Corporal William Thompson

Cpl. William Thompson

Corporal William Thompson was born c. 1843 in Franklin County, Virginia, and enlisted on May 1, 1863, in Miliken's Bend, Louisianna. At the time of his enlistment, the U.S. Army described Thompson as 5’4 1/2” tall with dark complexion, black eyes, and black hair. Reports of Thompson’s age vary greatly. The most complete descriptive record gave his age as 20, while other records listed him as 30 and 37 at the time of his enlistment. His occupation was listed as farmer, and his commitment was for three years.

This soldier likely arrived in Mississippi enslaved, sold from Virginia to supply the booming cotton trade. Thompson reported at the time that he was married and had a family in Natchez, Mississippi. Thompson may have moved his family there for protection in refugee communities called “contraband camps” which surrounded military outpost in the South as Union soldiers enforced the Emancipation Proclamation. These camps were also major recruitment grounds for the USCT. Natchez had been occupied by Union forces early on and was a relatively safe place during the Civil War for those escaping enslavement.

William Thompson was made Corporal at the time he enlisted. He mustered in on August 7, at Vicksburg with the 1st Mississippi Heavy Artillery (African Descent). In November 1963, he was demoted to private for being absent without leave and sentenced to 10 days confinement at hard labor.

The unit was redesignated the 5th USCT Heavy Artillery in April 1864. Pvt Thompson served with Co. B. There were three other soldiers born in Franklin County, Virginia, who served with this regiment in different companies. One of them, Daniel Colbert, enlisted on the very same day and location. The regiment performed garrison duty at Vicksburg, Mississippi, with brief expeditions to Rodney, Fayette and Yazoo City in late 1864. The regiment mustered out May 1866. Soldiers lost during service included four officers and 124 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, while 697 enlisted men died from disease.

In Census records following the Civil War, there are several men by the same name and approximately the correct age with a Virgina birthplace. Considering a variety of factors— that he was married before 1863 and that travel away from Louisiana and Mississippi would have been prohibitively expensive —the following record is the most likely match for this soldier:

An 1870 census reports William Thompson, born 1837 in Virginia with a spouse named Mary Ellen, 23, born in Mississippi and a daughter named Bertha, age 1 year, born in Ouachita Parish, Louisianna. This parish is in between Shreveport, Louisianna, and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Unfortunately, this family could not be traced further.

Contributors: Brynna Wert, Sarah Plummer, Cathie Cummins