(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Meet the first Medal of Honor Recipient in history [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-08-19 On December 9th, 1861, Senator James W. Grimes (IA) introduced a bill to Congress, creating a provision for 200 “medals of honor” to be given to naval seaman and marines that distinguished “themselves by their gallantry in action.” The bill was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln on the 21st of that December. On February 15th, 1862, Senator Henry Wilson (MA) introduced a resolution for an equivalent medal of honor for the Army, for soldiers that distinguished themselves “during the present insurrection.” The provision was signed into law on July 12th, 1862. On March 3rd, 1863, Congress made the Army Medal of Honor a permanent institution, so that soldiers that distinguished themselves in any conflict would be eligible for the medal. Since its inception, 3,538 servicemen of the United States Armed Forces have received the Medal of Honor. 19 servicemen have been double recipients of the Medal of Honor, two served and received their medals during the US Civil War. The first Medal of Honor recipient, however, was a man named Jacob Wilson Parrott. Parrott was born in Fairfield County, Ohio. When the Civil War began, Parrott enlisted in the Union Army as a private in Company K of the 33rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment. This regiment would see action throughout the entirety of the war, fighting in Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, and Sherman’s March to the Sea. The story of Parrott’s Medal of Honor begins in 1862. Major General Ormsby Mitchel, commander of Union troops in middle Tennessee (and the 33rd Ohio) devised a plan to capture Chattanooga Tennessee. Capturing Chattanooga would have placed the Union in striking distance of Atlanta Georgia, one of the Confederacy’s few manufacturing centers. Cutting off Atlanta would have inhibited Confederate supply of weapons, munitions, and rations to the rebelling armies. In order to capture Chattanooga, however, General Mitchel knew that he would have to cut off Confederate lines of transportation and reinforcement — that meant sabotaging Confederate train rail lines. A civilian spy, James J. Andrews, proposed an idea of leading a group of volunteers behind enemy lines to conduct a raid, with the intent of destroying the “Western and Atlantic Railroad,” which would cut Chattanooga (and thereby Atlanta) off from Confederate reinforcement. General Mitchel approved of the raid. Jacob Wilson Parrott was one of 22 Union soldiers who volunteered to be in Andrew’s raid. Travelling in groups of twos and threes, the raiders met in Marietta Georgia, and then traveled to Big Shanty, Georgia. Big Shanty was chosen because the town did not have a telegraph that could be used by Confederates to alert reinforcements of the raiders’ presence. At the train station, the raiders commandeered a locomotive named “The General” and set northward down the rail line, toward Chattanooga. Along the way, the raiders stopped occasionally to destroy tracks, switches, bridges, and telegraph lines. With telegraph lines cut, Confederates who had become aware of the raid could not alert soldiers ahead of The General to cut the raiders off — and so the Confederates set off behind the Union raiders. The chase was on. After a long chase with the raiders causing destruction and mayhem, the raiders abandoned The General, just 18 miles outside of Chattanooga. The raiders had run out of time as Confederate authorities caught up to them in pursuing trains. The raiders scattered into the Tennessee wilderness, hoping to return to Union lines. All of the raiders, including Parrott, would be captured within two weeks. Andrews would be hanged, along with seven of the other raiders. Parrott made an attempt to flee Confederate captivity, but was recaptured. Parrott was held as a prisoner of war and would be beaten over 100 times in an effort to make him confess information about Union Army plans. Parrott never broke under the torture. Eventually, Parrott and the other surviving raiders would be released in a prisoner exchange. By virtue of the torture that Parrott endured in captivity, he became the first United States serviceman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Parrott would survive the war and eventually return to his home in Ohio. He died in 1908 from a heart attack. Today, the corner of the road where Parrott is buried now carries his name: Jacob Parrott Boulevard. The train used by the raiders, The General, is on display at The Southern Museum in Kennesaw, Georgia. Jacob Wilson Parrott would be the first of 1,523 comrades to receive the Medal of Honor for their acts of valor during the American Civil War. I wanted to share this story because of the evil stupidity of Donald Trump. Trump, yet again, insulted military veterans, especially Medal of Honor recipients. Humans understand the importance and value of self-sacrifice. Trump does not. Had Parrott cracked under pressure and revealed Union Army plans, who knows how many of his fellow servicemen could have been placed in mortal peril? Refusing to cave in after being beaten over 100 times. Like John McCain, Parrott refused to do anything that would jeopardize his comrades, conducting himself with incredible bravery in the face of unspeakable horrors. That is strength. That is heroism. That is by definition “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.” *** Realized I did not include the original source I referenced in writing this diary entry — my mistake. www.cmohs.org/... 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