Thomas Maley Harris was a physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 and Union general during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Born and raised in Harrisville, Virginia

Harrisville, West Virginia

Harrisville is a town in Ritchie County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,842 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Ritchie County...

 (now part of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

), Harris originally set out to be a teacher, but changed career paths to study medicine. He received his medical degree from Louisville Medical College in 1843 and returned to Virginia to practice medicine until 1861, when he closed his practice when the Civil War began.

During the war, Harris commanded the 10th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment

10th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The 10th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:...

 in the Shenandoah Valley

Shenandoah Valley

The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...

, then a brigade and division during Philip Sheridan's Valley Campaigns of 1864

Valley Campaigns of 1864

The Valley Campaigns of 1864 were American Civil War operations and battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from May to October 1864. Military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns, but it is useful to consider the three together and how they...

. He was brevetted to brigadier general for service at the Battle of Cedar Creek

Battle of Cedar Creek

The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, October 19, 1864, was one of the final, and most decisive, battles in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. The final Confederate invasion of the North, led by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, was effectively ended...

 on October 19, 1864.

He was transferred to the Army of the James

Army of the James

The Army of the James was a Union Army that was composed of units from the Department of Virginia and North Carolina and served along the James River during the final operations of the American Civil War in Virginia.-History:...

 and took command of a division of reinforcements from the Department of West Virginia attached to the XXIV Corps

XXIV Corps (ACW)

XXIV Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War.In December 1864, the white and black units of the Army of the James were divided into two corps. The black troops were sent to the XXV Corps; the white troops became the XXIV Corps, under the command of Edward O. Ord...

. He received a full promotion to brigadier general in March 1865 and a brevet promotion to major general for service at the battle of Fort Gregg

Battle of Petersburg III

The Third Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Breakthrough at Petersburg or the Fall of Petersburg, was a decisive Union assault on the Confederate trenches, ending the ten-month Siege of Petersburg and leading to the fall of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia.-Fort Mahone:The Union IX Corps...

 on April 2, 1865. His troops were among those directly responsible for cutting off Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....

's line of retreat at Appomattox Courthouse

Battle of Appomattox Courthouse

The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought on the morning of April 9, 1865, was the final engagement of Confederate States Army General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia before it surrendered to the Union Army under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and one of the last battles of the American...

. Following the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Harris served on the military commission which tried the Lincoln Conspirators.

After the war, Harris elected to the West Virginia legislature and was appointed an adjunct general in the state militia and the U.S. pension agent for Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. He resumed his medical practice until his retirement in 1885.

External sources

• Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J.
  David J. Eicher
  David John Eicher is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of Astronomy magazine since 2002...
  
  , Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.