that were raised by Lord Baltimore to the jurisdiction over the lower counties of the province, and did not assume the governorship till 1738. The territorial dispute with Maryland was provisionally arranged by each governor's assuming jurisdiction over the people from his own province who were settled in the debatable district until the boundary-line should be drawn. At first he was unpopular in consequence of his arbitrary administration, especially when he attempted to use his authority to organize the militia at the beginning of the Spanish war, although the legislature had refused to vote supplies for the purpose. He roused the intense opposition of the Quakers by refusing to sign bills, but afterward he adopted a conciliatory policy, and in the end became very popular, and his resignation of the office in 1747 was received with general regret. From 1752 till 1766 he was captain-general and governor-in-chief of the Leeward and Caribbee islands. He was created a baronet, 6 Sept., 1766.
THOMAS, George Henry, soldier, b. in Southampton
county, Va., 31 July, 1816; d. in San Francisco,
Cal., 28 March, 1870. He was descended,
on his father's side, from Welsh ancestry, and, on
his mother's, from a French Huguenot family.
Not much is known of his youth. He was early
distinguished for the thoroughness with which
he mastered everything he undertook. His home
life was pleasant and genial, and he was carefully
educated in the best schools and academies of the
region. At the age of nineteen he began the study
of law, but the next year he received an appointment
as cadet at the U. S. military academy. At
the academy he rose steadily in rank, from 26th
at the end of the first year to 12th at graduation.
He was nicknamed, after the fashion of the place,
“George Washington,” from a fancied resemblance
in appearance and character to the great patriot.
He was graduated and commissioned 2d
lieutenant in the 3d artillery, 1 July, 1840, and
entered upon duty at New York, but was soon sent
to Florida to take part in the Indian war, where,
in 1841, he gained a brevet for gallantry. After a
short stay at various posts on the south Atlantic
coast, he was, in the autumn of 1845, sent to
Texas. When the Mexican war began, he
accompanied the column under Gen. Zachary Taylor,
distinguishing himself at Monterey, where he was
brevetted captain, and at Buena Vista, 22 and 23
Feb., 1847, bore a more decisive part. The success
of that battle was largely due to the artillery.
“Without it,” says Gen. John E. Wool in his
report, “we would not have maintained our position
a single hour.” Capt. Thomas W. Sherman said:
“Lieut. Thomas more than sustained the reputation
he has long enjoyed as an accurate and scientific
artillerist.” He was again brevetted for gallantry,
thus earning three brevets in a little more than six
years after entering the service. The citizens of
his native county in the following July presented
him with a superb sword. He remained on duty in
Mexico and Texas till 1849, and was again sent to
Florida. In 1851 he was detailed as instructor of
artillery and cavalry at the military academy, where
he remained until 1 May, 1854. Soon afterward
two cavalry regiments were added to the army,
and of one of them, the 2d, brevet Maj. Thomas
was, on 12 May, 1855, appointed junior major. In
the composition of this new regiment unusual
care was taken in the selection of officers. Jefferson
Davis was secretary of war, and the choice was
dictated not merely by ability but also by locality.
Of the fifty-one officers that served in it prior to
the beginning of the civil war, thirty-one were
from the south, and of these twenty-four entered
the Confederate service, twelve of whom became
general officers. Among these were Albert Sidney
Johnston, Robert E. Lee, William J. Hardee,
Earl Van Dorn, E. Kirby Smith, John B. Hood,
and Fitzhugh Lee.
In the seclusion of garrison life in Texas during the exciting period from 1855 to 1861, Major Thomas watched with increasing apprehension the gradual approach of the inevitable conflict. In affection for and pride in his native state he was a Virginian of the Virginians; but he never for a moment doubted where his duty lay. Early in November, 1860, he left Texas on a long leave of absence. Before its expiration he was ordered, 11 April, 1861, to take charge of his regiment, which had been treacherously surrendered in Texas, and was now arriving in New York. He obeyed the order with alacrity and conducted the regiment to Carlisle, Pa., barracks. On his way there, he heard of the assault on Fort Sumter, and on reaching the place he renewed his oath of allegiance to the United States. On the 17th the Virginia convention adopted the ordinance of secession, and Robert E. Lee, colonel of his regiment, tendered his resignation on the 20th. Hardee, Van Dorn, Kirby Smith, and Hood had already resigned. Thomas, unmoved, continued with ardor the preparations necessary to sustain the cause of his country. At the head of a brigade he soon crossed the Potomac into Virginia, where, on 2 July, he met and put to flight an insurgent militia force of his own state, under command of Col. Thomas J. Jackson, drawn up to resist his movements. From that day till the end of the war he did not have or seek a single hour's respite from exacting labors in the field. He led the advance of Patterson's column toward Winchester prior to the battle of Bull Run, and at the close of that campaign he was appointed, 17 Aug., 1861, brigadier-general of volunteers, and assigned to duty in the Department of the Cumberland, which included Kentucky and Tennessee. He found the whole of Kentucky in a turmoil, when, on 10 Sept., he entered upon his work at Camp Dick Robinson, 100 miles south of Cincinnati. The Confederate army had occupied Columbus in spite of the formal protest of legislature and governor, and Thomas was menaced with personal violence. The camp was swarming with unorganized Kentucky regiments and crowds of refugees from east Tennessee, eager to be armed and led back to drive the enemy from their homes. For the first few months Gen. Thomas was fully occupied in instructing the raw recruits. It required infinite patience to work over these independent backwoodsmen into any semblance to soldiers. Little by little the task was accomplished, and the troops so organized became the first brigade of the Army of the Cumberland.
Gen. Robert Anderson was soon relieved from duty on account of failing health, and, after a short interregnum, Gen. Don Carlos Buell was placed in command of the department. Under his orders, Gen. Thomas continued his preparations for a movement in east Tennessee. Early in January, 1862, he placed the head of his column at Somerset, fifty miles south of Camp Dick Robinson, and on the night of the 18th encamped at Logan's Cross-Roads, ten miles from the enemy's position, with seven regiments of infantry, one squadron of cavalry, and two batteries. At early dawn the next morning he was attacked by a force consisting of nine regiments of infantry, two squadrons and two companies of cavalry, and two batteries. After a stout resistance Gen. Thomas suc-
