Posted on 07/06/2024 8:39:54 AM PDT by lowbridge
Two Union soldiers from the American Civil War were posthumously awarded with the Medal of Honor by President Joe Biden on Wednesday, more than 160 years after being executed for their part in a daring mission against the Confederacy.
“Private Philip G. Shadrach and Private George D. Wilson will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for their gallantry and intrepidity while participating in a covert military operation 200 miles behind Confederate lines on April 12, 1862,” a White House official said Wednesday morning. “In one of the earliest special operations in US Army history, Union Soldiers dressed as civilians infiltrated the Confederacy, hijacked a train in Georgia and drove it north for 87 miles, destroying enemy infrastructure along the way.”
-snip
Shadrach and Wilson were members of the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment in 1862 when they joined 20 other Union soldiers, and two civilians, to infiltrate Confederate territory.
The raid, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, involved the soldiers commandeering a locomotive known as the General that was on its way toward Chattanooga. They would stop occasionally along the route to “tear up track, switches, and bridges, inflicting as much damage as possible.” The Confederates began chasing the General in handcars and locomotives, at some points even on foot, eventually catching up to them and forcing the Union soldiers to abandon it.
They were all captured within two weeks, and found guilty of “acts of unlawful belligerency,” according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
Both the General and the Texas — one of the pursuing locomotives — survived and are in museums in Georgia; the General in Kennesaw’s Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, and the Texas in the Atlanta History Center.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
And Biden being more than halfway into his reelection campaign had nothing to do with it. /sarc
These men deserved it. What they did was incredibly dangerous, incredibly brave, they were hanged by the Confederates and faced that with more bravery than most can imagine.
Give booth a Medal of Freedom.
They were soldiers in specific infantry units and had commanding officers. All kinds of reasons to suspect Biden, but these men are very much deserving.
Do you really expect the government to reward the acts of people trying to kill the government?
I don’t think the general pardon went THAT far.
Although, I think its silly go back 160 years to give honors such as these.
And forever more, they are tainted by the stench of Joe Biden.
Great.
I seem to remember a 1950s movie about that operation. Disney?
Hell it could STILL be made up. Wikipedia can be pretty useful at implanting false information.
Yes! I thought I heard him said he was in battles and someone asked him “What battles?” and Biden said forget it. What the hell? That dickhead was never in the military
Didn’t Fess Parker star in a Disney movie about this incident. Think they called it The Great Train Robbery.
something a little bit off about soldiers dressed in civilian clothing committing acts of sabotage behind enemy lines.
………..
It reminds me of special forces in Afghanistan . Did they do things like that, or am I remembering it wrong?
Captain Nathan Hale has entered the chat. Even a failed intelligence gathering mission was used as a massively successful strategic psyop by General Washington.
Biden: “TWO medals!? That can’t be right - it was just the one guy. Little guy with a goofy mustache. Didn’t talk much. I just saw it!”
You take off your uniform and pretend to be a civilian, you are rightly considered a spy.
Presumably you are referring to the creation of the Confederate government as "trying to kill the government" in Washington DC.
My understanding of history, and correct me if I am wrong, is that they wanted to separate from the Washington DC government, not destroy it.
It's an important distinction. Right after the First battle of Bull Run, the Confederates could have taken Washington DC, but they made no effort to do any such thing. They simply wanted to repel the invaders.
Buster Keaton's "The General" from 1927 is also based on the same event.
Did the Taliban have an official army with Uniforms?
If everyone is running around in Afghan tribal gear, I would think it's just an equal game for everyone.
Nothing is “off” about that at all.
Meh, I don’t think Gordon and Shughart was tainted by Bill Clinton.
The men were brave and gave all, above and beyond. I focus on that.
“Confederate spies didn’t get medals, ‘cause they lost.”
^
The spirit of “Civil War Reconciliation” only went so far. Statues of the South were erected until torn down under Demo-rat Wokeness.
The South has fought our wars in a big way since Reconciliation. Today, we can’t meet military quotas.
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