HONORING OUR 'HOMETOWN HEROES:" Senator Patty Ritchie's Medal of Honor Heroes Highway Project

7/31/2019 HONORING OUR 'HOMETOWN HEROES:" Senator Patty Ritchie's Medal of Honor Heroes Highway Project

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The Medal of Honor is our Nations highest military decoration. Due to its

rigorous selection criteria, there have been fewer than 3,500 recipientsand of

those, fully one in four are New Yorkers.

In our own region, at least 45 Medal of Honor recipients have been associated withOswego, Jefferson or St. Lawrence Counties. New York Stateand particularly the

communities of Northern and Central New Yorkis truly the Home of Heroes.

This exhibit honors recipients of the Medal of Honor, in conjunction with the

150th anniversary of the awards creation by President Abraham Lincoln.

The Medal of HonorFor Conspicuous Gallantry and

Intrepidity in Action At the Risk of LifeAbove and Beyond the Call of Duty

New York State Senator

Patty Ritchie

Ive introduced legislation to pay tribute to New Yorks Medal of

Honor recipients by naming some of the bridges and overpassesof our state in their honor. Learn more about my Heroes

Highways bill by visiting my website, www.ritchie.nysenate.gov.


2/16

When the Civil War broke out, Oswegos Dr. Mary Walker went to

Washington to join the Union Army. Denied a commission as a medical

of cer, she volunteered anyway, and became the Armys rst female

surgeon. Dr. Walker worked in an Army hospital in Washington, laterjoining the front lines as a eld surgeon. She was taken prisoner and

imprisoned for four months. She was paid just $766.16 for her years of

wartime service, and eventually received a monthly pension of $8.50.

But her service was recognized when she received the Medal of Honor

in 1865.

Senator Patty Ritchie has proposed legislation tohonor New Yorks Medal of Honor recipients by

naming some of the states 20,000 highway bridgesfor these Hometown Heroes.

The only woman ever to receive

the Medal of Honor

Mary Walker Edwards1832-1919


3/16

A member of the 10th Mountain Division posted to Fort Drum, Sgt. First

Class Jared Monti was serving as the leader of a forward observer team when

they were attacked by 60 or more insurgents. The Americans took cover and

returned re, and Monti radioed for artillery and close air support. Monti made

three attempts to reach a wounded companion. On his rst, he advanced towithin three feet of his comrade before being forced back by intense machine-

gun and rocket-propelled grenade re. His second try was similarly turned

back and as the rest of his patrol provided covering re, Monti advanced a

third time but was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade. At about the same

time, the artillery and air support he had requested began hitting the enemy,

killing 22 of the attackers and dispersing the rest.



Modern day hero

Sfc. Jared

Christopher Monti

1975 - 2006


4/16

Sgt. Frederick Jackson was commanding Company F of the Connecticut 7th

Infantry during the attack on Fort Lamar, South Carolina. At daybreak, on

June 16, 1862, Sgt. Jackson was struck above the elbow with a canister shot

from an eight-inch cannon, and his left arm was shattered as he led his troopsagainst the Confederate fort. With his right hand Jackson seized his splintered

arm, pressed it tightly to prevent, as much as possible, the ow of blood, and

dashed forward with his men. A second and third time he led his men in a

charge against Fort Lamar, until he fell, 100 feet from the fort, fainting from

the loss of blood. Later captured, he refused an offer of painkilling anesthesia

in exchange for revealing secrets about Union military formations. He is

buried in Smithville, Jefferson County.



Suffered to keep Union secrets

Sgt. FrederickRandolph Jackson

1844 1925


5/16

A native of Sackets Harbor, Sgt. George H. Eldridge was

dispatched to pursue a band of 250 Kiowa warriors led by Chief

Kicking Bird who had stolen a Texas mail shipment. Eldridge and

56 other cavalrymen were ambushed after a ve-day chase near

Little Wichita River. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned,

Eldridge and his fellow troopers forced Kicking Bird to retreat

after heavy ghting. He died in Los Angeles, California.



Outnumbered 5-to-1

Sgt. George H.Eldridge1844 1918


6/16

Born in Sackets Harbor, Pvt. Joseph Lonsway volunteered to

swim across Virginias Blackwater River in the midst of strong

enemy re to retrieve a at boat that could be used to ferry his

company across to destroy a Confederate artillery position. This

crossing, successful in large measure because of the actions of

Private Lonsway, resulted in his detachment taking the enemys

position on the far shore. He is buried in Clayton.



Swimming Through Fire

Pvt. Joseph Lonsway

1844 1925


7/16

Pamelia, Jefferson County, native Pvt. Alaric B. Chapin volunteered to

lead a detachment of Union forces from Company G, 142nd New

York Infantry, to break through the wooden palisade protecting the

heavily forti ed Fort Fisherknown as the Gibraltar of the South.

Despite severe re from Confederate troops, Chapin led the charge

from the beach against the Confederate fort, helping to open a way

for the Union troops into the fort.

He was born in Ogdensburg, and lived in Pamelia.



Led the Fall of Gibraltar

Pvt. Alaric B. Chapin1848 1924


8/16

Born in DeKalb, St. Lawrence County, Dayton Perry Clarke

received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Virginia on May

12, 1864. After his three superior of cers were killed, Cpt. Clarke,

commander of Company F of the 2nd Vermont Infantry, took

command, and engaged in desperate hand-to-hand combat at

Spotsylvania Courthouse, as he led his troops on a charge into

the Confederate force.



Leading the Charge

Cpt. Dayton PerryClarke

1840 - 1915


9/16

Pvt. James Flanagan, a dairy farmer from Louisville, St. Lawrence

County, was part of a 16-man detachment guarding a wagon

train when it came under attack from Confederate forces at

Nolinsville, Tenn. Flanagan and his fellow Union soldiers fought

heroically to defend the wagons, and successfully repelled the 125

attacking enemy, saving the train from destruction or capture.

He is buried in Louisville.



Outgunned and Under Attack

Pvt. James Flanagan

1833 - 1905


10/16

Born in Waddington, First Lt. John T. Rutherford spent most

of his life in Canton. On May 12, 1864, he was in command of

the 9th New York Cavalry, and led a successful charge at Yellow

Tavern, Va., capturing 90 Confederate soldiers. Two weeks later,

he led an attack on the Confederate line at Hanovertown, Va.,

where he convinced a vastly superior force to surrender by

shooting the horse of a Confederate of cer. He later served as

Town Supervisor of Waddington.



1LT John T. Rutherford

1823 1898


11/16

Gen. Newton Martin Curtis led the union attack on Fort Fisher,

known as the Gibraltar of the South, near Wilmington, N.C.

During the attack, he was wounded four times and lost an

eye, but was still the rst man through the stockade. Within

90 days of that victory, with the Confederacys last seaport

and its supply line from Europe cut, General Robert E. Lee

surrendered at Appomattox.



Hero of Fort Fisher

Gen. Newton MartinCurtis

1835 1910


12/16

12-year-old Willie Johnson, born in Morristown, earned the nickname,

President Lincolns Drummer, and received the Medal of Honor, as the

only musician still standing during the Peninsula Campaign at Harrisons

Landing, Sept. 16, 1863. Musicians played an important role in rallying

troops during the Civil War, and when other musicians were throwing

down their instruments to make it easier to ee a Confederate advance,

Willie kept his, an accomplishment that was reported all the way up to

the Commander in Chief. President Lincoln personally ordered Willies

Division Commander to recognize the boys bravery.



The Little Drummer Boy

William E. WillieJohnston

1855 1903


13/16

At Cemetery Hill, Virginia, Col. Delavan Bates, of Oswego, was

commanding the US Colored Troops during the battle of the Crater.

After union forces tunneled under the Confederate lines and planted

8000 lbs. of black powder explosive, the resulting explosion stopped

almost 300 Confederate soldiers. After several other regiments were

tangled up in the Crater, Col. Bates managed to break through the

Confederate line, leading his troops forward past the enemy trenches,

only to be shot in the face. He survived, and was later promoted to

Brigadier General.



Victory at the Crater

Col. Delavan Bates1840 1918


14/16

Pvt. Neil Bancroft, of Oswego, received the Medal of Honor

for his actions during Custers Last Stand at Little Big Horn,June 25, 1876. George Armstrong Custers 7th Cavalry troops

were badly outgunned, and Pvt. Bancroft showed extraordinary

courage by carrying water under a most galling re from the

river to the wounded soldiers for much of the engagement.



From Oswego to

Custers Last Stand

Pvt. Neil Bancroft1846 unk.


15/16

Brothers James and Allen Thompson were born at Sandy Creek,

Oswego County. On April 2, 1865, during the Appomattox

Campaign in Virginia, the two brothers volunteered to investigate

a seemingly abandoned Confederate position when they were

ambushed by about 50 Confederate soldiers. Ordered to lay

down their guns and surrender, the Thompsons instead chose to

ght, even though they were less than 100 feet from the larger

enemy force.



Brothers in Arms

Pvt. James Granville

Thompson

Pvt. Allen ThompsonPvt. Allen Thompson


16/16

Pinned down by mortar and machine gun re near Bastogne during

the WW II Battle of the Bulge, S/Sgt. Shoup, an Oswego High School

graduate who hailed from Scriba, took an automatic ri e, crouched

and began delivering well-aimed re at an enemy machine gun. Thoughseriously wounded, he crawled alone in deep snow and threw a hand

grenade, destroying the machine gun nest. He was attempting to knock

out a second machine gun when he was mortally wounded. Inspired

by his actions, Company I drove on and captured its critical objective,

and a desperate situation turned to victory. He is buried in the North

Scriba Union Cemetery.



From Oswego to the Ardennes

Staff Sgt. Curtis

Shoup

1921 1945

HONORING OUR 'HOMETOWN HEROES:" Senator Patty Ritchie's Medal of Honor Heroes Highway Project

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