GORTON THOMAS, Sr. and GORTON THOMAS, Jr.-- 22nd INFANTRYLOST HIS FATHER AT 2nd BULL RUN - Gorton Tallman Thomas and his son,Gorton Tallman Thomas, Jr., were descended from a line a Quakers whocame to Peru in the early 1800s. The elder Thomas was born inSchaghticoke, NY, on February 12, 1806 making him 55 years old when heenrolled in the 22nd Infantry as a captain on May 10, 1861. He wasmustered in as a lieut.-colonel on June 6th. The younger Thomas, who wasborn near Au Sable Chasm, was mustered into Captain O. D. Peabody'sCompany C as a sergeant on the same day, just a month after his 18thbirthday. Company C consisted of men who were recruited in theKeeseville area and they expected to serve for 2 years.The 22nd stayed in the capital area with the Army of the Potomac untilApril of 1862 when they were ordered to Falmouth, VA, a couple of milesupstream from Fredericksburg, and 60 miles south of Washington. They had10 men captured by the enemy at Falmouth and another battle in earlyAugust at Massaponax a few miles south of Fredericksburg. By mid-August,they were committed to General Pope's Campaign in Virginia, littleknowing they were to engage in 6 battles where they sustained 180casualties.The regiment is said to have lost more men on August 30th at the SecondBattle of Bull Run than any other regiment. They entered the field withtwenty-six officers and 600 men and came off with two officers and 220men--- the proportion of officers killed and wounded was greater up tothat time, than of any other corps since the beginning of the war. Tencommissioned officers were killed or mortally wounded including theelder Thomas, who died a week later in Washington. He was later buriedin the Evergreen Cemetery in Keeseville.Young Gorton continued with the regiment with a promotion to 2ndlieutenant on September 7th -- the same day his father died. A weeklater, they were preparing to climb South Mountain, MD, to go over thetop to fight at Antietam 3 days later. These two engagements garnered 60more casualties including 20 killed in action or mortally wounded. AbnerDoubleday, a brigadier general in General Joseph Hooker's I Corps,praised the actions of Gorton's captain, Oliver Peabody, who had beenpresent at the Battle of Plattsburgh when he was 8 years old.By December, the 22nd had again returned to the Fredericksburg areaabout 100 miles south of Antietam where they had heir final battle ofthe year. While in winter quarters, Gorton was promoted 1st lieutenant.Two more battles followed in April and May and Gorton was mustered outon June 19, 1863, in Albany.After the war, Gorton returned to Keeseville and, in 1867, marriedFrances Augusta Nimocks who was born in Michigan. They had four childrenbefore moving to New Orleans where Thomas was engaged in the flourcommission business. Frances, whose family produced many journalists andfounded the Minneapolis Journal & Times, died in 1894 and was buried inMinnesota. When Gorton died in 1911, he was buried with his wife in theLakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.
