SKETCH OF BENJAMIN THOMPSON. z 3S 



his inquisitive mind could appropriate. But there was one set of men 

 whom he never could conciliate, who mistrusted his purposes, and 

 cast upon him lowering looks as they met him about the camp. 

 Those were the general and held officers from New Hampshire, who 

 looked upon him as a dandy and an upstart at least, if not also at 

 heart a traitor. They would not associate with him, still less confide 

 in him." It is further stated on authority, that there is no reason 

 for doubting that "after the battle at Charlestown, Thompson 

 was favorably introduced by some officers of Cambridge to General 

 Washington, who had just assumed the command; and that, had it 

 not been for the opposition of some of the New Hampshire officers, he 

 would have had the place in the American artillery corps which was 

 given to Colonel Gridley." The genius of Thompson was thus lost 

 to the American cause through the rivalries and hatreds of army 

 officers, a source of evil which profoundly troubled the life of Wash- 

 ington during the Revolution, as it did also that of Lincoln during the 

 civil war. 



Nothing was therefore left to Thompson but to remain in obscurity 

 at home under a cloud of suspicion that would have darkened his life, 

 or to seek a field of action elsewhere. He was a man of high spirit 

 and great force of character, and of course would not submit like a 

 poltroon to the degrading alternative. He accordingly took service 

 under the government of his early allegiance. He went to England, 

 and soon after his arrival, at the age of twenty-three, was given an 

 appointment in the colonial office, under Lord George Germaine. He 

 directed immediate attention to military matters ; improved the ac- 

 coutrements of the Horse-Guards ; continued and extended his experi- 

 ments on gunpowder, and improved the construction of firearms. He 

 experimented with great guns, made a study of the principles of naval 

 artillery, and devised a code of marine signals. He also made investi- 

 gations into the cohesion of bodies, which he communicated to Sir 

 Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, and was elected Fellow 

 of that body in 1779 at the age of twenty-six. He very soon became 

 one of the most active and honored members of the Royal Society, 

 always attending its meetings when he was in London. He after- 

 ward received a colonelcy from the British Government, and came 

 back to this country in command of a resriment on Lonsr Island, build- 

 ing a fort at Huntington, He returned to England in 1783, and the 

 same year made a tour on the Continent. At Strasburg he acciden- 

 tally met with Prince Maximilian of Deux Ponts, then field-marshal in 

 the service of France, who became so interested in Colonel Thompson 

 that he gave him an introduction to his uncle the Elector of Bavaria 

 at Munich. The Elector was a man of liberal views, and discerning in 

 Thompson the talent that he thought might be made available in pro- 

 moting the interests of his government and people, he made overtures 

 to him to enter his service in a joint military and civil capacity. The 



