John Peyre Thomas Sr.
Colonel John Peyre Thomas Sr. (March 17, 1833 – February 11, 1912) was an educator, politician and historian who served as 6th Superintendent of the South Carolina Military Academy (now The Citadel). Career A native of Berkeley County, South Carolina, he was a First Honor graduate of the Class of 1851 at the Citadel Academy in Charleston and upon graduation became a professor of English and History at the Arsenal Academy in Columbia, the second of the two schools that made up the SCMA. In 1861, he became Superintendent of The Arsenal and also served as Commander of Company B of the Battalion of State Cadets, the military unit that comprised all of the cadets of the SCMA, who fought in eight engagements during the American Civil War. Thomas was in command of the Arsenal cadet company when the entire 343 man Corps of Cadets from the SCMA joined a Confederate States Army force of 550 at the Battle of Tulifinny in December 1864; they successfully defended a section of the Savannah to Charleston rail line against a Union force of 5,000, allowing more than 100,000 Confederate troops to escape the advancing army of General William T. Sherman. This battle