William Holland Thomas

William Holland Thomas

William Holland Thomas (born February 5, 1805 in Waynesville , Haywood County , North Carolina , † May 10, 1893 in Morganton , North Carolina) was chief of the Cherokee and sat in the Senate of North Carolina from 1848 to 1860 . During the Civil War he organized the Thomas Legion named after him , a Cherokee guerrilla unit that fought for the southern states .

Life

origin

William Holland Thomas was a white southerner who came from a less privileged family in the mountains of Haywood County, North Carolina. His mother raised William alone because the father, Calvert, drowned while on a business trip shortly after giving birth to their son. William later spelled his mother's maiden name Colvard, but the common spelling was Calverd. The reason for this inconsistency was simply the phonetics. Temperance's mother was from England and was the cousin of President Zachary Taylor's mother . It was through this relationship that Thomas later established his correspondence with Confederate President Jefferson Davis , who married Taylor's daughter Sarah Knox . William's father Richard Thomas was of Welsh descent who fought the British on Kings Mountain in 1776. Like many veterans of the American Revolutionary War , Richard Thomas accepted a land grant in western North Carolina .

Early time

At the age of thirteen, William had to work in a shop owned by Congressman Felix Walker , while he also studied the Bible and mathematics. He educated himself on a self-taught basis using a series of statutes he had received from his employer Walker . At the age of 16, William opened his first own business in Qualla Town, where he perfected his organizational, leadership and management skills. During this time, Thomas became a friend of Yonaguska ( Drowning Bear ), the Cherokee chief who, following the land cession and treaty of 1819, decided to remain under white rule. Because of this friendship, Thomas was accepted into the Cherokee tribe. He was later adopted and given the name Wil-Usdi ( Little Will ) because of his small size . Because his mother never wanted to integrate into the Cherokee culture, Thomas never alienated herself from the traditions of the whites. William remained familiar with both cultures, learning to read and write Cherokee in addition to English. His knowledge of the Cherokee language enabled him to do business quickly, and in the late 1820s he owned three trading houses and large tracts of land in the western part of the Cherokee area. In addition to continuing his business, he began studying law and then practicing as a lawyer . William Holland eventually became a politician and acted as an intermediary for the Cherokee when the government tried to relocate the Indian tribes. His first major action on their behalf was to create a simple plan of action that would allow them to coordinate their responses with white government policy.

Senator and Chief

His adoptive father, Yonaguska, and a few other Cherokees, had been given 640 acres of land reserves by an earlier treaty and no longer lived in the Cherokee nation to which the new treaty was applied. Thomas negotiated with numerous Cherokees who were allowed to stay on their North Carolina land, including his adoptive father. They were the main ancestors of what is now the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians , a now officially recognized tribe. Although the New Echota Treaty was not meant to apply to them, the Qualla Cherokee were also concerned for their future. The North Carolina Cherokee claimed they were exempt from the deportation order and hired Thomas to represent them in Washington. During the winter of 1938 and the spring that followed, the US government relocated approximately 11,000 Cherokee from North Carolina to Oklahoma . This event went down in history as the Path of Tears . Thomas spent most of the 1840s in Washington , where he saved the eastern Cherokee from forced march west. Despite his commitment to the Cherokee cause, Thomas also openly speculated on properties that were offered for sale due to the removal of the Cherokee. He also helped the U.S. Army in their efforts to locate Cherokee from other states who were hiding in North Carolina to avoid relocation. However, these contradicting actions have helped strengthen his position vis-à-vis the Cherokee, local whites, and the federal government. The importance of Thomas' activities during this time should not be underestimated. The dying chief Yonaguska recognized Thomas' devotion to his tribe and made Thomas the new leader of the Cherokee in North Carolina in April 1839.

By 1840 Thomas had bought 50,000 acres on his behalf - the state of North Carolina did not allow the Cherokee to sign contracts - that would form the bulk of the future Qualla Boundary Territory of the eastern Cherokee. His help to the Cherokee and his large estates made Thomas an influential figure in western North Carolina. Immediately after moving, he spent some of his own money to support many Cherokee. He owned more than 150,000 acres (60,702 hectares ), including thousands of acres that he had entrusted to the Cherokee.

He was continuously elected to the North Carolina Senate from 1849 to 1861. As a Democrat , Thomas was an active member of the Internal Improvement Committee and served as its chair for four terms. He consistently supported laws to improve the transportation system in the western part of the state, including projects such as the construction of the Plank Roads and the Western North Carolina Railroad. These years were a time of change in his personal life. He had great difficulty finding a wife and was turned away by the women from the big cities. He increasingly neglected his business interests and was then heavily indebted at times. Although he was still a wealthy man, his selflessness and profound generosity towards his debtors brought him to the brink of bankruptcy . For months and sometimes years many Indians bought goods on credit from Thomas's stores. Although the Cherokee were hard workers, many could not compensate Thomas because there was little employment in the area.

marriage

Finally, at the age of 51, bachelor William was able to enter into a relationship with shy 24-year-old Sarah Jane Burney Love. Thomas Lanier Clingman wrote to his close friend Thomas: “As for the dark-eyed girl, don't hesitate to take the advert. Hope to be at your wedding soon. ”Clingman was a prominent US Senator who represented North Carolina and commanded the North Carolina 25th Infantry Regiment, which was later expanded into Clingman's Brigade during the Civil War. Colonel Thomas Clingman, who was later promoted to brigadier general, was a passionate lawyer and one of the most famous politicians of his day. On June 30, 1857, the wedding took place at Sarah's Haywood County home, under the direction of Reverend Banister Turner. Sarah, named by Chief Thomas Sallie , was the daughter of his former business partner James Robert Love and she was also the granddaughter of Revolutionary War hero Colonel Robert Love, who was also the founder of Wayne, North Carolina. Sarah's father raised his family in White Sulfur Springs, near Waynesville, where Sallie had a social status similar to Chief Thomas. William and Sarah had three children: William H. Thomas Jr. (1858–1898), James Robert Thomas (1860–1936), and Sallie Love Thomas (1862–1954).

In the civil war

Thomas was a passionate patriot of the South and voted for the secession at the state congress in May 1861. Thomas was a great slave owner in his region, although he had very few slaves compared to the rest of the Confederate South. Most of Thomas' workforce also consisted of paid employees. When the Civil War broke out and Thomas realized that neutrality was impossible, he persuaded the Cherokee to support the Confederation and organized troops to guard the border. Jefferson Davis married the young Sarah Knox Taylor, a cousin of William Thomas. Although she would die of malaria just three months later, it established a personal connection between Davis and Thomas. In the 1840s, Thomas often met then Congressman Davis during his numerous visits to Washington. Thomas believed in the effectiveness of defensive guerrilla warfare, and since the Union Army was usually more than two to one superior to the Confederate Army, he wisely defied traditional Napoleonic tactics. Chief Thomas appealed to the new legislature as well as President Jefferson Davis personally to recruit Cherokee as soldiers for the Confederation because he could not raise enough white volunteers. His correspondence with Jefferson Davis enabled him to field the Cherokee soldiers in the first place. He wanted the Cherokee to serve as a defense force for the northwest mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. The Confederate Congress eventually approved the recruitment of Cherokees and, after some political debate, agreed that they could be used in defense of the Cumberland Gap. They did not, however, acknowledge Chief Thomas' arguments that the Cherokee and Lufty Indians had become citizens under previous land treaties.

From September 15, 1861, two Cherokee companies, 200 soldiers, were called to arms. These Junaluska Zouaves known - in honor of Chief Junaluska - Thomas referred to as the North Carolina Cherokee Battalion. While Thomas and the Cherokee Battalion were being transferred to West North Carolina, he also persuaded and recruited dozens of Confederate deserters. In April 1862 Chief Thomas joined the Confederate Army and was appointed captain of a company that included many Cherokee. In September of that year, the group took part in a battle in Baptist Gap, east Tennessee, that ended with some Union soldiers wounded. Thomas was soon promoted to colonel and commanded the 69th North Carolina Regiment.

It is noteworthy that even during the war, Thomas continued to push for the construction of the railroad through North Carolina. On November 22, 1862, then-Governor of North Carolina, Zebulon Baird Vance , received a letter from Thomas suggesting that the use of black slaves was important to build new railroad tracks. Although both fought for the south, they were political rivals. During the vote on the Railroad Act, Thomas opposed it, while Zebulon supported the bill. Chief Thomas voted against because the railroad wasn't planned close enough to his home area. Eventually, Vance, Davis, and Generals Martin , Bragg, and Buckner admitted that a force like the Thomas Legion should be used to secure the area.

The Thomas Legion

The Thomas Legion was officially expanded and reorganized on September 27, 1862. The 400 warriors who were recruited formed two Cherokee companies; along with six companies of white men, many of whom were ethnically Scottish-Irish, they formed the famous Thomas Legion . This force served as the main defense force in Eastern Tennessee and Confederate North Carolina. This independent command provided valuable services in the defense of vital and strategic railroads, bridges and depots. Thomas wanted to use his highlands strictly as local defensive forces as they were most familiar with the area. Bushwhackers , deserters and escaped prisoners of the Union lived in the southern Appalachians , and together as saboteurs they unleashed and caused slaughter. An incident, the Shelton Laurel Massacre (January 18, 1863), soon cast a dark shadow over the region, and this lawlessness also contributed to desertions in the Thomas Legion and other units. In 1864 Thomas proposed a blanket amnesty law to Confederate Headquarters to pacify an already devastated region by pardoning all deserters, abolitionists , runaways and pro-unionists in the hope that a large number of these fighters would then be in the Home Guard could be used in the mountains of North Carolina. The Thomas Legion had meanwhile been reorganized into Jackson's Brigade. This confusing and contradicting command structure was very controversial, which is why General Alfred E. Jackson Thomas arrested in June 1863 on the basis of an attachment for "disobedience to orders". Thomas was sent to Knoxville, Tennessee for court martial, but the invasion of General Ambrose Burnside's Union forces in eastern Tennessee changed the military situation, which defused the situation. Another court martial was due to take place on February 23, 1864, after General Robert B. Vance , brother of North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance, was captured. General Vance had left Thomas at Gatlinburg and moved on to Sevierville . He was captured for not posting outposts and for disobeying Thomas's orders.

Zebulon Vance, who viewed Senator Thomas as a political opponent, became an even worse opponent as the war progressed. According to official records and reports, Thomas was not responsible for the capture of Robert Vance. Zebulon Vance ignored the reports and used his brother's capture as an opportunity to destroy his enemy. Regarding Robert Vance's capture, Colonel John B. Palmer, commander of the district of Western North Carolina, told the military tribunal that it was not Chief Thomas but Lt. Col. James L. Henry and his leadership that should be tried by court-martial. James A. Seddon , the Confederate Secretary of War, believed that Vance was also partially responsible for his capture. President Jefferson Davis also intervened on behalf of Thomas, and the charges were then dismissed. On May 11, 1864, Thomas was charged again with receiving deserters from the 65th North Carolina Regiment between September 1863 and April 1864. On that occasion, however, General Jackson had been removed from his command and sent to the Army of Tennessee. In October 1864 the trial was resumed and Thomas was found guilty of all charges. This court martial combined a previous court martial with four additional charges. As with previous charges, he appealed to his dear friend Jefferson Davis, who again crushed all charges and exonerated the Colonel. In May 1864, a Thomas Legion regiment was relocated to Virginia to participate in Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early 's Shenandoah Valley Campaign before being recalled to North Carolina. The Legion still fought in West Virginia, Virginia and even northern Maryland and did not surrender until May 9, 1865 at Waynesville . On May 6th, Thomas Legion fired "The Last Shot" of the Civil War east of the Mississippi in an action in White Sulfur Springs . The Legion ceased hostilities upon hearing of the surrender and the end of the war.

After the war

After the war, William Holland Thomas was emotionally, financially, and physically broken and returned to his family and the Cherokee, who still viewed him as a chief. William Holland Thomas signed the "Oath of Allegiance to the United States" on behalf of the Cherokee. A presidential pardon was required if the pre-war taxable property value was greater than $ 20,000. The North Carolina-born President Andrew Johnson , a friend of Thomas for 25 years, finally granted the former Confederate a pardon on July 5, 1866. Increasing personal and financial difficulties resulted in a physical and emotional breakdown. His business failed and creditors began to split up his trading empire. In March 1867, Thomas was declared insane and placed in state asylum in Raleigh . Thomas died in the Morganton State Mental Asylum and was buried in Green Hill Public Cemetery Waynesville, Haywood County .

literature

• E. Stanly Godbold / Mattie U. Russell: Confederate Colonel and Cherokee Chief: The Life of William Holland , Univ. Tennessee Press; First Edition edition (December 1, 1990), ISBN 978-1572331617
• Paul A. Thomsen: Rebel Chief - The Motley Life of Colonel William Holland Thomas

Web links

• http://www.thomaslegion.net/thomas.html
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25489241/william-holland-thomas
• https://cwnc.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/exhibits/show/thomas-legion/thomas/william-holland-thomas