Lost ID leads to soldier’s story

Early on the morning of July 22, 1899, a body was discovered floating face down in Plum Creek in Rice County, Kan.

A small crowd slowly gathered from nearby Bushton as the bloated, unrecognizable corpse was pulled from the muddy water. A local newspaper said: “The body was a horrible sight, having been in the water for a week. Upon examination, a pension voucher was found in one of the pockets that showed it to be the body of an old soldier, once a member of the 3rd Vermont Infantry — John Thompson.”

A coroner rendered a report: “cause of death — unknown.” The Civil War veteran was placed in the Bushton Cemetery, not far from the soil he had farmed for many years.

To trace Thompson’s journey from Vermont to Kansas, let’s turn the calendar to Oct. 11, 1985. On that beautiful fall afternoon, my brother Don and I were searching for Civil War relics with metal detectors just west of Antietam Creek in Washington County, near Funkstown, Md.

The land we were searching was camped on by the Army of the Potomac after the bloodbath called Gettysburg. On this line in July 1863, Gen. George G. Meade’s blue-clad soldiers carefully watched Gen. Robert E. Lee’s retreating Army of Northern Virginia at Williamsport. Lee was nervously waiting for the flooded Potomac River to recede for a safe crossing to Southern soil.

A strange object

Beside a flat limestone ledge, I dug up a brass disc about the size of a quarter. Although traces of gold lettering could be seen, it was determined that the strange object was not a U.S. coin. That evening, while cleaning the small medallion with the help of a standard household cleaner applied with a toothbrush, I could read “J.S. Thompson, Co. B, 3rd Reg., Vt. Vol., Glover.”

The front of the Civil War ID tag displayed an American eagle with raised words, “War of 1861 — United States.” The medal was approximately 50 percent original gold plate. These keepsakes were sold by enterprising sutlers who competed for the soldiers’ $13-a-month pay. The sutler would stamp a soldier’s name, regiment, etc. on the back, driving the letters into the brass, thus preserving the gold inscription as the surface or face wore away.

Who was J.S. Thompson? Did he survive the war? Where was he buried? Extensive research provided answers to these questions far more interesting than ever anticipated.

First wound

John Steven Thompson was born on Feb. 29, 1834, to John Thompson Sr. and Sarah Ann Wells Thompson near the Canadian border at Wheelock, Vt. At age 15, he had taken up residence in Glover, Vt., working on a farm. The small, peaceful village remains about the same today as in the 19th century, with one of the largest trades being a taxidermist shop.

On May 10, 1861, 26-year-old Thompson enlisted in the Army for three years. He was described as being 5 feet 9½ inches tall, having blue eyes and auburn hair. He received the rank of corporal as a member of Company B, 3rd Regiment Vermont Volunteers.

The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Vermont regiments composed the Vermont Brigade, attached to the 6th Corps, Army of the Potomac. Early in the war, Thompson fought in every major engagement of the Army of the Potomac without serious injury. However, on Sept. 17, 1862, at the Battle of Antietam, he suffered his first wound.

According to the Official Records, while under heavy fire from sharpshooters and artillery near a sunken road that came to be known as Bloody Lane, Thompson was struck by a “musket ball just below the right shoulder blade.” Luckily, the slug had lost most of its force — otherwise, death would have been immediate.

The wound was serious enough to cause the Vermonter to be admitted to a field hospital near Hagerstown, 10 miles north of Sharpsburg. National Archives records state that three months after Antietam, Thompson fought in the First Battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862, indicating a full recovery from his wound.

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