Journalist, novelist, and globe traveler Thomas Wallace Knox is most remembered for his work as a New York Herald correspondent during the American Civil War. Knox was a prolific writer who authored more than 45 books, including a well-liked line of adventure trip books for boys. Knox gained notoriety for his written critiques of William Tecumseh Sherman and his Union soldiers, which brought up the question of Sherman's sanity once more in public discourse. Because he provided crucial information on the Vicksburg Campaign, his work was controversial. Although Knox was found guilty of defying orders, he was cleared of spying accusations. Born in 1835 in Pembroke, New Hampshire, Thomas Wallace Knox attended the local schools. After training as a teacher, he relocated to Kingston, New York State, and established an institution there. Knox traveled west in 1860, when he was twenty-five years old, to participate in the Colorado gold rush. He began working for the Denver Daily News shortly after. Knox joined the California Volunteers at the start of the Civil War and was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel. After being hurt in a skirmish in Missouri, he was released. At that point, Knox went back to work for the New York Herald as a correspondent.