By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
Col. J. A. Thomas and the 121st Infantry Regiment at Camp Wheeler, Macon, Ga. February 1918. |
Colonel
James Adrian Thomas Jr. of Macon, Ga. was the first commander of the 121st
Infantry Regiment. Thomas led the regiment to the Mexican Border in 1916,
directed the 121st through the long mobilization train up for World
War I and was responsible for the 121st sobriquet as the Gray Bonnet
Regiment.
Thomas was
born March 10, 1870 in Dublin Georgia to James Adrian Thomas Sr. and Josephine
Thomas. Thomas Sr. was a veteran of the American Civil War who became a
prominent attorney[1].
The younger Thomas attended private school before enlisting in the Southern
Cadets as a private in February 1887 at the age of 17. As sergeant of the
Southern Cadets drill team Thomas traveled frequently representing the Macon
organization at competitions and winning several. His education continued at
the Georgia Military College in Milledgeville and Gordon Institute (now Gordon
State College) in Barnesville.[2]
In 1893 he transferred to the Macon Hussars, Company F, 2nd Infantry Regiment. That
same year he married Fannie Holt in Vineville, Ga.[3]
The couple enjoyed a one-week honeymoon in Florida travelling by rail to
destinations across the state.
Thomas commissioned
as a 2nd lieutenant Nov. 7, 1895 and was assigned as adjutant of the
2nd Georgia. On July 6, 1896 he transferred to the Macon Light
Infantry where he served for nearly two years until mustering into federal service
with the 1st Georgia Volunteer Infantry May 2, 1898 for service in
the Spanish American War. The 1st Georgia mobilized but did not leave
the state of Georgia before the end of hostilities. Thomas was mustered out of
federal service November 18.[4]
Returning to
the 2nd Georgia April 8, 1900, Thomas resumed the office of adjutant
with the rank of captain where his execution of duties was widely recognized. In
his report of the encampment of instruction in 1902, Col. Georgia T. Cann,
inspector general, observed “The Post-Adjutant Capt. J. A. Thomas Jr., 2nd
Infantry, kept with splendid accuracy and care records of the minutest detail
pertaining to his duties.”[5]
Promotion to major and command of 1st Battalion 2nd
Georgia came July 23, 1906.[6]
While Thomas
studied at his father’s law firm and was admitted to the bar, he never
practiced law gravitating instead to real estate and by 1910 was firmly
established in Macon with the firm of A. T. Holt Co. On Nov. 18, 1912, Col.
Thomas assumed command of the 2nd Infantry, replacing Walter Harris who
advanced to brigadier general and command of the Georgia Brigade. Shortly after
assuming command, Thomas designated the regiment the Old Gray Bonnet after the
popular song "Put on your Old Gray Bonnet" by Stanley Murphy and
Percy Wenrich which was first released in 1909.[7]
Col. J.A. Thomas (right) and Lt. Col. J. M. Kimbrough, at Camp Cotton, El Paso, Texas in 1916. Photo by 2nd Lt. Vivian Roberts. |
Post card from Pvt. Ivar Peterson, Company F, 121st Infantry Regiment to his mother depicting troops leaving camp at Camp Wheeler, Ga. Georgia National Guard archives. |
Over the
next 12 months, Thomas and the 121st Infantry Regiment prepared for
overseas deployment with the 31st Infantry Division. Training
consisted of battle drills, weapons familiarization, living and fighting in
trench systems gas mask drills and foot marches of ever-increasing distance. After
completing more than a year of training the 121st entrained with
other units of the 31st Division for Camp Mills, N.Y.
Sheet music for Put on your Old Grey Bonnet. 1909. |
USS Orizaba. Arriving in the port of Brest the 121st was compelled to remain onboard until the ship could be unloaded. While waiting to disembark Thomas fell ill with Spanish Influenza. On Oct. 16, the beloved commander of the Gray Bonnet Regiment died having never set foot in France. He was 48.[10]
Word of
Thomas’ death did not reach Macon until October 29.[11]
Thousands of mourners attended his funeral and graveside service at Riverside
Cemetery in Macon, Ga. Major General LeRoy Lyon, commander of the 31st
Division eulogized Thomas as “one of the most efficient National Guard Officers
I ever met.”[12]
[1] 1870 Census,
Laurens, Georgia, Militia District 342; Roll: M593_161; Page: 309A
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4263490_00005?pId=5716155
[2] The
National Cyclopaedia of American biography, being the history of the United
States as illustrated in the lives of the founders, builders, and defenders of
the republic, and of the men and women who are doing the work and moulding the
thought of the present time. Vol. 17. (New York: J. T. White Company 1921)
57.
[3] “Home Wedding in
Vineville.” The Macon Telegraph. December 21, 1893, 5.
[4] “Official
Register of the National Guard of Georgia, 1916, 16.
[5] Report of the
Adjutant General of the State of Georgia from Dec. 1st, 1901, to
Sept. 30th 1902. (Atlanta: Geo. Harrison State Printer, 1902) 61.
[6] Report of the
Adjutant General of the State of Georgia 1911-1912, Appendix No. 3.
(Atlanta: Chas P. Byrd, 1913) 33.
[7] The first
official authority for this designation appears March 24, 1924 in GO No. 1 in
which the 121st Infantry was officially designated the Old Gray Bonnet
Regiment. This much was affirmed in an October 28, 1926 outline of the history
of the 121st Infantry certified by Charles H. Cox, Georgia's Adjutant General.
[8] William Carraway.
We Are Having a Big Time Now: January-March 1917. April 17, 2017. http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2017/04/we-are-having-big-time-now-january.html
[9] Correspondence of
Sgt. Robert G. Burton. Georgia National Guard Archives.
[10] The Georgia
State Memorial Book Adopted as the Official Record by the Military Department
of the State of Georgia. (Atlanta: 1921) 31.
[11] George Sparks. Macon’s
War Work a History of Macon’s Part in the Great World War, 66.
[12] The National Cyclopaedia
of American biography. Vol. 17. (New York: J. T. White Company 1921) 58.
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