• Source: Alexander R. Thompson

Alexander Ramsey Thompson Jr. (1793–1837) was a United States soldier. He was a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, who fought in the War of 1812 and the Second Seminole War. In the latter war, Thompson was killed by Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee in Florida.




Biography


Thompson was born in 1793 in New York City to Alexander Thompson Sr. and Amelia De Hart. Thompson Sr. was of English descent and Amelia De Hart was of Dutch descent. His father Thompson Sr. was an artillery officer in the Continental Army during the United States War of Independence, and had served under General John Lamb. After the war, Thompson Sr. was put in charge of the Army garrison on Governors Island, and later helped build the military academy at West Point. Thompson Sr. died at West Point in 1809.
Thompson enrolled in the West Point Military Academy in 1810 at the age of 17. He graduated at the start of the War of 1812 and was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the 6th Infantry Regiment. Thompson first fought in Canada during the two failed invasions of General James Wilkinson across the St. Lawrence River, and afterwards he was promoted to Captain. He then fought in the Battle of Plattsburgh in 1814. During the battle, Thompson commanded 100 soldiers and successfully defended a bridge against attacks from the British Army. After the War of 1812, Thompson was stationed at various U.S. Army forts in Louisiana, Kansas, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, and Missouri, and he was promoted to Major in 1832.
In 1837 Thompson was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and was assigned to Florida to fight against the Seminole tribe who were resisting Indian Removal. After arriving in Florida, Thompson and his soldiers of the 6th Infantry Regiment were sent to Fort Gardiner, where they were put under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor. Zachary Taylor was amassing a large force at Fort Gardiner to launch an offensive into South Florida, where most of the Seminoles were now located. On December 19, 1837, Colonel Taylor and his troops began their march south from Fort Gardiner along the Kissimmee River, and after six days they reached Lake Okeechobee and located a large gathering of Seminoles led by Chief Abiaka by the shore of the lake. Taylor's army then moved to attack these Seminoles, which began the Battle of Lake Okeechobee on 25 December 1837. The Seminole warriors were positioned in a dense hammock across a field of sawgrass from the U.S. troops. Colonel Taylor first ordered the volunteers from the Missouri Militia to charge at the Seminoles. This attack ended in disaster as the Missourians lost most of their officers, including their commander Richard Gentry. Taylor then ordered Thompson and the 6th Infantry Regiment to charge at the Seminole position. As Thompson and his men charged at the hammock, they were put under heavy rifle fire from the Seminoles, who killed and wounded nearly all of the officers of the 6th Infantry Regiment. Thompson himself was shot twice in the chest during the infantry charge. The Seminoles specifically targeted the U.S. military officers during the battle as part of their tactics. Even though he was wounded, Thompson continued to limp forward, and said to his soldiers: "Keep steady men; charge the hammock - remember the regiment to which you belong!". Thompson was then shot a third time in the chest by the Seminoles, which killed him. After three hours of fighting, the Seminoles withdrew after inflicting heavy casualties on the U.S. troops, and canoed south across Lake Okeechobee. Thompson and the other dead soldiers were then temporarily buried at the battleground. Due to his army suffering heavy casualties, especially among the officers, Colonel Zachary Taylor was forced to end his offensive into South Florida, and marched his troops up north back to Fort Gardiner. In January 1838 a group of Seminoles returned to the battleground and desecrated the graves of the dead soldiers, including Thompson's grave. Thompson's remains were later reinterned at West Point.




References

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