United States – On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden will award the Medal of Honor to two privates of the US Army who served as members of a rather unconventional detachment of the Union Army during the Civil War, during which it managed to steal a Confederate train, the White House reported.
Philip Shadrach and George Wilson will be awarded the medals during a White House ceremony which will honor their ‘gallantry and intrepidity’ during what became known as the Great Locomotive Chase, which is considered to be one of the first and special operations during the American Civil War in the history of United States Army, as stated by the White House.
The Bold Operation
The venture, which occurred 200 miles (322 kilometers) beyond Confederate territory on the evening of April 12, 1862, involved Union soldiers disguised as Southerners stealing a train deep into Confederate country in Georgia and pushing it 87 miles northwest into Tennessee with explosives on the tracks behind them to dismantle Confederate railway.
Historical Significance
Six of those participants are considered as the first recipients of the Army’s newly introduced Medal of Honor. Another 13 members were identified over the subsequent two decades as having played a role in the mission, but Vaughan and Cook, who were hanged as traitors after they were captured, were left off the official list until now.
The White House ceremony presents Biden with an opportunity to escape growing condemnation from some of his fellow Democrats after what appeared to be a poor and uncoordinated performance in last week’s head-to-head presidential debate with the Republican former president, Donald Trump.
Details of the Mission
The mission involved 24 men who sneaked into the south in small groups and met at Marietta, Georgia, which is located north of Atlanta. On the day the operation was to be carried out, 22 of the men boarded a locomotive nicknamed “The General” and travelled north, removing railroad tracks and cutting telegraph wires on their way.
Honorees’ Backgrounds
Shadrach, who was born in Pennsylvania and was an orphan from a tender age, had only lived for 21 years when he agreed to go on the dangerous mission. Wilson was born in Ohio and worked as a journeyman shoemaker before he joined the Union Army in August 1861.
The White House noted that it was uncertain why Shadrach and Wilson were not nominated for the Medal of Honor at the beginning.
The other most important military decoration in the United States is the Medal of Honor, which is only given to armed forces members who act individual valor and personally expose themselves to great danger in military operations.