author
T. M. (Thomas Mealey) Harris
1817–1906
A Civil War physician turned Union general, he later became closely linked with one of the era’s most dramatic legal proceedings: the trial of the Lincoln assassination conspirators. His writing brings together battlefield experience, medicine, and firsthand knowledge of a turbulent moment in American history.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Virginia in 1817, he first trained as a teacher before studying medicine in Kentucky and becoming a physician. During the American Civil War, he served the Union cause and rose to the rank of brevet major general.
He is especially remembered for service with the 10th West Virginia Infantry and for his role on the military commission that tried the conspirators in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. That unusual mix of doctor, soldier, and witness to major national events gives his work a strong firsthand perspective.
After the war, he wrote about the Lincoln assassination case and related events, drawing on his own experience. He died in 1906, leaving behind a life shaped by public service, war, and a close view of one of the most consequential episodes in 19th-century American history.