William Thompson was
born in Ireland in 1736 and emigrated to Carlisle,
Pennsylvania. During the French and Indian War
he served as a captain in the Kittanning expedition
under John Armstrong.
After news of the Battle of
Bunker Hill reached PA. in 1775, Thompson was
appointed colonel of a rifle battalion, he was
the first colonel commissioned in the U.S. Army,
many of the officers who served under him we also
the first commissioned officers of their
rank to serve. He was sent to Mass. to help in
the defense of Boston. His unit was known
as Thompson's Pennsylvania
Rifle Battalion, or the 1st. Pennsylvania regiment. After Thompson's
company of sharpshooters drove back a British landing party on Nov. 9,
1775 he was promoted to brigadire-general in the Continental Army. He was
then sent to reinforce American troops in Canada.
Thompson was captured
during an attack at Trois-Riviers (three rivers) in Quebec on June 8,
1776. He
was paroled but was not exchanged for four years so he could not reenter
military service.
He passed into the hands of our Lord at his home
in Carlisle at the age of 45 on Sept. 3, 1781.
He
will be most remembered and honored by the Ancient
Order of Hibernians General William Thompson
Division, not only for his duty performed for his
adopted country, but that he was an Irishman, a
leader of men both Catholic and Protestant against
a common oppressor, in a struggle that ensured
our Irish heritage and religious freedom.
He lays at rest in the Old Carlisle
Cemetery near the grave of Molly Pitcher. (Mary MCaully)
Every year to honor this Irish leader a ceremony and prayer service
is conducted at his gravesite on the anniversary of his death.
