Joint resolutions in Congress in July 1862
and March 1863, created the Medal of Honor to recognize soldiers for
meritorious conduct “above and beyond the call of duty.” The Army, Navy, and
Marine Corps awarded the medals. Soldiers did not win them. They never were,
nor are intentionally “won” by anyone. As a matter of the record, the Medal the
recipient has to be recommended for it. At the time, a person could submit his
own name for it and, in the case of the 27th Maine during the
Gettysburg Campaign, 300 men received it for staying beyond the expiration of
their term of service to assist in the national emergency. Considering the way
the war was going for the Union in late 1862, reenlisting apparently constituted
heroism. During the War, the Marine
Corps did not allow officers to receive it, because the Corps expected its
officers to behave superbly upon the field.
The majority of the recipients received their medals long after the war.
They also received them posthumously, which never appeared in the citations.
During the Civil War, men qualified for
the Medal of Honor if:
1.
They
captured a Confederate flag
2.
Captured
a Confederate officer and/or his horse
3.
Saved
their regimental flag(s)
4.
Exhibiting
extraordinary bravery.
The Medal went to 63 enlisted men and
officers for their part in the Battle of Gettysburg: 9 on July 1; 22 on July 2;
32 on July 3.
The following received the Medal for
their actions at Gettysburg during Longstreet's attack :
1.
Corporal
Nathaniel M. Allen, age 23, Company B, 1st Massachusetts – saved the flags of
his regiment from capture - awarded March 29, 1899.
2.
Private
Casper R. Carlisle, age 23, Company F, Independent Pennsylvania Light
Artillery- saved a gun from capture – awarded December 21, 1892.
3.
Colonel
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, age 35, 20th Maine – displayed great heroism and
tenacity in holding his position on Little Round Top and for advancing to the
forefront on Big Round Top – awarded August 11, 1893.
4.
Corporal
Harrison Clark, age 21, Company E, 125th New York – Took the flag from the dead
color bearer and carried it forward – awarded June 11, 1895.
5.
Captain
John B. Fassitt, age 27, Company F, 23rd Pennsylvania – As a staff officer, he
rescued an abandoned battery with the assistance of a regiment which he
personally led into action and he engaged in close combat with a Confederate
infantryman – killed in action at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on May 12,
1864, his medal was posthumously awarded on December 29, 1894.
6.
Sergeants
George W. Mears, age 20, (Company A), John W. Hart, age 25, (Company D), and
Sergeant Wallace W. Johnson, age 21, (Company G) with Corporals Chester S.
Furman, age 21 (Company A), J. Levi Roush, age 25, (Company D) and Thaddeus E. Smith, age 16, (Company E), 6th
Pennsylvania Reserves – charged a log cabin near the J. Weikert farm and captured a
squad of Confederates who were harassing the regiment as it advanced. In the process they rescued three prisoners from the Confederates.
Award dates: Mears (February 16, 1897);
Hart (August 3, 1897); Johnson (August 8, 1900); Furman (August 3, 1897); Roush
(August 3, 1897); Smith (May 5, 1900).
7.
Sergeant
Thomas Horan, age not given, Company E, 72nd New York – captured flag of the 8th
Florida – awarded April 3, 1898.
8.
Second
Lieutenant Edward M. Knox, age 22, 15th New York Light Artillery - rescued his guns by hand after the Confederates had overrun his position – awarded
October 18, 1892.
9.
Captain
John Lonergan, age 24, Company A, 13th Vermont – recaptured an overrun battery,
and captured 83 Confederates in the Codori house – awarded October, 28, 1893.
10.
Sergeant
Harvey M. Munsell, age 25, Company A, 99th Pennsylvania – gallant and
courageous conduct as the color bearer – awarded February 5, 1866.
11.
Sergeant
James A. Pipes, age 23, and Lieutenant James J. Purman, age 23, both Company A,
140th Pennsylvania – both were severely wounded while attempting to rescue a wounded comrade. Purman lost his left leg. Pipes
received his medal for Gettysburg and for helping to stop a flank movement at
Ream’s Station, Virginia, which cost him an arm. Pipes’s award date was April
5, 1898 and Purman’s October 30, 1896.
12.
First Sergeant George W. Roosevelt, age 20,
Company K, 26th Pennsylvania – severely wounded while capturing a Confederate
color bearer and his flag – award July 2, 1887. He lost a leg.
13.
Bugler
Charles W. Reed, age 22, 9th Massachusetts Battery – rescued his wounded battery
commander, Captain John Bigelow, at the Trostle farm – awarded August 16, 1895.
14.
Major
General Daniel E. Sickles, age 42, III Army Corps , commanding - conspicuous
gallantry upon the field and encouraging
his men after being severely wounded – awarded October 30, 1897. He lost his right leg below the knee.
15.
Private
Charles Stacey, age 20, Company D, 55th Ohio – advanced ahead of the skirmish
line to locate Confederate sharpshooters and remained in that place until his
company retired – awarded June 23, 1896.
16.
Color
Sergeant Andrew J. Tozier, age 25, Company I, 20th Maine – stood at the advance
of the color company after the line had been pushed back and maintained his
fire with ammunition he picked up from the ground – awarded August 13, 1898.
The U.S. Civil War, as far as I know, is
the first war for which a large number of the battlefield monuments are dedicated
to the rank and file soldiers and their company or regimental grade officers. The men cited above
did not deliberately or consciously become heroes. They responded valiantly and
selflessly as so many of their comrades did because the lives of those around them
meant more than their own. Not given to bragging, they did their duty because
it was their duty. It has been my
experience, having known men who received combat awards, that they felt their
departed comrades deserved the recognition and the medals more than they and they behaved as
they had been trained. They believed
they did their duty – nothing more.
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