in command of the Department and Army of the Cumberland, October 19, 1863, being engaged in opening his communications

(Brigadier General U. S. Army, October 27, 1863)

by the Tennessee river and Lookout valley, October 24-27, 1863; battle of Mission Ridge, November 23-25, 1863; pursuit of the enemy and combat at Ringgold, Ga., November 26, 1863; and reorganizing his army, December 1, 1863, to May 2, 1864; in the invasion of Georgia, May 2 to September 7, 1864; in command of the Army of the Cumberland, composed of the Fourth, Fourteenth, and Twentieth Army Corps, and three cavalry divisions, being engaged in operations around Dalton, May 7-13, 1864; demonstrations against Resaca, May 13, till occupied, May 16, 1864; pursuit of the enemy, with constant skirmishing, to Cassville, May 17-19, 1864; occupation of Rome by DAVIS' division of the Fourteenth Army Corps, May 18, 1864; action of Cassville, May 19, 1864; battle of Dallas, May 25-28, 1864; movement against Pine Mountain, with almost daily severe engagements, May 28 to June 20, 1864; battles of Kenesaw Mountain, June 20 to July 2, 1864; assault on Ruff's Station, July 4, 1864; passage of the Chattahoochie river, July 12-17, 1864; combat of Peach Tree creek, July 19-21, 1864; siege of Atlanta, July 22 to September 2, 1864; assault of the enemy's intrenchments at Jonesboro, September 1, 1864; surrender of Atlanta, September 2, 1864, and occupation of the place, September 8-27, 1864; in organizing, October to December, 1864, at Nashville, Tenn., in obedience to MAJOR GENERAL SHERMAN'S instructions of September 27, 1864, the defense of Tennessee against the rebel invasion under GENERAL HOOD, by concentrating his scattered forces behind Duck river, which, being turned, November 29, 1864, after five days' constant skirmishing, fell back to Harpeth river, where they were desperately engaged at the battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864, and finally took position, with other reinforcements, before Nashville, where the rebel army was utterly routed

(Major General U. S. Army, December 15, 1864)

in the battle of December 15, 16, 1864, and driven beyond the

Tennessee river, with immense loss of men and material; in organizing various raiding expeditions, and sending troops to other departments, December, 1864, to May, 1865, which materially contributed to the overthrow of the rebellion;* and in command, June 27, 1865, to August 13, 1866, headquarters at Nashville, Tenn., of the Military Division of the Tennessee, embracing the Departments of Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi; of the Department of the Tennessee, August 13, 1866, to March 11, 1867, headquarters at Nashville, Tenn., till November 1, 1866, and at Louisville, Ky., till March 11, 1867, when he was assigned to the command of the Third Military District. (Georgia, Florida, and Alabama), from which he was relieved, at his own request, March 15, 1867; and of the Department of the Cumberland, March 16, 1867, to May 15, 1869; and as member of the board for recommendations for brevets to general officers, March 14-24, 1866; President of a Court of Inquiry, at Washing

*The Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, resolved, March 3, 1865:

"That the thanks of Congress are due, and are hereby tendered, to MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS, and the officers and soldiers under his command, for their skill and dauntless courage, by which the rebel army under GENERAL HOOD was signally defeated and driven from the State of Tennessee."

The General Assembly of the State of Tennessee resolved, November 2, 1865:

"That the thanks of the General Assembly, in their own name and in the name of the people of the State of Tennessee, be presented to MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS, and the officers and soldiers under his command, for his wise and spirited, and their brave and patriotic conduct, in the battle of Nashville, in defense of the capital of the State, in December, 1864, and that a gold medal be struck in commemoration of the great and decisive event, and be presented to him."

This magnificent gold medal, having GENERAL THOMAS' bust on the obverse, and on the reverse the State Capitol, with the motto, "I will hold the town till we starve," was presented to him, with imposing ceremonies, on the second anniversary of the battle, at Nashville, Tenn.

ton, D. C., in the case of BRIGADIER and BREVET MAJOR GENERAL A. B. DYER, Chief of Ordnance, from November 9, 1868, to May 15, 1869; en route and in command of the Military Division of the Pacific, from May 15, 1869, to March 28, 1870, the date of his death.

The above is taken from the records of this office.
E. D. TOWNSEND,

It has become the painful duty of the General to announce to the Army the death of one of our most exalted generals, GEORGE H. THOMAS, who expired last evening, at half-past seven, in San Francisco, California.

There is no need to turn to the archives to search for his history, for it is recorded in almost every page during the past ten years; but his classmate and comrade owes him a personal tribute, in which he knows every member of the Army shares. GENERAL THOMAS entered the Military Academy in the class of 1836; graduated in 1840, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Third Artillery, and sent to Florida. He served with his regiment continuously until December 24, 1853, when he became a Captain, having been particularly distinguished at Monterey and Buena Vista, Mexico. On the 12th of May, 1855, he was appointed to the Second Cavalry as Major, and served with that regiment continuously until he became its Colonel on the 3d of May, 1861. The great civil war found him at his post, true and firm, amidst the terrible pressure he had encountered by reason of his birthplace-Virginia; and PRESIDENT LINCOLN commissioned him as a Brigadier

General of Volunteers, and sent him to Kentucky. There, too, his services were constant and eminent in the highest degree. He won the first battle in the West, at Mill Spring, Kentucky, and, from first to last, without a day's or an hour's intermission, he was at his post of duty, rising steadily and irresistibly through all the grades to the one he held as Major General of the Regular Army at the time of his death. At Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Atlanta, and Nashville, he fu!filled the proudest hopes of his ardent friends, and, at the close of the war, GENERAL George H. THOMAS stood in the very front rank of our war generals.

The General has known GENERAL THOMAS intimately since they sat as boys on the same bench, and the quality in him, which he holds up for the admiration and example of the young, is his complete and entire devotion to duty. Though sent to Florida, to Mexico, to Texas, to Arizona, when duty there was absolute banishment, he went cheerfully, and never asked a personal favor, exemption, or leave of absence. In battle he never wavered. Firm, and of full faith in his cause, he knew it would prevail, and he never sought advancement of rank or honor at the expense of any Whatever he earned of these were his own, and no one disputes his fame. The very impersonation of honesty, integrity, and honor, he will stand to us as the beau ideal of the soldier and gentleman.

one.

Though he leaves no child to bear his name, the Old Army of the Cumberland, numbered by tens of thousands, called him father, and will weep for him in tears of manly grief.

His wife, who cheered him with her messages of love in the darkest hours of war, will mourn him now in sadness, chastened by the sympathy of a whole country.

The last sad rites due him as a man and soldier will be paid at Troy, New York, on the arrival of his remains, and of his family, and all his old comrades who can be present are invited there to share in the obsequies.

At all military posts and stations the flag will be placed at

half staff, and fifteen minute-guns fired on the day after the receipt of this order; and the usual badges of mourning will be worn for thirty days.

BY COMMAND OF GENERAL SHERMAN:

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Adjutant General.

I.

JOINT RESOLUTION expressing the sympathy of Congress at the death of MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS.

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Senate and House of Representatives have heard with deep regret of the sudden decease of MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS, endeared to the country by a series of unbroken, patriotic services during a period of thirty years.

SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That his distinguished career in the defense of his country against foreign and domestic enemies, his never faltering faith and zeal in the maintenance of the Union and the integrity of the Government, and his stern execution of every trust confided to him, constitute a record in life made memorable in death.

SEC. 3. And be it further resolved, That the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House are hereby authorized to make such arrangements in connection with his obsequies as will attest the sympathy of Congress at this national bereavement.

Approved, April 5, 1870.