Remembering William Thompson
The Service and Sacrifice of America’s First Colonel
by Robert Guy
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Description
Author(s)
Robert Guy
Related Titles
| Publisher | Author Solutions |
| Publication | Mar 19, 2026 |
| Format | Paperback/Softback |
| ISBN | 979-8385067213 |
| Pages | 178 |
| Dimensions | 8.5 x 11 x 0.63 in |
| Age | Adult 18+ |
| Price | $40.99 |
Remembering William Thompson
The Service and Sacrifice of America’s First Colonel
Before Washington’s army became an American institution, a forgotten frontier leader was helping shape what it would become.
William Thompson was the first colonel commissioned to command Continental troops, leading Pennsylvania riflemen to Boston in 1775. Within a year, he had risen to brigadier general—and become the first American general captured as a prisoner of war. Yet his remarkable story began long before the Revolution.
Raised amid the dangers and opportunities of Pennsylvania’s rapidly changing backcountry, Thompson was a soldier, surveyor, businessman, legislator, and representative of communities west of the Appalachians. His life intersected with the French and Indian War, frontier conflict, colonial expansion, the struggle for American independence, and figures who would define the new nation.
Drawing together decades of research, Remembering William Thompson restores a compelling Revolutionary figure to the historical record while revealing the crucial role of America’s interior in the creation of the United States.
More than the story of one forgotten patriot, it is a vivid portrait of a generation whose service, sacrifice, and vision helped make a nation.
Author
Robert Guy
Robert Guy is a historian and Director of the Becoming America nonprofit educational initiative. For twenty-five years, he has helped present the traveling William Thompson: Forgotten Patriot exhibit and has devoted extensive research to the people and communities of early America. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, where he was the Hugh Mercer Scholar, and an M.A. in American History from Slippery Rock University. His publications on the American Revolution include Perhaps Never to Return, Hold the Old Speeches, and articles examining Pennsylvania’s frontier and Revolutionary experience. Guy’s work focuses particularly on overlooked personalities, the diverse communities of the American interior, and the ways their experiences contributed to the formation of the United States.