Folder 1

Abstract Born in Maine; entered the Civil War as a private yet rose to the rank of brigadier general by the war's end. After 1862 he was involved with the recruitment and organization of Negro troops in the Union army. Commissioned several troops, in particular the 79th and 19th U.S. Colored Infantries. He remained in the army after the war and retired in 1891. Collection consists of twenty-two letters to Thomas from friends and relatives. Many of the letters refer to the Freedmen's Bureau and the...