2nd Infantry Regiment (United States) - Medal of Honor Recipients

Medal of Honor Recipients

Two soldiers earned the Medal of Honor while serving with the 2nd Infantry:

• First Sergeant Daniel W. Burke, Company B, for his actions at Shepherdstown Ford, Virginia, on 20 September 1862. When his unit retreated across the Potomac, he learned that a piece of artillery had been left unspiked, leaving it usable by the enemy. He volunteered to go back and disable the gun, and returned to spike the gun in the face of the enemy. Coming under heavy rebel fire he was unable to complete the task, he retreated back across the river under constant fire. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry on 18 July 1962 and promoted to 1st lieutenant on 2 July 1863. He remained in the Army and retired as a brigadier general on 21 October 1899. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

• Staff Sergeant James Leroy Bondsteel, Company A, 2nd Battalion, for his actions in An Loc Province, Vietnam, on 24 May 1969. The major U.S. Army base in Kosovo, Camp Bondsteel, was named in his honor.

Two officers who would later become executive officers of the 2nd Infantry received Medals of Honor in the Civil War:

• Major General Henry C. Merriam, for his conspicuous gallantry at Fort Blakely, Alabama, 9 April 1865 while in command of the 73rd U.S. Colored Troops. As a lieutenant colonel, Merriam was executive officer of the 2nd Infantry from June 1876 to July 1885. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
• Brigadier General William M. Wherry, for his actions at Wilson Creek on 10 August 1861 while serving as a first lieutenant with Company D, 3rd U.S. Reserve Missouri Infantry. As a lieutenant colonel, Wherry was executive officer of the 2nd Infantry from December 1894 to December 1898 and commanded the regiment, in the absence of Colonel John Bates, during its deployment to Cuba in 1898 during the Spanish-American War.