Oct 13

Oct 13 Joseph Thompson and the Battle of Young's House

The early life of Joseph Thompson is extremely difficult to track.

The lack of information, coupled with a plethora of other men named Joseph Thompson in Revolutionary New England, add to the challenge of tracing this man’s life.

However, he was the main Patriot leader in a skirmish known as the Battle of Young’s House, which inspired me to look deeper into his life.

Joseph Thompson

By January of 1776, Joseph Thompson was a 42-year-old man who signed on with the Massachusetts line in the Continental Army.

Thompson was commissioned as a Captain, demonstrating that he either had prior experience with the Massachusetts Militia or enjoyed some level of status within his community.

Joseph served in the 6th Massachusetts Regiment and joined General Washington’s Main Army during the strenuous winter at Valley Forge.

Thompson spent a brief time as a Major before being moved to the 10th Massachusetts Regiment and receiving a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.

Lieutenant Colonel

Thompson’s move to Lieutenant Colonel in December of 1779 would prove to be challenging.

Just two months later Joseph was stationed with about 250 men at the house of Joseph Young just north of New York City.

This area was a bit of a no-man’s-land and raids were common.

Thompson got word that the enemy was moving on him, but he was under the impression that it was a group of just 100 cavalry men.

The truth was, the approaching army had approximately 500 soldiers.

The Battle of Young’s House

Thompson’s company met the enemy in front of the house.

They were quickly surrounded, which led many soldiers to flee down the road.

Joseph and several other officers fortified themselves in the house to hold off the British.

Shortly thereafter they surrendered and were taken as POWs by their opponents who burned down Youngs’ house.

Afterward

Although the exact fate of Joseph Thompson is hard to track, he certainly survived his imprisonment and the Revolutionary War.

Thompson had been given over 1400 pounds with which he was supposed to recruit troops, but this was either burned or stolen by the British.

Since he could not account for it, the money was charged to Joseph’s account (while he was in prison).

On July 5, 1787, the State of Massachusetts passed a resolution to refund Thompson this money with interest.

From here, he vanishes from the historical record, though it appears he passed away in 1801 at 68-years-old.

If you are interest in reading William Heath’s summary of the events at Young’s House, you can do so here.

If you enjoyed this article, you might like these others which involve very obscure Founders:

Aedanus Burke Denounces American Nobility

Asa Barns’ Tavern Welcomes America’s Friends

Southy Simpson - The Definitive Biography of a Forgotten Founder

Interested in learning more about the no-man’s-land around NYC during the Revolutionary War?

Check out ‘The Battle for New York’ which is full of great information about the area.

If you’d like a copy you can get one through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).