THOMPSON. 



679 



attempting directly to impede Sherman's advance, 

 thought to draw him hack from the South by himself 

 making a demonstration against the North. Moving, 

 therefore, from before Sheridan westward, he turned 

 north, his objective point being the Ohio. As soon 

 as he began his northward march Sherman despatched 

 Thomas to Nashville to check Hood and protect his 

 own rear, but still proceeded on his "march through 

 Georgia, smashing things to the sea." Thomas had 

 under him on reaching Nashville only 22,000 infantry 

 and 7700 cavalry, with sundry small garrisons and de- 

 tachments guarding railroads. At this city, while 

 waiting the arrival of Gen. A. J. Smith, lie occupied 

 himself in strengthening his army, having given Gen. 

 Schofield instructions to impede Hood's advance, and, 

 when seriously threatened, to fall back on Franklin. 

 This movement Schofield successfully effected. When 

 Hood as>ailcd his lines there on Nov. 30 he drove 

 him back with a loss of 6000 men. (See FRANKLIN.) 

 During the night Schofield fell back nn Nashville, and 

 on the same day Gen. Smith's command arrived. 

 Hood followed Schofield to Nashville, and now pro- 

 fessed to besiege it. A terrible awakening awaited 

 him. On Dec. 15 Thomas, sallying forth, made his 

 grand attack, and rolling up Hood's lines from left to 

 right, drove him for eight miles to a position he had 

 previously selected. In front of this position the 

 Union troops bivouacked, and, on the 10th, renewed 

 tlic assault, carrying the enemy's works and driving it 

 in rout before them till darkness put an end to the 

 pursuit. "Our line." says Hood, "was broken at all 

 points, and, for the first and only time, I beheld a Con- 

 federate army abandon the field in confusion." Next 

 day the chase was resumed, and continued unremit- 

 tingly till the 29th, when Thomas learned that Hood 

 had crossed the Tennessee at the head of "a disheart- 

 ened and disorirani/ed rabble of half-armed, barefooted 

 men." For tliis decisive .-ii'vcss Thomas was created 

 major-general in the regular army, and received a vote 

 of (hanks from Conines*. On ihe first anniversary of 

 the battle he was presented with a gold medal by the 

 Sti'te. of Tennessee. 



The battle of Nashville closed the last campaign in 

 tlm AVest. During the final battles M'.ire Kiehinond 

 Thomas remained in command of his department. lie 

 was not idle, however, but contributed to crushing out 

 Recession by organizing raiding bands, that resulted in 

 the capture of Jefferson Davis. On June 30, 18C5, 

 under the act of Congrcs dividing the country into 

 c'i'tr'ets. Thomas assumed the command of the Military 

 District (afterwards the Department) of Tennessee. 

 This he hold till March. 1807, when he was assigned 

 to the Third Military District, comprising Georgia, 

 Florida, and Alabama, While here he declined, in 

 18C8, the rank of lieutenant-general, on the ground 

 that it c-.imc top l.Uc, if intended as an acknowledg- 

 ment of hU service during the war, and that since the 

 war he had done nothing deserving it. From May, 

 I860, he commanded the Miliiary District of the 

 Pacific, with head-quarters at San Francisco, where 

 his death occurred March 20, 1 S70. 



(ien. Thomas was a true man ; spotless in character, 

 .1 hater of ostentation, reserved even to reticence, self- 

 poised, steadfast. In his manner ami habits of thought 

 lie was deliberate, some thought to excess ; his plans 

 were slowly evolved and carefully matured ; he never 

 moved till lie had perfected every detail, so that, when 

 he did move, it was to assured success. No con- 

 tingencies arose to perplex him, for he had prepared 

 for all emergencies. His imperturbability in battle 

 was amazing, and has already )>ecn referred to ns 

 eliciting the admiration of Garfield. He was, above 

 nil others, a man <>(' system. At Chicknmauga. when 

 the enemy had routed the corps supporting him and 

 had opened fire on his flanks and front, lie replied to 

 Steadman. who had reported to him. ami who asked 

 how the fight was going: "The scoundrels have, no 

 system." As might be inferred, the confidence of his 



troops in him was complete ; and this is evidenced by 

 one of the names they gave him "Old Reliable" 

 and their appreciation of his care for their welfare is 

 yet more eloquently expressed by the other title they 

 conferred on him "Pap Thomas." Gen. Thomas 

 has the glory, all but unique, of never having lost a 

 battle when in independent command. When he 

 served as a subordinate among other corps commanders 

 he was ever the central figure. Though modest, above 

 most men, he had yet a just appreciation of the value 

 of his services, and when friends referred in his pres- 

 ence to the insufficient recognition these received he 

 was wont simply to answer: "History will do me 

 justice." Standing high among the noblest sons of 

 the noble State of Virginia, his patriotism was not 

 limited to the boundaries of State or section. His 

 services to the cause of the Union were rendered 

 chiefly elsewhere, and his fame is the inheritance of 

 the undivided country which he helped to save. 



(J. H.) 



THOMPSON, JOSEPH PARRISH (1819-1879), 

 preacher and author, was born at Philadelphia, Aug. 

 7, 1819. He graduated at Yale College in 1838, and 

 was ordained pastor of a Congregational church at New 

 Haven in 1840. His literary activity led him to join 

 in founding the Neic Knglnndrr, a monthly magazine, 

 in 1843, and afterwards the Indrprndeiit, in 1848, at 

 New York. He had been called to this city in 1845, and 

 in the Broadway Tabernacle he gathered a large and 

 influential congregation. With tongue and pen he 

 was diligent in promoting religious and benevolent en- 

 terprises. On a visit to Egypt in 1853 he became 

 interested in the study of its monuments, and when in 

 1871, worn out with the incessant demands on his time 

 and strength, he was compelled by ill health to resign 

 his charge, he removed to Berlin to pursue his archae- 

 ological investigations. But some of his most impor- 

 tant public work was done in this new field of activity, 

 where he obtained great favor with sovereigns and 

 statesmen. His Church anil State in the United 

 States (1873) diffused effectively in Europe the 

 American idea of religious liberty. In 1878 the 

 Berlin Congress, through his influence, inserted a 

 clause in its treaty favoring this idea. The Evan- 

 gelical Alliance found in him one of its strongest 

 supporters. In various parts of Europe he delivered 

 lectures which developed and explained American 

 ideas. Exhausted with his multifarious labors, he died 

 at Berlin, Sept. 2:), 1879. His books and other pub- 

 lications but partly reveal his ability and range. Be- 

 sides some biographies he had published Vfeict of 

 Eyypt (1854) ; Lme and Penalty (1800) ; Christianity 

 nnil Emancipation (18C3); ifoly Comforter (I860); 

 Tlirnlwpi of Christ (1870) ; Life of Christ (1875). 



THOMPSON, ROBERT EI.LIS, economist and prom- 

 inent defender of the protective tariff system, was born 

 near Lurgan, Ireland, in April. 1844. His family 

 emigrated to America in 1857, settling in Philadelphia. 

 lie graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 

 1805, and, having studied theology, was ordained in 

 the Reformed Presbyterian Church (N. S.) in 1873. 

 but entered the Presbyterian Church in 1879. He had 

 been assistant editor of the American Presfy/terian 

 from 18CC to 1870. He had returned to the University 

 of Pennsylvania in 1808 as instructor in mathematics 

 and Latin, and has since remained in connection with 

 it, being made assistant professor of mathematics in 

 1870, professor of social science in 1874, and John 

 Welsh Centennial professor of history in I881-. From 

 the University he received in 1886 the degree of D. D. 

 Prof. Thompson was editor of the Fenn Monthly from 

 1808 till 1879, and since that time chief editorial writer 

 for the American, a political and literary weekly. He 

 has also contributed largely to other periodicals on re- 

 ligious, political, educational, historical, and econom- 

 ical topics. He has delivered courses of lectures in 

 elucidation and defence of the American protective 

 system in Harvard, Yale, Williams, Amherst, and 



