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Congressional Medal of Honor - Improper Recipients
A good example of an improper award of the Medal of Honor on a wholesale basis occurred when the medal was issued to members of the 27th Maine Infantry Regiment. The 27th Maine was a nine-months regiment, organized at Portland on September 30, 1862. Almost its entire service was garrison duty in the defense of Washington City. On June 26, 1863, with only four days of their enlistment left, the members of the regiment were ordered to leave their position and prepare to be mustered out of the service. This was at the same time that General Lee was leaving Virginia for the North and the Battle of Gettysburg. All of the Union forces that could be spared were sent to General Meade, and this left the defense of Washington rather bare. President Lincoln and Secretary of War Stanton appealed to the 25th and the 27th Maine to extend their service to see the Capitol through the emergency. The men of the 25th refused and walked off to a man. The 27th, after an appeal by their commander Colonel Mark Wentworth , did a little better. About 300 stepped forward and volunteered to remain. Stanton was overjoyed, and on June 29, directed that every man who had volunteered to remain be issued the Medal of Honor. The wording of his order was such that it could apply to anyone who volunteered to defend the Capitol after their service had expired. Only four days of service were performed by the 27th Maine, and the unit played no role in the Battle of Gettysburg. The echoes of Stanton's order or promise, however, could be heard from Washington to Maine. No accurate listing of the volunteers had been made, and due to a bureaucratic mix-up, an order was issued resulting in all 864 men of the 27th Maine being entitled to get the Medal of Honor. By then the men had all returned to civilian life, so the Medals were sent to the Governor of Maine in January, 1865 for distribution. The Governor called on Colonel Wentworth for help. Wentworth had continued to serve with another Maine regiment and fought through some heavy battles with General Grant to the end of the war. He knew what heroism was all about and knew not one member of his new regiment earned the Medal of Honor. One can imagine how he felt about the men of the 27th Maine. He decided that he would try and follow Stanton's intent and gave the medals only to those who had volunteered to remain. He stored the remaining medals, some 560, in his barn. Later this word got to some who had not been issued the medal, and they broke into the barn and took many of the medals. Later, after Wentworth's death, those remaining disappeared entirely.
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Articles & Briefings
