"John Harvey Fisher (1837 – September 16, 1895) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Siege of Vicksburg on May 22, 1863.
Fisher joined the 55th Illinois Infantry as a private in September 1861, and was discharged in May 1865.
On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi. 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. 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.
Citation: Gallantry in the charge of the "volunteer storming party."
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company B, 55th Illinois Infantry
Place and date: At Vicksburg, Miss., 22 May 1863
Entered service at: Chicago, Ill.
Date of issue: 2 September 1893" (from (
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"THE "FORLORN HOPE" AT VICKSBURG
For superb gallantry and reckless indifference to death and danger, there is nothing in military history to excel the conduct of the "forlorn hope" that led the general assault on Vicksburg on May 22,1863.
General Grant had encircled the city on three sides with a line of battle twelve miles long, and on the Mississippi, which formed the fourth side, were Admiral Porter's warships. The strength of the enemy had been greatly underestimated, and it was decided to make an attempt to carry the city by storm, in order to avoid the tedium of a siege. The enemy's lines ran along the top of a bluff, and the point of attack selected was to the south of one of the forts.
This fort, which was protected by a ditch twelve feet wide and five or six feet deep, rose about ten feet above the level and sloped up gently towards the enemy's guns. The face of the fort was perpendicular, the earth having been tamped, instead of being allowed to adjust itself. The point of attack was in front of the Second Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps, and on the afternoon of May 21st, each regimental commander of the division explained the plan of operations to his men and called for volunteers.
One hundred and fifty men were required for a "forlorn hope" to lead the general assault and prepare the way for the real attack. As these men would be certain to draw the enemy's fire, there was little probability of any of them returning alive, and on that account it was decided not to order any man to go, but to depend entirely on volunteers. Each regiment was to supply its quota, and in view of the terrible risk to be incurred, orders were given that none but unmarried men were to be accepted.
The men responded promptly to the call, and in such numbers that twice as many volunteered as were required, those who had first offered their services being accepted. The work assigned to the "forlorn hope" was to build a bridge over the ditch which protected the front of the enemy's fort, plant their scaling ladders against the embankment, and it was expected that by the time this was done, the supporting brigades would be ready to carry the works by a grand assault.
On the following morning the storming party was led through a ravine to the Jackson Road, which crossed the enemy's lines at right angles. In this ravine, out of sight of the enemy, was a pile of roughly hewn logs, another of lumber, and a number of scaling ladders. The advance party was to carry the logs, two men to each log, make a dash for the enemy's entrenchments and throw the logs across the ditch to form the ground work of a bridge.
The second detachment was to follow close up with the lumber, which was to be thrown across the logs to make sure footing for the stormers. The third detachment was to bring up the scaling ladders, rush across the bridge, and plant them against the enemy's works.
The moment the "forlorn hope" emerged from the ravine, they came within view of the enemy, who opened so heavy a fire on them that their works were covered with clouds of smoke. The gallant little band advanced at a dead run, but in the eighty rods of open ground which lay between them and the fort, about half of them were shot down.
When the survivors arrived at the ditch, they found it impossible to build a bridge, as so many of the logs had been dropped by the way, and it was equally impossible to remain where they were, exposed to the enemy's fire. There was nothing for it but to jump into the ditch, and seek shelter.
Private Howell G. Trogden, who carried the flag of the storming party, planted it on the parapet of the fort, and dropped back into the ditch, where he kept up a fire on the Confederates whenever they attempted to reach it and take it in.
The other brigades advanced to the support of the stormers, but were driven back by the heavy fire, and all that reached the ditch were thirty men of the Eleventh Missouri with...
Service Record: Enlisted in Company B, Illinois 55th Infantry Regiment on 31 Oct 1861.Promoted to Full Corporal.Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 22 Jul 1864.Mustered out on 15 May 1865.
Death Date: 16 Sep 1895
Death Place: Spencer, Iowa
Sources: Illinois: Roster of Officers and Enlisted MenDeeds of Valor. How our Soldier-heroes won the Medal of HonorMedal of Honor Recipients 1863-1994 " (from Ancestry.com)