Aaron Blake Tompkins

Aaron B. Tompkins was born in Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, in 1844. He served in the Union Army's 1st New Jersey Cavalry during the American Civil War, becoming a sergeant in Company G.

During the closing campaign in Virginia, he earned the Medal of Honor for an action recorded in his official citation at Sailor's Creek on 5 April 1865. He charged into Confederate ranks and captured a battle flag despite losing his horse to enemy fire and receiving saber wounds to his cheeks and shoulders. His Medal of Honor was issued on 3 July 1865. This account summarizes the citation.

The regiment's published 1865 officer roster lists Tompkins as a second lieutenant in Company I, with a commission dated 18 July 1865. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, however, lists first sergeant as his highest rank. Whether he was mustered into federal service under the commission remains unverified.

Tompkins survived the war and died in 1931. He was buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Orange, New Jersey. His civilian career is not established in the sources used here.

Sources: U.S. Army, Civil War Medal of Honor citations, https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/citations2.html ; Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Aaron B. Tompkins, https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/aaron-b-tompkins ; Report of the Operations of the First New Jersey Cavalry (1865), officer roster, p. 16, New Jersey State Library, https://dspace.njstatelib.org/bitstreams/35dbfe36-e4ad-49f6-9f39-d95effadd24c/download .