Banks, Nathaniel P., major-general, was born in Waltham, Mass. Jan. 30, 1816, received a common school education, and then learned the trade of a machinist in a cotton factory of which his father was superintendent.  He afterwards became editor of a local paper at Waltham, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and in 1849 was elected a member of the state legislature.  He was elected speaker of the Massachusetts legislature in 1851, re-elected in 1852, was chairman of the Massachusetts constitutional convention in 1853, and was in the same year elected to Congress as a coalition-democrat.  He was re-elected on the "Know-Knothing" ticket, elected speaker of the house of representative, after a spirited fight, on the 133rd ballot, and at the next election was chosen congressman on the republican ticket.  On Dec. 4, 1857, he resigned to become governor of Massachusetts, was re-elected governor in 1858 and 1859, and in 1860 accepted the presidency of the Illinois Central railroad, succeeding Gen. George B. McClellan in that capacity.  When the Civil war broke out in the following year, he resigned his position, was commissioned major-general of volunteers and assigned to the command of the 5th army corps in the Army of the Potomac, seeing his first active service along the upper Potomac and in the Shenandoah valley, in 1861-62.  On March 23, 1862, a part of his troops, under Gen. Shields, defeated Jackson at Winchester, and the next month at the head of two divisions, Gen. Banks was assigned to guard the Shenandoah.  When one of the divisions had been withdrawn, leaving only 8,000 men with Banks, the force was attacked by Gen. Jackson and defeated, but escaped capture.  Gen. Banks then joined Pope, who had command of the army of Virginia, and on August 9, was defeated at the battle of Cedar mountain.  He was then for a time in command of the defenses of Washington, and in Dec., 1862, commanded the expedition to New Orleans, where he succeeded Gen. B. F. Butler as commander of the Department of the Gulf.  In the spring of 1863 he commanded the expedition against Port Hudson, which finally, after several disastrous attempts to storm it had failed, surrendered on July 9, 1863, when the occupants learned that Vicksburg had fallen.  Early in 1864 Gen. Banks led the expedition up the Red River, his force strengthened by the addition of a powerful fleet, and at Sabine cross-roads met defeat at the hands of Gen. Richard Taylor.  On the next day the Confederates made an attack at Pleasant Hill, but were defeated, and the army withdrew to Alexandria.  There the skill of Gen. Joseph Bailey saved the fleet, and the whole expedition withdrew to the Mississippi. In May, 1864, Gen. Banks was relieved of his command, resigned his commission, and, returning to Massachusetts, was elected to Congress, where he served, with the exception of one term, until 1877, being for many years chairman of the committee on foreign relations.  In 1888 he was again elected to Congress, but, after 1890, suffered from a mental disorder and was forced to withdraw from public life.  In 1891 Congress voted him an annual pension of $1,2OO, and in 1894 he died.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Canby, Edward R. S., major-general, was born in Kentucky in 1817, received his early education there, and in 1839 was graduated at West Point, being commissioned 2nd lieutenant, 2nd infantry.  He served as quartermaster in the Florida war, assisted in escorting the Indians who emigrated to their new lands in Arkansas, and then served on garrison and recruiting duty until the outbreak of the Mexican war.  Entering the war with the rank of 1st lieutenant, he participated in the siege of Vera Cruz, in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras and Churubusco, and upon the assault upon the Belen gate of the City of Mexico, being rewarded for his services with the brevets of major and lieutenant-colonel.  After the close of the war he was employed in adjutant duty and on the frontier, and was from 1858 to 1860 in command of Fort Bridger, Utah.  At the opening of the Civil war he was in command of Fort Defiance, N. M., and at once become a most zealous and ardent supporter of the Union.  He became colonel of the 19th regiment, U. S. infantry, May, 1861, and, acting as brigadier-general of the forces in New Mexico, he repelled the Confederate Gen. Sibley, forcing him to retreat, "leaving behind him," as he observed in his report, "in dead and wounded, in sick and prisoners one-half of his original force."  He was promoted brigadier-general in March, 1862, was transferred to Washington, and had command of the United States troops during the draft riots in New York in July, At the opening of the campaign of 1864, Gen. Canby was given command of the military division of west Mississippi, and, while on a tour of inspection on White river, Ark., Nov. 4, 1864, was severely wounded by Confederate guerrillas.  In the following spring he led an army of thirty thousand men against Mobile, and captured the city April 12, 1865.  On learning that Lee had surrendered in Virginia, Gen. Richard Taylor, who commanded west of the Mississippi, surrendered to Gen. Canby, thus ending the war in the southwest.  Gen. Canby was given the brevet ranks of brigadier-general and major-general U. S. A., March 13, 1865, and continued to command the Department of the South until 1866, when he was given the full rank of brigadier-general in the regular army, and transferred to Washington.  He had charge of the military district with headquarters at Richmond, after the surrender, and organized Gen. Lee's disbanded cavalrymen for suppression of bushwhacking, with complete success.  Subsequently, from 1869 to 1873, he commanded the Department of the Columbia, and lost his life while trying to arrange peace with the Modoc Indians. He met Capt. Jack, the leader of the Modocs, on neutral ground for the purpose of discussing peace terms, on the morning of April 11, 1873, in Siskiyou county, Cal., and, at a signal planned before hand, the Indians attacked him and two fellow officers, killing all three.  Capt. Jack and two subordinates were afterwards captured and hanged for murder.  Gen. Canby bore a reputation for honesty, gallantry and unselfishness which few officers have enjoyed.  He was popular among almost all classes and was universally respected among his fellow-officers.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

James Isham Gilbert was born July 16, 1823, in Louisville, Kentucky, but was taken by his parents first to Illinois and then to Wisconsin, where he grew up and was educated in Prairie du Chien.  In the years before the war Gilbert engaged in the rafting of lumber down the Mississippi, Indian trading, general merchandising, real estate, and operating livery stables in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Lansing, Iowa, a town which he laid out and resided in from 1851 until 1862.  He entered the service as colonel of the 27th Iowa Infantry on October 3, 1862, and had no battle service until the spring of 1864, when the regiment was assigned to A. J. Smith's detachment of the XVI Corps during the Red River campaign.  Gilbert's gallant conduct throughout the campaign won him advancement to brigade command in June, 1864, and his distinguished services at the battle of Nashville in December resulted in his formal promotion to brigadier general on February 9, 1865.   Here and in the subsequent campaign against Mobile, Gilbert commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Division  of the Right Wing, XVI Corps.  He was brevetted major general for "faithful and meritorious services" in the Mobile campaign and was mustered out on August 24, 1865.  General Gilbert then established residence in Burlington, Iowa, where he resumed his 1851 partnership with his two brothers in the lumber business.  Although this was a successful venture, in 1877 he embarked on a series of "extensive mining transactions" in Colorado, which, according to his obituary, (144) "proved disastrous."  In the last eighteen months of his life he resided in Topeka, Kansas, where on February 9, 1884, he died of a heart attack.  General Gilbert was buried next to his wife in Aspen Grove Cemetery, Burlington.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sherman, William T., lieutenant-general, was born at Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio, Feb. 8, 1820.  Left an orphan at nine years of age, he was adopted by Thomas Ewing, later secretary of the interior, and attended school at Lancaster until 1836, when he was appointed a cadet at the West Point military academy.  Graduating in 1840, sixth in a class of forty-two, he was made a second lieutenant and assigned to duty in Florida where he was engaged from time to time in incursions against the hostile Seminole Indians.  On Nov. 30, 1841, he was promoted to first lieutenant, and until the outbreak of the Mexican war, was stationed at various posts in the South, including St. Augustine, and Forts Pierce, Morgan and Moultrie.  At one time he undertook the study of law, with no thought of making it his profession, but to be prepared "for any situation that fortune or luck might offer."  In 1846 he was stationed at Pittsburg, as recruiting officer, but shortly after, in consequence of repeated applications for active service, was sent to California, where, contrary to expectation, he was uneventfully engaged as acting assistant adjutant-general of the 1Oth military department under Gen. Stephen W. Kearny, and later under Col. R. B. Mason.  In 1850 he returned to the Atlantic states as bearer of despatches, and was stationed at St. Louis, Mo., as commissary of subsistence with the rank of captain.  In March, 1851, he received the commission of captain by brevet, to date from May 30, 1848.  On Sept. 6, 1853, he resigned from the army and became manager of the branch banking-house of Lucas, Turner & Co., at San Francisco, Cal.  In 1857 he returned to New York and, his firm having suspended, opened a law office in Leavenworth, Kan., with Hugh and Thomas E. Ewing, Jr.  In July, 1859, he was elected superintendent of the Louisiana military academy, with a salary of $5,000 per annum, the institution opening Jan. 1, 1860, but on the seizure of the arsenal at Baton Rouge in Jan., 1861, in anticipation of the secession of the state, he tendered his resignation.  Going to Washington, he endeavored in vain to impress upon the administration the gravity of the situation which he characterized as "sleeping upon a volcano," and the president's call for volunteers for three months as "an attempt to put out the flames of a burning house with a squirtgun."  For two months he was president of the 5th street railway of St. Louis, Mo., and on May 14, 1861, was made colonel of the 13th regiment of regular infantry, commanding a brigade in the division of Gen. Tyler in the battle of Bull Run, July 21.  On Aug. 3 he was promoted to brigadier-general of volunteers, to date from May 17, and on Oct. 7 relieved Maj.-Gen. Anderson in command of the Department of Kentucky.  On Nov. 12, however, he was in turn relieved by Gen. D. C. Buell, his estimate of the number of troops required in his department, "sixty thousand men to drive the enemy out of Kentucky and 200,000 to finish the war in this section," being considered so wildly extravagant as to give rise to doubts of his sanity.  It was, however, justified by later events.  During the remainder of the winter he was in command of the camp of instruction at Benton barracks, near St. Louis, and when Grant moved upon Donelson, was stationed at Paducah, where he rendered effective service in forwarding supplies and reinforcements.  Here, also, he organized the 5th division of the Army of the Tennessee from raw troops who had never been under fire, and with these he held the key point of Pittsburg landing and "saved the fortunes of the day" on April 6, and contributed to the glorious victory of the 7th, although severely wounded in the hand on the first day.  On the second, he had three horses shot under him, but mounting a fourth he remained on the field, and it was the testimony of Gen. Grant, in recommending his promotion, that "to his individual efforts I am indebted for the success of that battle." On May 1 he was commissioned major-general of volunteers and on July 1 was put in charge of the Department of Memphis, which he at once proceeded to organize, restoring the civil authorities, causing a revival of business, and sternly repressing guerrilla warfare.  In October he concerted with Gen. Grant at Columbus, Ky., the details of the ensuing campaign, in which Pemberton's force, 40,000 strong was dislodged from the line of the Tallahatchie and driven behind the Yalabusha in consequence of a combined movement by both generals from Jackson and Memphis, while 5,000 cavalry under Washburne threatened his communications in the rear.  Falling back to Milliken's bend, Sherman resigned his command to Gen. McClernand, but shortly afterward suggested and led the attack on Fort Hindman with its garrison of 5,000 men by which the control of Arkansas river was gained, the key to the military possession of the state, with the loss of but 134 killed and 898 wounded, while of the enemy, 150 were killed and 4,791 taken prisoners.  In the campaign of 1863 Sherman was in command of the expedition up Steele's bayou, abandoned on account of insuperable difficulties, though he dispersed troops sent to oppose the movement; and the demonstration against Haynes' bluff was also committed to him, though with some hesitation, by Gen. Grant, lest his reputation should suffer from report of another repulse.  In the Vicksburg campaign of 109 days Gen. Sherman entitled himself, in the words of Gen. Grant, "to more credit than usually falls to the lot of one man to earn." The drawn battle of Chickamauga and the critical condition of Rosecrans at Chattanooga called next loudly for the troops resting at Vicksburg, and on Sept. 22 Sherman received orders to forward his divisions, with the exception of one which remained to guard the line of the Big Black.  Meanwhile Gen. Grant, having been placed in command of the Division of the Mississippi, assigned the Department of the Tennessee to Sherman, who, on the receipt of telegraphic summons to "drop all work", and hurry eastward, pushed forward in advance of his men and reached Chattanooga on Nov. 15.  It was proposed that he initiate the offensive, which he proceeded to do upon the arrival of his troops, Nov. 23.  He pitched his tents along Missionary ridge and his sentinels were clearly visible, not a thousand yards away.  The battle of Missionary ridge being won, the relief of Burnside on the Hiawassee was next to be contemplated and with weary troops who two weeks before had left camp with but two days' provisions and "stripped for the fight," ill supplied now and amid the privations of winter, Sherman turned to raise the siege of Knoxville.  On Jan. 24, 1864, he returned to Memphis, and in preparation for the next campaign decided upon the "Meridian Raid." To the expedition of Gen. Banks up the Red river he next contributed 10,000 men for thirty days, but the force did not return to Vicksburg until more than two months had elapsed, too late to take part in the Atlanta campaign.  On March 14 Gen. Grant was appointed lieutenant-general to command all the armies of the United States in the field, and Sherman succeeded to the Division of the Mississippi.  On May 6 the movement toward Atlanta was started with the capture of the city as the desideratum, and such progress was made that on Aug. 12 the rank of major-general, U. S. A., was bestowed upon Gen. Sherman by the president, in anticipation of his success.  After indefinite skirmishing for a month, following the fall of Atlanta, and during which the gallant defense of Allatoona pass was made by Gen. Corse with 1,944 men against a whole division of the enemy, the famous "march to the sea" was resolved upon, not alone as a means of supporting the troops, but, in Sherman's own words, "as a direct attack upon the rebel army at the rebel capital at Richmond, though a full thousand miles of hostile country intervened," and from Nov. 14 until Dec. 1O he was accordingly buried in the enemy's country, severed from all communication in the rear, and crossed the three rivers of Georgia, passing through her capital in his triumphal progress of 300 miles, during which his loss was but 567 men.  On Dec. 25 he telegraphed to President Lincoln, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton," in reply to which he received the assurance that to him alone the honor of his undertaking was due, as acquiescence only had been accorded him, and anxiety, if not fear, had been felt for his success.  The surrender of Johnston was made at Durham station, N. C., on April 26, 1865, after a triumphal march of Sherman's army through the Carolinas, and on May 24, a year after it had started on its journey of 2,600 miles, the conquering host was reviewed at Washington, D. C.  On June 27 Gen. Sherman was placed in command of the military division of the Mississippi which included the departments of Ohio, Missouri and Arkansas, and on July 25, 1866, he succeeded Gen. Grant as lieutenant-general of the army.  On March 4, 1869, when Grant was inaugurated as president, Sherman became general of the army, and in 1871-72, on leave of absence, made a tour of Europe and the East.  On Feb. 8, 1884 he was retired from active service, and on Feb. 14, 1891, expired at New York, the day following the demise of his friend and comrade in arms, Adm. David D. Porter.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Smith, Andrew J., major-general, was born in the state of Pennsylvania and was a cadet at the  U. S. military academy from July 1, 1834 to July 1, 1838, when he was graduated and promoted in the army to second lieutenant in the 1st dragoons.  He served at Carlisle barracks, Pa., in the cavalry school for practice, 1838-39; on recruiting service, 1839-40; on frontier duty at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., 1840-46, and he was commissioned first lieutenant in the 1st dragoons on May 4, 1845.  He served in the war with Mexico, 1847-48, being commissioned captain in the 1st dragoons on Feb. 16, 1847, and was on frontier duty at San Francisco, Cal., 1848-49.  He was on recruiting service, 1849-53; stationed at Fort Lane, Ore., 1853-55; took part in the Oregon hostilities during the latter year, being engaged in the skirmish at Cow creek on Oct. 31, was in the Rogue River expedition in 1856, being engaged with hostile Indians in several skirmishes during March and June, and he was stationed at Fort Yamhill, Ore., 1856-57.  He was on the Oregon war claims commission, 1857-58 and on frontier duty at Fort Walla Walla, Wash 1858-59.  He was at Fort Vancouver, Wash., 1859-60, and was engaged against the Snake Indians in skirmishes near Harney lake on May 24 and near Owyhee river on June 23.  He was stationed at Fort Walla Walla, 1860-61, and was on the march to Nez Perce Agency in the latter year, being commissioned major in the 1st dragoons on May 13 and transferred to the 1st cavalry on Aug. 13.  He served during the Civil war, first as colonel of the 2nd Cal. cavalry to which position he was appointed on Oct. 2, 1861; was chief of cavalry, Department of the Missouri, from Feb. 11 to March 11, 1862 and of the Department of the Mississippi, March 11 to July 11, being engaged in the advance upon and siege of Corinth, April 15 to May 30, including several skirmishes.  He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, March 17, 1862; was in command of the troops in Covington, Ky., and vicinity, Sept. 9-Oct. 9; in command of a division in the movements through Kentucky, October-November; was stationed at Memphis, Tenn., Nov 28 to Dec. 21, and was on the expedition to the Yazoo river in December, being engaged in the assault of Chickasaw bluffs on Dec. 27-29.  He was in the expedition to Arkansas Post, which was carried by assault on Jan. 11, 1863; in the Vicksburg campaign from January to July, commanding a division in the 13th army corps, and was engaged in the advance to Grand Gulf, the battles of Port Gibson, Champion's hill, Big Black river, assaults on Vicksburg, May 19 and 22, the siege of the place, and the capture of Jackson, Miss., on July 16.  He was in command of the 6th division, 16th army corps, and District of Columbus, Ky., from Aug. 5, 1863, to Jan. 21, 1864; in command of the 3d division, 16th army corps, Jan. 24 to March 6, in the Department of the Tennessee; was in the Red River campaign, commanding detachments of the 16th and 17th army corps March 6 to May 22, and was engaged in the assault and capture of Fort De Russy, the battle of Pleasant Hill, the action at Cane river, and in covering the retreat of Gen. Banks' army, with almost daily heavy skirmishing.  He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 5h cavalry on May 9, major-general of volunteers on May 12, and was in command of the right wing of the 16th army corps in the operations in Mississippi and Tennessee from June to September, being engaged in the actions near Lake Village and Tupelo Miss., and on the expedition from Memphis to Holly Springs.  He was engaged in the operations in Missouri, covering St. Louis from a threatened attack by Gen. Price; in command of a detachment of the Army of the Tennessee in Maj.-Gen. Thomas, campaign against the Confederates under Gen. Hood, from Dec., 1864 to Jan., 1865, being engaged in the battle of Nashville and the pursuit of the enemy to Pulaski.  He was in the movement from Eastport, Miss., via Cairo, to New Orleans, Feb. 6-21, 1865, in command of the 16th army corps, Feb. 18-July 20, being brevetted brigadier-general U. S. A., on March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Tupelo, and the brevet title of major-general, U. S. A., was conferred upon him at the same time for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Nashville.  He was engaged in the Mobile campaign, taking part in the siege of Spanish Fort, but was in reserve during the storming of Blakely.  He was in the movement to and occupation of Montgomery, Ala., making detachments to various points in Alabama, was in command of the District of Montgomery, and later of the District of Western Louisiana, Oct. 27, 1865 to Jan. 15, 1866, when he was mustered out of the volunteer service.  He was on the board for the recommendation of officers for brevet promotions from March 1O to June 22, and he was commissioned colonel of the 7th cavalry on July 28, 1866.  He served in command of the District of Upper Kansas from Nov. 25, 1866 to Sept., 1867, and of the Department of Missouri from Sept. 14, 1867, to March 2, 1868, when he was given a leave of absence, and he resigned from the service on May 6, 1869.  He was appointed postmaster of St. Louis, Mo., on April 3, 1869, and he pursued vocations of civil life until Jan. 22, 1889, when he was recommissioned colonel of cavalry and placed upon the retired list.  Gen. Smith died on Jan. 30, 1897.
 
 
 

Thomas, George H., major-general, one of the ablest,  purest and most successful of the military chieftains of the  Civil war, was born in Southampton county, Va., July 31, 1816.   His early opportunities of education were good and at the age  of twenty he had just entered upon the study of law when his  friends secured him an appointment as cadet at the military  academy at West Point.  He entered in 1836 and, after a  thorough and solid rather than a brilliant course, he  graduated in 1840, ranking twelfth in a class of 42 members  among whom were Sherman, Ewell, Jordan, Getty, Herbert, Van Vliet and others who afterward attained celebrity.  Assigned  to duty on the day of graduation as second lieutenant in the  3d artillery, he served in the regular army for twenty years, during which time he rendered honorable and faithful service  in the Florida war from 1840 to 1842; in command of various  forts and barracks from 1842 to 1845; in the military occupation of Texas in 1845-46; in the Mexican war from 1846  to 1848 participating in nearly all its leading battles in the  Seminole war in 1849-50; as instructor in artillery and cavalry at West Point from 1851 to 1854; on frontier duty at various posts in the interior of California and Texas, leading  several expeditions against the Indians from 1855 to the  autumn of 1860.  During these twenty years he was repeatedly  brevetted for gallant and meritorious services, rising through  all the grades to a captain of artillery, and in 1855 was made  a major of the 2nd cavalry, which regiment he commanded for three years.  He was wounded in a skirmish with the Indians at  the headwaters of the Brazos river in Aug., 1860, and the following November went east on a leave of absence.  During  the winter of 1860-61 he watched with the most painful anxiety  the culmination of that conflict of opinion which preceded the war.  Relinquishing his leave of absence he reported for duty  at Carlisle barracks, Pa., April 14,- the day when the flag  went down at Sumter-and less than 48 hours after the first shot was fired.  On May 27 he led a brigade from Chambersburg  across Maryland to Williamsport, rode across the Potomac in full uniform at the head of his brigade on June 16, to invade Virginia and fight his old commanders; a few days afterward he led the right wing of Gen. Patterson's army in the battle of Falling Waters and defeated the Confederates under Stonewall  Jackson.  After serving through the brief campaign of the  Shenandoah Gen. Thomas entered upon that wider sphere of action in which he was destined to win an undying reputation.   At Gen. Robert Anderson's request Sherman and Thomas were made brigadier-generals of volunteers and assigned to his command- the Department of the Cumberland.  The first month's work that Thomas performed in the department was at Camp Dick Robinson,  Ky. where he mustered into service eleven regiments and three  batteries of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee troops,  which he organized into the first brigade, and which formed  the nucleus of the division, then of the corps and finally of the great army which he afterward so long commanded.  He was  soon placed in command of the 1st division of the army and on Dec. 31 was ordered to move against Zollicoffer, who commanded a large force occupying the road leading from Cumberland gap  to Lexington, Ky.  In pursuance of this order Gen. Thomas  fought and won the battle of Mill Springs, which was by far  the most important military success that had yet been achieved  west of Virginia, and with the exception of the defeat of  Marshall near Prestonburg a few days before, it was the first  victory in the department.  In this battle Gen. Thomas laid  the foundation of his fame in the Army of the Center.  From  Nov. 30, 1861, to Sept. 30, 1862, he commanded a division of Gen. Buell's army without intermission, except that during the months of May and June he commanded the right wing of the Army  of the Tennessee and around Corinth.  On Sept. 30, 1862, he  was appointed second in command of the Army of the Ohio,  having previously refused the chief command, and served in  that capacity in the battle of Perryville and until  Oct. 30, 1862, when the old name of Department the Cumberland was restored and Gen. Rosecrans assumed command.  That officer  reorganized the army into three distinct commands-right, left  and center-and assigned Thomas to the center, which consisted  of five divisions.  He held this command in the battle of  Stone's river and until Jan. 9, 1863, when the 14th army corps was created by order of the war department, and Thomas commanded it during the summer campaign in middle Tennessee and the Chickamauga campaign.  On Sept. 27, 1864, after the  capture of Atlanta, he was ordered by Gen. Sherman to return  with a portion of his army into Tennessee and defend that state against Hood's invasion.  Thus Thomas was confronted by  that veteran army which had so ably resisted Sherman on his  march to Atlanta, and had to meet it with an effective force of about 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry, having to remount  the latter, provide transportation, and almost to organize and  supply a new army.  Although severely checked by Schofield at  Franklin, Tenn., Hood gathered head and threatened Nashville.   Then the government and country waited impatiently for Thomas to attack, but be would not move until he was ready.  He  thought he "ought to be trusted to decide when the battle  should be fought," and to know better than any one hundreds of miles away.  Grant called him "slow," Sherman commented on his  "provoking, obstinate delay," and Stanton, still actuated by  the partisan bitterness that had caused him to secure the removal of two successful commanders, wrote to Grant: "This looks like the McClellan and Rosecrans strategy of do nothing  and let the enemy raid the country." Urgent despatches and orders rained in upon him, but he said they might remove him  if they liked and complained to one of his generals, "They are  treating me like a boy." An order removing him was actually  made on Dec. 9, but happily revoked.  On Dec. 13 Gen. Logan  was started for Nashville with orders to take the command on  his arrival if Thomas had not moved, and two days later Grant himself set out thither.  On the road both received the great  news of the battle of Dec. 15.  Thomas had at length attacked,  driving the enemy eight miles, and Hood, "for the first and only time, beheld a Confederate army abandon the field in  confusion."  On the next day Thomas completely redeemed his  promise to "ruin Hood," whose army was broken to pieces and  chased out of Tennessee.  But even here the victor was blamed as dilatory in the pursuit, although the reward of his splendid services could no longer be kept back.  When he received his commission as major-general in the regular army  his friend and medical director, seeing that he was deeply  moved, said: "It is better late than never, Thomas." "It is too late to be appreciated," he replied; "I earned this at  Chickamauga," and afterward, "I never received a promotion they dared to withhold."  But the nation was by this time  ready to recognize Gen. Thomas' merits and to understand that it was solely by his remarkable abilities, without the  influence of powerful friends, that he had attained a position second to that of no officer of the army.  Honors and rewards were pressed upon him, but with a simple dignity of character he declined them all, satisfied with having done his duty.   After the war he was placed in command successively of the  most important and difficult military departments, often under  circumstances of great responsibility and delicacy, but his conduct gave general satisfaction.  Gen. Thomas' death was the  result of apoplexy and occurred in San Francisco, Cal., March  28, 1870.
 
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