Peter Thompson (September 1, 1853 – December 3, 1928) was a Scots-American soldier who was awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
After emigrating with his family to the United States in 1865, Thompson lived near Pittsburgh, and later in Indiana County, PA, where he worked as a miner.
Unable to rejoin their own company, the two later climbed back up the bluffs and joined surviving elements of the regiment, under Major Marcus Reno.
Thompson was interviewed by the respected Indian Wars researcher Walter Mason Camp at the Little Bighorn Battlefield in 1909.
Thompson published his controversial 26,000 word account in his regional newspaper, the Belle Fourche, South Dakota Bee in the spring of 1914.
He was so labeled by one veteran named William Slaper in a 1925 book, A Trooper with Custer, edited by Earl A. Brininstool.
More recently, the publication of Camp's notes has again stimulated interest in Thompson's story, and provided corroboration for many controversial parts of the account.
Citation: After having voluntarily brought water to the wounded, in which effort he was shot through the hand, he made two successful trips for the same purpose, notwithstanding remonstrances of his sergeant.