[446] to the control of the Tredegar iron works, and at Mechanicsville he was ordered to open the battle. Although wounded in the first combat of the Seven Days he remained in the saddle and fought through the entire series of battles. He was in every battle fought by Lee in Virginia, and only missed that of Sharpsburg, Md., by reason of being detached at Harper's Ferry to receive the parole of the nearly 12,000 prisoners captured. The Count of Paris, in his history of our civil war, states that in one of the battles, when the front line of the Confederates had been broken by the Federal forces, General Thomas struck their advancing column in such a way as to turn their expected victory into defeat. After the conclusion of the war he lived a retired life on his plantation until 1885, when President Cleveland appointed him to an important office in the land department, and in 1893 to a still more important one in the Indian department, which position he held at the time of his death, March 10, 1898. His private life was pure, that of a true Christian gentleman. It is said to his honor that in all the exciting scenes through which he passed, no profane expression ever soiled his lips.
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[446] to the control of the Tredegar iron works, and at Mechanicsville he was ordered to open the battle. Although wounded in the first combat of the Seven Days he remained in the saddle and fought through the entire series of battles. He was in every battle fought by Lee in Virginia, and only missed that of Sharpsburg, Md., by reason of being detached at Harper's Ferry to receive the parole of the nearly 12,000 prisoners captured. The Count of Paris, in his history of our civil war, states that in one of the battles, when the front line of the Confederates had been broken by the Federal forces, General Thomas struck their advancing column in such a way as to turn their expected victory into defeat. After the conclusion of the war he lived a retired life on his plantation until 1885, when President Cleveland appointed him to an important office in the land department, and in 1893 to a still more important one in the Indian department, which position he held at the time of his death, March 10, 1898. His private life was pure, that of a true Christian gentleman. It is said to his honor that in all the exciting scenes through which he passed, no profane expression ever soiled his lips.
Atlanta, Ga. 1899.
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