The Rediscovered Life of the 'Lost Soldier of Chickamauga'
By Dena Lombardo and Victoria Macchi | 威尼斯人娱乐场 News
Editor鈥檚 note: This is part 1 of 2 on the Civil War pension file of Hugh Thompson. Read accounts from the 威尼斯人娱乐场 staff who worked on the project in part 2, NARA Behind the Scenes: The Rediscovered Life of the 鈥淟ost Soldier of Chickamauga.鈥�
Image of 鈥淟ost Soldier鈥� Hugh Thompson of Company H, 15th Ohio Infantry Regiment. (威尼斯人娱乐场 identifier 165322833, Folder 2, image 16 of 181.)
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2020 鈥� Henry Thomson was living on a farm in Pearlette, KS, when a Springfield, OH, newspaper published a one-column piece on May 3, 1887, about his relentless search to recover his identity.
The Civil War veteran wanted his memories back. He sought his family, his former comrades, any details to fill in the recent decades since he developed amnesia after a blow to the head in the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. The Champion City Times article (威尼斯人娱乐场 Identifier: , p 86). would become a catalyst for Thomson to learn his given name鈥擧ugh Thompson鈥攁nd unfurl much of his past. His entire pension file is now digitized for the first time and available online in ; at more than 2,000 pages, the Thompson file is the largest Civil War pension record found in the 威尼斯人娱乐场 to date.
Three boxes and nine folders of records told much of Hugh Thompson鈥檚 story: how he left his father鈥檚 farm to fight in the Civil War as a private in Company H, 15th Ohio Infantry Regiment; was identified as missing in action and presumed dead after his head injury; then disappeared for more than 20 years. When he resurfaced, he faced a bureaucratic fight with his one-time wife Jane for his pension, which his father was also trying to obtain.
鈥淲ith its photographs, depositions, newspaper clippings, and other documents, this pension file is an amazing find for historians and genealogists,鈥� said Catherine Brandsen, head of the 威尼斯人娱乐场 Innovation Hub, where the digitization took place. 鈥淕etting this file online helps us share Hugh Thompson's story with everybody.鈥�
The investigation to determine whether the veteran would be eligible for a pension鈥攊f he was even the real Hugh Thompson鈥攖ook years. Skepticism surrounded his story. His uncertainty about life events, his varying stories of who his children were, and his numerous marriages made investigators leery.
"A remarkable story is told by the claimant," one investigator wrote in 1890. He described a man who roamed the Midwest in the early 1870s, working whatever jobs he could get, "all the time keeping up an effort to learn who he was" (威尼斯人娱乐场 Identifier: , pp. 94鈥�95). The case, he added, was 鈥渓oaded with doubts and suspicions. (p. 115).
Over the 35-page report, the agent comes to believe that Henry Thomson and Hugh Thompson were indeed the same person, "beyond a shadow of a doubt.鈥� That assessment and granting the pension, however, took an arduous reconstruction of his life 鈥渇rom 1866 or 1867, down to the present time鈥� (威尼斯人娱乐场 Identifier: , p. 115).
鈥淭his leaves a gap of four years, which I do not believe will ever be bridged," the investigator concluded.
An analysis of photographs and a lengthy investigation solidified the proof that the soldier nicknamed ''Shorty鈥� was indeed the same man as the Kansas resident.
The drama of the soldier鈥檚 story was not what first drew staff鈥檚 attention, however. It was the novelty of the file鈥檚 size. For archives technician Emily Zurlo, the project began as an assignment from a supervisor. A member of the public requested the pension file for an Ohioan named Hugh Thompson. The researcher knew the file was long, but she didn鈥檛 realize just how long it is鈥攎ore than 2,000 pages. The average pension file is around 150 pages.
Incredulous, Zurlo said she went to the stacks to verify the size of the request. 鈥淚 couldn't believe that a pension could be that long,鈥� she said.
Zurlo carved time from her daily work over three months to digitize the pension records. Like nearly all 威尼斯人娱乐场 employees, she is currently working from home full time amid the COVID-19 pandemic and is now focused on transcribing the documents.
The pension file remains in fragile condition at the 威尼斯人娱乐场 Building in Washington, DC. Read more from the 威尼斯人娱乐场 staff members about what can be learned from these records here. To view Hugh Thompson鈥檚 pension file, or help tag and transcribe the documents, visit the .
See a selection of documents from Thompson's pension file in the gallery below:
Notice of the case of Robert Thompson, father to Hugh Thompson, who sought his late son鈥檚 pension. The government denied this request, stating that Robert did not rely on his son鈥檚 income. The pension was instead granted to Hugh鈥檚 wife (and presumed widow) Jane. (威尼斯人娱乐场 Identifier . Folder 1, image 5 of 267)
This Champion City Times article sought soldiers who may have served with Thompson. (威尼斯人娱乐场 Identifier . Folder 1, image 86 of 267)
Investigator鈥檚 notes concluding that Thompson story was genuine. (威尼斯人娱乐场 Identifier . Folder 1, image 111 of 267)
Page 2 of Hugh鈥檚 letter explains that the pension office considered him as a fraud and a 鈥渧ery sharp swindler.鈥� (威尼斯人娱乐场 Identifier . Folder 6, image 48 of 172)
Letter from Hugh Thompson to the National Military Home鈥檚 Commissioner of Pensions, asking that his files be sent to his doctor. (威尼斯人娱乐场 Identifier . Folder 6, image 37 of 172)