Thomas Morris was born in
Nicholas County, Kentucky. He was one of three sons of Rachel and Morris Morris, an
Indianapolis pioneer who moved to central Indiana from
Kentucky and later became the
Indiana State Auditor. Young Morris was educated in the local schools and was apprenticed at the age of twelve in the print room of Indianapolis's first newspaper. Three years later, he resumed his studies. In June 1830, he accepted an appointment to the
United States Military Academy at
West Point, New York. He graduated fourth in the Class of 1834 and became an officer in the 1st U.S. Artillery stationed at
Fort Monroe in
Virginia and then at
Fort King in Florida. He served in several engineering capacities, including in Indiana where he helped extend the
National Road into
Illinois. He resigned from the army to accept the role as the state's Resident Engineer and supervised the construction of the
Central Canal, the
Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, and the
Terre Haute and Richmond Railroad. He later served as the president of the Bee Line and then the
Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad. Morris also became a
colonel in the Indiana state
militia. At the start of the Civil War,
Governor of Indiana Oliver Morton appointed Morris as the
quartermaster general of the state's troops. On April 27, 1861, he was appointed
brigadier general in the Indiana state militia. Soon, Morris took command of a
brigade of newly raised
Indiana state troops and led them into western Virginia. His troops became known as the "Indiana Brigade" and were attached to the
Department of the Ohio under fellow railroader
George B. McClellan. Morris was the overall Union commander at the
Battle of Philippi. He fought in several other engagements in West Virginia including the battles at
Rich Mountain and
Corrick's Ford. Around noon on July 13, 1861, Morris attacked the rear guard of the retreating Confederate forces at Corrick's Ford on the
Cheat River. Morris's men pursued the Rebels for several miles in a running skirmish before finally routing them after killing Confederate General
Robert S. Garnett. The victory helped secure western Virginia for the Union. He mustered out of the militia on July 27, 1861. ==Notes==