Thompson, W. S. (fl. 1862-1865) [Four Civil War pocket diaries] [decimalized .01-.04]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01838 Author/Creator: Thompson, W. S. (fl. 1862-1865) Place Written: various places Type: Autograph manuscript Date: 1862-1865 Pagination: 4 v. Order a Copy
William S. Thompson, captain of a Pennsylvania militia company, was mustered into service on 29 May 1861. He left his hometown of Bristol, Pennsylvania to join the 3rd Pennsylvania Reserve (32nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry) at Camp Washington (the regiment was organized there 21 June 1861), where he was given the rank of lieutenant colonel. Thompson left the army in July of 1862 and became chief engineer on the steamship "Suwanee" on 13 February 1863. In October of that year, he joined the United States Navy, serving as an engineer aboard the ironclad "Atlanta" until his death on 6 April 1865. According to a pension claim later filed on behalf of his children, Thompson was killed on the banks of the James River, when a Confederate torpedo he was examining exploded. (This could account for the singe marks found on 01838.04, his 1865 diary. The last entry in that diary is dated the day before his death.) Because he was "on liberty" at the time, Thompson's children were not entitled to his pension.
Thompson appears to have been mustered into service on May 29, 1861 from his hometown of Bristol, Pennsylvania. He joined the 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment at Camp Washington. He seems to have left the army to join the United States Navy in 1862, serving as an engineer first on the "Sussana," and then the "Atlanta" in 1864-1865.
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