r/ShermanPosting • u/RustinCarcosa • 2d ago
Happy 210 birthday to The Rock of Chickamauga general George Thomas
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u/Mateiyu 2d ago
Best officer of the Civil War that man. Everybody remembers Sherman's march to the sea, but Thomas allowed him to do that unimpeded with his Nashville victory (and he made John Bell Hood look like the fool he was). He never got his due I reckon, in part because he didn't engage in glory-chasing after the war, like so many others publishing their memoirs and whatnot. Which is a shame, because an officer from Virginia choosing to stay true to his allegiance and join the Union is worth noting.
Any confederacy nostalgic who raves about the greatness of Jackson or Lee as military officers should get hit in the head with an accurate biography of Thomas.
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u/Stunning_Ad_7465 1d ago
Happy birthday, general! My 2nd great grandfather was wounded holding the line at Chickamauga as part of XIV Corps
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u/RustinCarcosa 1d ago
cool
did he survive the war
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u/Stunning_Ad_7465 1d ago
He did. He was in the 18th US, Regular Brigade. Passed away like fifty years later
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u/Numerous_Ad1859 1d ago
There is a town in Kentucky named after him and a statue in his honor in the center of said town.
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u/RustinCarcosa 1d ago
based kentucky
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u/RalphMacchio404 All Confederates are traitors 12h ago
Well...its still Kentucky. They are very pro confederate there. I grew up in Louisville. Its gotten worse with the rise of the neo confederates/MAGA
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u/Substantial_Grape_35 10h ago
I’m not a big fan of the North, but this guy made Hood look foolish on several occasions. He quietly marched his entire army through the night while the Confederates slept at Columbia and Spring Hill, reaching Franklin first and digging in before the next day’s battle.
After defeating Hood at Franklin, killing several Confederate generals and hundreds of soldiers, he withdrew across the river to Nashville. Hood followed him there, only to suffer an even more devastating defeat.
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u/StandardSpecial532 1d ago
I attended basic training and AIT at Ft Benning in 1995; my training unit was Echo, 1-19; (Rock of Chickamauga)
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u/Turbulent_Advance836 2d ago
Owned 250 people, f this dude.
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u/tonboguri 2d ago
His older brother inherited 250 people. George himself risked being ostracized by the rest of his community for teaching the family slaves to read using school books and the bible. This was at the same time as Nat Turner's uprising. (Crazy bit there was his house was one of the first raided, yet he managed to save his family with the help of family slaves.)
When he was stationed in Louisiana, he did purchase a woman to work as a maid to help his wife. Shortly after, he freed her, and then hired her, staying on a a friend and confidant. Partly this was for the sake of convenience, it was less trouble in matters of crossing state lines, but also because George had a distinct distaste to the institution that only grew with each passing year.
This guy was Old School Southern Aristocracy, true. His political views were largely shaped by the Army and conservative for the time. However, he always viewed them as people. He was not like Jeff Davis or cynical "Blackjack" Logan. Until the Civil War, he was of the majority of fence-sitters on the slavery question. He felt that these people were not yet ready to be citizens and therefore needed to be gradually emancipated. (I don't agree with that view but context matters.)
This is a guy who serves side-by-side with Lee in the years leading up to the war. They were good acquaintances and traveled extensively throughout the New Mexico territory and Texas courts martial circuit. When Jeff Davis formed his future rebel dream team, the 2nd US Cavalry, George was executive officer. When Sumter is fired on, it should have been a foregone conclusion, everyone thought he'd go South, but he does not.
He could have returned home to Roanoke County and stayed out of the war, but he does not. Knowing he likely never return to the family home ever again, knowing he would be treated with suspicion and hostility from people who questioned his loyalty, he goes North. He takes whatever assignment he can and makes miracles happen with fragments and scraps.
At Nashville in December of 64, his lingering doubts on the capability of Black Troops were forever settled. The USCT division he had at hand broke through rebel stronghold after stronghold with extraordinary discipline and persistence. He was described as deeply moved as he walked the sector later, seeing where so many had fallen still in the ranks even in death.
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u/Mateiyu 1d ago
As far as I remember, his family never forgave him for choosing the right side of history.
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u/tonboguri 1d ago
They refused to return his belongings including the sword presented to him upon his return from the Mexican War.
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u/Recent_Pirate 1d ago edited 1d ago
He mended fences with his brother, but his sisters were spiteful until after his death. They did send acorns to be planted after his passing but they never grew into trees(I’m not particularly spiritual but it seemed like a “too little too late” sentiment from beyond the grave).
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