Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-05-25
GEN GEO. HI. THOMAS.
4 Cincinnati Paper appreciates the Talm.
able Fork of His st. Paul BioDsapher.
TCincinnati Commercial

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"MEMoIR OF GEN. GEO. II. THOMAS" B,
Richard W. johnson, retired brigadier gen
era Q. s. A. j. P. Lippincott s. Co., Phil
adelphia.
For thirteen years the author of this bool
was associated with the grand soldier whom
his countrymen remember as the Crock O
Chickamnuga." Gen. johnson brings his oil,
commander before us with an enthusiasm Xix,
this:
at will be the aim to give the incidents of his life
which ike II facts upon the face of Cur Ma
tional his'o y. without embelhshUent.
Looking back at the achievements of Thomas, he II
seen in his true character. incorruptible pariot
a bray, wise and skillful soldier AS years pass b.
and the bifter wo inds engendersd by the war have
been healed, his honored name will be more apo
more veHtraed by the people Of America
Let the young study his character, apt
strive to initiate bis noble example. No better mod
81 can be placed before them.'
The book is adorned with excellent stee
portraits of some of the great men we hat
during the war. A fine picture of Gen. Thorn
as himself forms the frontispiece. As time
rolls on, it seems possible that, next to Wash
ington, the man who will take rank as the
greatest soldier America has ever produced
will be George IL. Thomas, the general who
never lost a battle. He never lost his head
never was hurried or bewIldered. His soldiers
called him "Old Slow Trot' He was mem
Der, along with Gen. Sherman, of the West
Point class that graduated in 1912. Virginia
was his native State.
Every American boy ought to read his life
His brain was of the massive type. Gen
johnson was astonished at the ease with which
he used to solve the most difficult problems in
mathematics, a quarter of q century after hi
had left school. His sense of justice was only
equaled by his modesty, and these two trait:
were as marked when he was at school rs they
were in mankind. The brutal and shameful
practice of hazing obtained at West Point in
his time, as well as later He suffered cruelty
from it himself But he did not pay off these
indignities upon other raw recruits when his
turn came. On the contrary he became the
friend and benefactor of the poor homesick
plebcS, as the first year cadets are called. They
were never panied by any word or deed from
young Thomas. His modesty kept him back
in the line of promotion for years and years,
while shallower brains and meaner souls were
boosted one after another over his head. 1t is
no credit, on the contrary it is disgrace, to
those who were in authority at that time, that
ut the close Of the war not single recogni
ton was accorded the general who never lost a
battle. He was left to slide back without a
word into his old subordinate place in the reg.
ular army. w men Tue mabUer was mentioned
to him, he only said this:
81 have taken great pains to educate myself
not to feel"
Ger. Thomas own report of the battle OF
ChIckamauga is inserted in the volume. In ii
he speaks of a somewhat famous ride of the
now President of the United States, as fol
lows:
general Garfield, chief of staff of Rosencrans
rea he'd this post on about NJ Gen.
afd tha at n matt
bat the right and cepter of our army had been
DIR ven, aud OF its cond ton at that time.''
When the war ended, it was General Thomas
who first proposed to gather our soldier dead,
and bury them in national cemeteries. His
t'friends and admirers in Cincinnati" proposed
raising a large sum of money, and presenting
1t to him in recognition of his noble service
for the Union. As soon as he heard of it, he
wrote to them at once, firmly declining the
gift, and asking that it be turned over to the
widows and orphans of the soldiers. He was
different from some other great generals. His
name too began presently to be enthusiastic
ally mentioned for the Presidency. His reply
TO proposition to this effect is memorable:
81 will have nothing 10 do with politics. I am
soldier, and know my duty AS politician would
be lust. No, r: not even II were elected unaDi-
mouey would acce. tit .
Such is the splendid figure in our national
history that General johnson places before US.
On the whole, he has done his task well, too,
although more personal incident would have
been agreeable TO the general reader. Every
American will be grateful to General johnson
for the opportunity to become acquainted with
the life and deeds of General Thomas. The
services he rendered his country, the honors
he declined, the care he took of his soldiers,
and their enthusiastic affection, are here more
fully laid before us than they have ever been
before. An appendix contains the account OF
the unwilling OF the Thomas statue at Wash
ingtou, November 90, 1879. Among the ad-
dresses on that occasion, as given in General
Johuson's book, is that of Justice Stanley