Meriwether Jefferson “Swamp Fox” Thompson
Born: January 22, 1826
Birthplace: Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, Virginia (West Virginia)
Father: Captain Meriwether Thompson 1790 – 1859
Mother: Martha “Patsy” Slaughter Broadus 1796 – 1880
Wife: Emma Catherine Hays 1825 – 1886
(Buried: East Louisiana State Hospital Cemetery, Jackson, Louisiana)
Children:
Henry Bolivar Thompson 1852 – 1901
(Buried: Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana)
Marcie Abel Thompson Bailey 1860 – 1937
(Buried: Mount Mora Cemetery, Saint Joseph, Missouri)
Education:
Receive basic Training in Military Tactics in Charleston, South Carolina
Occupation before War:
Store Clerk Employee in Virginia and Pennsylvania
Store Clerk Employee in St. Joseph, Missouri
Surveyor and City Engineer for the City of St. Joseph, Missouri
Supervisor of Construction of Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad
1857 – 1860: Mayor of St. Joseph, Missouri
1860: Presided of inaugural the first ride of the Pony Express
Civil War Career:
1861: Cut down United States Flag from St. Joseph Post Office
1861: Lt. Colonel of Missouri State National Guard
1861 – 1865: Brigadier General of Missouri State National Guard
Commander of First Military District in the State of Missouri
Declared a counter proclamation to Fremont’s Emancipation
1861: Led a cavalry attack on Iron Mountain Railroad bridge
1861: Defeated at the Battle of Fredericktown, Missouri
1862: Commander of rams in the Confederate riverine fleet
1863: Accompanied General Marmaduke on his raid into Missouri
1863: Captured in Arkansas, Prisoner of War at Gratiot Prison
1864: Exchanged for a Union General
1864: Served in Major General Price’s Missouri Expedition
1865: Appointed Commander of Northern Sub District of Arkansas
1865: Agreed to surrender his command at Chalk Bluff on May 11th
Occupation after War:
Civil Engineer in the town of New Orleans, Louisiana
Designer of a program to improve Louisiana Swamps
Died: September 5, 1876
Place of Death: St. Joseph, Missouri
Cause of Death: Tuberculosis
Age at time of Death: 50 years old
Burial Place: Mount Mora Cemetery, St. Joseph, Missouri
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