The Youngest Medal Of Honor Recipient

William Johnston enlisted in the 3^rd Vermont Infantry December 11^th 1861 at the age of 11 as a drummer boy; he would become the youngest person ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

William Johnston, who was known as Willie, was born July 12^th 1850 in Morristown, St Lawrence, New York, the son of William Johnston.  After the death of his mother, the family moved to Derby, Orleans, Vermont.

When the Civil War started Johnston’s father enlisted to fight for the Union, and Johnston went with his father.  He was enlisted on December 11^th 1861 at St Johnsbury, Vermont.  Johnston was five feet tall and 11 years old.  When the 3rd Vermont infantry was mustered into Union service, Johnston’s father was a private in Company B and Johnston left Vermont as a drummer boy in Company D.  The first time Johnston saw action was at the Battle of Lee’s Mill on April 16^th 1862.

It was during the next campaign, the Seven Days Battles that Johnston would be cited for bravery, and would be subsequently award the Medal of Honor.  During the Union retreat to Harrison’s Landing, when other men threw away their equipment in order to travel faster with less weight, Johnston brought his drum safely back with him to Harrison’s Landing.  It was there that Johnston was asked to drum the division on parade, he being the only drummer boy to bring his instrument off the field.

Johnston was presented with the Medal of Honor on September 16^th 1863 by Union Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton.   Johnston was and is the youngest person ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor.  He would continue to serve throughout the war, mustering out of service on December 30^th 1864.

After the war Johnston attended Norwich University, but did not graduate.  He was living in Chelsea, Massachusetts around 1868.  It was reported that he was working as a mariner.  After this report, there doesn’t seem to any more information about him.

For Gallantry In Action

The United States Congress authorized the Medal of Honor July 12^th 1862 for gallantry of Army noncommissioned officers and privates.

After the Civil War started in December 1861 the United States Congress authorized a medal of honor for Marines and Navy.  Two months later Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson introduced a bill on the floor to authorize "the President to distribute medals to privates in the Army of the United States who shall distinguish themselves in battle."

President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law on July 12^th 1862, as “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause two thousand "medals of honor" to be prepared with suitable emblematic devices, and to direct that the same be presented, in the name of the Congress, to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities, during the present insurrection.”

The first Medals of Honor were presented March 25^th 1863 by Union Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton to the surviving members of Andrew’s Raiders.  The first action for which a Medal of Honor would be awarded occurred at Apache Pass, Arizona on February 13^th 1861 when Union Assistant Surgeon Bernard J D Irwin rescued 60 soldiers.

A Builder Of American

Union Colonel Charles Ellet Jr died June 21^st 1862 from a mortal wound he received at the Battle of Memphis 15 days earlier.

Charles Ellet Jr was born January 1^st 1810 in William Penn Manor, Buck, Pennsylvania.  He studied civil engineering in Paris, France at the Ecole Polytechnique.  He designed the first wire cable suspension bridge built in the United States in 1842.  It spanned the Schuylkill River at Fairmount, Pennsylvania, and was 358 feet long.  There were other bridges to follow including the 770 foot long footbridge at Niagara Falls.  Ellet also engineered canals and railroads in Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as building flood control dams on local rivers.  In 1850 he was directed by the United States Secretary of War Charles M. Conrad to survey the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and make plans to improve navigation.  Ellet wrote a pamphlet in 1855 called “Coast and Harbor Defenses, or the Substitution of Steam Battering Rams for Ships of War”.

Union Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton had Ellet appointed Colonel of Engineers in March 1861, and set him creating the Union Ram Fleet.  He had nine steam ships converted to vessels.  These ships were designated the Mississippi Ram Fleet.  While he was on board the USS Queen of the West, Ellet was mortally wounded, being shot in the knee during the Battle of Memphis on June 6^th 1862.  He died fifteen days later June 21^st 1862 at Cairo, Illinois.  He is buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Walked Right In Carrying A Rifle

Christopher Miner Spencer walked into the White House August 18^th 1863 carrying one of his Spencer rifles, to see President Abraham Lincoln.

Christopher Miner Spencer was born June 20^th 1833 in Manchester, Connecticut.  He was apprenticed to work at 14 for the Cheney Brother’s as a machinist.  He developed his Spencer Repeating Rifle in 1860, but was unable to get it into Union army use.  On August 18^th 1863 Spencer walked into the White House, past the sentries carrying one of his rifles with cartridges and into President Abraham Lincoln’s office.  The two them discussed the gun, and the next afternoon Lincoln, Spencer, Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton and other officials met out on the Mall where they participated in target shooting using the gun.

After that meeting the Union ordered around 13,000 Spencer rifles, along with 58 million rounds of ammo.  Union General Ulysses S Grant said the Spencer rifle was "the best breech-loading arms available".  Many of the Civil War veterans returned home with their Spencer.

Demand for the rifle fell after the war ended, and Spencer was unable to make enough money cover his investments.  The Spencer Repeating Rifle Company went bankrupt in 1868.  The company’s assets were bought by Oliver Winchester.  Spencer went on to develop other quality gun, such as the Spencer Pump Action Shotgun, as well as inventing things like the Steam Powered Buggy and the first automatic screw machine.  Spencer died January 14^th 1922 in Windsor, Connecticut.

If you would like more information, check out Christopher Spencer’s Horizontal Shot Tower

A Circular Ride

In the early morning hours of June 12^th 1862 Confederate General J E B Stuart left with 1,000 cavalry to make a circular ride clean around the Union army.

Union General George B McClellan began the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862, moving slowly against Richmond, Virginia.  On May 31^st 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines, Confederate General Joseph Johnston was wounded and replaced by General Robert E Lee.

Lee had JEB Stuart put together his cavalry on June 10^th 1862 to reconnoiter the Union right flank.  The ostentatious Stuart proposed a complete ride around the Union Army starting toward the Lower Peninsula near the York River, returning to the Richmond area along the James River.  Lee gave Stuart an unspecific order, telling him the exercise “due caution”.  At 2 am on June 12^th 1862 about 1,000 of Stuart’s troopers mounted up and started north for the right flank of the Union army.  He picked up another 200 cavalry outside of Richmond, including Confederate Colonel Fitzhugh Lee and Lieutenant Colonel William H F Rooney Lee.

That first day the Confederate cavalry moved as if they were going to support of General Thomas Stonewall Jackson’s approach to Richmond.  They bivouacked that night on the bank of the South Anna River.  The next morning they ran into the Union 6^th Cavalry just west of the Hanover Court House.  Stuart tried to flank them, and the Union commander Lieutenant Edward Leib withdrew down the Richmond Stage Road.  The Confederates continued on, trying to stop a train a Tunstall’s Station.  Stuart ran into trouble crossing the rain swelled Chickahominy River, and had to rebuild the bridge at Forge Site.  They crossed the river and then re-burnt the bridge.

On June 14^th 1862 Stuart left his force under the command of Fitzhugh Lee and he continued to Richmond to meet with Robert E Lee to report on his 100 mile reconnaissance.  At about the same time Stuart was reporting his findings to Lee, Union General McClellan reported to Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton that, “A rebel force of cavalry and artillery, variously estimated at from 1,000 to 5,000, came around our right flank last evening, attacked and drove in a picket guard...at Old Church; they proceeded to a landing 3 miles above White House, where they burned two forage schooners and destroyed some wagons. Then they struck the railroad at Tunstall’s Station, fired into a train of cars, killing some 5 or 6. Here they met a force of infantry which I sent down to meet them, when they ran off. I have several cavalry detachments out after them and hope to punish them. No damage has been done to the railroad.”

If you’re interested in reading more about Stuart’s ride J. E. B. Stuart's Ride Around The Union Army is a good web site.

A Brave Drummer Boy

Union Private Orion Perseus Howe one of the youngest Medal of Honor awardees, received the Medal for action on May 19^th 1863 as part of the Vicksburg Campaign.

Orion Perseus Howe was born in Portage County, Ohio December 29^th 1848 the son of William Harrison and Eliza Ann (Westland) Howe.  Following the death of his mother in 1852, the family moved to Waukegan, Illinois.

At the age of 12 Howe, along his younger brother Lyton Druett Howe joined the 55^th Illinois Infantry as musicians.  Their father was the regimental band leader.  During a battle at Vicksburg, Mississippi May 19^th 1863, Howe crossed the field under fire to report the need of ammo to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman on the behest of Colonel Oscar Malmborg.  Howe and several other men volunteered, and Howe although badly wounded was the only one to make it.  It was reported that “he ran through what seemed a hailstorm of canister and musket-balls, each throwing up its little puff of dust when it struck the dry hillside. Suddenly he dropped and hearts sank, but he had only tripped. Often he stumbled, sometimes he fell prostrate, but was quickly up again and he finally disappeared from us, limping over the summit and the 55th saw him no more for several months."

Howe reenlisted in the 55^th Illinois on December 25^th 1863.  He was discharged November 30^th 1864 as a Corporal having seen action in 14 battles.  General Sherman wrote about Howe to Union Secretary of State Edwin M Stanton and attained an appointment for him to the United State Naval Academy.  Howe didn't make it through the Academy, but did graduate from the New York University.  He settled in Springfield, Missouri, where he died January 27^th 1930.  He is buried in the Springfield National Cemetery.

Howe’s Medal of Honor reads, “A drummer boy, 14 years of age, and severely wounded and exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy, he persistently remained upon the field of battle until he had reported to Gen. W. T. Sherman the necessity of supplying cartridges for the use of troops under command of Colonel Malmborg.”

Fourty Acres And A Mule

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Orders Number 15 on January 16^th 1865.

As Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s army marched across Georgia to the sea, tens of thousands of former slaves joined the march.  The slaves joined the Union troops looking for support and protection.  Sherman after meeting with ministers of the black community in Savannah, Georgia and United States Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton about the problem raised by these former slaves, issued Special Field Order Number 15 on January 16^th 1865.

Special Field Order Number 15 provided for the seizure of four hundred thousand acres of land along the coast from Charleston, South Carolina to St John’s River, Florida.  The land was to be divided into 40 acre lots to be given to the 40,000 freed slaves in the area.  Union Brigadier General Rufus Saxton; an abolitionist from Massachusetts, was placed in charge of executing the order.  The order clearly called for black families to settle on the confiscated land, and for the newly freed men to join the Union army.  Sherman also latter ordered that the newly settled farmers be loaned mules by the army.

The Order was revoked in the fall of 1865 by President Andrew Johnson.  Johnson had all lands returned to the planters who had originally owned it.

If you would like to see the actual wording of SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, No. 15.  look at this web site.

A Tax Sale And A Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery was officially created as a military cemetery June 15th 1864.


Arlington National Cemetery was established on the grounds of Arlington House. Arlington House was an estate owned by Confederate General Robert E Lee’s wife Mary Anna [Custis] Lee, the grand-daughter of Martha Washington. The Custis family bought the land where the cemetery is located in 1802 and began building Arlington House.

The United States government purchased Arlington House and its two hundred acres at a tax sale for $26,800 in 1864. Mrs. Lee sent an agent to pay the $92.07 property taxes that were due, but the government refused to take the payment which was not made in person. The United States Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Washington DC was rapidly filling with military burials, so United States Quartermaster General Montgomery C Meigs wrote of Arlington that the “grounds about the mansion are admirably adapted to such a use." United State Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton officially had the land set aside as a military cemetery June 15th 1864. Burials were begun on the ground of Arlington House before the ink had time to dry.

Custis Lee the son of Robert E Lee sued the United State for ownership of Arlington House in 1874, claiming the estate was held in trust for his mother. The United States Supreme Court ruled in Lee’s favor and Congress returned the land to him. The next year, 1875 Lee sold the property back to the government for $150,000 at a ceremony with Robert Todd Lincoln. President Herbert Hoover held the first official National Memorial Day May 30th 1929 in Arlington National Cemetery.

This is a must read web site for information about the Arlington National Cemetery

One General For Sixty Enlisted

General Ulysses S Grant ends the exchange of prisoners with the South on April 17th 1864. He thought the practice was prolonging the war.

In the beginning of the Civil War the Federal government declined to negotiate the exchange of prisoners, as the government didn’t recognize the legitimacy of the Confederacy. Union General John Dix and Confederate General D H Hill met in July 1862 to set up a formal Governmentally sanctioned exchange. The two Generals decided on a rate for exchange such as one lieutenant for four enlisted, or one General for sixty enlisted.

General Henry Halleck in 1863 took over the Union duty of prisoner exchange. Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton insisted that these exchanges to be less numerous. When General Ulysses S Grant took over command of the Union Army he called for end to the exchanges April 17th 1864. He said of his decision "Every man we hold, when released on parole or otherwise, becomes an active soldier against us at once either directly or indirectly. If we commence a system of exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to fight on until the whole South is exterminated. If we hold those caught they amount to no more than dead men. At this particular time to release all rebel prisoners North would insure Sherman's defeat and would compromise our safety here." Grant’s order increased the suffering of POW’s on both sides, but most likely shortened the war. In November 1864 the Confederacy was so overwhelmed with taking care of Union prisoners that they began sending them back north without an exchange.

Laughing At A Union Funeral

Eugenia Levy Phillips was released from Ship Island Mississippi on September 11th 1862, where she was held for laughing during a Union soldier’s funeral in New Orleans.

Eugenia Levy Phillips was born to a prominent Jewish family in 1819 in Charleston South Carolina. After marring Philip Phillips they moved to Mobile Alabama, where her husband an attorney became a US Congressman in 1853. After his first term was up the family stayed in Washington DC where he practiced law. Unbeknownst to her husband who was against secession, Eugenia’s loyalty lie with the south and she was suspected to be working for Rose O'Neal Greenhow’s spy ring. In August 1861 the whole Phillips house hold was placed under arrest for spying. With help from friends the family including Edwin M Stanton the family were released and moved south, first to Richmond and then onto New Orleans Louisiana.

New Orleans at this time was occupied by General Benjamin Butler and his Union troops. It was here that she ran into trouble by laughing out loud at a Union funeral procession, which was in violation of Butler’s Women’s Order which read, “As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subjected to repeated insults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered, that hereafter, when any female shall, by word, gesture, or movement, insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation.” General Butler had her arrested and placed on Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico on June 30th 1862, where she was held until September 11th 1862. By the time her husband was able to gain her release Eugenia was quite ill with fever.

Eugenia Levy Philips died at the age of 82 in 1902 while living in Georgia.

Another place for more information
Journal of Mrs. Eugenia Levy Phillips, 1861-1862