Personal Facts
- Born: c. July 5, 1736, in Ireland.
- Parents: Unknown.
- Spouse: Catharine Ross (1762).
- Died: September 3, 1781, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 45 years old.
- Buried: Old Graveyard, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
- Significance: William Thompson is important to American History because of his military service during the American Revolutionary War.
Biography
William Thompson was born in Ireland around 1736. He settled near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and worked as a surveyor and justice of the peace.
French and Indian War
- On September 8, 1756, he served as a captain under John Armstrong Sr. in an expedition against Native American Indian settlements at Kittanning.
- After the war, he helped locate land grants for officers on Pennsylvania’s western frontier.
Siege of Boston
In response to the Battles of Lexington and Concord, officials in Pennsylvania appointed him as a Colonel of one of its battalions.
- Thompson’s unit was known as “Thompson’s Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion.”
- He arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in early August 1775.
- This was the first unit raised for the Continental Army and was the first to arrive at Boston.
Battle of Lechmere Point
On November 9, 1775, a British expedition landed at Lechmere Point, intending to seize livestock at the point and take it back to the city, where it would be used to feed the troops.
- Thompson led his Pennsylvania riflemen in a counterattack.
- Colonel Benjamin Woodbridge supported Thompson with troops from his Massachusetts regiment.
- Additional support came from troops who were part of the Massachusetts regiment commanded by Colonel John Paterson.
Thompson and his men fired on the British. Despite the attack and icy winter conditions, the British took 10 cattle, effectively succeeding in what is known as the Battle of Lechmere Point.
General George Washington praised Thompson for his actions in his General Orders the next day, even though the British were successful and two Americans were killed.
1st Continental Infantry
When General Washington reorganized the Continental Army on January 1, 1776, Thompson’s battalion became the 1st Continental Infantry.
As the Siege of Boston continued, Thompson was sent to New York to help build defensive fortifications in preparation for an expected British attack. He temporarily commanded the American forces after General Charles Lee was sent to Charleston, South Carolina.
Canada Campaign
Congress promoted Thompson to Brigadier General on March 1, 1776. Soon after, he was chosen to lead reinforcements to Canada to support American forces laying siege to Quebec City.
- Invasion of Quebec (1775–1776) — The first military expedition carried out by the Continental Army during the war. Congress hoped to seize Quebec City and convince the Canadians to join the Patriot Cause. Americans were defeated in the Battle of Quebec (December 31, 1775) and laid siege to the city until the spring of 1776.
On April 21, 1776, Thompson sailed up the Hudson River, leading an expedition that included John Greaton, William Paterson, Enoch Poor, and their regiments.
- Retreat from Canada (1776) — British forces arrived at Quebec City in May 1776 and immediately attacked the Americans. The Americans fled and retreated down toward Montreal. General John Sullivan’s army joined the retreat at Fort St. John on June 1, 1776. Sullivan took command of the main army, while William Maxwell led the rear guard. Sullivan hoped to regroup the army and march back to Quebec.
Battle of Three Rivers
Sullivan sent Thompson to seize Three Rivers (Trois Rivières) between Montreal and Quebec, hoping to move back toward Quebec City. When Thompson arrived on July 8, 1776, a scout led his army through a swamp instead of directly to Three Rivers. Meanwhile, the British received reinforcements and attacked the Americans as they approached. The Americans were forced to retreat to the swamp, where Native American Indians, who were allied with the British, attacked them.
- This defeat ended Sullivan’s hopes of continuing the campaign.
- Thompson was captured and taken as a prisoner by the British.
Controversy with Thomas McKean
Thompson was paroled and returned to Philadelphia two months later. However, he could not rejoin the war effort until he was exchanged for a British prisoner, which did not happen for four years.
- During this time, he accused Congressman Thomas McKean of delaying his exchange.
- Congress censured Maxwell on November 23, 1778, for his behavior toward McKean.
- Thompson apologized, but McKean sued him for libel, winning £5,700 in damages.
- McKean later released Thompson from paying the fine.
- Thomas eventually exchanged for Baron Friedrich Riedesel.
Thomas McKean (1734–1817) — McKean was a well-known lawyer, politician, and judge from New London, Pennsylvania. He signed the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation. He participated in key events that shaped the American Revolution, including the Stamp Act Congress, First Continental Congress, and Second Continental Congress. He also played a key role in Pennsylvania’s ratification of the United States Constitution.
Death
Thompson died near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 1781.
Appendix
Biographical Sketch
This biographical sketch of William Maxwell is from the Biographical Sketches of the Generals of the Continental Army of the Revolution (1889). Please note that minor text corrections have been made.
William Thompson was born in Ireland and emigrated to the State of Pennsylvania. During the French and Indian War, he was the captain of a troop of mounted militia. In June 1775, Congress ordered the raising of eight companies of riflemen by the State of Pennsylvania. Thompson was appointed Colonel of the battalion. These troops were the first raised by the demand of the Continental Congress, and reached the camp at Cambridge before the 14th of August. On the 10th of November, they repulsed a British landing party at Lechmere’s Point. On the 1st of March, 1776, Thompson was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. On the 19th, he superseded General Charles Lee in command of the troops in New York. In April, being ordered to Canada to reinforce General John Thomas, he met the retreating army. He took command during the fatal illness of that officer. However, he resigned on June 4th and ceded to General John Sullivan, by whose orders, two days later, Thompson made the disastrous attack on the British at Trois Rivieres, resulting in the defeat of the Americans, and the taking prisoner of their general. Released on parole in August, Thompson returned to Philadelphia, but was not exchanged until two years later. He was never again actively employed in the service, but died near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of September, 1781.
Narrative
This narrative of William Thompson is from the Dictionary of American Biography (1943). Please note that minor text corrections have been made and additional spacing has been added to improve readability.
William Thompson was born in Ireland. Emigrating to America, he settled on a farm near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he became a surveyor and justice of the peace. During the French and Indian War, he was commissioned as a Captain of a troop of horse and participated in the expedition led by John Armstrong, Sr., against Kittanning. He took part in settling the western boundary of Pennsylvania and locating lands granted by the King to officers serving in the war.
On July 12, 1774, at a meeting of the freeholders from several townships of Cumberland County, called to denounce the closing of the Port of Boston, he was elected a member of the Committee of Correspondence. In May 1775, he served on the provincial Committee of Safety.
When the news of the battle of Bunker Hill reached Pennsylvania, he was placed in command of a battalion of riflemen raised in the southeastern counties, designated at first as the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment but later as the 1st Continental Infantry.
Marching promptly to Boston, it won credit as the first body of men to reach that point from the South. It constituted a crack corps, the privates being unusually “stout and hardy; many of them exceeding six feet and remarkable for the accuracy of their aim.” According to the diary of James Thacher, they were dressed in “white frocks, or rifle shirts, and round hats.”
During the Siege of Boston, they were posted on Prospect Hill. On November 9, 1775, he repulsed a British attack on Lechmere Point. Washington thanked Thompson in his General Orders.
On March 1, 1776, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. He was presently ordered to Canada in charge of a detachment of about 2,000 men, comprising the regiments of Poor, Paterson, Greaton, and Bond.
General John Sullivan, commanding the American forces on the St. Lawrence River, directed Thompson to attack Three Rivers. On the night of June 7, he crossed the stream a few miles above the town, hoping to surprise the British at dawn. However, due to the treachery of a guide, his men were lost in a swamp and repulsed, while he was taken prisoner. On October 25, 1780, he was exchanged for Baron Friedrich Riedesel.
Before this, however, he was placed on parole and returned to Pennsylvania. Here, he became involved in a controversy with Thomas McKean, then serving as a member of Congress, whom he accused of hindering his exchange. Thompson submitted a memorial to Congress in which he referred to McKean in such critical terms that, on November 23, 1778, Congress voted that he was “guilty of an insult to the honor and dignity of this house, and of a breach of privilege.”
Thompson was summoned before Congress and tendered an apology. McKean sued him for libel and was awarded £5,700 damages, which he declined, since he only wanted to see the law and the facts settled.
Thompson died and was buried in Carlisle. His energy, fearlessness, and pugnacity admirably qualified him to occupy high command in an army whose plight was often desperate.
