Esmeralda (libretto by T. Marzials and A. Randegger), which was produced at Drury Lane on the 26th of March 1883. Two years later it was given (in German) at Cologne and Hamburg, and in 1890 (in French) at Covent Garden. On the 16th of April 1885 Rosa produced at Drury Lane Thomas’s fourth and best opera, Nadeshda (libretto by Julian Sturgis), a German version of which was given at Breslau in 1890. A fifth opera, The Golden Web (libretto by F. Corder and B. C. Stephenson), slighter than its predecessors, was produced (after the composer’s death) at Liverpool, Feb. 15, and at the Lyric Theatre, London, Mar. 11, 1893. Besides these dramatic works Thomas’s chief compositions were a psalm, “Out of the Deep,” for soprano solo and chorus (London, 1878); a choral ode, "The Sun Worshippers" (Norwich, 1881), and a suite de ballet for orchestra (Cambridge, 1887). A cantata, The Swan and the Skylark, was found in pianoforte score among his MSS. after his death: it was orchestrated by C. Villiers Stanford, and produced at the Birmingham Festival of 1894. His minor compositions include over 100 songs and duets. In 1891 Thomas became engaged to be married; shortly afterwards he showed signs of mental disease, and his career came to a tragic end on the 20th of March 1892. He was buried in Finchley cemetery. Goring Thomas occupies a distinct place among English composers of the 19th century. His music, which shows traces of his early French training, reveals a great talent for dramatic composition and a real gift of refined and beautiful melody. Personally the most amiable of men, he was most critical of his own work, never attempting anything for which he felt he was unfitted, and constantly revising and rewriting his compositions. (W. B. S.*)
THOMAS, CHARLES LOUIS AMBROISE (1811–1896), French musical composer, was born at Metz on the 5th of August 1811. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, and won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1832. Five years later (in 1837) his first opera, La Double échelle, was produced at the Opéra Comique. For the next five-and-twenty years Thomas’s productivity was incessant, and most of his operatic works belonging to this period enjoyed an ephemeral popularity. A few of these are still occasionally heard on the continent, such as Le Caïd (1849), Le Songe d'une nuit d'été (1850), Psyché (1857). The overture to Raymond (1851) has remained popular. So far the composer’s operatic career had not been marked by any overwhelming success. He occupied a place among the recognized purveyors of operas in the French capital, but could scarcely claim to having achieved European renown. The production of Mignon at the Opéra Comique in 1866, however, at once raised Ambroise Thomas to the position of one of the foremost French composers. Goethe’s touching tale had very happily inspired the musician; Mme Galli Marié, the original interpreter of the title-rôle, had modelled her conception of the part upon the well-known picture by Ary Scheffer, and Mignon at once took the fancy of the public, its success being repeated all over the continent. It has since remained one of the most popular operas belonging to the second half of the 19th century. Thomas now attempted to turn Shakespeare’s Hamlet to operatic account. His opera of that name was produced with success at the Paris Opéra in 1868, where it enjoyed a long vogue. If the music is scarcely adequate to the subject, it nevertheless contains some of the composer’s best work. The scene of the esplanade is genuinely dramatic, the part of Ophelia is poetically conceived, and the ballet music is very brilliant. Ambroise Thomas’s last opera, Françoise de Rimini, was given at the Opera in 1882, but has not maintained itself in the répertoire. Seven years later La Tempête, a ballet founded on Shakespeare’s play, was produced at the same theatre. Ambroise Thomas succeeded Auber as director of the Paris Conservatoire in 1871. His music is often distinguished by refined touches which reveal a sensitive mind, and there is a distinct element of poetry in his Mignon and Hamlet, two operas that should suffice to keep the composer’s memory green for some time to come. He died on the 12th of February 1896. (A. He)
THOMAS, GEORGE (c. 1756-1802), British military adventurer in India. Thomas was born of poor parentage in Ireland in 1756, deserted from the British Navy in Madras, and made his way north to Delhi, where he took service under the begum Samru of Sardhana. Supplanted in her favour by a Frenchman, he transferred his allegiance to Appa Rao, a Mahratta chieftain, and subsequently set up an independent kingdom of his own in Hariana with his capital at Hansi. Thomas was a man of great personal strength and daring, and considerable military genius. In the turmoil of falling kingdoms in the India of that day his sword was always at the service of the highest bidder; but he had the virtues of his profession—he never betrayed an employer, was kind and generous to his soldiers, and was always ready to succour a woman in distress. He cherished dreams of conquering the Punjab, and fought one of his best campaigns against the Sikh chiefs; but he was finally defeated and captured by Sindhia’s army under General Perron (q.v.). His iron constitution was broken by exposure and excessive drinking, and he died on his way down the Ganges on the 22nd of August 1802.
See Francklin, Military Memoirs of Mr George Thomas (1803); Compton, Military Adventurers of Hindustan (1892).
THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY (1816–1870), American general, was born in Southampton county, Virginia, on the 31st of July 1816. Graduating from West Point in 1840, he served as an artillery subaltern in the war against the Seminole Indians in Florida (1841), and in the Mexican War at the battles of Fort Brown, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista, receiving three brevets for distinguished gallantry in action. From 1851 to 1854 he was an instructor at West Point. In 1855 he was appointed by Jefferson Davis, then secretary of war, a major of the 2nd Cavalry. His regimental superiors were A. S. Johnston, R. E. Lee and Hardee. All three resigned at the outbreak of the Civil War and Thomas was long in doubt as to his duty. He finally decided to adhere to the United States. He was promoted in rapid succession to be lieutenant-colonel and colonel in the regular army, and brigadier-general of volunteers. In command of an independent force in eastern Kentucky, on the 19th of January 1862, he attacked the Confederate General Zollicoffer at Mill Springs, and completely routed him, gaining by vigorous attack and relentless pursuit the first important Union victory in the West. He served under Buell and was offered, but refused, the chief command in the anxious days before the battle of Perryville. Under Rosecrans he was engaged at Stone River and was in charge of the most important part of the manœuvring from Decherd to Chattanooga. At the battle of Chickamauga (q.v.) on the 19th of September 1863 he achieved great distinction, his firmness on that disastrous field, where he gained the name of “The Rock of Chickamauga,” being all that saved a terrible defeat from becoming a hopeless rout. He succeeded Rosecrans in command of the Army of the Cumberland shortly before the great victory of Chattanooga (q.v.), in which Thomas and his army played a most conspicuous part, his divisions under Sheridan, Wood and Baird carrying Missionary Ridge in superb style. In Sherman’s advance through Georgia in the spring of 1864, the Army of the Cumberland numbered over 60,000 men present for duty. Thomas handled these with great skill in all the engagements and flanking movements from Chattanooga to Atlanta. When J. B. Hood broke away from Atlanta in the autumn of 1864, menaced Sherman’s long line of communications and endeavoured to force Sherman to follow him, Sherman determined to abandon his communications and march to the sea, leaving to Thomas the difficult task of dealing with Hood. Thomas hastened back with a comparatively small force, racing with Hood to reach Nashville, where he was to receive reinforcements. At the battle of Franklin on the 30th of November 1864, a large part of Thomas’s force, under command of Schofield, checked Hood long enough to cover the concentration at Nashville (q.v.). Here Thomas had to organize his force, which was drawn from all parts of the West and included many young troops and even quartermaster’s employés. He declined to attack until his army was ready and the ice which covered the ground had melted sufficiently to enable his men
