He was born in Thomaston, Maine to Ebenezer Thatcher and Lucy Flucker Knox, the daughter of Major General Henry Knox. Appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1822, Thatcher was absent on sick leave for most of the first year and resigned in April 1823. He then received an appointment as a midshipman in the Navy
Thatcher spent most of the next four years on board the frigate in the Pacific. He became a passed midshipman on 4 March 1829, and in 1830-1831 served in the schooner and sloop of war in the West Indies.
He was promoted to lieutenant on 28 February 1833 and served aboard the schooner in Chesapeake Bay.
He then served on the frigate in the Mediterranean Squadron in 1834-35; had special duty in 1837; and returned to the Mediterranean in the frigate in 1840. He served aboard the receiving ship at Boston in 1843-46, then in the sloop-of-war , part of the Africa Squadron in 1847-50. After duty at Boston Navy Yard... Read More