View source for Peter Thompson

Place of Birth: Markinch

Date of enlistment: 21 September 1875

Age given at enlistment: 21

Rank: Private

Company: C

Location on 25 June 1876: Dropped out of Custer's column - in hilltop fight

	

Probably more words have been written by and about Peter Thompson than any other private who fought in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, yet surprisingly little has been published about his life prior to enlistment in the United States Army. For many years I had wondered why someone from Scotland should have such a distinctly ‘English’ surname and, also, why is there no record of him being born in Markinch, in the ‘Kingdom of Fife,’ on 28 December 1854.  A close examination of the Register of Baptisms for the parish of Markinch revealed that the original family surname was not ‘Thompson,’ as I had suspected, but its Scottish equivalent, ‘Thomson,’ which is entirely logical. The same records also confirmed that Peter Thomson was actually born on 1 September 1853, that is, almost 16 months earlier than the date shown on not one but two monuments in West Lead (pronounce ‘Leed’) Cemetery, Lawrence County, South Dakota, and universally perpetuated in printed works, muster rolls and LBH-related websites. At the time of writing I cannot offer a plausible explanation for the discrepancy in these dates: on the contrary, to muddy the water still further, Thompson himself stated “…I was born December 28, 1853,”1 while the Census of Markinch (7 April 1861) lists him as “a scholar – age 8,” which clearly points to an earlier year of birth, if not a specific day and month.

Further study of parish registers, census returns and cemetery records, combined with a lengthy process of elimination, identified John Thomson, born 23 July 1826 in the nearby market town of Cupar, as the mostly likely to  be Peter’s father. However, civil registration of births, deaths and marriages did not come into force in Scotland until 1 January 1855, and therefore one must be especially careful when quoting information recorded prior to that date although, in this instance, I am reasonably confident that my findings are factually correct.

John Thomson came to Markinch during his early teens when his father, also John, found employment as a linen handloom weaver in the newly-erected Balbirnie Wool Mill.  As was a widespread practice during this period the Thomsons would have made regular forays into the surrounding hills to snare rabbits and catch wild game to supplement their staple diet of oatmeal and potatoes. It was during one of these trips that the younger John is said to have met his future wife, Agnes Craigie, who came originally from Edinburgh.  They were married in Markinch Parish Church on 27 October 1849 by the Rev. George Pittendreigh, who received the modest fee of two shillings (10p) for his services.2

The newly-weds set up home at Stobbs Cross before moving to Ward Knowe, a more central area of the village. Agnes was almost certainly daughter of Peter Craigie and Janet Gardner and, if so, faithfully followed the customary Scottish naming pattern by calling her second son, Peter, after his maternal grandfather.2 The names of Peter’s three eldest siblings, John (born 30 September 1851); Janet (born 20 November 1855 – died 1 January 1856); and James (born 31 January 1857), also strictly conform to the same convention, which provides compelling circumstantial evidence in support of my claim to have identified the right ancestry of the future cavalryman. John and Agnes were to have three more children while still residing in Markinch, namely, Robert (born 28 May 1859); William (born 18 July 1861); and Auchterlony (born 3 September 1863).

In spite of being gainfully employed as a farm labourer, gamekeeper and paper mill worker, Peter’s father could not escape the ever present threat of poverty and, in 1865, the prospect of a better life in America for himself, his wife and their six children, finally convinced him to leave his beloved Scotland. It is most likely that the family sailed from the English port of Liverpool where their surname may have been anglicised to Thompson but equally this could have occurred on entry to the United States.

The Thompsons settled in Banksville, part of Union Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which was annexed by the city of Pittsburgh in 1928, and where Peter, brother John, and their father all worked as coalminers down a local pit.3 It was in Banksville that two further children, Agnes and Thomas, were born. During the early 1870s John Thompson Snr4 purchased a farm in Burrell Township, Indiana County, some 45 miles due east of Pittsburgh; a decision that plainly did not meet with the approval of the whole family. Peter, for one, took an instant dislike to this type of work and was anxious to get away from it as soon as he could. Fortunately an opportunity presented itself in September 1875 when he was in Pittsburgh visiting some friends who had recently arrived from Scotland and, on the twenty-first day of the same month, he enlisted for a period of five years in George Armstrong Custer’s celebrated 7th U.S. Cavalry.5

Peter Thompson is best-known as one of the troopers who controversially dropped out of Custer’s doomed column of five companies on Sunday, 25 June 1876, shortly before the legendary ‘Last Stand.’ It seems his horse became exhausted and not only did the young Scot have the good fortune to avoid capture by the hostile Indians he was also able to safely rejoin other members of the beleaguered regiment entrenched on a distant defensive hilltop site to fight another day.

By mid-morning on 26 June, the second day of the battle, it was already exceptionally hot and the wounded were in desperate need of water. The regiment’s senior captain, Frederick W. Benteen, responded by leading a charge west of his position that cleared a path to a gully leading down to the Little Bighorn River, since named Water Carriers’ Ravine. Many men, including Thompson, volunteered to go for water. They took with them iron canteens and camp kettles and made several hazardous trips to the river under heavy fire from the enemy, during which one trooper was killed and several others wounded, including Thompson, who sustained wounds to his head and right hand. The hard-won water they brought back undoubtedly saved many lives. As the day wore on the rate of enemy fire noticeably decreased and late in the afternoon the Indians broke camp before moving slowly away from the river in the direction of the Big Horn Mountains – the Battle of the Little Big Horn was finally over. A few days later Thompson, along with 50 or so other wounded men, was taken to Fort Abraham Lincoln, near present-day Mandan, North Dakota, on the steamer Far West, to recuperate from his injury before returning to active duty.

On 5 October 1878 Peter Thompson was  awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

After having voluntarily brought water to the wounded, in which effort he was shot through the head, he made two successful trips for the same purpose, not withstanding remonstrances of his sergeant.

Thompson was discharged at Fort Meade, Dakota Territory 20 September 1880, on expiration of service, as a “private of excellent character.”  He was to work for 18 years in various capacities for the famous Homestake Mining Company in Lead; become a naturalised citizen of the United States; marry Ruth Boicourt, from Missouri, at Belle Fourche, South Dakota, on 21 September 1904; have at least two children, Susan and Peter;  run his own stock farm north of Alzada, Carter County, Montana; attend the 50th anniversary celebration of the battle on 26 June 1926 at the Custer Battlefield National Cemetery;  count among the members of General Nelson Miles Camp No.12, National Indian Wars Veterans, Billings, Montana; before dying of aortic insufficiency at Battle Mountain Sanatorium, Hot Springs, South Dakota, 3 December 1928. He was buried the following day in Grave 1, Section 9, Masonic Block 9, West Lead Cemetery, where the two fine, but markedly different, monuments we see today have been placed in his memory.

Further information about this most unlikely Scottish hero can be found in (i) Peter Thompson’s Narrative of the Little Big Horn Campaign 1876, Daniel O. Magnussen (Ed), Glendale, Arthur H. Clark Co, 1974. (ii) Forgotten Scottish Heroes, John Morrison, self published, Clydeside Press, Glasgow, 2004. Also includes short biographies of several other members of the 7th U.S. Cavalry with Scottish connections. (iii) Thompson’s Narrative of the Little Big Horn, Cross Publications, see Note 1. (iv) http//www.astonisher.com/archives/museum/peter_thompson_little_big_horn.html

Headstone for Peter Thompson in West Lead Cemetery, Lead, South Dakota. Photograph courtesy of Scott Nelson.

Marker on Thompson's grave indicating he was a holder of the Medal of Honor. Photograph courtesy of Scott Nelson.