Thomas Wallace Knox (June 26, 1835 - January 6, 1896) was a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and world

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel ca ...

er, known primarily for his work as a ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the ''New York Herald Tribune''. Hist ...

'' correspondent during the American Civil War. As an author, Knox wrote over 45 books, including a popular series of travel adventure books for boys. Knox was well known for his written attacks on

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his co ...

and his Union soldiers, which reintroduced into the public debate the issue of Sherman's sanity. His work was controversial as he published important information pertaining to the

Vicksburg Campaign The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi Ri ...

. Knox was acquitted on spy charges but found guilty of disobeying orders.

Biography

Thomas Wallace Knox was born in

Pembroke, New Hampshire Pembroke is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 7,207 at the 2020 census. Pembroke includes part of the village of Suncook. The center of population of New Hampshire is close to the Pembroke town center. ...

in 1835, where he attended local schools. He became a teacher, moving west into New York State and founding an academy in Kingston. In 1860, at the age of 25, Knox headed west to take part in the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Ze ...

in Colorado. He soon started working for the '' Denver Daily News''. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Knox enlisted in the

California Volunteers California State Volunteer Units 1861 – 1866 The following are California State Volunteer Units that were active between 1861 – 1866 serving in the Union Army, most west of the Rocky Mountains in place of Federal troops: California Brigade ...

, where he was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel. He was wounded in a Missouri skirmish, and subsequently discharged. At that point, Knox returned to journalism, as a correspondent for the ''

''. He soon ran afoul of General Sherman. After the war, Knox traveled the world widely, at first with the Russo-American Telegraph Company. He used these experiences as the basis for more travel, and wrote numerous books on foreign places for adults and children. Knox never married. From the 1880s onward, when not traveling abroad, he lived at the

Lotos Club The Lotos Club was founded in 1870 as a gentlemen's club in New York City; it has since also admitted women as members. Its founders were primarily a young group of writers and critics. Mark Twain, an early member, called it the "Ace of Clubs".< ...

in Manhattan. He spent his summers at the Olympic Club in

Bay Shore Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

. Knox died at the Lotos Club in January 1896, shortly after returning from the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

Memberships

— Knox was Club secretary from 1880 to 1889 *

Union League Club of New York The Union League Club is a private social club in New York City that was founded in 1863 in affiliation with the Union League. Its fourth and current clubhouse is located at 38 East 37th Street on the corner of Park Avenue, in the Murray Hill ...

* Authors' Club * Olympic Club

Works

* Camp-Fire and Cotton-Field: Southern Adventure in Time of War. (1865) * Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life (1871) * The Boy Travellers in the Far East (1880) * How to Travel (1881) * The Story Teller of the Desert—"Backsheesh!" (1885) * Horse Stories, and Stories of Other Animals (1890) * The Land of the Kangaroo (1896) * The Lost Army (1899) * The Life of Robert Fulton and a History of Steam Navigation (1900)

Selected bibliography

* ''Camp-Fire and Cotton-Field: Southern Adventure in Time of War, Life with the Union Armies, and Residence on a Louisiana Plantation'' (1865)
''Overland Through Asia: Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tatar Life'' (1870)
* ''Backsheesh!'' or ''Life and Adventures in the Orient'' (1875) * '' Decisive Battles Since Waterloo. The Most Important Military Events from 1815 to 1887'' (1887) * ''The Boy Travelers'' series (20 books) ** ''The Boy Travelers in the Far East, Part First: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Japan & China'' (New York: Harper, 1879) ** ''The Boy Travelers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Egypt and the Holy Land'' (Harper & Bros., 1882) ** ''The Boy Travelers in the Congo: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey with

Henry M. Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa and his sear ...

"Through the Dark Continent"'' (1887)

References

External links