James Thompson
MSA SC 3520-17916
Biography:
James Thompson enlisted as a private in the First Company of the First Maryland Regiment in January 1776. The company was raised in Charles County, Maryland, where Thompson lived, and was led by Captain John Hoskins Stone. It was part of Maryland's first contingent of full-time, professional troops. Its men distinguished themselves that summer, gaining fame as the "Maryland 400." [1]
In July, the regiment received orders to march to New York to defend the city from an impending British attack. The Marylanders arrived in New York in early August, where they joined with the rest of the Continental Army, commanded by General George Washington. On August 27, 1776, the Americans faced the British Army at the Battle of Brooklyn (sometimes called the Battle of Long Island), the first full-scale engagement of the war. The battle was a rout: the British were able to sneak around the American lines, and the outflanked Americans fled in disarray.
During the retreat, the Maryland troops fought their way towards the American fortifications, but were blocked by the swampy Gowanus Creek. Half the regiment, including the First Company, was able to cross the creek, and escape the battle. However, the rest were unable to do so before they were attacked by the British. Facing down a much larger, better-trained force, this group of soldiers, today called the "Maryland 400," mounted a series of daring charges, which held the British at bay for some time, at the cost of many lives, before being overrun. They took enormous causalities, with some companies losing losing nearly 80 percent of their men, but their actions delayed the British long enough for the rest of the Continental Army to escape. In all, the First Maryland lost 256 men, killed or taken prisoner. [2]
Thompson survived the battle, as did most of the men in his company. During the fall of 1776, the Marylanders fought a series of battles in New York: Harlem Heights (September), White Plains (October), and Fort Washington (November). While the Americans had some tactical successes at these engagements, by November they had been pushed out of New York entirely, though they secured key revitalizing victories at Trenton and Princeton late that winter.
In December 1776, Thompson's enlistment came to an end, and he signed on again, this time as a sergeant. A number of the soldiers who had fought in the 1776 campaign received similar promotions, a reflection of the veteran leadership that they could contribute to the army. During his three-year term, Thompson saw a great deal of combat. The Marylanders fought in the disastrous raid on Staten Island in August 1777, and the major battles of the campaign to protect Philadelphia from the British, Brandywine (September 1777) and Germantown (October 1777), both significant defeats. The Marylanders also fought at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. The next year, 1779, saw little combat as the war slowed to a stalemate. On December 27, 1779, Thompson's enlistment ended, and he received his discharge. [3]
In early January 1780, not long after he completed his term in the army, Thompson was recommended for a promotion to ensign. In need of seasoned officers, Maryland's commanders turned to a number of men who had been in the army since the beginning of the war. As General William Smallwood, by now Maryland's highest-ranking officer, wrote, "I believe their Services and Merit entitle them to such Reward." The gap between sergeant and ensign was a wide one, as officers were typically drawn from the gentry. Furthermore, commanders were sometimes reluctant to promote non-commissioned officers like sergeants, because experienced sergeants were so valuable. However, whether Thompson served in the army after 1779 is not clear. It is not even certain if he ever received his commission. [4]
According to family tradition, Thompson was born in Scotland in 1747, emigrating to America in the 1760s, where he married Nancy Perry in 1768, and had eight children: James Jr. (b. 1768), John (b. 1770), Margaret (b. 1772), William (1774-1775), William (b. 1776), Ebenezer (b. 1778), Edward (b. 1780), and Ann (b. 1782). Reportedly, the family migrated west to Kentucky in the 1790s, where James became a Baptist preacher, distinguishing himself as an opponent of slavery, and helping to form an anti-slavery church in Bracken County, Kentucky. Nancy died in January 1818, and James died that September 1818. [5]
Owen Lourie, 2018. Additional research generously provided by Dennis McClurg.
Notes:
[2] Return of the Maryland troops, 13 September 1776, Revolutionary War Rolls, NARA M246, folder 35, p. 85, from Fold3.com; Mark Andrew Tacyn "'To the End:' The First Maryland Regiment and the American Revolution" (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1999), 48-73. For more on the experience of the Marylanders at the Battle of Brooklyn, see "In Their Own Words," on the Maryland State Archives research blog, Finding the Maryland 400.
[3] Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 168; List of receipts of soldiers who were paid upon discharge, 27 December 1779, Maryland State Papers, Revolutionary Papers, box 3, no. 7-21, p. 1, MdHR 19970-3-7/21 [MSA S997-3-94, 1/7/3/9]; Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, NARA M881, from Fold3.com.
[4] Journal and Correspondence of the State Council, 1779-1790. Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 43, p. 69-71; Archives of Maryland Online, vol. 18, p. 168.
[5] Portions of Thompson's civilian life cannot be easily documented, and there are some holes in the information in this paragraph. Carter Tarrant, History of the Baptised Ministers and Churches in Kentucky, Friends to Humanity (Frankfort, KY, 1808); Dennis McClurg, James Thompson (1747-1818).
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