Fr. 359. 1890 $5 Treasury Note. PCGS Banknote Gem Uncirculated 65 PPQ.Ornate back Treasury Notes from the Series of 1890 provide collectors with some of the most visually striking notes our hobby has to offer. After all this is the same series of notes that gave us the $1000 Grand Watermelon note considered to be the pinnacle of American currency collecting. This $5 Treasury Note is remarkably well preserved and framed by large even margins on both the face and back. Bold overprint inks are observed in the large brown spiked Treasury Seal at right and red printed serial numbers at the lower left and upper right. The engraved design elements are all vividly detailed including the busily designed back and the imposing portrait of Union Major General George H. Thomas seen at center on the face.Unlike most Union generals Thomas was a southerner, born in Newsoms Depot, Virginia in 1816. His family owned slaves who worked their plantation-style farm, and as a young man Thomas witnessed first-hand the violent slave rebellion led by Nat Turner. In 1836 Thomas was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was a close friend and roommate of William T. Sherman.After graduation Thomas served in an artillery company where he became close friends with future Confederate general Braxton Bragg. In 1851 Thomas returned to West Point as an instructor working closely under the schools superintendent Robert E. Lee. While an instructor at West Point, Thomas taught future Confederate generals J.E.B. Stuart and Fitzhugh Lee. In 1855 Thomas was made a Major in the 2nd Cavalry by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. Many of the cavalrys officers were southerners and when the Civil War broke out in 1861, 19 of the 36 officers resigned, including superiors Albert Sidney Johnston and Robert E. Lee.Many southern-born officers struggled with loyalty to their home states and to the Union they served. Virginians especially resigned their United States Army commissions in support of defending their home state. Perhaps influenced by his northern-born wife, Thomas stayed with the Union Army. In response, Thomas family back home, including his five siblings, completely disowned him and remained estranged from him for the rest of his life.