Samuel Robertson (1 May 1843 - 18 June 1862) was a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

who was awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

for gallantry during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Robertson was the first American soldier posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor; he was awarded the medal in September 1863 for actions performed behind

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

lines near

Big Shanty Kennesaw is a suburban city northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, located within the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Known from its original settlement in the 1830s until 1887 as Big Shanty, it became Kennesaw under its 1 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in April 1862.

Personal life

Robertson was born in

Muskingum County Muskingum County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,410. Its county seat is Zanesville. Nearly bisected by the Muskingum River, the county name is based on a Delaware American Indian ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

on 1 May 1843. He was hanged as an enemy spy in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia on 18 June 1862.

Military service

Robertson enlisted in the Army on 1 September 1861 at Bourneville, Ohio and was mustered into the

33rd Ohio Infantry The 33rd Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 33rd Ohio Infantry Regiment was organized at Portsmouth, Ohio, from August 5 through September 13, 1861. It was mustered in fo ...

. On 12 April 1862, a group of 22 men including Robertson from the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit ...

, 21st, and 33rd Ohio Infantry, who had penetrated more than 200 miles into Confederate territory, successfully raided a train in Big Shanty, Georgia. This action was later known interchangeably as the Mitchell Raid (after General Ormsby M. Mitchell), the Andrew's Raid, and the Great Locomotive Chase. Robertson was eventually captured and sentenced to death by hanging, and was executed for

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

on 18 June 1862. Robertson's Medal of Honor citation reads: Robertson's medal is attributed to Ohio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Samuel Great Locomotive Chase People executed by the Confederate States of America by hanging