Thomas Welsh (general)
| Thomas Welsh | |
|---|---|
Colonel Thomas Welsh, ca. 1862
|
|
| Born |
May 5, 1824 Columbia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | August 14, 1863 (aged 39) Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Place of burial | Mount Bethel Cemetery, Columbia, Pennsylvania |
| Allegiance |
United States of America Union |
| Service/branch |
United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1846–1848; 1861–1863 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier General
|
| Commands held | 45th Pennsylvania Infantry |
| Battles/wars |
Mexican-American War American Civil War |
Thomas Welsh (May 5, 1824 – August 14, 1863) was a soldier in the United States Army during the Mexican-American War and a Union brigadier general during the American Civil War.
Thomas Welsh was born in Columbia, Pennsylvania on May 5, 1824, the third of four children born to Charles Welsh and Nancy (Dougherty) Welsh. His father died before his third birthday, and at the age of 8, he left home to work in a nail factory. Thus began a long series of jobs including farming, factory work and the lumber business, in the towns of Colemanville, Gap, and Bird in Hand, through which he became self-sufficient at an early age. He attended school only sporadically, attaining the equivalent of four to five years of formal schooling, but was self-taught, and became an educated man. At age 20, Welsh headed west to find work as an itinerant carpenter in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Fort Smith, Arkansas.
At the outbreak of the Mexican War, Welsh enlisted as a third sergeant in the 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. He served in the Monterey campaign under General Zachary Taylor. He was quickly promoted to first Sergeant then for reasons that have been lost, demoted to private.
Welsh was severely wounded at the Battle of Buena Vista on February 23, 1847, when he was hit by a musket ball which shattered the bone just below his right knee. Though the wound would leave him lame for the rest of his life, his regimental surgeon named Dr. Blanton was able to save his leg from amputation (Welsh would later name his first son after Dr. Blanton).
He returned to Columbia to recover and was received as a war hero. In January 1848, as soon as his wound had closed, he returned to service, accepting a commission as a second lieutenant in the 11th U.S. Infantry Regiment serving under General Winfield Scott in the Vera Cruz campaign. His leg wound had not fully healed, however, and in May 1848, he was sent home on medical leave.
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