John Almy Tompkins

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel John Almy Tompkins (February 27, 1837 – September 30, 1916) was an American officer who served as a Union Army Major in the American Civil War. He was promoted to a Lieutenant Colonel at the end of the war.

Early life John Almy Tompkins was born on February 27, 1837 in New Windsor, New York to John Almy Tompkins (1803-1838) and Anna Russell Tillinghast.

Military career On June 6, 1961, he was enlisted into Battery A, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery Regiment. On September 16, 1861, at Darnestown, Maryland, he was made Captain of his Battery. He commanded the unit during the Maryland Campaign and at the Battle of Antietam. The soldiers under his command fired over 1,000 rounds of ammunition in just 3 hours and engaged in hand to hand combat.

His photograph, uniform frock coat, and accouterments are displayed at the Antietam National Battlefield Museum in Sharpsburg, Maryland.

In addition to Antietam, he fought in many of the most important battle of the Civil War, including the Battle of Gettysburg; Battle of the Wilderness; and the Battle of Fredericksburg. He was promoted to Major on December 4, 1862. On March 26, 1863, he was appointed Chief of Artillery for the Sixth Army Corps where he also served with his brother, Charles Henry Tompkins Sr..

After the war After the war, Tompkins gained employment as the Superintendent of the Baltimore Chrome Works.

Tompkins was an auditor with the Public Service Commission of Maryland, up until his death. Their son, John Almy Tompkins Jr was a prominent doctor in Baltimore, and then a member of the Navy Department’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Washington.

His brother was Brevet Brigadier General Charles Henry Tompkins Sr. and his nephew was architect, John Almy Tompkins II.

He died on September 30, 1916. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.