Thomas Howard Ruger was born on April 2, 1833, in Lima, New York, to Thomas and Maria Ruger. His father was a clergyman who owned $20,000 of real estate and $2,000 of personal property by 1860. His family moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, in the 1840s, and he attended school there. He enrolled at the United States Military Academy in 1850, and he graduated in 1854.

 

He received a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers, but he resigned the following year. He settled in Harmony, Wisconsin, and he earned a living as a lawyer. He married Helen Lydia Moore, and they had at least two children: Helen, born around 1859; and Anna, born around 1867.

 

In April 1861, he received a commission as a lieutenant colonel in the 3^rd Wisconsin Infantry. He was promoted to colonel in August 1861, and he took part in the Battle of Antietam. He was promoted to brigadier general in November 1862, and he participated in the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Atlanta campaign, and the Battle of Franklin. He received a brevet promotion to major general for his actions at Franklin.

 

He remained in the army after the war, accepting a commission as a colonel in the Regular Army in July 1866. He served as governor of Georgia under Military Reconstruction from January 1868 until June 1868. He was superintendent of West Point from 1871 until 1876, and he spent the next twenty years commanding military departments throughout the country. He retired in 1897 at the rank of major general. He travelled abroad that year, and his passport described him as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with gray hair and gray eyes. He died in Stamford, Connecticut, on June 3, 1907.

 

Image: Thomas H. Ruger (courtesy Wikicommons)

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