Image shows Thompson seated with one arm resting on a table. He holds his gauntlets in one hand and the hilt of his sword in the other. He wears a dark double-breasted frock coat with three stars on each collar. At his waist is his sash and sword belt with Pattern 1851 NCO plate with the applied silver wreath. His sword is attached to the belt and is being held by his left hand.

Image is clear with good contrast. Paper has light surface dirt and a smudge along upper right side. Mount has light to moderate edge dirt and the corners are clipped. Bottom of mount has a faint period pencil inscription of “JEFF THOMPSON.”

Reverse has a photographer’s imprint for E. & H. T. ANTHONY…NEW YORK. Top also has a faint period pencil inscription that reads “JEFF THOMPSON.”

Meriwether Jefferson Thompson was born in Jefferson County, Virginia on January 22, 1826. He received basic training in military tactics in Charleston, South Carolina, but was not appointed to a military academy. Following his education, he found employment as a store clerk in a few Virginia and Pennsylvania towns. He moved to Liberty, Missouri, in 1847 and St. Joseph the following year, beginning as a store clerk before taking up surveying and serving as the city engineer. He served as the seventh Mayor of St. Joseph, Missouri from 1857–1860 and gained national attention in May, 1861, when he cut down a United States flag from the St. Joseph Post Office flag pole and threw it down to an angry crowd of southern sympathizers who shredded it to pieces.

Thompson was a lieutenant-colonel in the Missouri state militia at the outbreak of the Civil War. On July 25, 1861, he was appointed brigadier-general of the 1st Division, Missouri State Guard. He commanded the First Military District of Missouri. Thompson's battalion soon became known as the "Swamp Rats" for their exploits. He gained renown as the "Swamp Fox of the Confederacy." Although Thompson frequently petitioned for the Confederate rank of brigadier-general it was never granted. His brigadier rank came from his Missouri State Guard service.

On October 15, 1861, Thompson led a cavalry attack on the Iron Mountain Railroad Bridge over the Big River near Blackwell in Jefferson County. After successfully burning the bridge, Thompson retreated to join his infantry in Fredericktown. Soon afterwards, he was defeated at the Battle of Fredericktown and withdrew, leaving southeastern Missouri in Union control.

After briefly commanding rams in the Confederate riverine fleet in 1862, Thompson was reassigned to the Trans-Mississippi region. There, he engaged in a number of battles before returning to Arkansas in 1863 to accompany Gen. John S. Marmaduke on his raid into Missouri. Thompson was captured in August in Arkansas, and spent time in St. Louis' Gratiot Military Prison, as well as at the Fort Delaware and Johnson's Island prisoner-of-war camps.

Eventually, he was exchanged in 1864. Later that year, Thompson participated in Major-General Sterling Price's Missouri expedition, taking command of "Jo" Shelby's famed "Iron Brigade" when Shelby became division commander. He served competently in this role.

In March 1865, Thompson was appointed commander of the Northern Sub-District of Arkansas. He agreed to surrender his command at Chalk Bluff, Arkansas on May 11, 1865.

After the war, Thompson moved to New Orleans, where he returned to civil engineering. He designed a program for improving the Louisiana swamps, a job that eventually destroyed his health. He returned to St. Joseph, Missouri in 1876 where he succumbed to tuberculosis. He is buried in Mount Mora Cemetery in St. Joseph, Missouri.  [ad]

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