‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (2024)

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  • JOSH BOAK Associated Press
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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry to two Union soldiers who stole a locomotive deep in Confederate territory duringthe Civil Warand drove it north for 87 miles as they destroyed railroad tracks and telegraph lines.

U.S. Army Pvts. Philip G. Shadrach and George D. Wilson were captured by Confederates and executed by hanging. Biden recognized their courage 162 years later with the country'shighest military decoration, calling the operation they joined “one of the most dangerous missions of the entire Civil War.”

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (1)

“Every soldier who joined that mission was awarded the Medal of Honor except for two. Two soldiers who died because of that operation and never received this recognition," Biden said. “Today, we right that wrong.”

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The posthumous recognition comes as the legacy of the Civil War, which killed more than 600,000 Union and Confederate service members between 1861 and 1865, continues to shape U.S. politics ina contentious election yearin which issues of race, constitutional rights and presidential power are at the forefront.

Biden has said thatthe Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitolby supporters of Donald Trump was the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War. Meanwhile, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, riffed at a recent Pennsylvania rally about the Battle of Gettysburg and about the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (2)

The president said Wednesday that Shadrach and Wilson were “fighting and even dying to preserve the Union and the sacred values it was founded upon: freedom, justice, fairness, unity.”

“Phillip and George were willing to shed their blood to make these ideals real,” Biden said.

Theresa Chandler, the great-great-granddaughter of Wilson, recalled for The Associated Press how the Union soldier had the noose around his neck on the gallows and spoke his final words.

She said that Wilson essentially said that he was there to serve his country and had no ill feelings for the people of the South, but that he hoped for the abolition of slavery and for the nation to be united again.

“When I read that, I had chills,” Chandler said. “We can feel that as a family and that we’re enjoying our freedoms today, what he tried to move forward at the time.”

Brian Taylor, a great-great-great-nephew of Shadrach, said this was an opportunity for his ancestor to be remembered as “a brave soldier who did what he thought was right.”

“I kind of feel that he was a bit adventurous, a bit of a free spirit,” Taylor said.

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (3)

Shadrach and Wilson are being recognized for participating in what became known as the Great Locomotive Chase.

A Kentucky-born civilian spy and scout named James J. Andrews put together a group of volunteers, including Shadrach and Wilson, to degrade the railway and telegraph lines used by Confederates in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

On April 12, 1862, 22 of the men in what was later called Andrews' Raiders met up in Marietta, Georgia, and hijacked a train named The General. The group tore up tracks and sliced through telegraph wires while taking the train north.

Confederate troops chased them, initially on foot and later by train. The Confederate troops eventually caught the group. Andrews and seven others were executed, while the others either escaped or remained prisoners of war.

The first Medal of Honorever bestowed went to Pvt. Jacob Parrott, who participated in the locomotive hijacking and was beaten while imprisoned by the Confederacy.

The government later recognized 18 other participants who took part in the raid with the honor, but Shadrach and Wilson were excluded. They were later authorized to receive the medal as part ofthe fiscal 2008 National Defense Authorization Act.

Shadrach, born on Sept. 15, 1840, in Pennsylvania, was 21 years old when he volunteered for the mission. He was orphaned at a young age and left home in 1861 to enlist in an Ohio infantry regiment after the start of the Civil War.

Wilson was born in 1830 in Belmont County, Ohio. He worked as a journeyman shoemaker before the war and enlisted in an Ohio-based volunteer infantry in 1861.

The Walt Disney Corp. madea 1956 movieabout the hijacking titled “The Great Locomotive Chase,” starring Fess Parker and Jeffrey Hunter. The 1926 silent film “The General,” starring Buster Keaton, was also based on the historic event.

A timeline of the Civil War

A timeline of the Civil War

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (4)

Gunfire at Fort Sumter

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (6)

Lincoln calls in troops to contain the insurrection

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (7)

Four more states join the Confederacy

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (8)

Blockade of Southern ports

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (9)

Birth of West Virginia

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (10)

The 'Border States' refuse the Confederacy but not slavery

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (11)

The First Battle of Bull Run

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (12)

The Battle of Fort Royal

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (13)

The Battle of Shiloh

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (14)

The Peninsula Campaign

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (15)

The Seven Days Battles

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (16)

From the Second Battle of Bull Run to the Battle of Fredericksburg

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (17)

Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (18)

The Conscription Act of 1863 establishes a national draft

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (19)

The Battle of Gettysburg

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (20)

The Confederacy splits in two

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (21)

Union victories in Tennessee

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (22)

Grant's Wilderness Campaign

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (23)

The capture of Atlanta

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (24)

Lincoln is reelected

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (25)

Submittal of the Forts

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (26)

The Confederacy falls

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (27)

Surrender of the South

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (28)

The assassination of President Lincoln

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (29)

Jefferson Davis is finally captured; the last Confederate troops lay down arms

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (30)

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‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory (2024)

FAQs

‘Freedom, unity’: Biden bestows Medal of Honor on Civil War heroes who stole train in Confederate territory? ›

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry to two Union soldiers who stole a locomotive deep in Confederate territory during the Civil War and drove it north for 87 miles as they destroyed railroad tracks and telegraph lines. U.S. Army Pvts.

Who won the Medal of Honor in the Civil War? ›

Philip G. Shadrach, who also received the medal. President Joe Biden, right, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Civil War Army Pvt. Philip G. Shadrach during a ceremony at the White House, July 3, 2024. Shadrach's great-great nephew Gerald Taylor, center, received the medal on his behalf.

Did any Confederate soldiers get the Medal of Honor? ›

The Confederate Medal of Honor is a posthumous award created by the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) in 1977 to recognize Confederate veterans who "distinguished themselves conspicuously by gallantry, bravery, and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty" during the American Civil War.

Can a civilian win the Medal of Honor? ›

Yes. In 1916, Congress asked that all Medals awarded up to that point be reviewed to ensure that they met the high standards required for the award. As a result, 911 Medals of Honor were rescinded. Later in the century, the Army reinstated 6 of the awards to civilians who served alongside U.S. troops.

Has anyone won 3 Medals of Honor? ›

People awarded them are called recipients, not winners. Nineteen people have been awarded more than one Medal of Honor, including several marines awarded two medals for the same action, by the Navy and the Army. No one has received more than two.

How much money does a Medal of Honor recipient receive? ›

Benefits. Recipients of the Medal of Honor are afforded the following benefits for their extraordinary heroism: A monthly $1,406.73 pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Has any soldier won 2 medals of honor? ›

Perhaps the most notable two-time Medal of Honor recipients are Smedley Butler and Dan Daly, both Marines who began their careers in the late-19th century before serving in World War I.

Has a woman ever received the Medal of Honor? ›

Let's travel back to 1861, the beginning of the Civil War, where Dr. Mary Edwards Walker made groundbreaking contributions to medicine and earned the prestigious Medal of Honor award. Dr. Mary Walker remains the only female to receive the award among over 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients.

Has any soldier won 2 Medals of Honor? ›

Perhaps the most notable two-time Medal of Honor recipients are Smedley Butler and Dan Daly, both Marines who began their careers in the late-19th century before serving in World War I.

Who actually won the Civil War? ›

Fact #8: The North won the Civil War. After four years of conflict, the major Confederate armies surrendered to the United States in April of 1865 at Appomattox Court House and Bennett Place.

How many blacks got the Medal of Honor in the Civil War? ›

Twenty-six Medal of Honor awards were conferred upon African American service members during the Civil War. Eight were presented to naval personnel, the rest to soldiers.

Who won the Medal of Honor at Gettysburg? ›

Recipients
NameDate of action
James J. PurmanJuly 2, 1863
William H. RaymondJuly 3, 1863
Charles W. ReedJuly 2, 1863
J. Monroe ReisingerJuly 1, 1863
56 more rows

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