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143-660: The cemetery was established in 1863, by an order from Major General George Henry Thomas after the Civil War Battles of Chattanooga , as a place to inter Union soldiers who fell in combat. 75 acres (30 ha) of land was initially appropriated from two local land owners, but later purchased. It became Chattanooga National Cemetery in 1867. By 1870 more than 12,000 interments had been made, most of whom were unknown. Many nearby battlefield burials were also reinterred in Chattanooga, including nearly 1,500 burials from

286-538: A charter to start a new colony on the North American continent; this would generally establish North Carolina's borders. He named it Carolina in honor of his father, Charles   I . By 1665, a second charter was issued to attempt to resolve territorial questions. This charter rewarded the Lords Proprietors , eight Englishmen to whom King Charles II granted joint ownership of a tract of land in

429-564: A corps commander under Thomas in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign . On November 17, 1852, Thomas married Frances Lucretia Kellogg, age 31, from Troy, New York . The couple remained at West Point until 1854. Thomas was promoted to captain on December 24, 1853. In the spring of 1854, Thomas's artillery regiment was transferred to California and he led two companies to San Francisco via the Isthmus of Panama , and then on

572-589: A day as pontoons were built over the Harpeth river (bridges had been destroyed), Schofield's army retreated the same night and made a desperate forced march for Nashville, where all union forces in Tennessee were being concentrated. Thomas had to organize his forces, which had been drawn from all parts of the West and which included many raw troops and even quartermaster employees. Hood's army subsequently arrived, found

715-579: A day as the Army of the Ohio beat a hurried retreat in front of it, and defeated confederate cavalry led by Gen. Forrest in a rearguard action. This army made a forced march to Franklin where it entrenched itself strongly. At the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, the smallest part of Thomas's force, under command of Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield , resisted an attack by Hood's army and held him in check for

858-421: A decade of white supremacy , many people forgot North Carolina had ever had thriving middle-class black Americans. Black citizens had no political voice in the state until after the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed to enforce their constitutional rights. It was not until 1992 that another African American was elected as a U.S. Representative from North Carolina. After

1001-631: A dramatic breakthrough on Missionary Ridge in the Battle of Chattanooga . In the Franklin–Nashville Campaign of 1864, he achieved one of the most decisive victories of the war, destroying the army of Confederate General John Bell Hood , his former student at West Point, at the Battle of Nashville . Thomas had a successful record in the Civil War, but he failed to achieve the historical acclaim of some of his contemporaries, such as Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman . He developed

1144-414: A farm accident when George was 13, leaving the family in financial difficulties. George Thomas, his sisters, and his widowed mother were forced to flee from their home and hide in the nearby woods during Nat Turner 's 1831 slave rebellion . Benson Bobrick has suggested that while some repressive acts were enforced following the crushing of the revolt, Thomas took the lesson another way, seeing that slavery

1287-551: A fixed period to pay for their passage. In the early years the line between indentured servants and African slaves or laborers was fluid. Some Africans were allowed to earn their freedom before slavery became a lifelong status. Most of the free colored families formed in North Carolina before the Revolution were descended from unions or marriages between free whites and enslaved or free Africans or African-Americans. If

1430-434: A future conflict. Thomas resumed his close ties with the second-in-command of the regiment, Robert E. Lee, and the two officers traveled extensively together on detached service for court-martial duty. In October 1857, Major Thomas assumed acting command of the cavalry regiment, an assignment he would retain for 2½ years. On August 26, 1860, during a clash with a Comanche warrior, Thomas was wounded by an arrow passing through

1573-585: A grueling overland march to Fort Yuma . On May 12, 1855, Thomas was appointed a major of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry (later re-designated the 5th U.S. Cavalry ) by Jefferson Davis , then Secretary of War . Once again, Braxton Bragg had provided a recommendation for Thomas's advancement. There was a suspicion as the Civil War drew closer that Davis had been assembling and training a combat unit of elite U.S. Army officers who harbored Southern sympathies, and Thomas's appointment to this regiment implied that his colleagues assumed he would support his native state of Virginia in

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1716-650: A major regional and national banking center. Towards Raleigh, North Carolina State , Duke University , and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , have helped the Research Triangle area attract an educated workforce and develop more jobs. In 1988, North Carolina gained its first professional sports franchise, the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The hornets team name stems from

1859-696: A narrow victory for a Republican-dominated government, with 19 African-Americans holding positions in the North Carolina State Legislature . In attempt to put the reforms into effect, the new Republican Governor William W. Holden declared martial law on any county allegedly not complying with law and order using the passage of the Shoffner Act . A Republican Party coalition of black freedmen, northern carpetbaggers and local scalawags controlled state government for three years. The white conservative Democrats regained control of

2002-455: A reputation as a slow, deliberate general. In an environment rife with jealousy and avarice for promotion and recognition, Thomas stood out as an oddball for occasionally refusing promotions to positions he thought he was still incapable of fulfilling. Conversely, he sometimes regretted his refusals or found it offensive that he was passed over for promotion. After the war, he did not write memoirs to advance his legacy and died only five years after

2145-497: A single hour." Thomas's battery commander wrote that Thomas's "coolness and firmness contributed not a little to the success of the day. Lieutenant Thomas more than sustained the reputation he has long enjoyed in his regiment as an accurate and scientific artillerist." During the war, Thomas served closely with an artillery officer who would be a principal antagonist in the Civil War—Captain Braxton Bragg . Thomas

2288-535: A slower pace and remained small. By the late 17th century, Carolina was essentially two colonies, one centered in the Albemarle region in the north and the other located in the south around Charleston. In 1705 South Carolinian John Lawson purchased land on the Pamlico River and laid out Bath, North Carolina's first town. After returning to England, he published the book A New Voyage to Carolina, which became

2431-443: A strong Whig presence, especially in the western part of the state. After Nat Turner 's slave uprising in 1831, North Carolina and other southern states reduced the rights of free blacks. In 1835, the legislature withdrew their right to vote. In mid-century, the state's rural and commercial areas were connected by the construction of a 129 mi (208 km) wooden plank road, known as a "farmer's railroad", from Fayetteville in

2574-583: A total of four African-American congressmen through these years of the late 19th century. Political tensions ran so high a small group of white Democrats in 1898 planned to take over the Wilmington government if their candidates were not elected. In the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 , white Democrats led around 2,000 of their supporters that attacked the black newspaper and neighborhood, killed an estimated 60 to 300 people, and ran off

2717-582: A travelogue and a marketing piece to encourage new colonists to Carolina. Lawson encouraged Baron Christoph Von Graffenried, the leader of a group of Swiss and German Protestants, to immigrate to Carolina. Von Graffenried purchased land between the Neuse and the Trent Rivers and established the town of New Bern . After an attack on New Bern in which hundreds were killed or injured, Lawson was caught then executed by Tuscarora Indians . A large revolt happened in

2860-472: A winter base at Joara, which he renamed Cuenca . His expedition built Fort San Juan and left a contingent of 30 Spaniards there, while Pardo traveled further. His forces built and garrisoned five other forts. He returned by a different route to Santa Elena on Parris Island, South Carolina , then a center of Spanish Florida . In the spring of 1568, natives killed all but one of the Spaniards and burned

3003-714: Is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States . It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia to the southwest, and Tennessee to the west. The state is the 28th-largest and 9th-most populous of the United States . Along with South Carolina, it makes up the Carolinas region of the East Coast . At the 2020 census ,

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3146-407: Is considered that life and property—justly forfeited by the laws of the country, of war, and of nations, through the magnanimity of the government and people—was not exacted from them. President Andrew Johnson offered Thomas the rank of lieutenant general —with the intent to eventually replace Grant, a Republican and future president, with Thomas as general in chief—but the ever-loyal Thomas asked

3289-596: Is known as "The Race to the Dan" or "The Race for the River". In the Battle of Cowan's Ford , Cornwallis met resistance along the banks of the Catawba River at Cowan's Ford on February 1, 1781, in an attempt to engage General Morgan's forces during a tactical withdrawal. Morgan had moved to the northern part of the state to combine with General Greene's newly recruited forces. Generals Greene and Cornwallis finally met at

3432-689: Is the highest point in North America east of the Mississippi River . Most of the state falls in the humid subtropical climate zone; however, the western, mountainous part of the state has a subtropical highland climate . North Carolina was inhabited for at least 10,000 years by succeeding prehistoric Indigenous cultures. The Hardaway Site saw major periods of occupation dating to 10,000 years BCE. Before 200 AD, people were building earthwork platform mounds for ceremonial and religious purposes. Succeeding peoples, including those of

3575-569: Is the second-most populous combined metropolitan area in the state, 31st-most populous in the United States, and is home to the largest research park in the United States, Research Triangle Park . The earliest evidence of human occupation in North Carolina dates back 10,000 years, found at the Hardaway Site . North Carolina was inhabited by Carolina Algonquian , Iroquoian , and Siouan speaking tribes of Native Americans prior to

3718-789: Is today Northern Ireland, were the largest non-English immigrant group before the Revolution; English indentured servants were overwhelmingly the largest immigrant group before the Revolution. During the American Revolutionary War , the English and Gaelic speaking Highland Scots of eastern North Carolina tended to remain loyal to the British Crown, because of longstanding business and personal connections with Great Britain. The English, Welsh, Scots-Irish, and German settlers of western North Carolina tended to favor American independence from Britain. British loyalists dubbed

3861-668: The Battle of Chickamauga . Franklin Guest Smith , who served as secretary and member of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Commission from 1893 until 1908, played an important role in preserving and expanding the cemetery, and a monument at the cemetery was dedicated in his honor. During World War I (78) and World War II (108) German prisoners of war who died while in captivity were buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. After

4004-845: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse in present-day Greensboro on March 15, 1781. Although the British troops held the field at the end of the battle, their casualties at the hands of the numerically superior Continental Army were crippling. Following this " Pyrrhic victory ", Cornwallis chose to move to the Virginia coastline to get reinforcements, and to allow the Royal Navy to protect his battered army. This decision would result in Cornwallis' eventual defeat at Yorktown, Virginia , later in 1781. The Patriots' victory there guaranteed American independence. On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became

4147-534: The Battle of Perryville , but his wing of the army did not hear the fighting engaged in by the other flank. Although tactically inconclusive, the battle halted Bragg's invasion of Kentucky as he voluntarily withdrew to Tennessee. Again frustrated with Buell's ineffective pursuit of Bragg, the government replaced him with Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans . Thomas wrote on October 30, 1862, a letter of protest to Secretary Stanton, because Rosecrans had been junior to him, but Stanton wrote back on November 15, telling him that this

4290-633: The Carolina Algonquian -speaking tribes of the coastal areas, such as the Chowanoc , Roanoke , Pamlico , Machapunga , and Coree , who were the first encountered by the English; the Iroquoian -speaking Meherrin , Cherokee , and Tuscarora of the interior; and Southeastern Siouan -speaking tribes, such as the Cheraw , Waxhaw , Saponi , Waccamaw , Cape Fear Indians , and Catawba of

4433-812: The Chattanooga Campaign , Thomas, caught up in other activity, did not provide dry clothes for several minutes until Grant's staffer intervened. Thomas's perceived slowness at Nashville—although necessitated by the weather—drove Grant into a fit of impatience, and Grant nearly replaced Thomas. In his Personal Memoirs , Grant minimized Thomas's contributions, particularly during the Franklin-Nashville Campaign, saying his movements were "always so deliberate and so slow, though effective in defence." Grant did, however, acknowledge that Thomas's eventual success at Nashville obviated all criticism. Sherman, who had been close to Thomas throughout

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4576-730: The Confederate States of America during the Civil War, he was a Southern Unionist who chose to remain in the U.S. Army . Thomas won one of the first Union victories in the war, at Mill Springs in Kentucky , and served in important subordinate commands at Perryville and Stones River . His stout defense at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863 saved the Union Army from being completely routed, earning him his most famous nickname, "the Rock of Chickamauga." He followed soon after with

4719-527: The Ku Klux Klan . In a November 1868 report, Thomas noted efforts made by former Confederates to paint the Confederacy in a positive light , stating: [T]he greatest efforts made by the defeated insurgents since the close of the war have been to promulgate the idea that the cause of liberty, justice, humanity, equality, and all the calendar of the virtues of freedom, suffered violence and wrong when

4862-469: The Lords Proprietors , the group of noblemen who had helped restore him to the throne in 1660. These grants were predicated on an agreement that the Lords would use their influence to bring in colonists and establish ports of trade. This new Province of Carolina was named in honor and memory of his father, Charles   I (Latin: Carolus ). Lacking a viable coastal port city due to geography, towns grew at

5005-736: The Mecklenburg County area to be 'a hornet's nest' of radicals, birthing the name of the future Charlotte NBA team. On April 12, 1776, the colony became the first to instruct its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence from the British Crown, through the Halifax Resolves passed by the North Carolina Provincial Congress . The date of this event is memorialized on the state flag and state seal . Throughout

5148-677: The Senate to withdraw his name for that nomination because he did not want to be party to politics. In 1869 he requested assignment to command the Military Division of the Pacific with headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco . He died there of a stroke on March 28, 1870, while writing an answer to an article criticizing his military career by his wartime rival John Schofield . Sherman, by then general-in-chief, personally conveyed

5291-633: The South Appalachian Mississippian culture , established by 1000 AD in the Piedmont and mountain region, continued to build this style of mounds. In contrast to some of the larger centers of the classic Mississippian culture in the area that became known as the western Carolinas, northeastern Georgia, and southeastern Tennessee, most of the larger towns had only one central platform mound. Smaller settlements had none, but were close to more prominent towns. This area became known as

5434-618: The Spanish Armada . The fate of the " Lost Colony " of Roanoke Island remains one of the most widely debated mysteries of American history. Two native Chieftains, Manteo and Wanchese , of which the former helped the colonists and the latter was distrustful, had involvement in the colony and even accompanied Raleigh to England on a previous voyage in 1585. Manteo was also the first Indigenous North American to be baptized by English settlers. Upon White's return in 1590, neither native nor Englishman were to be found. Popular theory holds that

5577-787: The Thirteen Colonies . The Halifax Resolves resolution adopted by North Carolina on April 12, 1776, was the first formal call for independence from Great Britain among the American Colonies during the American Revolution . On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the United States Constitution . In the run-up to the American Civil War , North Carolina reluctantly declared its secession from

5720-669: The U.S. military and was relieved of its constitutional government and representation within the United States Congress in what is now referred to as the Reconstruction era . To earn back its rights, the state had to make concessions to Washington, one of which was ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment . Congressional Republicans during Reconstruction, commonly referred to as " radical Republicans ", constantly pushed for new constitutions for each of

5863-509: The Union cause during the conflict. Approximately 15,000 North Carolinians (both black and white) from across the state enlisted in the Union Army . Numerous slaves also escaped to Union lines, where they became essentially free. Following the collapse of the Confederacy in 1865, North Carolina, along with other former Confederate States (except Tennessee), was put under direct control by

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6006-477: The Union on May 20, 1861, becoming the tenth of eleven states to join the Confederate States of America . Following the Civil War, the state was restored to the Union on July 4, 1868. On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully piloted the world's first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina's Outer Banks . North Carolina often uses

6149-540: The fall line . Railroads were built to connect the new industrializing cities. The state was the site of the first successful controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air flight , by the Wright brothers , near Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903. In the first half of the 20th century, many African Americans left the state to go North for better opportunities, in the Great Migration . Their departure changed

6292-479: The 1970s, North Carolina has seen steady increases in population growth. This growth has largely occurred in metropolitan areas located within the Piedmont Crescent , in places such as Charlotte, Concord, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham and Raleigh. The Charlotte metropolitan area has experienced large growth mainly due to its finance, banking, and tech industries. By the 1990s, Charlotte had become

6435-459: The 7.2 million printed, ranks as number 90 in the "100 Greatest American Currency Notes" compiled by Bowers and Sundman (2006). Thomas County, Kansas , established in 1888, is named in his honor. The townships of Thomas County are named after fallen soldiers in the Battle of Chickamauga. Thomas County, Nebraska , is also named after him. In 1999 a statue of Thomas by sculptor Rudy Ayoroa

6578-502: The American Revolution, Quakers and Mennonites worked to persuade slaveholders to free their slaves. Some were inspired by their efforts and the language of the Revolution to arrange for manumission of their slaves. The number of free people of color rose markedly in the first couple of decades after the Revolution. Many free people of color migrated to the frontier, along with their European-American neighbors, where

6721-696: The Civil War, the Wilmington-to-Raleigh stretch of the railroad was vital to the Confederate war effort; supplies shipped into Wilmington were moved by rail through Raleigh to the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia . In 1860, North Carolina was a slave state, in which one-third of the state's total population were African-American slaves. The state did not vote to join the Confederacy until President Abraham Lincoln called on it to invade its sister state, South Carolina , becoming

6864-405: The Civil War. The phrase "First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg and Chickamauga, and Last at Appomattox", later became used through much of the early 20th century. After secession, some North Carolinians refused to support the Confederacy. Some of the yeoman farmers chiefly in the state's mountains and western Piedmont region remained neutral during the Civil War, with others covertly supporting

7007-511: The Confederacy's most famous army. The largest battle fought in North Carolina was at Bentonville , which was a futile attempt by Confederate General Joseph Johnston to slow Union General William Tecumseh Sherman 's advance through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865. In April 1865, after losing the Battle of Morrisville , Johnston surrendered to Sherman at Bennett Place , in what is today Durham . North Carolina's port city of Wilmington ,

7150-719: The Crown (they were called "Tories" or Loyalists). The American victory at King's Mountain gave the advantage to colonists who favored American independence, and it prevented the British Army from recruiting new soldiers from the Tories. The road to Yorktown and America's independence from Great Britain led through North Carolina. As the British Army moved north from victories in Charleston and Camden, South Carolina ,

7293-459: The Mississippi River. Starting in 1540, the Native polities of the Mississippian culture fell apart and reformed as new groups, such as the Catawba , due to a series of destabilizing events known as the " Mississippian shatter zone ". Introduction of colonial trading arrangements and hostile native groups from the north such as the Westo Indians hastened changes in an already tenuous regional hierarchy. As described by anthropologist Robbie Ethridge ,

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7436-449: The Mississippi to ease Grant out of direct field command. The three armies in the department were divided and recombined into three "wings". Thomas, promoted to major general effective April 25, 1862, was given command of the Right Wing, consisting of four divisions from Grant's former Army of the Tennessee and one from the Army of the Ohio. Thomas successfully led this force in the siege of Corinth . On June 10, Grant returned to command of

7579-407: The Mississippian shatter zone was a time of great instability in what is now the American South, caused by the instability of Mississippian chiefdoms, high mortality from new Eurasian diseases, conversion to an agricultural society and the accompanying population increase, and the emergence of Native "militaristic slaving societies". Historically documented tribes in the North Carolina region include

7722-474: The Native Americans, who had no immunity to the new disease (it had become endemic over centuries in Europe). According to the historian Russell Thornton, "The 1738 epidemic was said to have killed one-half of the Cherokee , with other tribes of the area suffering equally." After the Spanish in the 16th century, the first permanent European settlers of North Carolina were English colonists who migrated south from Virginia . Virginia had grown rapidly and land

7865-453: The Piedmont. In the late 16th century, the first Spanish explorers traveling inland recorded meeting Mississippian culture people at Joara , a regional chiefdom near what later developed as Morganton . Records of Hernando de Soto attested to his meeting with them in 1540. In 1567, Captain Juan Pardo led an expedition to claim the area for the Spanish colony and to establish another route to reach silver mines in Mexico. Pardo made

8008-422: The Revolutionary War, fierce guerrilla warfare erupted between bands of pro-independence and pro-British colonists. In some cases the war was also an excuse to settle private grudges and rivalries. North Carolina had around 7,800 Patriots join the Continental Army under General George Washington ; and an additional 10,000 served in local militia units under such leaders as General Nathanael Greene . There

8151-438: The Southern Division of the Continental Army and local militia prepared to meet them. Following General Daniel Morgan 's victory over the British Cavalry Commander Banastre Tarleton at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, southern commander Nathanael Greene led British Lord Charles Cornwallis across the heartland of North Carolina, and away from the latter's base of supply in Charleston, South Carolina. This campaign

8294-434: The Southern states that emphasized equal rights for African-Americans. In 1868, a constitutional convention restored the state government of North Carolina. Though the Fifteenth Amendment was also adopted that same year, it remained in most cases ineffective for almost a century, not to mention paramilitary groups and their lynching with impunity. The elections in April 1868 following the constitutional convention led to

8437-415: The Union Army with some degree of suspicion surrounding him, despite his action concerning Twiggs. On January 18, 1861, a few months before Fort Sumter , he had applied for a job as the commandant of cadets at the Virginia Military Institute . Any real tendency to the secessionist cause, however, could be refuted when he turned down Virginia Governor John Letcher 's offer to become chief of ordnance for

8580-449: The Union line on his right collapsed. Thomas rallied broken and scattered units together on Horseshoe Ridge to prevent a significant Union defeat from becoming a hopeless rout. Future president James Garfield , a field officer for the Army of the Cumberland, visited Thomas during the battle, carrying orders from Rosecrans to retreat; when Thomas said he would have to stay behind to ensure the Army's safety, Garfield told Rosecrans that Thomas

8723-522: The Union, Sherman wrote: During the whole war his services were transcendent, winning the first substantial victory at Mill Springs in Kentucky, January 20th, 1862, participating in all the campaigns of the West in 1862-3-4, and finally, December 16th, 1864 annihilating the army of Hood, which in mid winter had advanced to Nashville to besiege him. Sherman concluded that Grant and Thomas were "heroes" deserving "monuments like those of Nelson and Wellington in London, well worthy to stand side by side with

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8866-471: The Virginia Provisional Army. On June 18, his former student and fellow Virginian, Confederate Col. J.E.B. Stuart , wrote to his wife, "Old George H. Thomas is in command of the cavalry of the enemy. I would like to hang, hang him as a traitor to his native state." Nevertheless, as the Civil War carried on, he won the affection of Union soldiers serving under him as a "soldier's soldier", who took to affectionately referring to Thomas as "Pap Thomas". Thomas

9009-483: The Western Theater. Reporting to Maj. Gen. Robert Anderson in Kentucky , Thomas was assigned to training recruits and to command an independent force in the eastern half of the state. On January 18, 1862, he defeated Confederate Brig. Gens. George B. Crittenden and Felix Zollicoffer at Mill Springs , gaining the first important Union victory in the war, breaking Confederate strength in eastern Kentucky, and lifting Union morale. On December 2, 1861, Brig. Gen. Thomas

9152-444: The Western theater of the war, which received less attention both in the press of the day and in contemporary historical accounts. Grant and Thomas also had a cool relationship, for reasons that are not entirely clear, but are well-attested by contemporaries. It apparently started when Halleck placed Thomas in command of most of Grant's divisions after the Battle of Shiloh. When a rain-soaked Grant arrived at Thomas's headquarters before

9295-405: The arrival of Europeans. King Charles II granted eight lord proprietors a colony they named Carolina after the king and which was established in 1670 with the first permanent settlement at Charles Town (Charleston). Because of the difficulty of governing the entire colony from Charles Town, the colony was eventually divided and North Carolina was established as a royal colony in 1729 and was one of

9438-420: The cemetery is now expected to be available for burials until 2045. George Henry Thomas George Henry Thomas (July 31, 1816 – March 28, 1870) was an American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and one of the principal commanders in the Western Theater . Thomas served in the Mexican–American War , and despite being a Virginian whose home state would join

9581-438: The center of the retreating Union line and once again preventing a victory by Bragg. He was in charge of the most important part of the maneuvering from Decherd to Chattanooga during the Tullahoma Campaign (June 22 – July 3, 1863) and the crossing of the Tennessee River . At the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19, 1863, now commanding the XIV Corps , he once again held a desperate position against Bragg's onslaught while

9724-503: The city was named after Sir Walter Raleigh , sponsor of Roanoke , the "lost colony" on Roanoke Island . The population of the colony more than quadrupled from 52,000 in 1740 to 270,000 in 1780 from high immigration from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania , plus immigrants from abroad. North Carolina did not have any printer or print shops until 1749, when the North Carolina Assembly commissioned James Davis from Williamsburg Virginia to act as their official printer. Before this time

9867-528: The coastal settlements, but by 1718 piracy in the Carolinas was on the decline. Growth was strong in the middle of the 18th century, as the economy attracted Scots-Irish , Quaker , English and German immigrants. A majority of the North Carolina colonists generally supported the American Revolution , although there were some Loyalists . Loyalists in North Carolina were fewer in number than in some other colonies such as Georgia, South Carolina, Delaware, and New York. During colonial times, Edenton served as

10010-400: The colonists either traveled away with or assimilated into local native culture. Virginia Dare , the first English person to be born in North America, was born on Roanoke Island on August 18, 1587; the surrounding Dare County is named for her. As early as 1650, settlers from the Virginia colony had moved into the Albemarle Sound region. By 1663, King Charles II of England granted

10153-588: The commander of the Department of Texas, harbored secessionist sympathies and could not be trusted in his post. Twiggs did indeed surrender his entire command to Confederate authorities shortly after Texas seceded, and later served in the Confederate military. At the outbreak of the Civil War, 19 of the 36 officers in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry resigned, including three of Thomas's superiors— Albert Sidney Johnston , Robert E. Lee , and William J. Hardee . Many Southern-born officers were torn between loyalty to their states and loyalty to their country. Thomas struggled with

10296-399: The confederates as much as possible. Schofield's small, single-corps army attempted to harangue the confederate crossing of the Tennessee, but Hood's army executed a skillful manoeuvre and emplaced themselves behind Schofield's corps , on a hill named Spring Hill. In the ensuing fighting, Schofield's army came near destruction, but due to a series of miscommunications Hood's army was frozen for

10439-482: The decision but opted to remain with the United States. His Northern-born wife probably helped influence his decision. In response, his family turned his picture against the wall, destroyed his letters, and never spoke to him again. During the economic hard times in the South after the war, Thomas sent some money to his sisters, who angrily refused to accept it, declaring they had no brother. Nevertheless, Thomas stayed in

10582-611: The demographic characteristics of many areas. North Carolina was hard hit by the Great Depression , but the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt for cotton and tobacco significantly helped the farmers. After World War II , the state's economy grew rapidly, highlighted by the growth of such cities as Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham in the Piedmont region. Research Triangle Park , established in 1959, serves as

10725-595: The east to Bethania (northwest of Winston-Salem ). On October 25, 1836, construction began on the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad to connect the port city of Wilmington with the state capital of Raleigh . In 1840, the state capitol building in Raleigh was completed, and still stands today. In 1849, the North Carolina Railroad was created by act of the legislature to extend that railroad west to Greensboro , High Point , and Charlotte . During

10868-432: The effort for southern independence failed. This is, of course, intended as a species of political cant, whereby the crime of treason might be covered with a counterfeit varnish of patriotism, so that the precipitators of the rebellion might go down in history hand in hand with the defenders of the government, thus wiping out with their own hands their own stains; a species of self-forgiveness amazing in its effrontery, when it

11011-672: The end of the Civil War, Thomas commanded the Department of the Cumberland in Kentucky and Tennessee, and at times also West Virginia and parts of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama, through 1869. During the Reconstruction period, Thomas acted to protect freedmen from white abuses. He set up military commissions to enforce labor contracts since the local courts had either ceased to operate or were biased against blacks. Thomas also used troops to protect places threatened by violence from

11154-498: The enemy, taken many prisoners and considerable artillery." As news of the victory streamed north, Logan returned to Grant and returned his orders to relieve Thomas. Thomas was appointed a major general in the regular army, with date of rank of his Nashville victory, and received the Thanks of Congress : ... to Major-General George H. Thomas and the officers and soldiers under his command for their skill and dauntless courage, by which

11297-597: The fact that he owned slaves during much of his life indicates that he was not opposed to it." A traditional story is that Thomas taught as many as 15 of his family's slaves to read, violating a Virginia law that prohibited this, and despite the wishes of his father. Thomas was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York , in 1836 by Congressman John Y. Mason , who warned Thomas that no nominee from his district had ever graduated successfully. Entering at age 20, Thomas

11440-543: The farthest into Union lines of any Confederate regiment. During the Battle of Chickamauga , the 58th North Carolina Regiment advanced farther than any other regiment on Snodgrass Hill to push back the remaining Union forces from the battlefield. At Appomattox Court House in Virginia in April 1865, the 75th North Carolina Regiment, a cavalry unit, fired the last shots of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in

11583-422: The flesh near his chin area and sticking into his chest at Clear Fork, Brazos River , Texas . Thomas pulled the arrow out and, after a surgeon dressed the wound, continued to lead the expedition. This was the only combat wound that Thomas suffered throughout his long military career. In November 1860, Thomas requested a one-year leave of absence. His antebellum career had been distinguished and productive, and he

11726-457: The generally non-slave-holding yeoman farmers of North Carolina. While slaveholding was slightly less concentrated compared to some other Southern states, according to the 1860 census, more than 330,000 people, or 33% of the population out of 992,622 people in total, were enslaved African Americans. They lived and worked chiefly on plantations in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions of the state. In addition, 30,463 free people of color lived in

11869-458: The governor of North Carolina, who promised safe-haven and a pardon, Blackbeard was killed in an ambush by troops from Virginia. In 1996, Intersal, Inc., a private maritime research firm, discovered the remains of a vessel likely to be the Queen Anne's Revenge , which was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places . North Carolina became one of the Thirteen Colonies and with

12012-564: The homelands of the historic Cherokee people, who are believed to have migrated over time from the Great Lakes area. In the 500–700 years preceding European contact, the Mississippian culture built elaborate cities and maintained far-flung regional trading networks. Its largest city was Cahokia , which had numerous mounds for different purposes, a highly stratified society, and was located in present-day southwestern Illinois near

12155-622: The largest research park in the United States. Formed near Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, the Research Triangle metro is a major area of universities and advanced scientific and technical research. The Greensboro sit-ins in 1960 played a crucial role in the Civil Rights Movement to bring full equality to American blacks. By the late 1960s, spurred in part by the increasingly leftward tilt of national Democrats, conservative whites began to vote for Republican national candidates and gradually for more Republicans locally. Since

12298-449: The largest single surrender of Confederate soldiers at Bennett Place , when Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee and all remaining Confederate forces still active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, totalling 89,270 soldiers. Confederate troops from all parts of North Carolina served in virtually all the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia ,

12441-585: The last or penultimate state to officially join the Confederacy. The title of "last to join the Confederacy" has been disputed; although Tennessee's informal secession on May 7, 1861, preceded North Carolina's official secession on May 20, the Tennessee legislature did not formally vote to secede until June 8, 1861. Around 125,000 troops from North Carolina served in the Confederate Army, and about 15,000 North Carolina troops (both black and white) served in Union Army regiments , including those who left

12584-608: The laws and legal journals of North Carolina were handwritten and were kept in a largely disorganized manner, prompting the hiring of Davis. Davis settled in New Bern, married, and in 1755 was appointed by Benjamin Franklin as North Carolina's first postmaster. In October of that year the North Carolina Assembly awarded Davis a contract to carry mail between Wilmington, North Carolina and Suffolk, Virginia . He

12727-561: The logistics and engineering for Sherman's entire army group, including developing a novel series of Cumberland pontoons . At the chaotic Battle of Peachtree Creek (July 20, 1864), Thomas's troops defended against an attack by Lt. Gen. John B. Hood 's army in its first attempt to break the siege of Atlanta. When Hood broke away from Atlanta in the autumn of 1864, he menaced Sherman's long line of communications, and endeavored to force Sherman to follow him, Sherman abandoned his communications and embarked on an offensive through Georgia. Thomas

12870-516: The mothers were free, their children were born free. Many had migrated or were descendants of migrants from colonial Virginia. As the flow of indentured laborers to the colony decreased with improving economic conditions in Great Britain , planters imported more slaves, and the state's legal delineations between free and slave status tightened, effectively hardening the latter into a racial caste. Conditions for both slaves and workers worsened as

13013-628: The news to President Grant at the White House . None of Thomas's blood relatives attended his funeral as they had never forgiven him for his loyalty to the Union. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery , in Troy, New York . His gravestone was sculpted by Robert E. Launitz and comprises a white marble sarcophagus topped by a bald eagle . The veterans' organization for the Army of the Cumberland, throughout its existence, fought to see that he

13156-400: The notorious Crop-Lien system developed and was financially difficult on landless whites and blacks, due to high amounts of usury. Also due to the push for commodity agriculture, the free range was ended. Prior to this time people fenced in their crops and had their livestock feeding on the free range areas. After the ending of the free range people now fenced their animals and had their crops in

13299-711: The one which now graces our capitol city of 'George Washington.'" A fort south of Newport , Kentucky was named in his honor, and the city of Fort Thomas now stands there and carries his name as well. A memorial honoring Thomas, Major General George Henry Thomas , can be found in the eponymous Thomas Circle in Washington, D.C. A distinctive engraved portrait of Thomas appeared on U.S. paper money in 1890 and 1891. The bills are called " treasury notes " or "coin notes" and are widely collected today because of their fine, detailed engraving. The $ 5 Thomas "fancyback" note of 1890, with an estimated 450–600 in existence relative to

13442-569: The open. Democrats were elected to the legislature and governor's office, but the Populists attracted voters displeased with them. In 1896 a biracial, Populist-Republican Fusionist coalition gained the governor's office and passed laws that would extend the voting franchise to blacks and poor whites. The Democrats regained control of the legislature in 1896 and passed laws to impose Jim Crow and racial segregation of public facilities. Voters of North Carolina's 2nd congressional district elected

13585-399: The original Army of the Tennessee. Thomas resumed service under Don Carlos Buell . During Confederate General Braxton Bragg 's invasion of Kentucky in the fall of 1862, the Union high command became nervous about Buell's cautious tendencies and offered command of the Army of the Ohio to Thomas, who refused, as Buell's plans were too far advanced. Thomas served as Buell's second-in-command at

13728-657: The primitive outpost of Fort Lauderdale, Florida , in the Seminole Wars , where his troops performed infantry duty. He led them in successful patrols and was appointed a brevet first lieutenant on November 6, 1841. From 1842 until 1845, he served in posts at New Orleans , Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor , and Fort McHenry in Baltimore . With the Mexican–American War looming, his regiment

13871-437: The ranks of the former eclipsed the latter and expansion of farming operations into former Indigenous territories lowered prices. Unable to establish deep water ports such as at Charles Town and Norfolk, the economy's growth and prosperity was thus based on cheap labor and slave plantation systems, devoted primarily to the production of tobacco, then later cotton and textiles. In 1738–1739 , smallpox caused high fatalities among

14014-502: The rebel army under General Hood was signally defeated and driven from the state of Tennessee. Thomas may have resented his delayed promotion to major general (which made him junior by date of rank to Sheridan ); upon receiving the telegram announcing it, he remarked to Surgeon George Cooper: "I suppose it is better late than never, but it is too late to be appreciated. I earned this at Chickamauga.". Thomas also received another nickname from his victory: "The Sledge of Nashville". After

14157-546: The reconstruction era, North Carolina had become a one-party state, dominated by the Democratic Party . The state mainly continued with an economy based on tobacco, cotton textiles and commodity agriculture. Large towns and cities remained in few numbers. However, a major industrial base emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century, in the counties of the Piedmont Triad , based on cotton mills established at

14300-452: The right and then storming the Confederate line on Missionary Ridge , the next day. When the Army of the Cumberland advanced further than ordered, General Grant, on Orchard Knob asked Thomas, "Who ordered the advance?" Thomas replied, "I don't know. I did not." During Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman 's advance towards Georgia with three armies in the spring of 1864, the Army of the Cumberland numbered over 60,000 men, and Thomas's staff did

14443-487: The six forts in the interior, including Fort San Juan. Although the Spanish never returned to the interior, this effort marked the first European attempt at colonization of the interior of what became the United States. A 16th-century journal by Pardo's scribe Bandera, and archaeological findings since 1986 at Joara, have confirmed the settlement. In 1584, Elizabeth I granted a charter to Sir Walter Raleigh , for whom

14586-761: The slogan "First in Flight" on state license plates to commemorate this achievement, alongside a newer alternative design bearing the slogan "First in Freedom" in reference to the Mecklenburg Declaration and Halifax Resolves. North Carolina is defined by a wide range of elevations and landscapes. From west to east, North Carolina's elevation descends from the Appalachian Mountains to the Piedmont and Atlantic coastal plain . North Carolina's Mount Mitchell at 6,684 ft (2,037 m)

14729-459: The snow on December 14,Thomas drafted the orders and distributed them to his corps commanders on the day to attack on the confederates on the next day, and the Battle of Nashville effectively destroyed Hood's army in two days of fighting. Thomas sent his wife, Frances Lucretia Kellogg Thomas, the following telegram, the only communication surviving of the Thomases' correspondence: "We have whipped

14872-415: The social system was looser. By 1810, nearly three percent of the free population consisted of free people of color, who numbered slightly more than 10,000. The western areas of North Carolina were mainly white families of European descent, especially Scotch-Irish , who operated small subsistence farms. In the early national period, the state became a center of Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy , with

15015-843: The stairwell to Special Collections at Transylvania University , Lexington, Kentucky . A Sons of Union Veterans Camp, Camp No. 19 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania , is named in his honor. He was honored as the namesake of the George Henry Thomas Post Number 5 of the Grand Army of the Republic . A 10-mile road in Southampton County, Virginia, his birthplace, is named General Thomas Highway. North Carolina North Carolina ( / ˌ k ær ə ˈ l aɪ n ə / KARR -ə- LY -nə )

15158-439: The state capital beginning in 1722, followed by New Bern becoming the capital in 1766. Construction of Tryon Palace , which served as the residence and offices of the provincial governor William Tryon , began in 1767 and was completed in 1771. In 1788, Raleigh was chosen as the site of the new capital, as its central location protected it from coastal attacks. Officially established in 1792 as both county seat and state capital,

15301-408: The state capital is named, for land in present-day North Carolina (then part of the territory of Virginia ). It was the second American territory that the English attempted to colonize. Raleigh established two colonies on the coast in the late 1580s, but both failed. The colony established in 1587 saw 118 colonists 'disappear' when John White was unable to return from a supply run during battles with

15444-604: The state from the 18th until the 20th century. Eastern North Carolina was settled chiefly by immigrants from rural England and Gaelic speakers from the Scottish Highlands . The Piedmont upcountry and western mountain region of North Carolina was settled chiefly by Scots-Irish , English, and German Protestants, the so-called " cohee ". Arriving during the mid-to-late 18th century, the Scots-Irish, people of Scottish descent who migrated to and then emigrated from what

15587-459: The state had a population of 10,439,388. Raleigh is the state's capital and Charlotte is its most populous city . The Charlotte metropolitan area , with an estimated population of 2,805,115 in 2023, is the most populous metropolitan area in North Carolina, the 22nd-most populous in the United States, and the largest banking center in the nation after New York City. The Research Triangle , with an estimated population of 2,368,947 in 2023,

15730-527: The state in 1711, known as Cary's Rebellion . In 1712, North Carolina became a separate colony, and in 1729 it became a royal colony, with the exception of the Earl Granville holdings. In June 1718, Queen Anne's Revenge , the flagship of pirate Blackbeard , ran aground at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, in present-day Carteret County . After the grounding, her crew and supplies were transferred to smaller ships. In November 1718, after appealing to

15873-580: The state legislature in 1870, in part by Ku Klux Klan violence and terrorism at the polls, to suppress black voting. Republicans were elected to the governorship until 1876, when the Red Shirts , a paramilitary organization that arose in 1874 and was allied with the Democratic Party , helped suppress black voting. More than 150 black Americans were murdered in electoral violence in 1876. Post–Civil War-debt cycles pushed people to switch from subsistence agriculture to commodity agriculture. Among this time

16016-501: The state to join Union regiments elsewhere. Over 30,000 North Carolina troops died from combat or disease during the war. Elected in 1862, Governor Zebulon Baird Vance tried to maintain state autonomy against Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond . The state government was reluctant to support the demands of the national government in Richmond , and the state was the scene of only small battles. In 1865, Durham County saw

16159-473: The state. They were also mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal plain, especially at port cities such as Wilmington and New Bern, where a variety of jobs were available. Most were descendants from free African Americans who had migrated along with neighbors from Virginia during the 18th century. The majority were the descendants of unions in the working classes between white women, indentured servants or free, and African men, indentured, slave or free. After

16302-462: The state. All of these men either had remained loyal to the Crown or aided Charles's restoration to the English throne after Cromwell . In 1712, owing to disputes over governance, the Carolina colony split into North Carolina and South Carolina . North Carolina became a crown colony in 1729. Most of the English colonists had arrived as indentured servants , hiring themselves out as laborers for

16445-464: The tendency of cadets to overwork them during cavalry drills and became known as "Slow Trot Thomas". Two of Thomas's students who received his recommendation for assignment to the cavalry, J.E.B. Stuart and Fitzhugh Lee , became prominent Confederate cavalry generals. Another Civil War connection was a cadet expelled for disciplinary reasons on Thomas's recommendation, John Schofield , who would excoriate Thomas in postbellum writings about his service as

16588-454: The territory of South Carolina was originally known as the Province of North Carolina . The northern and southern parts of the original province separated in 1712, with North Carolina becoming a royal colony in 1729. Originally settled by small farmers, sometimes having a few slaves, who were oriented toward subsistence agriculture , the colony lacked large cities or towns. Pirates menaced

16731-502: The tide of the war, him and Halleck both bombarded Thomas daily with frequent communiques ordering him to attack the confederate army. As Thomas' preparations ended, a snow storm immobilized both armies entirely for four days, as snow melted Thomas sent a message to Grant and the war department that as snow melted, he would attack the next day. Grant had grown completely impatient with Thomas during this period and drafted an order relieving him from command. Halleck had wired Thomas that Grant

16874-500: The top three Union generals of the war, after Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman . But Thomas never entered the popular consciousness like those men. The general destroyed his private papers, saying he did not want "his life hawked in print for the eyes of the curious." Beginning in the 1870s, many Civil War generals published memoirs, justifying their decisions or re-fighting old battles, but Thomas, who died in 1870, did not publish his own memoirs. In addition, most of his campaigns were in

17017-482: The twelfth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution . After 1800, cotton and tobacco became important export crops. The eastern half of the state, especially the Coastal Plain region, developed a slave society based on a plantation system and slave labor. Planters owning large estates wielded significant political and socio-economic power in antebellum North Carolina. They placed their interests above those of

17160-462: The vastly larger union army heavily entrenched, and began entrenching in preparation for a siege of Nashville. Grant (General in Chief of all union armies) ordered Thomas to attack, and Thomas replied that he needed a few days to have everything in order for an attack. Grant had grown greatly exasperated and nervous at the prospect of a confederate invasion through Tennessee and Kentucky, which could turn

17303-527: The war ended. Thomas was born at Newsom's Depot , Southampton County, Virginia , five miles (8 km) from the North Carolina border. His father, John Thomas, of Welsh descent, and his mother, Elizabeth Rochelle Thomas, a descendant of French Huguenot immigrants, had six children. George had three sisters and two brothers. The family led an upper-class plantation lifestyle. By 1829, they owned 685 acres (2.77 km ) and 15 slaves. John died in

17446-555: The war took place at King's Mountain along the North Carolina–South Carolina border; on October 7, 1780, a force of 1,000 Patriots from western North Carolina (including what is today the state of Tennessee ) and southwest Virginia overwhelmed a force of some 1,000 British troops led by Major Patrick Ferguson . Most of the soldiers fighting for the British side in this battle were Carolinians who had remained loyal to

17589-399: The war, also repeated the accusation after the war that Thomas was "slow", and this damning with faint praise tended to affect perceptions of the Rock of Chickamauga up to the present day. Both Sherman and Grant attended Thomas's funeral, and were reported by third parties to have been visibly moved by his passing. Thomas's legendary bay horse , Billy, bore his friend Sherman's name. Thomas

17732-519: The war, the German government paid to have other POWs disinterred from Hot Springs National Cemetery and moved to Chattanooga. Chattanooga National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. Originally the site was expected to close for new burials in 2015. However, due to a recent expansion project that will add the capacity for more than 5,000 interments,

17875-498: The white Republican mayor and aldermen. They installed their own people and elected Alfred M. Waddell as mayor, in the only successful coup d'état in United States history . In 1899, the state legislature passed a new constitution, with requirements for poll taxes and literacy tests for voter registration which disenfranchised most black Americans in the state. Exclusion from voting had wide effects: it meant black Americans could not serve on juries or in any local office. After

18018-475: Was "standing like a rock." After the battle he became widely known by the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga", representing his determination to hold a vital position against strong odds. Thomas succeeded Rosecrans in command of the Army of the Cumberland shortly before the Battles for Chattanooga (November 23–25, 1863), a stunning Union victory that was highlighted by Thomas's troops taking Lookout Mountain on

18161-655: Was also active in North Carolina politics as a member of the Assembly and later as the Sheriff. Davis also founded and printed the North-Carolina Gazette , North Carolina's first newspaper, printed in his printing house in New Bern. Differences in the settlement patterns of eastern and western North Carolina, or the Atlantic coastal plain and uplands, affected the political, economic, and social life of

18304-650: Was always on good terms with his commanding officer in the Army of the Cumberland, William Rosecrans . Even after Rosecrans was relieved of command by Grant and replaced by Thomas, he had nothing but praise for him. Upon hearing of Thomas' death, Rosecrans sent a letter to the National Tribune , stating Thomas' passing was a "National Calamity... Few knew him better than I did, none valued him more." In 1887, Sherman published an article praising Grant and Thomas, and contrasting them to Robert E. Lee. After noting that Thomas, unlike his fellow Virginian Lee, stood by

18447-409: Was assigned to command the 1st Division of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell 's Army of the Ohio . He missed the Battle of Shiloh (April 7, 1862), arriving after the fighting had ceased. The victor at Shiloh, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant , came under severe criticism for the bloody battle due to the surprise and lack of preparations and his superior, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck , reorganized his Department of

18590-443: Was deeply unhappy with Thomas' performance, and Thomas replied that if he wished to relieve him from command he would 'submit without a murmur'. General Grant grew impatient at the continued delay, and finally sent Maj. Gen. John A. Logan with an order to replace Thomas as commander, and soon afterwards Grant started a journey west from City Point, Virginia to take command in person. As the weather finally warmed and rain washed away

18733-708: Was honored for all he had done. In 1879, they commissioned the equestrian statue of Thomas at Thomas Circle, Washington, D.C. Thomas was in chief command of only two battles in the Civil War, the Battle of Mill Springs at the beginning and the Battle of Nashville near the end. Both were decisive victories. However, his contributions at the battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Peachtree Creek were decisive. His main legacies lay in his development of modern battlefield doctrine and in his mastery of logistics. Thomas has generally been held in high esteem by Civil War historians; Bruce Catton and Carl Sandburg wrote glowingly of him, and many consider Thomas one of

18876-479: Was known to his fellow cadets as "Old Tom," and he became instant friends with his roommates, William T. Sherman and Stewart Van Vliet . He made steady academic progress, was appointed a cadet officer in his second year, and graduated 12th in a class of 42 in 1840. He was appointed a second lieutenant in Company D, 3rd U.S. Artillery . Thomas's first assignment with his artillery regiment began in late 1840 at

19019-628: Was less available. Nathaniel Batts was documented as one of the first of these Virginian migrants. He settled south of the Chowan River and east of the Great Dismal Swamp in 1655. By 1663, this northeastern area of the Province of Carolina , known as the Albemarle Settlements , was undergoing full-scale English settlement. During the same period, the English monarch Charles   II gave provincial land grants to

19162-429: Was not the case (Rosecrans had in fact been his junior, but his commission as major general had been backdated to make him senior to Thomas) and reminding him of his earlier refusal to accept command; Thomas demurred and withdrew his protest. Fighting under Rosecrans, commanding the "Center" wing of the newly renamed Army of the Cumberland , Thomas gave an impressive performance at the Battle of Stones River , holding

19305-615: Was one of the rare officers with field experience in all three combat arms—infantry, cavalry, and artillery. On his way home to southern Virginia, he suffered a mishap in Lynchburg, Virginia , falling from a train platform and severely injuring his back. This accident led him to contemplate leaving military service and caused him pain for the rest of his life. Continuing to New York to visit with his wife's family, Thomas stopped in Washington, D.C., and conferred with general-in-chief Winfield Scott , advising Scott that Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs ,

19448-569: Was ordered to Texas in June 1845. In Mexico, Thomas led a gun crew with distinction at the battles of Fort Brown , Resaca de la Palma , Monterrey , and Buena Vista , receiving two more brevet promotions. At Buena Vista, Gen. Zachary Taylor reported that "the services of the light artillery, always conspicuous, were more than unusually distinguished" during the battle. Brig. Gen. John E. Wool wrote about Thomas and another officer that "without our artillery we would not have maintained our position

19591-404: Was ordered to defend Tennessee from confederate offensive operations, culminating in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign . As Hood's army of Tennessee entered the state, Thomas hurriedly attempted to concentrate his forces. He had a numerical advantage, but he still wished for his entire force to be concentrated. He ordered the Army of the Ohio under command of his subordinate general Schofield to delay

19734-546: Was promoted in rapid succession to be lieutenant colonel (on April 25, 1861, replacing Robert E. Lee) and colonel (May 3, replacing Albert Sidney Johnston) in the regular army , and brigadier general of volunteers (August 17). In the First Bull Run Campaign , he commanded a brigade under Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson in the Shenandoah Valley , but all of his subsequent assignments were in

19877-486: Was reassigned to Florida in 1849–50. In 1851, he returned to West Point as a cavalry and artillery instructor, where he established a close professional and personal relationship with another Virginia officer, Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee , the Academy superintendent. His appointment there was based in part on a recommendation from Braxton Bragg. Concerned about the poor condition of the Academy's elderly horses, Thomas moderated

20020-497: Was so vile an institution that it had forced the slaves to act in violence. This was a major event in the formation of his views on slavery; that the idea of the contented slave in the care of a benevolent overlord was a sentimental myth. Christopher Einolf , in contrast wrote "For George Thomas, the view that slavery was needed as a way of controlling blacks was supported by his personal experience of Nat Turner's Rebellion. ... Thomas left no written record of his opinion on slavery, but

20163-568: Was some military action, especially in 1780–81. Many Carolinian frontiersmen had moved west over the mountains, into the Washington District (later known as Tennessee ), but in 1789, following the Revolution, the state was persuaded to relinquish its claim to the western lands. It ceded them to the national government so the Northwest Territory could be organized and managed nationally. A major American victory in

20306-623: Was the last Confederate port to fall to the Union, in February 1865, after the Union won the nearby Second Battle of Fort Fisher , its major defense downriver. The first Confederate soldier to be killed in the Civil War was Private Henry Wyatt from North Carolina, in the Battle of Big Bethel in June 1861. At the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the 26th North Carolina Regiment participated in Pickett/Pettigrew's Charge and advanced

20449-652: Was unveiled in Lebanon, Kentucky . A bust of Thomas is located in Grant's Tomb in Manhattan , New York. Thomas's torn loyalties during the Civil War are briefly discussed in Chapter XIX of MacKinlay Kantor's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Andersonville" (1955). A three-quarter length portrait of him, executed by U.S. general Samuel Woodson Price (1828–1918) in 1869 and gifted by the heirs of General Price, hangs in

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