Ed Mcginnis gave me a tour of The Oakwood Cemetery while visiting him and his wife Sandra during Thanksgiving weekend. While listening and looking at their map I was taking random photos of things that interested me. I knew nothing about George Thomas history when I took the photo of his tomb. I started to research him and realized, he’s one of those military guys no one talks about but has had an amazing and successful military career. A lover if nature and a real hater of war, basically a nomad, staying only 5 months at a time in one place or another threw his whole life. I enjoyed learning about his life and career. Known as “The Rock of Chickamauga.” he held the Union line against the Confederate forces, earning him the nickname, Major General George H Thomas, born on 3 July 1816 Newsoms, Southampton Co. Virginia to John and Elizabeth Thomas.
Promoted to Full Colonel on 03 May 1861. Promoted to Full Brig-General on 03 Aug 1861. Commissioned an officer in Company S, Regular Army 2nd Cavalry Regiment on 25 Apr 1861. Mustered out on 03 Aug 1861. Transferred to Company S, Regular Army 5th Cavalry Regiment on 03 Aug 1861. Commissioned an officer in the U.S. Volunteers General Staff Infantry Regiment on 03 Aug 1861. Promoted to Full Major-Gen on 25 Apr 1862. Promoted to Full Brig-General on 27 Oct 1863. Mustered out on 27 Oct 1863. Mustered out on 27 Oct 1863. Commissioned an officer in the Regular Army General Staff Infantry Regiment on 27 Oct 1863. Promoted to Full Major-Gen on 15 Dec 1864.
He was set to go to law school when a friend secured him a place at West Point in 1836. When Virginia seceded from the Union, George remained with the Union, engaging in many battles on his home soil. His family never forgave him. They turned his portrait to the wall, never spoke to him again, and refused to come to his funeral. He and his wife, Frances Lucretia Kellogg (1821-1889) who he married in N.Y. 20 Nov. 1852 had no children, its said that the Army of the Cumberland, numbered in the tens of thousands called him father and wept for him in grief when he died 28 March 1870, San Francisco, Ca. He is buried with his wife at Oakwood Cemetery, Troy NY. The funeral was the largest in New York history. Over 10,000 mourners, including President Ulysses S. Grant.
Also buried their Rice Cook Bull a Union Army Soldier in the Civil War and author of the book, Soldiering: The Civil War Diary of Rice C. Bull, 123rd New York Volunteer Infantry. Still in print today, it is considered by many historians to be one of the finest first-hand accounts of an enlisted man's experiences in the Civil War. But we will save him for another Tuesday.
See also :
https://www.oakwoodcemetery.org/
https://www.facebook.com/oakwoodcemetery.troyny
Appleton Cyclopedia of American Biography 1600-1889 Vil VIhttps://www.ancestry.com/interactive/61360/47194_547526-00100?pid=15216&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db%3D61360%26h%3D15216%26indiv%3Dtry%26o_vc%3DRecord:OtherRecord%26rhSource%3D4394&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true#?imageId=47194_547526-00099
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