Jeff Thompson and the Swamp Rats

[Battleline]

Going through my list, I have 20 more older bios to edit. Then I came across one Jeff Thompson. While not included in Warner's Generals in Gray, he is included in Heidler's Encyclopedia. He was a brigadier general of Missouri State Troops known as the Swamp Rats. That unit did a number of different things in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Louisiana. I would suppose this unit would be more of a partisan raider type unit for game purposes. I'll write and post a bio in this space when I'm finished editing my other bios. If we need him for the game, then that's good. Otherwise, we'll learn a little more history about the great conflict!
Battleline

Edited because I can't spell!

[Gil R.]

Sure, go ahead. First of all, when the database of generals was put together (from some website) it turns out that several were left out, either because the website was flawed or our person simply missed a few. Second of all, when we do the FOF expansion pack one of our primary areas of focus will be making generals more multi-faceted, and I'm hoping to give them raider ratings (or such), and Thompson would be perfect for that.

We might also add some raiders/partisans to the Legendary Units, and the Swamp Rats would be perfect for that.

[General Quarters]

Yeah, a good find!

[Battleline]

Meriwether J. Thompson (b. 1826, d. 1876) Leader of a partisan group, Jeff Thompson became known as “The Confederate Swamp Fox” for his actions in Missouri and Arkansas during the Civil War. While Thompson was a brigadier general in the Missouri State Guard and represented himself as a general during the war, there is no record that Confederate officials in Richmond ever confirmed him at that rank. That didn’t keep him from building an impressive record in command of his group, which became known as the Swamp Rats. Thompson was born in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, Jan. 22, 1826. His applications to the U.S. Military Academy and Lexington Military Academy were rejected, and as a young man he worked as a clerk in many places. He was a fur trapper in Liberty, Missouri, and settled in St. Joseph, Missouri, prior to the war. Thompson finally got the military life he had wanted when he was made colonel and inspector of the Missouri militia Fourth Military District. He stockpiled arms and ammunition in his home area. Thompson offered his services to the Confederacy and asked Gov. Claiborne Jackson to allow him to raise a force to retaliate against Federals after the raid on Camp Jackson in the St. Louis area. Rebuffed, Thompson took his volunteer force into the southeastern part of the state. After making raids as an independent unit, Thompson’s men were placed in the command of Gen. Polk at Camp Belmont, Missouri. Thompson’s men robbed a bank in Charleston, Missouri, to fund his forces. He continued to raid into Missouri, targeting merchants with Union sympathies. From Pocahontas, Arkansas, Thompson again wrote to request his men be recognized as a Confederate brigade. Swamp Rats served aboard gunboats defending Memphis in June of 1862. The unit picked up missions for Confederate forces as well as conducting their own independent operations. The Swamp Rats scouted in northern Louisiana for Generals Van Dorn and Breckinridge, looking for threats to Port Hudson, Louisiana. Thompson made trips into Missouri, urging citizens to support the Confederacy. In August of 1863, Federal troops surprised Thompson’s unit and captured the leader. Originally imprisoned at Ohio’s Johnson’s Island Prison, Thompson gained an unlikely ally in Federal Gen. Benjamin Butler, who recognized Thompson for his kind treatment of Union prisoners. Butler helped to secure a transfer for Thompson to Fort Delaware in February 1864. He was exchanged soon after that. Back in the west, Thompson commanded a cavalry brigade during Gen. Sterling Price’s raid into Missouri. After that, Thompson commanded the sub-district of Northern Arkansas. A negotiated surrender came May 9, 1865. Thompson briefly was imprisoned in St. Louis. After the war, Thompson briefly lived in Memphis and New Orleans before dying in St. Joseph Sept. 5, 1876.


I did this bio because he was listed as a Confederate general in Heidler's Encyclopedia. I left the rank part blank because he never was confirmed at a rank by the Confederate Congress, although for officers fighting in the west, that was not uncommon. He is not listed in Generals in Gray, (although there are others in that book with questionable general credentials) nor as a Trans-Mississippi officer "assigned to duty." He did command Confederate cavalry units, but I can't find a rank. I would recommend that Thompson be assigned to command his Swamp Rats and that unit would appear as a legendary partisan unit, either mounted or dismounted. He likely would fall somewhere between the likes of Forest and Morgan, who were Confederate generals who raided, and guerillas Bloody Bill Anderson and William Quantrill of the savage Missouri-Kansas area of the conflict.

[Battleline]

Before I jump back into my place of writing bios (Arthur Middleton Manigault by my records), I would like to write up Confederate Gen. William R. Cox. While in Raleigh, North Carolina, a few weeks ago, I discovered Cox was married to a Battle. He is buried in the Battle section of Historic Oakwood Cemetery. I've got some pics and information that is on his tombsone. If I can figure out images, I'll post some with the bio. He's not far from Thomas Bragg and some other significant folks from that period. It was weird seeing tombstones of men sharing my first and last names.
Battleline

[Gil R.]

Thanks for the bio. We're talking about a FOF expansion pack for late 2007 or early 2008, and I'm pushing for both raider/partisan Legendary Units and finding a way of assigning generals to them. It just doesn't sit right with me to see Morgan or some of the other famous raiders commanding an ordinary brigade, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this. We do know that one of the main areas of focus for the expansion pack will be making generals more multi-faceted, and I think this would be a welcome change.