THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY, 1816-70, b. Va. ; was of mixed Welsh and French descent; entered the U. S. military academy at West Point in 1836, and graduated in 1840. He was employed in garrison duty for a brief period, and was then for two years in active ser vice in the Florida war, and brevetted 1st lieut. for gallantry. In 1845 he was in Texas; was present at the outbreak of hostilities with Mexico; and distinguished himself at Monterey and Buena Vista, being brevetted cant. and maj. for gallant conduct. After the close of the Mexican war he served a year in Florida; three years as cavalry and artillery instructor at West Point; and then as maj. 2d cavalry, for five years in Texas. Thomas's associations had all been southern; his family and friends at home were Virginians; A. S. Johnston was col. of his regiment, Robert E. Lee lieut. col., and W. J. Hardee senior maj.; while other officers were Van Dorn, Kirby Smith, Fitz Hugh Lee, and Hood. But he adhered to the Union cause; was lieut. col. and afterward col. of the 2d cavalry; commanded a brigade in the first Shenandoah campaign, a division in the battle of Mill Spring—when he first began to awaken national attention, and was in command of the right wing of the army of the Tennessee during the siege of Corinth, where he was in full command during a great part of June, 1862. He had the center of the army of the Cumberland, and did good work at :Murfreesboro; commanded the 14th army corps in the campaign of middle Tennessee in the summer of 1863; and at the ill-starred battle of Chickamauga Thomas stood firm, and resisted the concentrated attack of a victorious enemy; gaining justly the title of "the rock of Chickamauga."
He commanded the army of the Cumberland at Missionary Ridge, and in the campaign of 1864, up to the capture of Atlanta. His indomitable nerve and firmness enabled him to hold his ground at Nashville, where he was environed by Hood's army; and despite urgent pressure, to remain inactive until he was ready for the final blow. When that happened, which was on Dec. 15, '64, he flung his army upon Hood with a determina tion and power which were irresistible; and the defeat of the confederates bore testi mony to the coolness which accomplished one of the most splendid victories of the war. Gen. Grant, who had even designed assuming his command on account of the delay, was the first to acknowledge the unerring judgment of gen. Thomas. He was at once appointed a maj. gen. in the regular army: congress tendered him a vote of thanks; the legislature of Tennessee voted him a gold medal; and the American people recog nized his ability and his success with unstinted praise. In 1865-66 gen. Thomas com manded the military division of the Tennessee, and the department of Tennessee the following year. He was afterward transferred to the 3d military district; and to the department of the Cumberland in 1867-69. From May 15, '69 until his death, which occurred Mar. 28, 1870, he was in command of the military division of the Pacific, with headquarters at San Francisco, where he died. His remains are buried at Troy, N. Y., and there is in Washington a monument to his memory.