Thomas Mathews (1742–February 20, 1812) was an American Revolutionary War general and Virginia lawyer and politician.

Thomas Mathews was born c. 1742 on Saint Kitts, an island of the West Indies.

[3] In 1775 Mathews became Lieutenant of the Norfolk County militia, then accepted a commission as captain in 1776 and command of Fort Nelson, which protected Portsmouth, Virginia and the nearby Gosport naval yard, which was very important following the departure of Lord Dunmore from the capital at Williamsburg to British ships in the Hampton Roads area of Chesapeake Bay.

He received a promotion to lieutenant colonel on November 8, 1779, and another to brigadier general before the Battle of Yorktown.

[5] Mathews became the first speaker in the present Capitol building in Richmond, remaining as such through the 1793 legislation.