American Civil War
The American Civil War was a major conflict fought between the federal government of the United States and eleven of its member States which sought to secede and to create their own government, the Confederate States of America. It started on April 12, 1861, shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, and ended four years later on April 9, 1865. During the war over 10,000 military engagements took place and more than 3 million people fought on both sides with 40% of the battles being fought in the states of Virginia and Tennessee.
Since its creation, 1522 have received the Medal of Honor for actions during the American Civil War and depending on sources, as many as seven were Jewish.
- Note: Notes in quotations are derived or are copied from the official Medal of Honor citation
| Image | Name | Service | Rank | Place of action | Date of action | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Cohn, AbrahamAbraham Cohn | Army | E-09 !Sergeant Major | Battle of the Wilderness and Battle of the Crater, Virginia | 01864-05-06May 6, 1864 and July 30, 1864 | "During Battle of the Wilderness rallied and formed, under heavy fire, disorganized and fleeing troops of different regiments. At Petersburg, Va., ... bravely and coolly carried orders to the advanced line under severe fire." | |
| — | Gause, IsaacIsaac Gause | Army | E-04 !Corporal | near Berryville, Virginia | 01864-09-13Sep 13, 1864 | "Capture of the colors of the 8th South Carolina Infantry while engaged in a reconnaissance" | |
| — | Greenawalt, AbrahamAbraham Greenawalt | Army | E-01 !Private | Franklin, Tennessee | 01864-11-30November 30, 1864 | "Capture of corps headquarters flag (C.S.A.)" | |
| — | Heller, HenryHenry Heller | Army | E-05 !Sergeant | Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia | 01863-05-02May 2, 1863 | "One of a party of 4 who, under heavy fire, voluntarily brought into the Union lines a wounded Confederate officer from whom was obtained valuable information concerning the position of the enemy." | |
| — | Karpeles, LeopoldLeopold Karpeles | Army | E-05 !Sergeant | Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia | 01864-05-06May 6, 1864 | "While color bearer, rallied the retreating troops and induced them to check the enemy's advance" | |
| — | Levy, BenjaminBenjamin Levy | Army | E-01 !Private | Battle of Glendale, Virginia | 01862-06-30Jun 30, 1862 | Drummer boy, took the gun of a sick comrade and went into the fight, when the color bearers were shot down he carried the colors and saved them from capture. | |
| — | Orbansky, DavidDavid Orbansky | Army | E-01 !Private | Shiloh, Tennessee, Vicksburg, Mississippi | 01862-01-011862 and 1863 | "Gallantry in actions" |
Read more about this topic: List Of Jewish Medal Of Honor Recipients
Famous quotes containing the words civil war, american, civil and/or war:
“The United States is just now the oldest country in the world, there always is an oldest country and she is it, it is she who is the mother of the twentieth century civilization. She began to feel herself as it just after the Civil War. And so it is a country the right age to have been born in and the wrong age to live in.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“It is a thing which every sensible American should learn from every sensible Englishman, that glare and glitter, gimcracks and gewgaws, are not indispensable to domestic solacement.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“... two great areas of deafness existed in the South: White Southerners had no ears to hear that which threatened their Dream. And colored Southerners had none to hear that which could reduce their anger.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 16 (1962)
“... near a war it is always not very near.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)