Lost ID leads to soldier's story

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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