Bryan M . Thomas Bryan Morel Thomas ( May 8 , 1836 – July 16 , 1905 ) was an American soldier , farmer , marshal , and educator . He served as an officer in the United States Army , and later in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . He was a son - in - law of Jones M . Withers , under whom Thomas would serve in the war . Thomas also participated in and was captured during the 1865 Battle of Fort Blakely , the conflict ' s final infantry fight . Early life and U . S . Army career . Thomas was born in 1836 in Milledgeville , Georgia , and gained his primary education while attending Atlanta ' s Oglethorpe University . On July 1 , 1854 , he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point . Thomas graduated four years later and stood 22nd out of 54 cadets . On July 1 , 1858 , he was brevetted as a second lieutenant and assigned to the 8th U . S . Infantry . With the 8th Infantry , Thomas performed garrison duty in New York and then was stationed in the Utah Territory . On January 19 , 1859 , he was promoted to second lieutenant and assigned to the 5th U . S . Infantry . With the 5th Infantry he was stationed at Fort Union in the New Mexico Territory until resigning in 1861 . American Civil War service . Following Georgia ' s secession , Thomas resigned his commission in the U . S . Army effective April 6 , 1861 . He was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the regular Confederate infantry on March 16 , and promoted to major in the regular service that same day . In July Thomas was assigned to the 18th Alabama Infantry with the rank of major . Leaving the line service for staff work , Thomas was assigned to command the ordnance in the Confederate Department of Alabama & West Florida on December 20 . In 1862 Thomas was sent to serve in the Western Theater , and was given command of the artillery belonging to a brigade in the Army of Mississippi as of March 18 . Eight days later Thomas was appointed assistant inspector general of the brigade , a post he held until that summer . Assigned to the staff of Maj . Gen . Jones M . Withers , Thomas fought at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6 – 7 , performing a " commendable part in the battle . . . " In July he was assigned command of the army ' s Reserve Corps artillery , a position Thomas would hold for the rest of the year . He also participated in the Kentucky Campaign that autumn , and then took a brief sick leave . Thomas returned to duty in time to fight during the Battle of Stone ' s River in late 1862 . Beginning on January 2 , 1863 , Thomas was assigned as assistant inspector general of the Withers ' Division in the renamed Army of Tennessee . Later in 1863 , on the recommendation of Lt . Gen . Leonidas Polk , he was promoted to colonel and given command of the 12th Mississippi Cavalry . This new regiment , the reserve cavalry of Brig . Gen . James H . Clanton ' s Alabama Brigade , was also variously known as " Col . Thomas ' s Alabama Cavalry . " On August 4 , 1864 , he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and that September was assigned brigade command in the defenses in Mobile , Alabama . His appointment was as a " temporary " general officer in charge of volunteer troops , and was never confirmed by the Confederate Congress . Fort Blakely . In 1865 Thomas participated in the Mobile Campaign as part of the Confederate force holding Fort Blakely in Baldwin County , Alabama . Beginning on April 1 Thomas and the fort was put under siege by the Union forces of Maj . Gen . Edward R . S . Canby . His command — mostly consisting of " boy reserves " — held the right of the Confederate works , on the left was the division of Brig . Gen . Francis Cockrell , and both under Brig . Gen . St . John Richardson Liddell , the garrison commander . At 5 : 30 p . m . on April 9 the attack came , with simple numbers ( around 16 , 000 Union versus 4 , 475 Confederate ) deciding the assault , which lasted only 20 minutes . In the fight 3 , 700 Confederates , Thomas , Cockrell , as well as Liddell were all captured . Thomas was held until June when he was released from Fort Gaines , Alabama , paroled and returned home . Postbellum career . After the American Civil War , Thomas worked as a farmer in Dooly County and then Whitfield County , Georgia . He then worked as a deputy U . S . Marshal , and in 1884 he founded a private academy . Finally settling in Dalton , Thomas served as superintendent of the city ' s schools from 1891 to 1900 . He died in Dalton in 1905 and was buried in the city ' s West Hill Cemetery . The Bryan M . Thomas Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was named in his honor . Personal . In 1865 , Thomas married Mary Jones Withers , the daughter of Maj . Gen . Jones M . Withers , his first commander . Together they had a daughter named Harriet .