Major General George H. Thomas was a very private person. One of the few Civil War commanders not to write his memoirs, he also ordered his wife to burn his correspondence and private papers upon his death.

This hasn’t stopped historians from reconstructing his life. Thomas was one of the Union’s finest generals and showed great intelligence and courage throughout his military service. With this book, author Jack M. Zackin sheds light on Thomas’s story, creating a historically detailed work, structured as a personal memoir, to honor the life and times of this great man.

Growing up in southeast Virginia, Thomas witnessed some of the biggest moments in American history. After his family was forced to flee when Nat Turner’s slave rebellion devastated the countryside, Thomas went on to graduate from West Point and participate in the Second Seminole War, where he battled his adversaries in the dark Florida swamps. As commander of an artillery battery during the Mexican-American War, he saved Zachary Taylor’s army from Santa Anna’s Mexican military.

Zackin deftly shows how these experiences influenced Thomas’s personal beliefs, his politics, and his military strategies. During the Civil War Thomas’s bold actions were brilliant, explosive, and unforgettable.