Bibliography – George H. Thomas

Bibliography

Thomas Bibliography

Author	Title	City	Publisher	Year	Comment
Wills, Brian S.	George Henry Thomas As True as Steel	Lawrence	University Press of Kansas	2012	Although often counted among the Union’s top five generals, George Henry Thomas has still not received his due. A Virginian who sided with the North in the Civil War, he was a more complicated commander than traditional views have allowed. Brian Wills now provides a new and more complete look at the life of a man known to history as “The Rock of Chickamauga,” to his troops as “Old Pap,” and to General William T. Sherman as a soldier who was “as true as steel.” -from Amazon website
Bobrick, Benson	Master of War	New York	Simon & Schuster	2009	The tide may be slowly turning. I had predicted to some Civil War friends that perhaps by the Civil War bicentennial (2061), when renewed interest in the war might tempt a "name biographer" to take up the cause of General Thomas, that the true story of the war may come out. It may be happening 50 years sooner than I thought. Highly recommended. See review by publisher. I agree with most of it. Go to Book Review.
Einolf, Christopher J.	George Thomas Virginian for the Union	Norman	University of Oklahoma Press	2007	A very good book on George Thomas. Highly recommended. Go to Book Review. See press release
McKinney, Francis F.	Education in Violence, The Life of George H. Thomas and The History of The Army of the Cumberland	Detroit	Wayne State University Press	1961	Best biography of George Thomas. Highly recommended. Reprint available. The title comes from author's view that Thomas was especially open to learning the art of leading a large army. He trained himself well in not only the combat arms like the cavalry and artillery, but in all the disciplines like logistics and topography.
Cleaves, Freeman	The Rock of Chickamauga, The Life of General George H. Thomas	Norman	University of Oklahoma Press	1948	Very good. Paperback reprint widely available. Recommended.
Buell, Thomas B.	The Warrior Generals, Combat Leadership in the Civil War	New York	Crown Publishers	1997	Noted naval historian leaves the sea and looks at the Civil War with fresh eyes and concludes that George Thomas was the best general of the war - North or South. Recommended.
Castel, Albert	Decision in the West, The Atlanta Campaign of 1864	Lawrence	University Press of Kansas	1992	Another excellent example of a modern historian looking at the war without the undo influence of the Grant/Sherman memoirs and determining for himself that Thomas was the best general of the key participants (Sherman, Thomas, Johnston, Hood). Recommended.
Coppée, Henry	General Thomas	New York	D. Appleton and Company	1893	Fair effort but too much 'political correctness' in excusing Grant's treatment of Gen. Thomas. Not recommended. Out of print
Johnson, Richard W.	Memoir of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas	Philadelphia	J. B. Lippincott	1881	Written by a former General under Thomas. First bio of Thomas ever published. Minimum battle history. Provides details of funeral and Thomas statue. Not recommended. Out of print
O’Connor, Richard	Thomas: Rock of Chickamauga	New York	Prentice - Hall	1948	A well written balanced account of the life of Thomas that captures his human qualities better than the other biographies. Recommended. Out of print
Palumbo, Frank A.	George Henry Thomas, The Dependable General	Dayton	Morningside Books	1983	No new research but it has extensive documentation from the Official Records and many photos of Thomas memorabilia/ relics from the author’s and other collections.
Piatt, Donn	Memories of the Men Who Saved the Union	New York and Chicago	Belford, Clarke & Co	1887	Essays on five Civil War figures who Piatt credits as key to winning the war (Thomas is the only soldier on the list). Apparently Piatt did not think much of the generalship of U.S. Grant. But not to worry about Grant. He had plenty of 'boot licking' biographers in the 1880's who were quite willing to whitewash his unprofessional treatment of Thomas. Out of print
Piatt, Donn	General George H. Thomas, A Critical Biography	Cincinnati	Robert Clarke & Co	1893	A book with an interesting "What if Thomas had been placed in top command..." viewpoint. Piatt is very critical of both Grant and Sherman and shows where their decisions unnecessarily cost too many Union lives. He contrasts their approach with Thomas' approach of conserving his men using superior battle tactics rather than relying on superior manpower and the ability to suffer attrition better than the South. Recommended. Out of print
Thomas, Wilbur	General George H. Thomas, The Indomitable Warrior	New York	Exposition Press	1964	Passionate advocate for George Thomas' place in American military history. Recommended. Out of print
Van Horne, Thomas B.	The Life of Major General George H. Thomas	New York	Charles Scribner’s Sons	1882	Van Horne tries to counter the misinformation spread by backers of the Grant & Sherman legend, but gets carried away and turns Thomas into a martyred saint. It causes Van Horne to lose credibility with later historians. He should have stopped after proving Thomas to be a great soldier. However good information in this book. Out of print
Van Horne, Thomas B.	History of the Army of the Cumberland	Cincinnati	Robert Clarke & Co	1875	Written by a friend of Thomas who had access to his documents. Intentionally understated as requested by Thomas and thus rather dry but very definitive. High quality reprint of this classic work in two volumes is available from Broadfoot Publishing, Wilmington, NC. Recommended.
Cist, Henry M.	The Army of the Cumberland	New York	Charles Scribner's Sons	1882	Excellent short study on the Army of the Cumberland. Part of Scribners 'Campaigns of the Civil War' series. Recommended. Out of print
Horn, Stanley F.	The Decisive Battle of Nashville	Baton Rouge	Louisiana State University Press	1956	Although respect is given only begrudgingly to General Thomas by this 'Lost Cause' author, this book develops and supports the theory that Nashville was the decisive battle of the Civil War.
Baumgartner and Strayer	Echoes of Battle - The Struggle for Chattanooga	Huntington, W. VA	Blue Acorn Press	1996	Unique blend of 465 photographs and hundreds of first hand accounts of the Tullahoma, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga campaigns. A work showing outstanding research with credit provided for all sources including photographs. Extensive bibliography. Recommended.
Varney, Frank P.	General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War	El Dorado Hills, CA	Savas Beatie	2013	The author takes General Grant to task with his analysis of the whole truth versus what's in Grant's memoirs about General William Rosecrans. Grant basically destroyed Rosecrans' reputation in history with outright falsehoods. Grant's lies about General Thomas are promised to be in the next volume of this book. Recommended.