Francis M. Cunningham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Francis Marion Cunningham
|
|
|---|---|
Francis M. Cunningham, c. 1907
|
|
| Born | December 12, 1837 Upper Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania |
| Died | May 11, 1919 (aged 81) Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania |
| Buried |
Sugar Grove Cemetery, Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania
|
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/ |
 United States Army |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
| Unit |  1st West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment - Company H |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War:
|
| Awards |  Medal of Honor |
Francis Marion Cunningham (December 12, 1837 – May 11, 1919) was a United States' soldier and native of Pennsylvania who fought with Company H of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry during the American Civil War. Cunningham received his nation's highest award for bravery during combat, the U.S. Medal of Honor, for his action during the Battle of Sailor's Creek in Virginia on April 6, 1865. That award was conferred on May 3, 1865.
Contents
Formative years
Born in Upper Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania on December 12, 1837, (alternate birth date December 31), Francis Marion Cunningham was a son of Somerset County natives Robert Cunningham (1808–1889) and Sarah (Pinkerton) Cunningham (1808–1880). During the 1850s, he resided in Lower Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County with his parents and siblings: Rachel S. (1833–1906), who later wed Abraham Williams; Nancy (1835–1923), who later wed John Mason; James Lawrence (c. 1839–1864), who became a Union Army soldier and died in 1864 while being held as a prisoner of war by the Confederate Army during the American Civil War; Sebastian (c. 1840–1911); Thaddeus S. (1842–1925); Clara/Clarissa T. (1843–1911), who later wed Elijah S. Harbaugh; Matthew (1845–1887); W. Ross (c. 1847–1937); Martha Alice (1850–1912), who later wed Reuben H. Leonard; Sarah (1852–1862); and Agnes.
By 1860, he had relocated to Fayette County, where he resided in Stewart Township. On August 26, 1861, in that county's Dunbar Township, he wed Sarah J. Skinner.
Civil War
Francis Cunningham became one of Pennsylvania's early responders to President Abraham Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to help preserve America's union when he enlisted for Civil War military service during the United States summer of 1861. After enrolling at Springfield, Pennsylvania on July 25, he then officially mustered in for duty with Company H of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry. According to a later newspaper account of his military service, "Cunningham was one of 67 Fayette countians who purchased horses on their account and rode to West Virginia" in order to enlist. He then saw action with his regiment in multiple key battles from the war's early years through its closure (see list in infobox). In 1863, as "an orderly sergeant at the battle of Gettysburg he took command of his company when the officers were killed and held the command to the end of the war." Upon expiration of his initial three-year term of service, he re-enlisted for a second, three-year term on December 23, 1863.
In early April 1865, during the Battle of Sailor's Creek (also known as "Sayler's Creek") in Virginia, Cunningham performed the act of valor for which he would later be awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor.
The book's editors added that Cunningham was wounded twice before capturing the enemy's flag, and noted that Brevet Major-General George Custer was so impressed by what he saw as he watched Cunningham in action that "he at once placed him on his staff, and later recommended him for the Medal of Honor."
As a member of Custer's staff, Cunningham then witnessed the surrender by Robert E. Lee, commanding general of the Confederate States Army to Ulysses S. Grant, commanding general of the Union Army, at the Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
Post-war life
Following his honorable discharge from the military, Cunningham returned to his home in Ohiopyle, Stewart Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where he continued to reside with his wife until her death in 1915.
Four years later, he developed tetanus after stepping on a rusty nail while making improvements to an aging structure in Stewart Township. He then developed blood poisoning and lockjaw as complications of his condition, and died in Stewart Township on May 11, 1919. Following funeral services on May 14, he was laid to rest beside his wife at the Sugar Grove Cemetery in Ohiopyle, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He was survived by his children, Mrs. Belle Boyd, Charles and James Cunningham, Mrs. Mary Cunningham, and Mrs. William Johnson, and their children.
See also
- Archibald H. Rowand, Jr.
- List of Medal of Honor recipients
- List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F
