SAMUEL B. HORNE, BELLEEK. MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER.
Samuel Belton Horne. Born March 3, 1843, Belleek, County Fermanagh, Ireland. Died September 18, 1928, Connecticut. Buried at Winsted, Connecticut. United States Army. Rank Captain
Unit. Connecticut 11th Connecticut Infantry Regiment. Battles/wars. American Civil War. The 11th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 11th Connecticut Infantry was organized at Hartford, Connecticut, beginning October 24, 1861, and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on November 14, 1861. The regiment lost a total of 325 men during service; 8 officers and 140 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 176 enlisted men died of disease.
Awards Medal of Honour.
Samuel Belton Horne (March 3, 1843 – September 18, 1928) was an American soldier who fought in the American Civil War. Horne received his country’s highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honour. Horne’s medal was won for heroism at Fort Harrison, Virginia, on September 29, 1864. He was honoured with the award on November 19, 1897.
Fort Harrison was an important component of the Confederate defences of Richmond during the American Civil War. Named after Lieutenant William Harrison, a Confederate engineer, it was the largest in the series of fortifications that extended from New Market Road to the James River that also included Forts Hoke, Johnson, Gregg, and Gilmer. These earthworks were designed to protect the strategically important Chaffin’s Bluff on the James River. On September 29, 1864, 2,500 Union soldiers from Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler’s Army of the James overran Major Richard Cornelius Taylor’s 200-man Confederate garrison and captured the fort in the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm. Brig. Gen. Hiram Burnham, a native of Maine and a brigade commander in XVIII Corps, was killed in the assault, and the Union-held fort was renamed Fort Burnham in his honor.
Horne was born in Belleek in County Fermanagh, Ireland, and entered service in Winsted, Connecticut, where he was later buried.
Medal of Honor citation. “The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honour to Captain (Infantry) Samuel Belton Horne, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 29 September 1864, while serving with Company H, 11th Connecticut Infantry, in action at Fort Harrison, Virginia. While acting as an Aide and carrying an important message, Captain Horne was severely wounded and his horse killed but he delivered the order and rejoined his general.”
The Medal of Honor is the United States of America’s highest military honor, awarded for personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty. The medal is awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U.S. Congress to U.S. military personnel only. There are three versions of the medal, one for the Army, one for the Navy, and one for the Air Force. Personnel of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard receive the Navy version.
The Medal of Honor was created as a Navy version in 1861 named the “Medal of Valor”, and an Army version of the medal named the “Medal of Honor” was established in 1862 to give recognition to men who distinguished themselves “conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity” in combat with an enemy of the United States. (Versions of the Medal of Honor. Army version on the left.)
Because the medal is presented “in the name of Congress,” it is often referred to as the “Congressional Medal of Honor”. However, the official name is the “Medal of Honor,” which began with the U.S. Army’s version. Within United States Code the medal is referred to as the “Medal of Honor”, and less frequently as “Congressional Medal of Honor”.
The Medal of Honor is usually presented by the President in a formal ceremony at the White House, intended to represent the gratitude of the American people, with posthumous presentations made to the primary next of kin. According to the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States, there have been 3,514 Medals of Honor awarded to the nation’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen since the decoration’s creation, with just less than half of them awarded for actions during the four years of the American Civil War.
In 1990, Congress designated March 25 annually as “National Medal of Honor Day”. Due to its prestige and status, the Medal of Honor is afforded special protection under U.S. law against any unauthorized adornment, sale, or manufacture, which includes any associated ribbon or badge.
First noted by Gary McCauley, Belleek who informed me of its existence.