Horace Capron Jr.

{{Infobox military person

|name = Horace Capron Jr.

|image = Horace Capron Jr. (1839–1864).png

|birth_date = {{birth date|1839|10|27}}

|death_date = {{death date and age|1864|2|6|1839|10|27}}

|birth_place = Laurel, Maryland, U.S.

|death_place = Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.

|placeofburial = Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum, Peoria, Illinois, U.S.

|allegiance = {{flag|United States of America|1861}}

|branch = {{army|USA}}

|serviceyears = 1861–1864

|rank = First Lieutenant

|unit = {{Flagicon|Illinois}} 8th Illinois Cavalry
{{Flagicon|Illinois}} 14th Illinois Cavalry

|battles =

|awards = {{Flagicon image|Medal of Honor ribbon.svg}} Medal of Honor

}}

Horace Capron Jr. (October 27, 1839 – February 6, 1864) was an American soldier who fought in the American Civil War. Capron received the country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for his action at Chickahominy and Ashland in Virginia in June 1862.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/06/22/courage-remembered/d20426b5-7a67-46ef-912b-e1bb6cf9b906/ |title=Courage Remembered |date=June 22, 2000 |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Eugene L. |last=Meyer |access-date=2022-02-25}}

Biography

Capron was born in Laurel, Maryland, on October 27, 1839.{{Efn|While his tombstone identifies his birth year as 1840, a family website cites a FamilySearch "Maryland Births and Christenings" publication that lists Capron's birth on October 27, 1839. The Martyrs and Heroes of Illinois in the Great Rebellion, 1865, also gives this date.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/martyrsheroesofi00inbarn/page/191/mode/1up |title=The Martyrs and Heroes of Illinois in the Great Rebellion |editor-first=James |editor-last=Barnet |publisher=The Press of J. Barnet |location=Chicago |pages=191 |year=1865 |access-date=2022-02-25 |via=Internet Archive}}}} The 1860 U.S. census identifies him as the son of head-of-household Horace Capron in Peoria, Illinois.{{cite web |url=https://capronfamily.com/p78.htm#i2457 |title=Person Page – 78: Horace Capron, Jr. |website=Connecting Capron Cousins |access-date=December 27, 2021 }}

He joined the 8th Illinois Cavalry at Peoria as a corporal in September 1861, and was promoted to sergeant in 1862. He was later commissioned as a first lieutenant of the 14th Illinois Cavalry, his father's regiment.{{cite web |url=https://www.laurelhistoricalsociety.org/hc-civil-war-timeline.html |title=Horace Capron Civil War Timeline |website=Laurel Historical Society |at=Feb 6, 1864 entry |access-date=December 27, 2021 }} Capron's horse was killed during a skirmish in September 1863 near Kingsport, Tennessee.{{cite book |url=https://mcoepublic.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/library/ABOLC_BA_2018/Research_Modules_C/Sunshine_Church/History_of_the_14th_Illinois_Cavalry.pdf#page=93 |title=History of the Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry |page=70 |first=W. L. |last=Sanford |year=1898 |publisher=R. R. Donnelley & Sons |location=Chicago |access-date=December 28, 2021 }}

Capron was mortally wounded on February 2, 1864, during a charge near Qualla Town, North Carolina.{{sfn|Sanford|1898|pp=151–152}} He died from his wounds on February 6, 1864, in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he had been transported.{{sfn|Sanford|1898|p=154}} His remains are interred at the Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum in Peoria. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on September 27, 1865.{{Cite web |url=http://www.history.army.mil/moh/civilwar_af.html |title=Civil War (A–L) Medal of Honor Recipients |access-date=24 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131120172824/http://www.history.army.mil/moh/civilwar_af.html#CAPRON |archive-date=November 20, 2013|website=U.S. Army}}{{Cite web |url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/1364 |title=Horace Capron, Jr. |access-date=24 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203005308/http://projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=1364 |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |url-status=live |website=Military Times }}{{Cite web |url=https://valor.defense.gov/Recipients/Army-Medal-of-Honor-Recipients/ |title=U.S. Army Medal of Honor Recipients |access-date=November 24, 2013 |website=U.S. Department of Defense}}