Thomas Plunkett
Thomas Plunkett | |
---|---|
![]() Plunkett in 1865 | |
Born | 1841 County Mayo, Ireland |
Died | March 10, 1885 (aged 43–44) Worcester, Massachusetts, US |
Place of burial | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service | 1861 - 1864 |
Rank | Sergeant |
Unit | Company E, 21st Massachusetts Infantry |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Awards | Medal of Honor |
Thomas Plunkett (1841 - March 10, 1885) was a color bearer during the American Civil War. He carried the banner of the 21st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry at the Battle of Fredericksburg when a cannon blast took away both of his arms and wounded him in the chest.[1] He pressed the flag against his chest with what remained of his arms and continued until one of the color guards took the flag from him so he could retire. His arms were eventually amputated, and he would take another two years to recover. Plunkett received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle. Battery Plunkett, a battery of two 4-inch rapid-firing guns at Fort Warren on Georges Island in Boston Harbor (MA), was completed in 1899 and named in his honor.
Medal of Honor citation
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Medal_of_honor_old.jpg/80px-Medal_of_honor_old.jpg)
Rank and Organization:
- Sergeant, Company E, 21st Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date. At Fredericksburg, Va., 11 December 1862. Entered service at: West Boylston, Mass. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 30 March 1866.
Citation:
- Seized the colors of his regiment, the color bearer having been shot down, and bore them to the front where both his arms were carried off by a shell.[2]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Walcott, 251.
- ^ "PLUNKETT, THOMAS, Civil War Medal of Honor recipient". American Civil War website. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
References
[edit]- "Civil War Medal of Honor recipients (M-Z)". Medal of Honor citations. United States Army Center of Military History. August 3, 2009. Archived from the original on July 7, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
- "A Heroic Color Bearer Dead" (PDF). New York Times. March 11, 1885. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
- Walcott, Charles F. (1882). History of the Twenty-First Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. Boston: Riverside Press. OCLC 53864897.
- Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients
- United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
- Irish emigrants to the United States
- United States Army soldiers
- 1841 births
- 1885 deaths
- 19th-century Irish people
- Irish soldiers in the United States Army
- American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor
- Burials at Hope Cemetery (Worcester, Massachusetts)
- Military personnel from County Mayo
- United States Army personnel stubs
- American Civil War biography stubs