John C. Buckley

{{Infobox military person

|name = John C. Buckley

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1842|4|1}}

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1913|3|29|1842|4|1}}

|image = John C. Buckley_moh_publicdomain.jpg

|birth_place = Fayette County, West Virginia

|death_place = Georgia

|placeofburial_label = Place of burial

|placeofburial = Evergreen Cemetery, Fitzgerald, Georgia

|allegiance = United States of America
Union

|branch =United States Army
Union Army

|rank = Sergeant

|unit = {{flagicon|West Virginia}} 4th Regiment West Virginia Volunteer Infantry - Company G

|battles = American Civil War
{{*}} Siege of Vicksburg

|awards = Medal of Honor

}}

John C. Buckley (April 1, 1842 – March 29, 1913) 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.

Union assault

On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi.{{sfnp|Dyer|1908|p=428}} 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.{{sfnp|War Department|1880|p=87}}

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.{{sfnp|War Department|1880|p=87}}

Medal of Honor citation

For gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party on 22 May 1863.{{sfnp|CMOHS|2014}}{{sfnp|VCOnline|2020}}

Notes

==References==

{{cite book| last = Dyer| first = Frederick H| title = A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion| publisher = Dyer Pub. Co.| place = Des Moines, IA| year = 1908| asin = B01BUFJ76Q| url = https://archive.org/details/08697590.3359.emory.edu}}
{{ cite book | last = War Department | first = U.S. | title = The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies| publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office| place = Washington, DC| year = 1880| oclc = 857196196| url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077699738&view=1up&seq=107}}
{{cite web |title=BUCKLEY, JOHN C.| publisher = CMOHS|website=Congressional Medal of Honor Society| year = 2014|url=http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/187/buckley-john-c.php |access-date=19 August 2014 |ref={{sfnref|CMOHS|2014}}}}
{{cite web |publisher = VCOnline | year = 2020|title=John C Buckley |website=THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE VICTORIA & GEORGE CROSS |url= http://www.vconline.org.uk/john-c-buckley/4591283433 |access-date=2 May 2020 |ref={{sfnref|VCOnline|2020}}}}{{refend}}

External links

{{Find a Grave|7745722|work=Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients|accessdate=11 December 2014}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20101011003120/http://oregonmag.com/CivilWarFletcher1108.html A Forlorn Hope]
[http://www.nps.gov/vick/historyculture/vicksburg-medal-of-honor-recipients.htm Vicksburg Medal of Honor Recipients]

Category:1842 births

Category:1913 deaths

Category:Union army soldiers

Category:United States Army Medal of Honor recipients

Category:People of West Virginia in the American Civil War

Category:American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor

John C. Buckley

Union assault

Medal of Honor citation

See also

Notes

External links