George Thomas: Virginian for the Union

Christopher J. Einolf, DePaul University

Abstract

George Thomas was one of the Civil War's most prominent Southern Unionists, known for his heroic leadership at Mill Springs, Chickamauga, and Nashville. A slave owner before the war, he commanded African American soldiers at the Battle of Nashville and the experience transformed him into a stalwart defender of Civil Rights. During Reconstruction, he led the fight against the Ku Klux Klan as the commander of U.S. army troops in Kentucky and Tennessee.