Martin K. Davis (1843 – 1936) was a
Union Army soldier during the
American Civil War. He received the
Medal of Honor for gallantry during the
Siege of Vicksburg on May 22, 1863.
Davis joined the 116th Illinois Infantry in August 1862, and was mustered out in June 1865.
Illinois Service Record
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Union assault
On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
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.
Medal of Honor citation
For gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party on 22 May 1863.
See also
*List of Medal of Honor recipients
The Medal of Honor was created during the American Civil War and is the highest military decoration presented by the United States government to a member of its armed forces. The recipient must have distinguished themselves at the risk of their ...
* List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F
References
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External links
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A Forlorn Hope
1843 births
1936 deaths
Union Army soldiers
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
People of Illinois in the American Civil War
American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor
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