- Stephen Thomas
:"For the academic, see"
Stephen Thomas (professor) .Infobox Military Person
name= Stephen Thomas
born= birth date|1809|12|6
died= death date and age|1903|12|18|1809|12|6
caption=
nickname=
placeofbirth=Bethel, Vermont
placeofdeath=Montpelier ,Vermont
placeofburial=
allegiance= United States of America Union
branch=United States Army Union Army
serviceyears= 1861–65
rank= Brigadier General
unit=
commands=
battles=American Civil War -Battle of New Orleans (Civil War) -Battle of Fort Bisland -Siege of Port Hudson -Valley Campaigns of 1864
awards=Medal of Honor
relations=
laterwork= Manufacturer, politician, juristStephen Thomas (
December 6 ,1809 –December 18 ,1903 ), manufacturer, politician, jurist, andUnion Army officer. He was a recipient of theMedal of Honor for gallantry.Early life
Thomas was born in
Bethel, Vermont , the son of John and Rebecca (Batchellor) Thomas. His father died while serving in the U.S. 31st Infantry during theWar of 1812 . His grandfather, Joseph, served in aNew Hampshire regiment during theAmerican 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.Thomas married Ann Peabody of Reading, on
January 13 ,1831 . She died at West Fairlee,January 8 ,1877 .Political career
He represented the town of Fairlee in the
Vermont House of Representatives in 1838, 1839, 1845, 1846, 1860 and 1861. He was a state senator, representing Orange County in 1848 and 1849, and a delegate to the 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.Governor
Erastus Fairbanks called an extra session of the State Legislature onApril 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." [Peck, p. 299]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
Thomas was commissioned as colonel of the
8th Vermont Infantry onNovember 12 ,1861 , 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 theDepartment of the Gulf onMarch 4 ,1862 , 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, Boutte Station, Bayou des Allemands, 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 GeneralPhilip Sheridan 's campaign against the Confederacy'sJubal Early . Thomas commanded the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division fromOctober 15 toOctober 24 , and again fromNovember 1 toDecember 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 Third Battle of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and Newton, Virginia. In 1892 he was awarded theMedal of Honor for "distinguished conduct in a desperate hand-to-hand encounter, in which the advance of the enemy was checked," at Cedar Creek onOctober 19 ,1864 .Thomas was appointed Brigadier General, Volunteers on
February 1 ,1865 , and mustered out of the serviceAugust 24 ,1865 .Postwar
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 witty reply. [Childs, p. 508.]
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 GeneralUlysses 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 world-wide. He was also president of the North Haverhill Granite Company.
He was a member of and served as commander of the
Grand Army of the Republic , and president of the Vermont Officers' Reunion Society.General Thomas died in Montpelier, and is buried in Green Mount cemetery.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Colonel, 8th Vermont Infantry. Place and date: At Cedar Creek, Va., 19 October 1864. Entered service at: Montpelier, Vt. Birth: Vermont. Date of issue: 25 July 1892.
Citation:
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