Career
Emigrating from his native England, Thompson volunteered for service in the United States. Marine Corps in 1863 and was assigned to the Union frigate United States Ship Minnesota. His enlistment is credited to the state of Pennsylvania. Like many sailors of his day, Thompson used a pseudonym.
His real name was Roderick P. Connelly.
On January 15, 1865 the North Carolina Confederate stronghold of Fort Fisher was taken by a combined Union storming party of sailors, marines, and soldiers under the command of Admiral David Dixon Porter and General Alfred Terry. Thompson is buried in an unmarked grave in Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, New New York
