caption serviceyears laterwork branch commands death_place death_date birth_place allegiance battles birth_date rank image article_title name
gen. thomas maley harris , m.d. 1861 - 1866 physician , state legislator , author union army 10th west virginia volunteer infantry regiment harrisville , west virginia 30 september 1906 wood county , -lrb- west -rrb- virginia united states of america union american civil war 17 june 1817 brigadier general brevet major general thomasmharris.jpg thomas maley harris
 thomas maley harris
thomas maley harris

thomas maley harris -lrb- 1817 -- 1906 -rrb- was a physician and union general during the civil war .
born and raised in harrisville , virginia -lrb- now part of west virginia -rrb- , harris originally set out to be a teacher , but changed career paths to study medicine .
he received his medical degree from louisville medical college in 1843 and returned to virginia to practice medicine until 1861 , when he closed his practice when the civil war began .
during the war , harris commanded the 10th west virginia volunteer infantry regiment in the shenandoah valley , then a brigade and division during philip sheridan 's valley campaigns of 1864 .
he was brevetted to brigadier general for service at the battle of cedar creek on october 19 , 1864 .
he was transferred to the army of the james and took command of a division of reinforcements from the department of west virginia attached to the xxiv corps .
he received a full promotion to brigadier general in march 1865 and a brevet promotion to major general for service at the battle of fort gregg on april 2 , 1865 .
his troops were among those directly responsible for cutting off robert e. lee 's line of retreat at appomattox courthouse .
following the confederate surrender at appomattox , harris served on the military commission which tried the lincoln conspirators .
following the trial general harris authored two books about the trial evidences and proceedings : `` assassination of lincoln : a history of the great conspiracy , trial of the conspirators by a military commission , and a review of the trial of john h. surratt '' , 1892 ; and later : `` rome 's responsibility for the assassination of abraham lincoln '' , 1897 .
after the war , harris elected to the west virginia legislature and was appointed an adjunct general in the state militia and the u.s. pension agent for wheeling , west virginia .
he resumed his medical practice until his retirement in 1885 .
