Walter Goodale Morrill
Recipient of the Medal of Honor (1840–1935)
Walter Goodale Morrill (November 13, 1840 – March 3, 1935) was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Second Battle of Rappahannock Station in November 1863. Also, Morrill's earlier actions in July 1863 at Gettysburg are considered essential for the famous Union victory on Little Round Top.
Morrill was raised in Williamsburg, Maine. In 1861 the age of 20, he enlisted as a sergeant in Company A, 6th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. A year later he was commissioned as an officer in Company B, 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was promoted several times, ultimately to lieutenant colonel. He mustered out on June 4, 1865. His Medal of Honor citation states:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Captain (Infantry) Walter Goodale Morrill, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 7 November 1863, while serving with Company B, 20th Maine Infantry, in action at Rappahannock Station, Virginia. Learning that an assault was to be made upon the enemy's works by other troops, Captain Morrill voluntarily joined the storming party with about 50 men of his regiment, and by his dash and gallantry rendered effective service in the assault.
The enemy's works were carried with bayonet, four guns, eight battle-flags, and 1,300 men were captured, and Captain Morrill was specially mentioned in the official reports of the Corps and Division commanders.
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This entry incorporates text from “Walter Goodale Morrill” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.