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Battle of Gettysburg Medal of Honor Recipients
The Medal of Honor was born out of the need to recognize the valor exhibited by soldiers in the Civil War. One of the greatest
displays of bravery and courage was at the Battle of Gettysburg. In all, 63 medals were awarded to soldiers for their actions on the battlefield of southern Pennsylvania. Below
is a list of those 63 men along with the complete citation which accompanied the award.
ALLEN, NATHANIEL M.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company B, 1st Massachusetts
Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of
issue: 29 March 1899. Citation: When his regiment was falling back, this soldier, bearing the national color, returned in
the face of the enemy's fire, pulled the regimental flag from under the body of its bearer, who had fallen, saved the flag
from capture, and brought both colors off the field.
BACON, ELIJAH W.
Rank and organization: Private, Company F,
14th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Berlin, Conn. Birth: Burlington,
Conn. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 16th North Carolina regiment (C.S.A.).
BENEDICT,
GEORGE G.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, Company C, 12th Vermont Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa.,
3 July 1863. Entered service at: Burlington, Vt. Birth: Burlington, Vt. Date of issue: 27 June 1892. Citation: Passed through
a murderous fire of grape and canister in delivering orders and re-formed the crowded lines.
BROWN, MORRIS, JR.
Rank
and organization: Captain, Company A, 126th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service
at: Penn Yan, N.Y. Born: August 1842, Hammondsport, N.Y. Date of issue: 6 March 1869. Citation: Capture of flag.
CAREY,
HUGH
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company E, 82d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863.
Entered service at: ------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 6 February 1888. Citation: Captured the flag of the 7th Virginia
Infantry (C.S.A.), being twice wounded in the effort.
CARLISLE, CASPER R.
Rank and organization: Private, Company
F, Independent Pennsylvania Light Artillery. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Allegheny
County, Pa. Birth: Allegheny County, Pa. Date of issue: 21 December 1892. Citation: Saved a gun of his battery under heavy
musketry fire, most of the horses being killed and the drivers wounded.
CHAMBERLAIN, JOSHUA L.
Rank and organization:
Colonel, 20th Maine Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Brunswick, Maine. Born:
8 September 1828, Brewer Maine. Date of issue: 11 August 1893. Citation: Daring heroism and great tenacity in holding his
position on the Little Round Top against repeated assaults, and carrying the advance position on the Great Round Top.
CLARK,
HARRISON
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company E, 125th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July
1863. Entered service at: Chatham, N.Y. Birth: Chatham, N.Y. Date of issue: 11 June 1895. Citation: Seized the colors and
advanced with them after the color bearer had been shot.
CLOPP, JOHN E.
Rank and organization: Private, Company
F, 71st Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth:
Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 2 February 1865. Citation: Capture of flag of 9th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.), wresting it
from the color bearer.
COATES, JEFFERSON
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company H, 7th Wisconsin Infantry. Place
and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: Boscobel, Wis. Birth: Grant County, Wis. Date of issue: 29
June 1866. Citation: Unsurpassed courage in battle, where he had both eyes shot out.
DE CASTRO, JOSEPH H.
Rank and
organization: Corporal, Company I, 19th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service
at:------. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 19th Virginia regiment (C.S.A.).
DORE,
GEORGE H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 126th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July
1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: England. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: The colors being struck down by
a shell as the enemy were charging, this soldier rushed out and seized the flag, exposing himself to the fire of both sides.
ENDERLIN,
RICHARD
Rank and organization: Musician, Company B, 73d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1-3 July 1863.
Entered service at: Chillicothe, Ohio. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 11 September 1897. Citation: Voluntarily took a rifle
and served as a soldier in the ranks during the first and second days of the battle. Voluntarily and at his own imminent peril
went into the enemy's lines at night and, under a sharp fire, rescued a wounded comrade.
FALLS, BENJAMIN F.
Rank
and organization: Color Sergeant, Company A, 19th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863.
Entered service at: Lynn, Mass. Birth. Portsmouth, N.H. Date of issue. December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.
FASSETT,
JOHN B.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company F, 23d Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July
1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 29 December 1894. Citation: While acting
as an aide, voluntarily led a regiment to the relief of a battery and recaptured its guns from the enemy.
FLYNN, CHRISTOPHER
Rank
and organization: Corporal, Company K, 14th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered
service at: Sprague, Conn. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 52d North Carolina
Infantry (C.S.A.).
FUGER, FREDERICK
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery. Place and date:
At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 24 August 1897. Citation: All
the officers of his battery having been killed or wounded and five of its guns disabled in Pickett's assault, he succeeded
to the command and fought the remaining gun with most distinguished gallantry until the battery was ordered withdrawn.
FURMAN,
CHESTER S.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company A, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2
July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Columbia, Pa. Date of issue: 3 August 1897. Citation: Was 1 of 6 volunteers
who charged upon a log house near Devil's Den, where a squad of the enemy's sharpshooters were sheltered, and compelled their
surrender.
GILLIGAN, EDWARD L.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company E, 88th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place
and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 30
April 1892. Citation: Assisted in the capture of a Confederate flag by knocking down the color sergeant.
HART, JOHN
W.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863.
Entered service at: Cumberland, Md. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 3 August 1897. Citation: Was one of six volunteers who
charged upon a log house near the Devil's Den, where a squad of the enemy's sharpshooters were sheltered, and compelled their
surrender.
HINCKS, WILLIAM B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 14th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date:
At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Bridgeport, Conn. Birth: Bucksport, Me. Date of issue: 1 December 1864.
Citation: During the high water mark of Pickett's Charge on 3 July 1863 the colors of the 14th Tennessee Infantry C.S.A. were
planted 50 yards in front of the center of Sgt. Maj. Hincks' regiment. There were no Confederates standing near it but several
were lying down around it. Upon a call for volunteers by Major Ellis to capture this flag, this soldier and two others leaped
the wall. One companion was instantly shot. Sgt. Maj. Hincks outran his remaining companion running straight and swift for
the colors amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized
the flag and hastily returned to his lines. The 14th Tennessee carried twelve battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty
shown by Sgt. Maj. Hincks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle.
HORAN, THOMAS
Rank
and organization. Sergeant, Company E, 72d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service
at: Dunkirk, N.Y. Birth:------. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: In a charge of his regiment this soldier captured the
regimental flag of the 8th Florlda Infantry (C.S.A.).
HUIDEKOPER, HENRY S.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel,
150th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born:
17 July 1839, Meadville, Pa. Date of issue: 27 May 1905. Citation: While engaged in repelling an attack of the enemy, received
a severe wound of the right arm, but instead of retiring remained at the front in command of the regiment.
IRSCH, FRANCIS
Rank
and organization: Captain, Company D, 45th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service
at: New York, N.Y. Birth:------. Date of issue: 27 May 1892. Citation: Gallantry in flanking the enemy and capturing a number
of prisoners and in holding a part of the town against heavy odds while the Army was rallying on Cemetery Hill.
JELLISON,
BENJAMIN H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 19th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa.,
3 July 1863. Entered service at: Newburyport, Mass. Birth: Newburyport, Mass. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture
of flag of 57th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.). He also assisted in taking prisoners.
JOHNSON, WALLACE W.
Rank and organization:
Sergeant, Company G, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Waverly,
N.Y. Birth: Newfield, N.Y. Date of issue: 8 August 1900. Citation: With five other volunteers gallantly charged on a number
of the enemy's sharpshooters concealed in a log house, captured them, and brought them into the Union lines.
KNOX,
EDWARD M.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, 15th New York Battery. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863.
Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 18 October 1892. Citation: Held his ground with the
battery after the other batteries had fallen back until compelled to draw his piece off by hand; he was severely wounded.
LONERGAN,
JOHN
Rank and organization: Captain, Company A, 13th Vermont Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863.
Entered service at: Burlington, Vt. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 28 October 1893. Citation: Gallantry in the recapture of
4 guns and the capture of 2 additional guns from the enemy; also the capture of a number of prisoners.
MAYBERRY, JOHN
B.
Rank and organization: Private, Company F, 1st Delaware Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered
service at: Kent County, Del. Birth: Smyrna, Del. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.
McCARREN,
BERNARD
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 1st Delaware Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863.
Entered service at: Wilmington, Del. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.
MEARS,
GEORGE W.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2
July 1863. Entered service at: Bloomsburgh, Pa. Birth: Bloomsburgh, Pa. Date of issue: 16 February 1897. Citation: With five
volunteers he gallantly charged on a number of the enemy's sharpshooters concealed in a log house, captured them, and brought
them into the Union lines.
MILLER, JOHN
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company G, 8th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg,
Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Freemont, Sandusky County, Ohio. Birth: Germany. Date of issue. 1 December 1864. Citation:
Capture of 2 flags.
MILLER, WILLIAM E.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company H, 3d Pennsylvania Cavalry. Place
and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Born: 5 February 1836, West Hill, Pa. Date of issue
21 July 1897. Citation: Without orders, led a charge of his squadron upon the flank of the enemy, checked his attack, and
cut off and dispersed the rear of his column.
MUNSELL, HARVEY M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 99th
Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1-3 July 1863. Entered service at: Venango County, Pa. Birth: Steuben
County, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 February 1866. Citation: Gallant and courageous conduct as color bearer. (This noncommissioned
officer carried the colors of his regiment through 13 engagements.)
O'BRIEN, HENRY D.
Rank and organization: Corporal,
Company E, 1st Minnesota Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: St. Anthony Falls,
Minn. Birth: Maine. Date of issue: 9 April 1890. Citation: Taking up the colors where they had fallen, he rushed ahead of
his regiment, close to the muzzles of the enemy's guns, and engaged in the desperate struggle in which the enemy was defeated,
and though severely wounded, he held the colors until wounded a second time.
PIPES, JAMES
Rank and organization:
Captain, Company A, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863; At Reams Station, Va., 25
August 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Green County, Pa. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: While a sergeant
and retiring with his company before the rapid advance of the enemy at Gettysburg, he and a companion stopped and carried
to a place of safety a wounded and helpless comrade; in this act both he and his companion were severely wounded. A year later,
at Reams Station, Va., while commanding a skirmish line, voluntarily assisted in checking a flank movement of the enemy, and
while so doing was severely wounded, suffering the loss of an arm.
PLATT, GEORGE C.
Rank & organization: Private,
Company H, 6th United States Cavalry. Place and date: At Fairfield, Pa. 3 July 1863. Entered service at: --------. Birth:
Ireland. Date of issue: 12 July, 1895. Citation: Seized the regimental flag upon the death of the standard bearer in a hand-to-hand
fight and prevented it from falling into the hands of the enemy. Platt, "tore the color from the staff, placed it in his bosom...
rammed the staff through the first enemy that came before him, and then cut his way through the ranks of the enemy."
POSTLES, JAMES PARKE
Rank and organization: Captain, Company A, 1st Delaware
Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Wilmington, Del. Born: 28 September 1840, Camden,
Del. Date of issue: 22 July 1892. Citation: Voluntarily delivered an order in the face of heavy fire of the enemy.
PURMAN,
JAMES J.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, Company A, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa.,
2 July 1863. Entered service at: Greene County, Pa. Birth: ------. Dare of issue: 30 October 1896. Citation: Voluntarily assisted
a wounded comrade to a place of apparent safety while the enemy were in close proximity; he received the fire of the enemy
and a wound which resulted in the amputation of his left leg.
RAYMOND, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: Corporal,
Company A, 108th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Penfield, N.Y. Birth:
Penfield, N.Y. Date of issue: 10 March 1896 Citation: Voluntarily and under a severe fire brought a box of ammunition to his
comrades on the skirmish line.
REED, CHARLES W.
Rank and organization: Bugler, 9th Independent Battery, Massachusetts
Light Artillery. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Charlestown, Mass. Date
of issue: 16 August 1895. Citation: Rescued his wounded captain from between the lines.
REISINGER, J. MONROE
Rank
and organization: Corporal, Company H, 150th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered
service at: Meadville, Pa. Birth: Beaver County, Pa. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: Specially brave and meritorious conduct
in the face of the enemy. Awarded under Act of Congress, January 25, 1907.
RICE, EDMUND
Rank and organization: Major,
19th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Brighton,
Mass. Date of issue: 6 October 1891. Citation: Conspicuous bravery on the third day of the battle on the countercharge against
Pickett's division where he fell severely wounded within the enemy's lines.
RICHMOND, JAMES
Rank and organization:
Private, Company F, 8th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Toledo Ohio. Birth:
Maine. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.
ROBINSON, JOHN H.
Rank and organization: Private,
Company I, 19th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Roxbury, Mass.
Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 57th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.).
ROOD,
OLIVER P.
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 20th Indiana Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July
1863. Entered service at: Terre Haute, Vigo County, Ind. Birth: Frankfort County, Ky. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation:
Capture of flag of 21st North Carolina Infantry (C.S.A.).
ROOSEVELT, GEORGE W.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant,
Company K. 26th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 30 August 1862. At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863.
Entered service at: Chester Pa. Birth: Chester, Pa. Date of issue: 2 July 1887. Citation: At Bull Run, Va., recaptured the
colors, which had been seized by the enemy. At Gettysburg, he captured a Confederate color bearer and colors, in which effort
he was severely wounded.
ROUSH, J. LEVI
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company D, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place
and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Bedford County, Pa. Date of issue: 3 August
1897. Citation: Was 1 of 6 volunteers who charged upon a log house near the Devil's Den, where a squad of the enemy's sharpshooters
were sheltered, and compelled their surrender.
RUTTER, JAMES M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 143d
Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Date of issue: 30 October 1896. Citation: At great risk of his life went to the assistance of a wounded comrade, and while
under fire removed him to a place of safety.
SCHWENK, MARTIN
Rank & organization: Private, Company B, 6th United
States Cavalry. Place and date: At Fairfield, Pa. 3 July 1863. Entered service at: --------. Birth: Dresden, Germany. Date
of issue: 23 April 1889. Citation: For bravery displayed on the field of battle in an attempt to carry a communication through
the enemy's lines, and for the rescue of a wounded officer of the 6th United States Cavalry from the hands of the enemy.
SELLERS, ALFRED J.
Rank and organization: Major, 90th Pennsylvania Infantry.
Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: Pennsylvania. Born: 2 March 1836, Plumsteadville, Bucks
County, Pa. Date of issue: 21 July 1894. Citation: Voluntarily led the regiment under a withering fire to a position from
which the enemy was repulsed.
SHERMAN, MARSHALL
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 1st Minnesota Infantry.
Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at. St. Paul, Minn. Birth: Burlington, Vt. Date of issue:
1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 28th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.).
SICKLES, DANIEL E.
Rank and organization:
Major General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth:
New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 30 October 1897. Citation: Displayed most conspicuous gallantry on the field vigorously contesting
the advance of the enemy and continuing to encourage his troops after being himself severely wounded.
SMITH, THADDEUS
S.
Rank and organization. Corporal, Company E, 6th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry. Place and date. At Gettysburg, Pa., 2
July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Franklin County, Pa. Date of issue: 5 May 1900. Citation: Was 1 of 6 volunteers
who charged upon a log house near the Devil's Den, where a squad of the enemy's sharpshooters were sheltered, and compelled
their surrender.
STACEY, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 55th Ohio Infantry. Place and date:
At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: England. Date of issue: 23 June 1896. Citation: Voluntarily
took an advanced position on the skirmish line for the purpose of ascertaining the location of Confederate sharpshooters,
and under heavy fire held the position thus taken until the company of which he was a member went back to the main line.
THOMPSON,
JAMES B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company G, 1st Pennsylvania Rifles. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July
1863. Entered service at: Perrysville, Pa. Birth: Juniata County, Pa. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of
flag of 15th Georgia Infantry (C.S.A.).
TOZIER, ANDREW J.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company I, 20th Maine
Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Plymouth, Maine. Birth: Monmouth, Maine. Date
of issue: 13 August 1898. Citation: At the crisis of the engagement this soldier, a color bearer, stood alone in an advanced
position, the regiment having been borne back, and defended his colors with musket and ammunition picked up at his feet.
VEAZEY,
WHEELOCK G.
Rank and organization: Colonel, 16th Vermont Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered
service at: Springfield, Vt. Born: 5 December 1835, Brentwood, N.H. Date of issue: 8 September 1891. Citation: Rapidly assembled
his regiment and charged the enemy's flank; changed front under heavy fire, and charged and destroyed a Confederate brigade,
all this with new troops in their first battle.
WALL, JERRY
Rank and organization. Private, Company B, 126th New
York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Milo, N.Y. Birth: Geneva, N.Y. Date of
issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.
WALLER, FRANCIS A.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company I,
6th Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Entered service at: DeSoto, Vernon County, Wis. Birth:
Gurney, Ohio. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 2d Mississippi Infantry (C.S.A.).
WEBB,
ALEXANDER S.
Rank and organization: Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863.
Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Born: 15 February 1835, New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 28 September 1891. Citation: Distinguished
personal gallantry in leading his men forward at a critical period in the contest.
WELLS, WILLIAM
Rank and organization:
Major, 1st Vermont Cavalry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Waterbury, Vt. Born: 14 December
1837, Waterbury, Vt. Date of issue: 8 September 1891. Citation: Led the second battalion of his regiment in a daring charge.
WILEY,
JAMES
Rank and organization. Sergeant, Company B, 59th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863.
Entered service at: ------. Birth: Ohio. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of a Georgia regiment.
---------------------------------
OTHERS
OF INTEREST TO GETTYSBURG:
AMES, ADELBERT (Brigade commander in 11th Corps)
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant,
5th U.S. Artillery. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 21 July 1861. Entered service at: Rockland, Maine. Birth: East Thomaston,
Maine. Date of issue: 22 June 1894. Citation: remained upon the field in command of a section of Griffin's Battery, directing
its fire after being severely wounded and refusing to leave the field until too weak to sit upon the caisson where he had
been placed by men of his command.
HOWARD, OLIVER O. (Commander of the 11th Corps)
Rank and organization: Brigadier
General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Fair Oaks, Va., 1 June 1862. Entered service at: Maine. Born: 8 November 1830,
Leeds, Maine. Date of issue: 29 March 1893. Citation: Led the 61st New York Infantry in a charge in which he was twice severely
wounded in the right arm, necessitating amputation.
ROBINSON, JOHN C. (Division commander in 1st Corps)
Rank and
organization: Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Laurel Hill, Va., 8 May 1864. Entered service at: Binghamton,
N.Y. Birth: Binghamton, N.Y. Date of issue: 28 March 1894. Citation: Placed himself at the head of the leading brigade in
a charge upon the enemy's breastworks; was severely wounded.
Credit: National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park
Recommended Reading: Gettysburg Heroes: Perfect Soldiers, Hallowed Ground (Hardcover). Description: The Civil
War generation saw its world in ways startlingly different from our own. In these essays, Glenn W. LaFantasie examines the
lives and experiences of several key personalities who gained fame during and after the war. The battle of Gettysburg is the thread that ties these Civil War lives together. Gettysburg was a personal turning point, though each person was affected differently. Continued
below...
Largely biographical in its approach,
the book captures the human drama of the war and shows how this group of individuals--including Abraham Lincoln, James Longstreet,
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, William C. Oates, and others--endured or succumbed to the war and, willingly or unwillingly,
influenced its outcome. Concurrently, it shows how the war shaped the lives of these individuals, putting them through ordeals
they never dreamed they would face or survive.
Advance to:
Recommended Reading: Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage. Description: America's Civil War raged for more than four years, but it is the three days of fighting in the Pennsylvania countryside in July 1863 that continues to fascinate, appall, and inspire new
generations with its unparalleled saga of sacrifice and courage. From Chancellorsville, where General Robert E. Lee launched
his high-risk campaign into the North, to the Confederates' last daring and ultimately-doomed act, forever known as Pickett's
Charge, the battle of Gettysburg gave the Union army a victory that turned back the boldest and perhaps greatest chance for
a Southern nation. Continued below...
Now, acclaimed
historian Noah Andre Trudeau brings the most up-to-date research available to a brilliant, sweeping, and comprehensive history
of the battle of Gettysburg that sheds fresh light on virtually every aspect of it. Deftly balancing his own
narrative style with revealing firsthand accounts, Trudeau brings this engrossing human tale to life as never before.
Recommended Reading: Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg, by James M. Mcpherson (Crown Journeys) (Hardcover). Review From
Publishers Weekly: The country's most distinguished
Civil War historian, a Pulitzer Prize winner (for Battle Cry of Freedom) and professor at Princeton,
offers this compact and incisive study of the Battle of Gettysburg. In narrating "the largest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere," McPherson walks readers over its presently hallowed ground, with monuments numbering
into the hundreds, many of which work to structure the narrative. They range from the equestrian monument to Union general
John Reynolds to Amos Humiston, a New Yorker identified several months after the battle when family daguerreotypes found on
his body were recognized by his widow. Continued
below...
Indeed, while
McPherson does the expected fine job of narrating the battle, in a manner suitable for the almost complete tyro in military
history, he also skillfully hands out kudos and criticism each time he comes to a memorial. He praises Joshua Chamberlain
and the 20th Maine,
but also the 140th New York and its colonel, who died leading
his regiment on the other Union flank in an equally desperate action. The cover is effective and moving: the quiet clean battlefield
park above, the strewn bodies below. The author's knack for knocking myths on the head without jargon or insult is on display
throughout: he gently points out that North Carolinians think that their General Pettigrew ought to share credit for Pickett's
charge; that General Lee's possible illness is no excuse for the butchery that charge led to; that African-Americans were
left out of the veterans' reunions; and that the kidnapping of African-Americans by the Confederates has been excised from
most history books.
Recommended Reading: These Honored Dead:
How The Story Of Gettysburg Shaped American Memory. Description:
Ever since the guns of Gettysburg fell silent, and Lincoln
delivered his famous two-minute speech four months after the battle, the story of this three-day conflict has become an American
legend. We remember Gettysburg as, perhaps, the biggest, bloodiest,
and most important battle ever fought-the defining conflict in American history. But how much truth is actually behind each
legend surrounding that great and terrible battle? Continued below...
In These Honored Dead, Thomas A. Desjardin, a prominent Civil War historian
and a perceptive cultural observer, demonstrates how flawed our knowledge of this enormous event has become, and why. He examines
how Americans, for seven score years, have shaped, used, altered, and sanctified our national memory, fashioning the story
of Gettysburg
as a reflection of, and testimony to, our culture and our nation.
Recommended Reading: Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America
(Simon & Schuster Lincoln Library). Description: The power of words has rarely been given a more compelling demonstration
than in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was asked to memorialize
the gruesome battle. Instead he gave the whole nation "a new birth of freedom" in the space of a mere 272 words. His entire
life and previous training and his deep political experience went into this, his revolutionary masterpiece. Continued below...
By examining both the address and Lincoln
in their historical moment and cultural frame, Wills breathes new life into words we thought we knew, and reveals much about
a president so mythologized but often misunderstood. Wills shows how Lincoln desired to change
the world and…how his words had to and did complete the work of the guns, and how Lincoln
wove a spell that has not yet been broken.
Recommended Reading:
Gettysburg,
by Stephen W. Sears (640 pages) (November 3, 2004). Description: Sears delivers another masterpiece with this comprehensive study of America’s most studied Civil War battle. Beginning with Lee's meeting with
Davis in May 1863, where he argued in favor of marching north, to take pressure off both Vicksburg and Confederate logistics. It ends with the battered Army
of Northern Virginia re-crossing the Potomac just two months later and with Meade unwilling to drive his equally battered
Army of the Potomac into a desperate pursuit. In between is the balanced, clear and detailed
story of how tens-of-thousands of men became casualties, and how Confederate independence on that battlefield was put forever
out of reach. The author is fair and balanced. Continued below...
He discusses
the shortcomings of Dan Sickles, who advanced against orders on the second day; Oliver Howard, whose Corps broke and was routed
on the first day; and Richard Ewell, who decided not to take Culp's Hill on the first night, when that might have been decisive.
Sears also makes a strong argument that Lee was not fully in control of his army on the march or in the battle, a view conceived
in his gripping narrative of Pickett's Charge, which makes many aspects of that nightmare much clearer than previous studies.
A must have for the Civil War buff and anyone remotely interested in American history.
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