George Thomas

(George Henry Thomas)

Born: July 31, 1816 in Newsom’s Depot, Virginia
Died: March 28, 1870 in San Francisco, California
Military Rank (USA): Major General

• He grew up in an upper-class plantation family with 24 slaves.
• His father died when he was 13, and his family was left with financial difficulties.
• During Nat Turner’s slave rebellion in 1831, he and his family fled from their home and hid in the nearby woods. This caused George to realize that slavery was so terrible that it had caused the slaves to act violently.
• He attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1840.
• He fought in the Mexican-American War.
• He had experience in all three combat arms: infantry, cavalry, and artillery.
• He fell off a train platform and severely injured his back, which would cause him pain for the rest of his life.
• He was disowned by his southern family because he chose to fight with the Union instead of the Confederacy.
• He replaced Robert E. Lee as lieutenant colonel when Lee went to fight for the Confederacy.
• He replaced Albert Sidney Johnston shortly afterwards in what was called the Regular Army.
• He fought in Chattanooga, Stone’s River, Perryville, Atlanta, and Nashville.
• After the war, he protected freed black slaves from white men. He also protected places from the destruction of the Ku Klux Klan.
• He died of a stroke.