Background
Thomas was born on September 30, 1819, in Luray Valley, Virginia, United States. He was the son of Gabriel and Elizabeth Ann Sibert Jordan.
West Point, New York, United States
Jordan graduated forty-first in a class of forty-two from the United States Military Academy in 1840.
(In June 1861, practically unschooled, without military tr...)
In June 1861, practically unschooled, without military training or experience, Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821–1877) enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private. Yet by the Civil War's end, he was a lieutenant general whose dazzling exploits and bloody victories caused him to be regarded by his Northern opponents as a "devil," by Southerners as a living legend, and by historians as the greatest cavalry commander and one of the few authentic military geniuses produced by the war. His spectacular, unparalleled career has intrigued generations of Civil War scholars and enthusiasts. Subsequent biographies or studies of him have never totally superseded The Campaigns of General Nathan Bedford Forrest (1868) by General Thomas Jordan (West Pointer and chief of staff to Generals Beauregard, Albert Sidney Johnston, and Braxton Bragg) and the professional journalist J. P. Pryor. Forrest himself gave them complete access to his military papers, spent many hours in interviews with them, and closely supervised their writing. Hence, this work is not just a flat campaign study of Forrest - in effect, it is his military memoir and as such remains the most valuable source on Forrest and his cavalry.
https://www.amazon.com/Campaigns-Lieut-Gen-Forrest-Forrests-Cavalry/dp/129666788X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+campaigns+of+Lieut.-Gen.+N.+B.+Forrest%2C+and+of+Forrest%27s+Cavalry+.&qid=1579000272&sr=8-1
1868
Thomas was born on September 30, 1819, in Luray Valley, Virginia, United States. He was the son of Gabriel and Elizabeth Ann Sibert Jordan.
Jordan graduated forty-first in a class of forty-two from the United States Military Academy in 1840.
Jordan was a career officer in the United States Army before the Civil War. He fought in the Seminole War in 1842 and served on frontier duty until 1846 when he was promoted to the first lieutenant.
During the Mexican War, he fought at Palo Alto and was assistant quartermaster for the army in 1847. From 1848 to 1861, he was stationed on the Pacific Coast. He resigned his commission in May 1861 and volunteered for duty in the Confederate Army.
As a captain in the Confederate Army, he was P.G.T. Beauregard's chief of staff at the battle of First Manassas, where he directed the disposition of reinforcements. He was then sent west to assist Beauregard in the preparations for the battle at Shiloh, for which he was promoted to brigadier general on April 14, 1862. From July 1862 until the end of the Kentucky campaign, he served as Genera] Braxton Bragg’s chief of staff.
He then was transferred to the same position under Beauregard in Charleston. In May 1864, he received command of the Third Military District of South Carolina. During the war, he was well-known for his superior organizational ability.
He surrendered in South Carolina and was later paroled. In 1866, he edited the Memphis Appeal. The following year he wrote a book on The Campaigns of Lt. General Forrest.
In 1868-1870, Jordan was chief of staff for the insurgent army of Cuba. He then returned to edit the Financial and Mining Record in New York City, a magazine which he used to support the free coinage of silver.
(In June 1861, practically unschooled, without military tr...)
1868Thomas Jordan was married to Mission Kearney. The couple had 2 children.