Thomas E. G. Ransom
| Thomas Edwin Greenfield Ransom | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 29, 1834 Norwich, Vermont |
| Died | October 29, 1864 (aged 29) Rome, Georgia |
| Place of burial | Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois |
| Allegiance |
United States of America Union |
| Service/branch |
United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1864 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier General
|
| Commands held | 11th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment |
| Battles/wars | |
Thomas Edwin Greenfield Ransom (November 29, 1834 – October 29, 1864) was a surveyor, civil engineer, real estate speculator, and a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Ransom was born in Norwich, Vermont, son of Colonel Truman B. Ransom, who was killed in action at the Battle of Chapultepec during the Mexican-American War, when the younger Ransom was only 14 years old. The father was remembered by a participant in that battle, Adjutant General Richard Coulter Drum of the Regular Army, as "by all odds the most brilliant man under fire I have ever seen." His son, Thomas, entered Norwich University in 1848, where he remained three years. After graduating in 1851 he went to Illinois, where he engaged in civil engineering and real estate speculation. He initially lived with his uncle, George Gilson, then mayor of Peru, an Illinois River town in LaSalle County. Ransom was known as the "boy surveyor" of LaSalle County. During that period, he was joined by his close friend and fellow Norwich University graduate, Grenville M. Dodge, who would later win fame as a Civil War general and the chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad.
As the Civil War began, Ransom was in the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad, living in Fayette County.
In response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops in 1861, Ransom raised a body of soldiers that became Company E of the 11th Illinois Infantry, and was elected its captain on April 6, 1861, then major on June 4. He was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the regiment July 30, and colonel on February 15, 1862. He was commissioned brigadier general on November 9, 1862, and in January 1863, took command of a brigade in Brigadier General John McArthur's Sixth Division of McPherson's XVII Corps.
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