Sgt Thomas Morton Goodman was b. in Hardin Co., KY, and married Mary Ann Wood May 20, 1849 in Savannah, Andrew, MO. They had 5 children, 2 died as children. James Edwin Goodman and Daniel Oren Goodman are buried in the Faught Cemetery Sonoma Co., and William Thomas Goodman in Spokan, Wa. Henry is in the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, died age 4, and Louisa V Goodman was buried in Page Co., IA, age 9.
Name: Thomas Goodman
Company: G
Unit: 1 Missouri Engineers.
Rank - Induction: Sergeant
Rank - Discharge: Sergeant
Allegiance: Union
Notes: 25 Mo Inf
Sergeant Goodman
Sole Survivor of the Centralia Massacre
In the fall of 1864, one of the more notorious events of the Civil War occurred at Centralia, Missouri, where Confederate Guerrillas under the command of "Bloody Bill" Anderson summarily and cruelly executed 26 unarmed Union soldiers. Only one spared - sgt. Thomas Morton Goodman.
Shortly after the capture of Atlanta in September 1864, men from Goodman's unit, Company G, 1st Missouri Engineers, were granted home furloughs. As their train entered Missouri, there were increased warnings and fears that guerrillas might attack the train in an effort to gain control of the railroad. When the train stopped at Centralia, the warnings proved accurate: guerrillas under Bloody Bill Anderson captured the train, shooting it up even before the unarmed Union soldiers disembarked.
In a slim volume later written by Goodman, he related that as soon as the guerrillas realized the men were unarmed, they "became monsters" and demanded money. The 27 Union men, fearing the worst, were ordered to fall in line on the station platform and strip to their underwear, but Goodman reported they faced death without entreaty or emotion, determined "to meet cruelty by sublimity, and in the presence of devils, to die like gods!"
At that point, Bloody Bill approached the line and asked if there was a sergeant in the ranks. When the demand was repeated the third time, Goodman stepped forward (although he was not the only sergeant in the group), figuring the man who had taken his uniform recognized his rank and would report it to Anderson.
Expecting some special example of punishment, he was taken to the rear, and there he heard the volley of shots which felled the remaining 26 men.
The executions were cruel and gruesome, one wounded soldier being driven by fire from refuge beneath a building and repeatedly shot. Civilians who had come to the station "trembled at the violence" but did not dare to show their sympathies. To Goodman's surprise, he was not killed but put under guard with express orders from Anderson that he was to be protected. For what purpose Goodman was spared remains unknown, but it is thought Anderson anticipated a prisoner exchange for one of his recently captured sergeants. Without doubt, it was the direct order of Anderson, combined with Goodman's intelligence and resourcefulness, that kept him alive during the days to come: disobeying and order from Anderson resulted in being shot on the spot.
Sgt. Goodman was taken to a camp just a few miles from Centrlia where he estimated Anderson had 175-200 men in his band. When scouts came to warn of the approach of federal troops, Anderson threatened his captive with death if he tried to escape. In the ensuring battle, the federal troops were overwhelmed but were promised "humane treatment." That proved to be another of Bloody Bill's treacheries: His troops massacred and mutilated the Union soldiers, even decapitating some of the bodies. Goodman reported about 120 were slain - even worse than the Centralia violence.
After the battle, celebrating guerrillas drunkenly sprayed random shots through the camp and some deliberately taunted Goodman, hoping for a reaction which would justify killing him. Sgt. Goodman was too smart to permit unjustified death of their charge. Thus, once again he survived almost certain death.
For the next week, Goodman, a tightly-guarded prisoner prisoner, accompanied the guerrilla band as they roamed about the countryside. Once, when they fled to avoid Union troops, Anderson himself told Goodman to ride for his life. On the evening of the tenth day, in the confusion of night preparations to cross the Missouri River, Goodman was able to escape. The next day he reached the safety of a federal garrison and subsequently told his story to the editor in St. Joseph, not for self-glorification but as homage to his fallen comrades.
Thomas Morton Goodman died February 1886 and is buried in Plot 52 of the Eastern Half Circle. His grave is marked with a regulation military marker and is surrounded by a low iron fence. The unpretentious site seems most fitting for this modest man of quiet but remarkable courage.
Bio By Susan Faught
Name: Thomas Goodman
Company: G
Unit: 1 Missouri Engineers.
Rank - Induction: Sergeant
Rank - Discharge: Sergeant
Allegiance: Union
Notes: 25 Mo Inf
Sergeant Goodman
Sole Survivor of the Centralia Massacre
In the fall of 1864, one of the more notorious events of the Civil War occurred at Centralia, Missouri, where Confederate Guerrillas under the command of "Bloody Bill" Anderson summarily and cruelly executed 26 unarmed Union soldiers. Only one spared - sgt. Thomas Morton Goodman.
Shortly after the capture of Atlanta in September 1864, men from Goodman's unit, Company G, 1st Missouri Engineers, were granted home furloughs. As their train entered Missouri, there were increased warnings and fears that guerrillas might attack the train in an effort to gain control of the railroad. When the train stopped at Centralia, the warnings proved accurate: guerrillas under Bloody Bill Anderson captured the train, shooting it up even before the unarmed Union soldiers disembarked.
In a slim volume later written by Goodman, he related that as soon as the guerrillas realized the men were unarmed, they "became monsters" and demanded money. The 27 Union men, fearing the worst, were ordered to fall in line on the station platform and strip to their underwear, but Goodman reported they faced death without entreaty or emotion, determined "to meet cruelty by sublimity, and in the presence of devils, to die like gods!"
At that point, Bloody Bill approached the line and asked if there was a sergeant in the ranks. When the demand was repeated the third time, Goodman stepped forward (although he was not the only sergeant in the group), figuring the man who had taken his uniform recognized his rank and would report it to Anderson.
Expecting some special example of punishment, he was taken to the rear, and there he heard the volley of shots which felled the remaining 26 men.
The executions were cruel and gruesome, one wounded soldier being driven by fire from refuge beneath a building and repeatedly shot. Civilians who had come to the station "trembled at the violence" but did not dare to show their sympathies. To Goodman's surprise, he was not killed but put under guard with express orders from Anderson that he was to be protected. For what purpose Goodman was spared remains unknown, but it is thought Anderson anticipated a prisoner exchange for one of his recently captured sergeants. Without doubt, it was the direct order of Anderson, combined with Goodman's intelligence and resourcefulness, that kept him alive during the days to come: disobeying and order from Anderson resulted in being shot on the spot.
Sgt. Goodman was taken to a camp just a few miles from Centrlia where he estimated Anderson had 175-200 men in his band. When scouts came to warn of the approach of federal troops, Anderson threatened his captive with death if he tried to escape. In the ensuring battle, the federal troops were overwhelmed but were promised "humane treatment." That proved to be another of Bloody Bill's treacheries: His troops massacred and mutilated the Union soldiers, even decapitating some of the bodies. Goodman reported about 120 were slain - even worse than the Centralia violence.
After the battle, celebrating guerrillas drunkenly sprayed random shots through the camp and some deliberately taunted Goodman, hoping for a reaction which would justify killing him. Sgt. Goodman was too smart to permit unjustified death of their charge. Thus, once again he survived almost certain death.
For the next week, Goodman, a tightly-guarded prisoner prisoner, accompanied the guerrilla band as they roamed about the countryside. Once, when they fled to avoid Union troops, Anderson himself told Goodman to ride for his life. On the evening of the tenth day, in the confusion of night preparations to cross the Missouri River, Goodman was able to escape. The next day he reached the safety of a federal garrison and subsequently told his story to the editor in St. Joseph, not for self-glorification but as homage to his fallen comrades.
Thomas Morton Goodman died February 1886 and is buried in Plot 52 of the Eastern Half Circle. His grave is marked with a regulation military marker and is surrounded by a low iron fence. The unpretentious site seems most fitting for this modest man of quiet but remarkable courage.
Bio By Susan Faught
Sgt Thomas Morton Goodman was b. in Hardin Co., KY, and married Mary Ann Wood May 20, 1849 in Savannah, Andrew, MO. They had 5 children, 2 died as children. James Edwin Goodman and Daniel Oren Goodman are buried in the Faught Cemetery Sonoma Co., and William Thomas Goodman in Spokan, Wa. Henry is in the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, died age 4, and Louisa V Goodman was buried in Page Co., IA, age 9.
Name: Thomas Goodman
Company: G
Unit: 1 Missouri Engineers.
Rank - Induction: Sergeant
Rank - Discharge: Sergeant
Allegiance: Union
Notes: 25 Mo Inf
Sergeant Goodman
Sole Survivor of the Centralia Massacre
In the fall of 1864, one of the more notorious events of the Civil War occurred at Centralia, Missouri, where Confederate Guerrillas under the command of "Bloody Bill" Anderson summarily and cruelly executed 26 unarmed Union soldiers. Only one spared - sgt. Thomas Morton Goodman.
Shortly after the capture of Atlanta in September 1864, men from Goodman's unit, Company G, 1st Missouri Engineers, were granted home furloughs. As their train entered Missouri, there were increased warnings and fears that guerrillas might attack the train in an effort to gain control of the railroad. When the train stopped at Centralia, the warnings proved accurate: guerrillas under Bloody Bill Anderson captured the train, shooting it up even before the unarmed Union soldiers disembarked.
In a slim volume later written by Goodman, he related that as soon as the guerrillas realized the men were unarmed, they "became monsters" and demanded money. The 27 Union men, fearing the worst, were ordered to fall in line on the station platform and strip to their underwear, but Goodman reported they faced death without entreaty or emotion, determined "to meet cruelty by sublimity, and in the presence of devils, to die like gods!"
At that point, Bloody Bill approached the line and asked if there was a sergeant in the ranks. When the demand was repeated the third time, Goodman stepped forward (although he was not the only sergeant in the group), figuring the man who had taken his uniform recognized his rank and would report it to Anderson.
Expecting some special example of punishment, he was taken to the rear, and there he heard the volley of shots which felled the remaining 26 men.
The executions were cruel and gruesome, one wounded soldier being driven by fire from refuge beneath a building and repeatedly shot. Civilians who had come to the station "trembled at the violence" but did not dare to show their sympathies. To Goodman's surprise, he was not killed but put under guard with express orders from Anderson that he was to be protected. For what purpose Goodman was spared remains unknown, but it is thought Anderson anticipated a prisoner exchange for one of his recently captured sergeants. Without doubt, it was the direct order of Anderson, combined with Goodman's intelligence and resourcefulness, that kept him alive during the days to come: disobeying and order from Anderson resulted in being shot on the spot.
Sgt. Goodman was taken to a camp just a few miles from Centrlia where he estimated Anderson had 175-200 men in his band. When scouts came to warn of the approach of federal troops, Anderson threatened his captive with death if he tried to escape. In the ensuring battle, the federal troops were overwhelmed but were promised "humane treatment." That proved to be another of Bloody Bill's treacheries: His troops massacred and mutilated the Union soldiers, even decapitating some of the bodies. Goodman reported about 120 were slain - even worse than the Centralia violence.
After the battle, celebrating guerrillas drunkenly sprayed random shots through the camp and some deliberately taunted Goodman, hoping for a reaction which would justify killing him. Sgt. Goodman was too smart to permit unjustified death of their charge. Thus, once again he survived almost certain death.
For the next week, Goodman, a tightly-guarded prisoner prisoner, accompanied the guerrilla band as they roamed about the countryside. Once, when they fled to avoid Union troops, Anderson himself told Goodman to ride for his life. On the evening of the tenth day, in the confusion of night preparations to cross the Missouri River, Goodman was able to escape. The next day he reached the safety of a federal garrison and subsequently told his story to the editor in St. Joseph, not for self-glorification but as homage to his fallen comrades.
Thomas Morton Goodman died February 1886 and is buried in Plot 52 of the Eastern Half Circle. His grave is marked with a regulation military marker and is surrounded by a low iron fence. The unpretentious site seems most fitting for this modest man of quiet but remarkable courage.
Bio By Susan Faught
Name: Thomas Goodman
Company: G
Unit: 1 Missouri Engineers.
Rank - Induction: Sergeant
Rank - Discharge: Sergeant
Allegiance: Union
Notes: 25 Mo Inf
Sergeant Goodman
Sole Survivor of the Centralia Massacre
In the fall of 1864, one of the more notorious events of the Civil War occurred at Centralia, Missouri, where Confederate Guerrillas under the command of "Bloody Bill" Anderson summarily and cruelly executed 26 unarmed Union soldiers. Only one spared - sgt. Thomas Morton Goodman.
Shortly after the capture of Atlanta in September 1864, men from Goodman's unit, Company G, 1st Missouri Engineers, were granted home furloughs. As their train entered Missouri, there were increased warnings and fears that guerrillas might attack the train in an effort to gain control of the railroad. When the train stopped at Centralia, the warnings proved accurate: guerrillas under Bloody Bill Anderson captured the train, shooting it up even before the unarmed Union soldiers disembarked.
In a slim volume later written by Goodman, he related that as soon as the guerrillas realized the men were unarmed, they "became monsters" and demanded money. The 27 Union men, fearing the worst, were ordered to fall in line on the station platform and strip to their underwear, but Goodman reported they faced death without entreaty or emotion, determined "to meet cruelty by sublimity, and in the presence of devils, to die like gods!"
At that point, Bloody Bill approached the line and asked if there was a sergeant in the ranks. When the demand was repeated the third time, Goodman stepped forward (although he was not the only sergeant in the group), figuring the man who had taken his uniform recognized his rank and would report it to Anderson.
Expecting some special example of punishment, he was taken to the rear, and there he heard the volley of shots which felled the remaining 26 men.
The executions were cruel and gruesome, one wounded soldier being driven by fire from refuge beneath a building and repeatedly shot. Civilians who had come to the station "trembled at the violence" but did not dare to show their sympathies. To Goodman's surprise, he was not killed but put under guard with express orders from Anderson that he was to be protected. For what purpose Goodman was spared remains unknown, but it is thought Anderson anticipated a prisoner exchange for one of his recently captured sergeants. Without doubt, it was the direct order of Anderson, combined with Goodman's intelligence and resourcefulness, that kept him alive during the days to come: disobeying and order from Anderson resulted in being shot on the spot.
Sgt. Goodman was taken to a camp just a few miles from Centrlia where he estimated Anderson had 175-200 men in his band. When scouts came to warn of the approach of federal troops, Anderson threatened his captive with death if he tried to escape. In the ensuring battle, the federal troops were overwhelmed but were promised "humane treatment." That proved to be another of Bloody Bill's treacheries: His troops massacred and mutilated the Union soldiers, even decapitating some of the bodies. Goodman reported about 120 were slain - even worse than the Centralia violence.
After the battle, celebrating guerrillas drunkenly sprayed random shots through the camp and some deliberately taunted Goodman, hoping for a reaction which would justify killing him. Sgt. Goodman was too smart to permit unjustified death of their charge. Thus, once again he survived almost certain death.
For the next week, Goodman, a tightly-guarded prisoner prisoner, accompanied the guerrilla band as they roamed about the countryside. Once, when they fled to avoid Union troops, Anderson himself told Goodman to ride for his life. On the evening of the tenth day, in the confusion of night preparations to cross the Missouri River, Goodman was able to escape. The next day he reached the safety of a federal garrison and subsequently told his story to the editor in St. Joseph, not for self-glorification but as homage to his fallen comrades.
Thomas Morton Goodman died February 1886 and is buried in Plot 52 of the Eastern Half Circle. His grave is marked with a regulation military marker and is surrounded by a low iron fence. The unpretentious site seems most fitting for this modest man of quiet but remarkable courage.
Bio By Susan Faught
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