Loading AI tools
American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andrew W. Johnson (1833–1912) was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Siege of Vicksburg on May 22, 1863.
Andrew Johnson | |
|---|---|
Johnson in 1905 | |
| Born | 1833 Delaware County, Ohio |
| Died | 1912 (aged 78–79) Illinois |
| Place of burial | Tower Hill Cemetery, Tower Hill, Illinois |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | |
| Rank | Private |
| Unit | Company G, 116th Illinois Volunteer Infantry |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Medal of Honor |
Johnson joined the 116th Illinois Infantry in August 1862, and was discharged in February 1865.[1]
On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The plan called for a storming party of volunteers to build a bridge across a moat and plant scaling ladders against the enemy embankment in advance of the main attack. The volunteers knew the odds were against survival and the mission was called, in nineteenth century vernacular, a "forlorn hope". Only single men were accepted as volunteers and even then, twice as many men as needed came forward and were turned away. The assault began in the early morning following a naval bombardment. The Union soldiers came under enemy fire immediately and were pinned down in the ditch they were to cross. Despite repeated attacks by the main Union body, the men of the forlorn hope were unable to retreat until nightfall. Of the 150 men in the storming party, nearly half were killed. Seventy-nine of the survivors were awarded the Medal of Honor.
“For gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party on 22 May 1863.”
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
