July 2014 - Argghhh!

This is a rare day for the Medal of Honor - all of the recipients of the Medal of Honor for actions on the 29th of July survived their fights. We open with the Civil War and the Battle of Brown's Mill, where Confederate (and later, during the SpanAm War, Federal) General Joe Wheeler's cavalry schooled Union cavalry under General Edward McCook near Newnan, Georgia, bringing a disastrous end to Sherman's attempt to neatly snip Atlanta from it's logisitics, forcing a siege. McCook lost...

Here at the Castle we have an artifact from the Uprising. A (deactivated, natch) Polish Home Army-built hand-grenade. Using a pre-war Polish hand-grenade fuze (ironically re-captured from the Germans) mated to a locally-made body. Story here: Haunting memories 70 years since Warsaw Uprising

Today is an unusual day thus far in the series - only one Medal, awarded for actions at Falling Waters, Viriginia, during the Civil War, in a skirmish during the Union Army of the Potomac's pursuit of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the latter's withdrawal from Gettysburg.

We open with the Civil War, the Battle of Peachtree Creek, part of the Atlanta Campaign. A flag capture, a flag rescue, some conspicuous coolness (and he wasn't even a rock star), some reckless bravery, and a touch of "leave no man behind." BUCKLEY, DENNIS Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 136th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 20 July 1864. Entered service at: Avon, N.Y. Birth: Canada. Date of issue: 7 April 1865. Citation: Capture of flag of 31st...

There are 32 Medals awarded for actions on this day. Not surprisingly, we start with the 2nd Day at Gettysburg - the hardest-fought day (though the survivors of Pickett's Charge on the 3rd might argue the point).

There are six Medals awarded for actions on this day in hisotry. Today we open per usual, with the Civil War, at Cache River, Arkansas , where Union Brigadier Samuel Curtis (an officer I admire for his mental flexibility and nerve at the Battle of Pea Ridge) routed a rebel force, setting the stage to extend Union control down the Mississippi River and take Arkansas much closer to effectively out of the war. Besides, how can I not love an Infantryman (First Sergeant Pike) who saves a cannon?

The Medal waits until 1876 to show itself, during the Interim Awards, 1871-1898 period, with a sailor saving a drowning shipmate. This is another of those circumstances where today they would be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism not involving combat. I know for you regular readers that gets a little tiresome to read - but take one for the Googlers, who may read only one in the whole series. COREY, WILLIAM Rank and organization: Landsman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1853, New York, N.Y. Accredited...

There are nine Medals awarded for actions on this day in history. Today we open with the Indian Campaigns. 6 Medals, the first five of them for the same fight near Fort Selden, New Mexico, in 1873.