William Bumgarner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Bumgarner
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| Born | July 12, 1837 Mason County, West Virginia |
| Died | December 24, 1911 (aged 74) Indiana |
| Buried |
Mossburg Cemetery
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| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/ |
 United States Army |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit |  4th Regiment West Virginia Volunteer Infantry - Company A, |
| Awards |  Medal of Honor |
Sergeant William Bumgarner (July 12, 1837 – December 24, 1911) was an American soldier who fought in the American Civil War. Bumgarner received the country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for his action at Petersburg, Virginia on 2 April 1862. He was honored with the award on 10 July 1894.
Biography
Bumgarner was born in Mason County, West Virginia on 12 July 1837. He enlisted into the 4th West Virginia Infantry. He died on 24 December 1911 and his remains are interred at the Mossburg Cemetery in Indiana.
On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The plan called for a storming party of volunteers to build a bridge across a moat and plant scaling ladders against the enemy embankment in advance of the main attack. This was diversionary charge on the Confederate position known as the Stockade Redan – a charge that was intended to draw fire away from the real planned attack.
The volunteers knew the odds were against survival and the mission was called, in nineteenth century vernacular, a "forlorn hope". Only single men were accepted as volunteers and even then, twice as many men as needed came forward and were turned away. The assault began in the early morning following a naval bombardment.
The Union soldiers came under enemy fire immediately and were pinned down in the ditch they were to cross. Despite repeated attacks by the main Union body, the men of the forlorn hope were unable to retreat until nightfall. of the 150 men in the storming party, nearly half were killed. Seventy-nine of the survivors were awarded the Medal of Honor.
