Thomas Harrison

Background

Thomas Harrison was born on May 1, 1823, in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. He was the son of Isham Harrison and Harriet Kelly Harrison.

Education

Harrison moved to Texas in 1843 and studied law in Brazoria County before returning to Mississippi.

Career

Thomas Harrison returned to Texas in 1846 and served under Jefferson Davis during the capture of Monterrey in the Mexican War.

He moved to Houston in 1850 and was elected to the Texas legislature the same year. He lived in Maclin, Texas, from 1851 to 1855, when he moved to Waco, which was to be his home for the rest of his life. When the war began, Harrison entered the Confederate Army as a captain and helped to drive the Union Army from Texas.

Thomas served with the "Texas Rangers" at the battle of Shiloh, where he became known as an efficient cavalry officer and commanded a brigade at the battle of Murfreesboro. Harrison fought in all the great battles of the Army of Tennessee, including Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, and subsequent campaigns in Georgia and the Carolinas. He was promoted to brigadier general on January 14, 1865, and was wounded slightly in a cavalry skirmish near Johnsonville, North Carolina, two months later.

He never resumed his command. After the war, he returned to Waco, where he was a district judge from 1866 until 1877. Harrison later resumed his law practice.

Achievements

Thomas Harrison served a term in the Texas Legislature and was a Captain of a Texas Volunteer Militia Company. For his brave actions during the campaigns in Georgia and the Carolinas, he was appointed Brigadier General.