Welles, Thomas G., 1846-1892
Biographical Note
The Union Army's Army of the James was created in April 1864. In December, the Army of the James reorganized into two units with the white troops becoming the 24th Corps and the Black troops forming the 25th Corps. The 25th Corps were among the first Union troops to enter Richmond, Virginia, in April 1865, while the 24th Corps were at Appommattox, where General Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9.
Thomas G. Welles (1846-1892) was the son of Gideon Welles, the Secretary of the Navy during the American Civil War, and his wife Mary Jane Hale Welles. Welles served as the assistant to General Edward O. C. Ord, the commander of the Army of the James. According to Duke University, he also served as an attorney in Hartford, Connecticut.
External sources:
Peter Luebke, "Army of the James" (December 7, 2020), in Encyclopedia Virginia, https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/army-of-the-james, accessed on March 18, 2024.
"Thomas Glastonbury Welles", findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14626004/thomas-glastonbury-welles, accessed on June 28, 2023.
Thomas Glastonbury Welles, "Letters, 1866-1869," David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, https://find.library.duke.edu/catalog/DUKE002440974, accessed on March 18, 2024.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
"The 24th Corps" Manuscript
This manuscript entitled "The 24th Corps" was likely written by General Edward O. C. Ord and his assistant Lieutenant Colonel Thomas G. Welles and accounts the troop movements of the 24th Corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 24th Corps was formed in 1864 after the Army of the James separated white and Black troops into two units, the 24th and 25th Corps respectively, and the manuscript discusses this.