Drawing of Brigadier General Meriwether (“Jeff”) Thompson of the 1st Division, Missouri State Guard and fellow inmates at the Union prison camp on Johnson’s Island in Lake Erie. Thompson, known as the “Swamp Fox,” was captured near Pocahontas, Arkansas, on August 22, 1863, and was not exchanged until August 3, 1864. He joined Sterling Price on his 1864 Missouri raid and was given command of the “Iron Brigade,” General Joseph Shelby’s former cavalry command. Following the raid, Thompson returned to Arkansas and surrendered his forces on May 11, 1865.

Thompson died in St. Joseph, Missouri on September 5, 1876.

From a pencil drawing by Capt. William B. Cox

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31499