George Henry Thomas (1816–1870) was one of the top four Union generals of the American Civil War. He was, in fact, the only one to successfully rout a Confederate army from the battlefield.
Bibens writes the fictional memoir as if it was never intended to be published. He presents it as though writing Thomas wrote the memoirs for his wife, Francis Kellogg Thomas. The preface explains that the first two chapters were in Thomas’s handwriting, while the remainder was dictated to his wife.
The novel is written in the tradition of George MacDonald Fraser’s “Flashman” series, with a fictional character placed in real historical events. The novel begins with an introduction by “George MacDonald Berger,” a fictional history professor at the non-existent New York University of Troy.
The George Thomas character narrating this book gives full vent to his feelings. He gives his opinions on slavery, the antebellum south, the Confederate generals he fought against, and the Union generals he fought alongside, unconstrained by the need to be politic or polite.
Loyal to the Union
Thomas was a Virginian who loved his state. He’s known for saving the Union army from a rout at Chickamauga, and a brilliant victory at the Battle of Nashville. He lived through the Nat Turner uprising as a teenager, never traveled outside Virginia until he attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. While a student there, he roomed with William T. Sherman, and they became close friends. Thomas disliked slavery and stayed loyal to the Union when Virginia joined the Confederacy. Despite that, his loyalty was frequently questioned during the war.
This novel is faithful to actual history. Thomas’s views on blacks and black troops may seem unusually modern, but Thomas was one of the few senior Union generals who believed the colored troops, as they were then called, could fight well in open combat.
“The Best General in the Civil War” is a delightfully entertaining history, told amusingly, that retains an accurate account of Thomas’s life.
