresh' in the memory of the public, and we need, only to mention Chicamauga, ; Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain,, Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, KefietoM; Peach Tree Creek, Chattahoochee, and, greatest of all, Nashville, to recall all the brilliant service which he rendered in these closing scenes of the rebellion. > Ho army at Chicamauga, and her crtisned every vestige of rebel Mon in the West at, Nashville, leaving Sherman free to march onward unmolested. About a year ago he was assigned to the. Department of California, which ends our record of the prominent events of his life.

In General Thomas there seemed to be a union of all the qualities which make up the great and successful soldier. He brought no peculiar trait of character into stronger relief than any other, but blenuod them all to perfect harmony. Although a Virginian 'bjP birth, he was a staunch, uncompromising Unionist in. feeling. As a soldier, he united skillful strategy with cool valor and tremendous power. Wh«u he fought ho hurled all his forces upon jfye enemy and crushed him. Me was #8 distinguished to council as he was terrible ip battle. As a gentleman, he was jrte-* proacljabic, both to contact with his mien and with the world, and nbnd evert /wed more deajiy tips lion-heart with the jdfec-, Rons Of a woman than- his oww soldiers who served underhim and knew the warm feeltags under the stem exterior. As a man, he was manly in all things. -' Not a spot of maanness er jealously stain his long and useful career. Tn his personal dh pearance, .be waa dignified a#d commanding ; in his hearing, gentle and courteous, and to tas habits sifictfy’ temperate an'd rigid. In all, he Was the Ofievalier Bayard of the army, vmepcujreC-iane rps proche. His tame is forever assured in the history of his country, and W jlf#' is a model for the emulation of every Chris, tian soldier and ojrwy asplrftg youth m America.- Chicggo_ Tribune, March 30. A Dutchman, tbrother day, reading an account of a meeting, came to the words, “ The meeting then dusofyed.” . M&gbuld not define the meaning of 'the . latter, so he-referred to his dictionary, and felt totalled. ton few mwMes & rncMiams in, When Houty -said, “Dey must have pecpleahad mgltolt away.** .