John S Durham - Leavenworth, Ks.
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N 39° 16.490 W 094° 53.252
15S E 337183 N 4348973
Sergeant John S Durham was a Medal of Honor recipient from the Civil War. He was a member of Company F of the First Wisconsin Infantry.
Waymark Code: WM592E
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 11/30/2008
Views: 11
Medal of Honor Recipient John Durham is interred in Leavenworth National Cemetery in section 33, row 10, grave 18.
From the Army Medal of Honor website:
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Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 1st Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: At Perryville, Ky., 8 October 1862. Entered service at: Malone, St. Croix County, Wis. Born: 1843, New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 20 November 1896. Citation: Seized the flag of his regiment when the color sergeant was shot and advanced with the flag midway between the lines, amid a shower of shot, shell, and bullets, until stopped by his commanding officer.
According to a record of the 21st Wisconsin:
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Since all of the 21st’s officers had been killed or wounded, Starkweather sent a Captain Goodrich of the 1st Wisconsin to command the regiment and lead it to the new position. Maney’s men continued the attack, and the battle raged with renewed intensity. Starkweather’s line, however, held firm. At one point, John S. Durham, Company F, 1st Wisconsin, grabbed his regiment’s tattered banner, ran between the two lines and planted the flag. He remained there until his commanders ordered him back. Durham received the Medal of Honor for that act of bravery. In the fray, Captain Morris Rice, of the 1st Wisconsin, captured the regimental colors of the 1st Tennessee. After the war, veterans of the 1st Tennessee disputed the claim that it was their banner, but the Wisconsin troops were convinced of it.