Of the soldiers of the Northern army in the war of the Rebellion,
General George H. Thomas takes rank next after the first three--Grant,
Sherman and Sheridan. When Grant became President and Sherman was
general of the army the President was unwilling to appear to neglect
either Sheridan or Thomas. With high appreciation of Thomas as a
soldier, the President gave higher rank to Sheridan. He said to me
that he placed Sheridan above every other officer of the war. He gave
Sheridan credit for two supreme qualities--great care in his plans and
great vigor in execution.
Yet, although the President acted upon a sound basis of opinion, the
choice left a painful impression upon his memory.
General Thomas and General Lee were alike in personal appearance, and
they resembled each other in their mental characteristics. In one
important particular they differed--General Thomas had no respect for
State-Rights doctrines. He was a native of Virginia, but there was no
indication in his testimony, nor were there rumors, that he had ever
hesitated in his course when the rebellion opened.
General Thomas was examined by the Committee on Reconstruction January
29, and February 2, 1866. He was then in command of the Military
Division of the Tennessee which included the States of Kentucky,
Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. It was the main object of
the committee to obtain information as to the public sentiment touching
the treatment of the negroes and the re-establishment of civil
government in the States that had been in rebellion. The Union
sentiment was stronger in Tennessee than in any other State of the
Confederacy. The inhabitants of the mountainous districts of eastern
and middle Tennessee had been loyal from the opening of the contest in
1860 and 1860. Yet in 1866 General Thomas advised the committee that
it would "not be safe to remove the national troops from Tennessee, or
to withdraw martial law; or to restore the writ of habeas corpus to
its full extent." At that time the peace of eastern Tennessee was
disturbed by family feuds and personal quarrels, the outcome of
political differences. In west Tennessee and in portions of middle
Tennessee there was a deep seated hostility to Union men, and
especially to Southern men who had served in the Union army.
General Thomas said of them: "They are more unfriendly to Union men
natives of the State of Tennessee or of the South, who have been in
the Union army, than they are to men of Northern birth."
At that time the contract system of labor had been introduced, and the
contracts were regarded as binding both by whites and blacks.
General Thomas advised the admission of Tennessee into the Union as a
State, and his advice was acted upon favorably by its admission in the
summer of that year. His recommendations were based upon the facts
that Tennessee had "repudiated the rebel debt, had abolished slavery,
had adopted the Constitutional amendment upon that subject, had passed
a franchise law prohibiting from voting every man who had been
engaged in the rebellion" and had "passed a law allowing negroes to
testify."
His opinion of the four other States of his command was not as
favorable. "I have received communications from various persons in the
South that there was an understanding among the rebels and perhaps
organizations formed or forming, for the purpose of gaining as many
advantages for themselves as possible; and I have heard it also
intimated that these men are very anxious and would do all in their
power to involve the United States in a foreign war, so that if a
favorable opportunity should occur, they might then again turn against
the United States."
At the end of his first examination he gave this opinion as the result
of his experience:
Question: "In what could those advantages consist in breaking up the
government?"
Answer: "They would wish to be recognized as citizens of the United
States, with the same rights they had before the war."
Question: "How can they do that? By wishing us in a war with England
or France, in which they would take part against us?"
Answer: "In that event their desire is to establish the Southern
Confederacy. They have not yet given up their desire for a separate
government, and if they have an opportunity to strike for it again they
will do so."
When asked what he knew of secret organizations he said that he had
received several communications to that effect but the parties were
unwilling to have their names made public. He added: "The persons
communicating with me are reliable and truthful and I believe their
statements are correct in the main.
"The nature and object of the organizations," he said, "are the
embarrassment of the Government of the United States in the proper
administration of the affairs of the county, and if possible, to
repudiate the national debt, or to gain such an ascendency in Congress
as to make provision for the assumption by Congress of the debt
incurred by the rebel government; also, in case the United States
Government can be involved in a foreign war to watch their opportunity
and take advantage of the first that comes to strike for the
independence of the States lately in rebellion."
These extracts from the testimony of General Thomas are a fair
exposition of the condition of public sentiment in the Confederate
States with the exception in a degree of the border States. It is
apparent also that General Thomas had not the degree of confidence in
the good purposes of those who had been in the rebellion that was
entertained by Northern officers including Grant, Sherman and Sheridan.
As the loyal men of the South were greater sufferers from the war,
their hostility was more intense against those who were responsible
for the war.
If we cannot say that Thomas was a great soldier in the large use of
the phrase, it can be said that he was a good soldier and that without
qualifying words. He should live in history as a true patriot and a
man of the highest integrity.