BBG Champion, Thomas E.

Thomas Emmet Champion
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Born: August 3, 1825

Birthplace: Palmyra, Wayne County, New York

Wife: Mary Elizabeth Deane 1828 – 1901

Married: 1848 in Michigan

Children:

George Byron Champion 1852 – 1872​

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Frederick E. Champion 1854 – 1924​

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Hattie L. Champion 1858 –​

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Charles Thomas Champion 1860 – 1923​

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Frank L. Champion 1860 – ​

Antebellum Years:

Family Moved from New York to Michigan when Thomas was 12 years old​

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Worked his fathers farm until he was 16​

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Worked in a printing office for several years​

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Studied Medicine in his leisure time​

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1847: Graduated from the University of Michigan, and admitted to practice medicine that same year​

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1848: Married to Miss Deane​

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1850: Moved to Freeport, Illinois​

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1851: Moved to Warren, Illinois​

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Continued to have success practicing medicine, but found that he had a natural taste for the law​

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1855: Admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Court of Illinois​

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1856: Opened his own law practice​

Civil War Career:

1862: Champion helped to raise Company K, of what would be come the 96th Illinois Infantry at Warren, Illinois​

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1862: Champion was first elected Captain by the men in his Company, then elected Colonel of the entire Regiment​

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1862 – 1865: Colonel of 96th​ Illinois Infantry Regiment​

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1863: At Chickamaugua he had two horses shot out from underneath him, and rode a third from the battlefield, his clothing pierced with bullet holes, and more than half his command killed or wounded. He was commended for meritorious conduct by his superiors.​

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1863: Accounts from the regiment claim his skill saved the regiment at Lookout Mountain, if not the whole army.​

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1864: On Monday, June 20th, at Kenesaw Mountain, Champion is wounded in the face, a painful wound that is slow to heal.​

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1865: In April, Champion is recommended for promotion to Brigadier General by his superiors, but the lists were already full, so he was only granted a Brevet Brigadier General Commission in Union Army​

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1865: In June, mustered out of the Union Army​

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Postbellum Years:

1865: Champion retired to Knoxville, Tennessee, resuming his legal practice.​

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He never fully recovered his health from his wartime wounds​

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Died: June 13, 1873

Place of Death: Knoxville, Tennessee

Cause of Death: Consumption

Age at time of Death: 47 years old

Burial Place: Old Gray Cemetery, Knoxville, Tennessee