1st Sergeant George Thompson
1st Sgt. George Thompson
First Sergeant George Thompson was born in Franklin County, Virginia, in 1844. By the time he was 21 years old, he had made his way to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he joined the United States Army as a substitute for a white man from Lancaster who had been drafted, George Nauman. During the Civil War, a ‘draftee’ could hire another man as a ‘substitute’ to serve in his place. Many members of the Amish and Mennonite communities around Lancaster hired substitutes as their faith prohibited them from serving in the military.
Private Thompson enlisted on February 2, 1865, for three years, in Company L of the 2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry Regiment. His enlistment records indicated he was 5’ 9 ¾” tall, slightly above average height for the time. Thompson must have made a favorable impression on the regiment’s officers, as he was promoted to First Sergeant on February 10, 1865, just a few days before the unit shipped out for Norfolk.
The First Sergeant or Orderly Sergeant is the senior enlisted officer of an army company, responsible for communicating the orders of the commanding officer to the troops, and ensuring those orders are executed. In battle formation, the First Sergeant stands just behind the Company Commander on the right side of the Company line, helping to maintain order in the ranks. If the Commander is killed or wounded and no other commissioned officers are present, the First Sergeant would step forward and take command in his place. Routine duties of a First Sergeant include overseeing the distribution and care of any government property assigned to the unit, such as weapons, horses, and other equipment; making sure the enlisted soldiers are paid, armed, fed, and uniformed; and maintaining discipline.
Not just any soldier can become a First Sergeant. At just 21 years of age, George Thompson had to have been a natural leader. With his heavy responsibilities, he would have had to maintain the respect of the other enlisted men in the company and of the officers that led it. USCT regiments were led by white officers. The position of First Sergeant was one of the highest ranks that could be attained by an African American man during the Civil War.
By the time George Thompson joined the regiment, the Civil War was nearing its end. The 2nd US Colored Cavalry was ordered February 18, 1865, to Norfolk, Virginia and then to City Point, Virginia a few weeks after the war ended in May 1865. In June 1865 they were ordered to Texas, where eventually they would be posted to Brazos Santiago, Texas – a supply base on the southern end of Padre Island that had been hotly contested during the war.
As First Sergeant of a Union Cavalry Unit, Thompson would have worn an insignia on his coat sleeves consisting of three gold chevrons pointing downward, under a bugle. A leather strap across his chest would have supported a leather belt, on which he wore a standard Army issue pistol, cartridge box, and cap pouch. As a cavalry trooper, he would also have carried a sword.
While in Texas, Thompson was accused by a soldier in his company, Private Jacob Wedlock, of stealing a watch and $280 in bonds. Thompson was tried by a military court consisting of three officers from the regiment. The prosecution presented testimony from five witnesses, one of whom was Private Wedlock, the accuser. Thompson pled Not Guilty. The defense countered with testimony from another five witnesses. The proceedings and testimony were carefully recorded, handwritten on twelve pages by Lieutenant Enos B. Wood, the regiment’s Adjutant. The trial began on a Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. and lasted for five days, from September 9 to September 14, 1865. Thompson made a statement as the defense rested its case.
We don’t have a picture of 1SGT George Thompson wearing his blue uniform and his First Sergeant’s stripes, but we do have something just as rare - his own words, in testimony carefully recorded by Lieutenant Wood:
“I believe it is through prejudice that these men have made this accusation against me, because I have punished them for disobedience of orders, as I knew nothing whatever of the charge until the last day of July. I was told by my commanding officer that if Wedlock did not keep his arms and clothes clean I should punish him without reporting it to him, which I did. Sergeant Tinsley on being ordered by me not to leave camp without permission, said that he would do so, taking men out with him. I reported it to Captain Herbert, who directed me to place him in arrest, when Sergeant Tinsley said he would work some way to reduce me to the ranks. George Scott also said so because I would not excuse him from duty. When I first heard that I was accused of taking Wedlock’s bonds and watch, I asked him if he ever said so, and he replied that he never had. I think that he was made the tool of by men in the company to make this report and I heard Sergeant Tinsley tell Wedlock in his tent one day to ‘mind and tell these tales straight.’ This is all I can say in regard to this affair, for I never saw his bonds, and only saw his watch once, when I gave it to him at the fairgrounds at Norfolk.”
Thompson’s voice comes down to us as powerful and clear, confident of the justice that only a short time before would likely have been denied him because of the
circumstances of his birth. He was acquitted of the charge; the court determined that the only evidence against him was conflicting testimony from soldiers he had disciplined in the course of his duties as First Sergeant.
George Thompson mustered out with his unit on February 12, 1866, at Brazos Santiago. He settled in Fort Bend, Texas, a few miles southwest of Houston. On April 10, 1880, he married Phillis Kinchelow. In the 1880 census Thompson is recorded as living with his wife and 12-year-old stepdaughter, Lena Simmons, described as “at school.” Phillis was born in South Carolina. The 1880 census listed a number of other Kinchelow family members, born in South Carolina, living nearby.
Contributors: John Wood, Brynna Wert and Sarah Plummer