Stephen Thomas (Medal of Honor)
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Stephen Thomas | |
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26th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont | |
In office 1867–1869 | |
Governor | John B. Page |
Preceded by | Abraham B. Gardner |
Succeeded by | George W. Hendee |
Member of the Vermont Senate from Orange County | |
In office 1849–1851 Serving with Joseph W. D. Parker, S. Milton Bigelow | |
Preceded by | Henry Keyes, William Sweatt, Jefferson P. Kidder |
Succeeded by | George P. Baldwin, Phineas Moulton, Benjamin Thurber Jr. |
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from West Fairlee | |
In office 1860–1862 | |
Preceded by | Thomas Bond |
Succeeded by | Simeon Hastings |
In office 1845–1847 | |
Preceded by | Elisha May |
Succeeded by | J. B. Slayton |
In office 1838–1840 | |
Preceded by | George May |
Succeeded by | David Robinson |
Judge of Probate for Vermont's Bradford District | |
In office 1847–1849 | |
Preceded by | Joseph W. D. Parker |
Succeeded by | Arad Stebbins |
Personal details | |
Born | Bethel, Vermont | December 6, 1809
Died | December 18, 1903 Montpelier, Vermont | (aged 94)
Resting place | Green Mount Cemetery, Montpelier, Vermont |
Political party | Democratic (before 1861) Republican (from 1861) |
Spouse | Ann Peabody (m. 1830–1877, her death) |
Children | 2 |
Occupation | Manufacturer |
Awards | Medal of Honor |
Signature | ![]() |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States of America Union |
Branch/service | United States Army Union Army |
Years of service | 1861–1865 |
Rank | ![]() |
Commands | 8th Vermont Infantry 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XIX Corps |
Battles/wars | American Civil War - Battle of New Orleans (Civil War) - Battle of Fort Bisland - Siege of Port Hudson - Valley Campaigns of 1864 |
Stephen Thomas (December 6, 1809 – December 18, 1903), manufacturer, politician, jurist, and Union Army officer.[1] He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for gallantry.
Early life
[edit]Thomas was born in Bethel, Vermont,[2] the son of John and Rebecca (Batchellor) Thomas. His father died while serving in the U.S. 31st Infantry during the War of 1812. His grandfather, Joseph, served in a New Hampshire regiment during the American Revolution. Thomas was only four years old when his father died, and he started work young to help his widowed mother. He apprenticed in the woolen industry, then started his own business, which was destroyed by fire, and finally ended up in the manufacturing business in West Fairlee.
On January 13, 1830, Thomas married Ann Peabody of Reading.[3] She died in West Fairlee on January 8, 1877.[4] They were the parents of two children, son Hartop and daughter Amanda.[5]
In the 1830s and 1840s, Thomas served in the Vermont Militia.[6] He rose through the ranks, and commanded the 19th Regiment's Rifle Company as a captain.[6]
Political career
[edit]He represented the town of West Fairlee in the Vermont House of Representatives in 1838, 1839, 1845, 1846, 1860 and 1861. He was a state senator, representing Orange County from 1849 to 1851, and a delegate to the state Constitutional Conventions in 1843 and 1850. He served a register of probate for the district of Bradford from 1842 to 1846, and probate judge from 1847 to 1849.
He was a Democrat until the outbreak of the American Civil War, an alternate to the Democratic national convention of 1848, delegate for the next three conventions, in 1852, 1856 and 1860, and candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1860.[7]
Governor Erastus Fairbanks called an extra session of the State Legislature on April 23, 1861, which Thomas attended. He was a member of the Ways and Means committee, which intended to report out a bill appropriating half a million dollars for military purposes. Thomas presented an impassioned speech supporting an amendment that doubled the amount to one million dollars. He said "Until this rebellion shall have been put down, I have no friends to reward and no enemies to punish, and I trust that the whole strength and power of Vermont, both of men and of money, will be put into the field to sustain the government."[8]
After some spirited debate in the full house, the measure was passed unanimously. Thomas also supported passage of a bill giving every non-commissioned officer and private seven dollars a month in addition to their Federal pay, and that bill was enacted as well.
Military career
[edit]Thomas was commissioned as colonel of the 8th Vermont, a three-year infantry regiment,[9][10][11][12][note 1] on November 12, 1861,[13] and proceeded to recruit the regiment, which was destined to be part of Benjamin F. Butler's New England Division. The regiment left Vermont for the Department of the Gulf on March 4, 1862. It was part of Butler's occupation forces in the New Orleans metropolitan area through 1862.[note 2], and Thomas commanded it through May 1863, when he assumed command of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XIX Corps, which included the 8th Vermont. During this period, the 8th Vermont participated in the Occupation of New Orleans, and battles at Raceland,[17] Boutte Station,[18] Bayou des Allemands,[18][note 3]Bisland, and Port Hudson.
In July 1864, a portion of the XIX Corps, including the 8th Vermont, was transferred to the eastern theater of the war. They arrived at Fortress Monroe just in time to join the VI Corps in the Shenandoah Valley, and participate in Major General Philip Sheridan's campaign against the Confederacy's Jubal Early. Thomas commanded the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division from October 15 to October 24, and again from November 1 to December 3, which included the 8th Vermont, 12th Connecticut, 160th New York and 47th Pennsylvania infantry regiments. During this period, the 8th Vermont participated in the Battle of Opequon, Battle of Fisher's Hill, Battle of Cedar Creek,[20] and Newton, Virginia. In 1892 he received the Medal of Honor for "distinguished conduct in a desperate hand-to-hand encounter, in which the advance of the enemy was checked," at Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864.
Thomas was appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers on February 1, 1865, and mustered out of the service August 24, 1865.
Postwar
[edit]General Thomas started the war as a Democrat, but by the time he returned home, he was a Republican. "But the opposition of the old party, whose favorite he had been, would not permit it, and he was obliged to defend his course in public. The leaders with whom he had affiliated said to him after his return from the war, 'THOMAS, you've changed; we haven't.' 'Fools never do,' was his reply.[2]
He refused to be a candidate for governor, but did serve as lieutenant governor in 1867 and 1868 under Governor John B. Page. He served as a delegate to the soldiers' convention that nominated General Ulysses S. Grant for the presidency.
He was appointed by President Grant as a U.S. pension agent in 1870, and served in that capacity for eight years. In the late 1880s Thomas was president of the U.S. Clothes Pin Company, of Montpelier, which had 15 employees and customers worldwide. He was also president of the North Haverhill Granite Company.
He served as commander of the Department of Vermont, Grand Army of the Republic, and as president of the Vermont Officers' Reunion Society. He was Companion #09174 of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, or MOLLUS, through its Vermont Commandery.
General Thomas died in Montpelier, and was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier.[21] On on October 19, 1914—the 50th anniversary of Cedar Creek — his regiment dedicated a birth marker to him in Bethel-Gilead. [22]
Medal of Honor citation
[edit]Rank and organization: Colonel, 8th Vermont Infantry. Place and date: At Cedar Creek, Va., October 19, 1864. Entered service at: Montpelier, Vt. Birth: Vermont. Date of issue: July 25, 1892.
Citation:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Colonel (Infantry) Stephen Thomas, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 19 October 1864, while serving with 8th Vermont Infantry, in action at Cedar Creek, Virginia, for distinguished conduct in a desperate hand-to-hand encounter, in which the advance of the enemy was checked.[23][24][25]
See also
[edit]- List of Medal of Honor recipients
- List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: T–Z
- List of American Civil War generals (Union)
References
[edit]Notes
- ^ The 8th Vermont was raised for specifically for service in the Department of the Gulf unlike its brethren in the 7th Vermont who found out after they were raised. See its Wikipedia article for more information.
- ^ Thomas and the 8th spent most of 1862 across the river in Algiers. He had general charge of the district around Algiers, in a civil and military capacity, with his own provost judge and marshal.[14] The majority of their duty at the time was rebuilding the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad (NOO&GW) line there,[15] tending to the needs of the large numbers of escaped slaves, and providing security against Rebel forces in the area.[16] For more information, see the regiments's Wikipedia article.
- ^ Thomas was also responsible for opening up the railway from Algiers to Berwick Bay and was one of the first commanders of black troops of the war during Weitzel's operations around LaFourche from October through December 1862.[19]
Citations
- ^ Ullery et al. (1894), pp. 396–397.
- ^ a b Child (1888), p. 508.
- ^ Vermont Chronicle. Marriages: Stephen Thomas and Ann Peabody (1830).
- ^ Ellis & Dodge (1911), p. 41.
- ^ Ellis & Dodge (1911), p. 40.
- ^ a b Citizen Soldier, Roster – Vermont Militia, (February 12, 1841).
- ^ Crockett (1921), p. 483.
- ^ Coffin (1993), p. 23; Peck (1892), p. 299.
- ^ Dyer (1908), p. 1652; Federal Publishing Company (1908), pp. 112–114.
- ^ Civil War in the East, 8th Vermont Volunteer Infantry.
- ^ NPS 8th Regiment, Vermont Infantry.
- ^ VCW, 8th Vermont (2004).
- ^ Benedict (1886), p. 80; Carpenter (1886), p. 1.
- ^ Benedict (1886), pp. 89–90.
- ^ Carpenter (1886), p. 40.
- ^ Benedict (1886), pp. 89–97.
- ^ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 15, p. 132, Report of Col. Stephen Thomas, Eighth Vermont Infantry, September 3, 1862, p. 132
- ^ a b U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 15, pp. 134–135, Report of Col. Stephen Thomas, Eighth Vermont Infantry, September 6, 1862, pp. 134-135
- ^ Benedict (1886), pp. 106–107; Winters & Williams (1963), p. 157.
- ^ Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, Vermont at Cedar Creek (2015).
- ^ The Evening Argus, Last Honors Paid To Gen. Stephen Thomas (1903).
- ^ Randolph Herald (2003), p. 1.
- ^ CMOHS, Stephen Thomas (2014).
- ^ CMH, Thomas, Stephen (2013).
- ^ Sightline Media Group,Stephen Thomas (2020).
Sources
- Benedict, George Grenville (1886). "The Eighth Regiment" (pdf). Vermont in the Civil War: A History of the Part Taken by the Vermont Soldiers and Sailors in the War for the Union, 1861-5. Vol. II. Burlington, VT: Free Press Association. pp. 80–181. LCCN 02015600. OCLC 301252961. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Carpenter, George N. (1886). History of the Eighth Regiment Vermont Volunteers. 1861-1865 (pdf). Civil War unit histories: Union -- New England. Vol. 8. Boston, MA: Press of Deland & Barta. p. 420. LCCN 02015654. OCLC 547285. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Child, Hamilton (1888). Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt. 1762-1888 (pdf) (1st ed.). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse Journal Company. pp. 506–510. LCCN 20001104. OCLC 1045541895. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Coffin, Howard (1993). Full Duty : Vermonters in the Civil War (pdf) (1995 Paperback ed.). Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press. p. 376. ISBN 978-0-88150-349-4. LCCN 93032417. OCLC 42706499. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- Crockett, Walter Hill (1921). Vermont The Green Mountain State (pdf). New York, NY: The Century history Company, Inc. pp. 482–483, 490, 521, 529–530, 556, 585, 587, 622. LCCN 21021207. OCLC 656925015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Dyer, Frederick Henry (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (PDF). Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co. pp. 34, 45, 233, 379, 407, 410, 549, 551, 552, 553, 16S2. ASIN B01BUFJ76Q. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Ellis, William Arba; Dodge, Grenville Mellen (1911). Norwich University, 1819-1911; Her History, Her Graduates, Her Roll of Honor (pdf). Norwich University, 1819-1911: Her History, Her Graduates, Her Roll of Honor, Pub. by Major-General Grenville M. Dodge. Vol. 3 (1st ed.). Montpelier, VT: The Capitol city Press. pp. 40–41. OCLC 8819843. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
- Federal Publishing Company (1908). Military Affairs and Regimental Histories of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, And Delaware (PDF). The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States, 1861–65 – Records of the Regiments in the Union army – Cyclopedia of battles – Memoirs of Commanders and Soldiers. Vol. I. Madison, WI: Federal Publishing Company. pp. 112–114. OCLC 694018100.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- "Marriages: Stephen Thomas and Ann Peabody". Vermont Chronicle. Bellows Falls, VT. January 29, 1830. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Last Honors Paid To Gen. Stephen Thomas". The Evening Argus. Montpelier, VT. December 21, 1903. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- Peck, Theodore Safford (1892). Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers and lists of Vermonters Who Served in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion, 1861-66 (pdf). Montpelier, VT: Press of the Watchman Publishing Co. p. 299. LCCN 02016124. Retrieved November 25, 2015.}
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- "Roster – Vermont Militia". Citizen Soldier. Norwich, VT. February 12, 1841. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- Ullery, Jacob G.; Proctor, Redfield; Davenport, Charles H.; Huse, Hiram Augustus; Fuller, Levi Knight (1894). Men of Vermont: An Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters and Sons of Vermont (pdf) (1st ed.). Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company. p. 396-397. LCCN 04002423. OCLC 728957364. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- U.S. War Department (1886). Operations in West Florida, Southern Alabama, Southern Mississippi (embracing all operations against Vicksburg, May 18-Jul 27, 1862); and Louisiana, May 12, 1862-May 14, 1863; and operations in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, Sep 20,1862-May 14, 1863. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. XV–XXVII. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 132–134, 161–163, 167, 170, 174, 184, 235, 236, 587, 712. hdl:2027/coo.31924079609586. OCLC 857196196.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Winters, John David; Williams, T.H. (1963). The Civil War in Louisiana (pdf) (1991 paperback ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 152, 156–157. ISBN 978-0-8071-1725-5. LCCN 63009647. OCLC 1330335846. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
- U.S. Army Center of Military History (December 15, 2013). "Medal of Honor Recipients – Civil War (S-Z)". history.army.mil. Archived from the original on June 4, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "Medal of Honor Recipient". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. November 26, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
- "Hall of Valor: The Military Medals Database". The Hall of Valor Project. Sightline Media Group. 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- "8th Vermont Volunteer Infantry". The Civil War in the East. 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- "Battle Unit Details, 8th Regiment, Vermont Infantry". nps.gov. U.S. National Park Service. January 19, 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Randolph Herald (2003). "The Illustrious Career of Gen. Stephen Thomas". Our Herald. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- Vermont in the Civil War (2004). "8th Vermont Infantry". vermontcivilwar.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
- "Vermont at Cedar Creek". Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation. January 19, 2015. Archived from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
External links
[edit]- "Vermont Veterans Militia Museum and Library". Archived from the original on 2010-09-06.
- "Vermont Military Records Project, Vermont Public Records Division".
- "Stephen Thomas". Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients. Find a Grave. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
- 1809 births
- 1903 deaths
- Union Army generals
- United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
- People of Vermont in the American Civil War
- Lieutenant governors of Vermont
- Members of the Vermont House of Representatives
- People from Bethel, Vermont
- American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor
- Burials at Green Mount Cemetery (Montpelier, Vermont)
- 19th-century American legislators
- Grand Army of the Republic officials