Thomas Burnett East was born October 13, 1843 in Huntsville, Illinois to Haley and Martha Priscilla (James) East.

On September 30, 1861 he enlisted and was mustered in as a Private in Company H, 50th Illinois Infantry. On October 9 the regiment moved to Hannibal, Missouri. It took an active part in the battle of Fort Donelson, was engaged in the battle of Shiloh, and participated in the siege of Corinth. Pvt. East was discharged on September 28, 1862.

On December 28, 1863 he again enlisted and was mustered in the next day as a Private in Company E, 16th Illinois Infantry. He was mustered out July 8, 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky.

The 16th Illinois arrived at Rossville, Georgia, in the latter part of February 1864 and went into camp with the rest of the brigade and division. On May 5, they moved with Sherman’s army on the Atlanta campaign.

The regiment participated in the following battles in Georgia in 1864: Buzzard’s Roost (May 9), Resaca (May 14-15), Dallas (May 28-29), Kennesaw Mountain (June 27), Chattahoochee River (July 4-17), Peach Tree Creek (July 20), Atlanta (Aug. 1864), and Jonesboro (Aug. 31-Sept. 1).

After the capture of Atlanta, the regiment went into camp for nearly a month. It was sent to Tennessee for a time, in pursuit of Gen. Hood, but was returned to Atlanta where it became part of the Army of Georgia. The regiment participated in the famous march through Georgia to the sea. Being on the most advanced post at the evacuation of Savannah, it had the honor of being the representative regiment of the Fourteenth Army Corps to take formal possession of the city.

The regiment marched north through the Carolinas during February and March 1865, assisted in the capture of Columbia and Fayetteville, and was in the fierce fight at Averysboro (March 16, 1865). On March 19-20, 1865 the regiment was hotly engaged at Bentonville, where it took heavy losses.

The regiment participated in the Grand Review in Washington, DC on May 24, 1865 before being sent home. Private East was mustered out July 8, 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky.

After moving to California, Thomas B. East joined Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Post No. 181 in Long Beach in 1906, of which he remained a member until his passing.

He was also a member of Gen. Henry Lawton Camp No. 10, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, based on the Civil War service of his father, Haley East, who had also served in the 50th Illinois Infantry.

Thomas B. East died December 11, 1940 in Long Beach, California and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.