Richard M. Thompson was a resident of Mansfield on August 7, 1862 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. A of the 1st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry and he was promoted to Corporal on September 1, 1864. On June 13, 1864, he was captured at James City Court House, Virginia and imprisoned in Andersonville, Georgia until paroled on September 22, 1864. He was discharged June 3, 1865, Alexandria, Virginia.

He was born about June, 1841 in England to Richard and Alice _____ Thompson. His family immigrated about 1842 when he was 15 months old. In the 1860 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a 19 year old operative in the household of Richard Thompson. Between 1865 and 1870, he married Alice A. ____. They were in Charles City, Floyd Co., Iowa in the 1870 U.S. census and Richard was working in a sash factory. In 1880, the family was living in Enfield, Connecticut and Richard is employed as an engineer. The oldest daughter, Alice May Thompson, was born about 1871 in Iowa; the other children were born in Connecticut: Edith E. Thompson, born about 1874; Gene A. Thompson, born about 1875 and Arthur A. Thompson, born in February, 1880. Richard’s wife, Alice died in 1886 and he married, second, Sarah A. ______, born in Maine. Children include: Daisy A. Thompson, born about October, 1890; Evelyn Thompson, born about November, 1891 and Edgar Thompson, born about July 1893. Richard Thompson and his family were living in Manchester, Connecticut in the 1900 and 1910 U.S. censuses and Richard was a carpenter. Richard Thompson was a member of the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) and of the South Methodist Church.

On April 1, 1899, he applied for an invalid pension, No. 1,224,784 that was granted under certificate No. 1,066,551. His widow applied for a pension on March 6, 1917.

Richard M. Thompson died on February 4, 1917 at his home in Highland Park, Manchester. He is buried at the East Cemetery in Manchester, Connecticut.