Horsfall's Medal of Honor

The second child of Jonathan and Elisabeth Horsfall was their first son William H. Born on March 3, 1847, William would have been legally too young to join the Federal army when the Civil War started, but that legality did not stop him from doing that very thing.

"I left home without money or a warning to my parents, and in company with three other boys, stealthily boarded the steamer 'Annie Laurie,' moored at the Cincinnati wharf at Newport and billed for the Kanawha River that evening, about the 20th of December, 1861. When the bell rang for the departure of the boat, my boy companions, having a change of heart, ran ashore before the plank was hauled aboard, and wanted me to do the same. I kept in hiding until the boat was well under way and then made bold enough to venture on deck. I was accosted by the captain of the boat as to my destination, etc., and telling him the old orphan-boy story, I was treated very kindly, given something to eat, and allowed very liberal privileges. I arrived at Cincinnati without further incident, and enlisted as a drummerboy."

In 1850, father Jonathan was making a living as a grocer in Newport, a town directly across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Jonathan was from England, while William's mother Elizabeth was a native of Indiana. By 1860 Jonathan had switched professions, now providing for his growing family as a tailor, the family still residing in Newport.

According to his military records, Horsfall enlisted on December 31, 1861 as a member of Company G, First Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the regiment then being stationed at Camp Cox in Charleston, Virginia. Horsfall was just fourteen years old. The First Kentucky was initially led by Colonel James V. Guthrie, and the regiment consisted of men mostly from Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. Guthrie would resign his commission ten days before Horsfall enlisted, and the command of the regiment was in the hands of David A. Enyart (click HERE for more on Enyart and the First Kentucky).

The First Kentucky would be sent to the Western Theater after its initial service in western Virginia. The regiment would be involved on the second day at Shiloh, then on the long slow slog towards Corinth, Mississippi. It was during the advance on Corinth that William Horsfall, now fifteen years old, performed the action in which he would later be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was no longer a drummer boy, but now a rifleman.

"In the fighting before Corinth, Miss., May 21, 1862 - Nelson's Brigade engaged - my position was to the right of the First Kentucky, as an independent sharpshooter. The regiment had just made a desperate charge across the ravine. Captain Williamson was wounded in the charge, and, in subsequent reversing of positions, was left between the lines. Lieutenant Hocke, approaching me,

said: 'Horsfall, Captain Williamson is in a serious predicament; rescue him if possible.' So I placed my gun against a tree, and, in a stooping run, gained his side and dragged him to the stretcher bearers, who took him to the rear."

Captain James Taylor Williamson had been commissioned a second lieutenant in June, 1861. The twenty-six year old lieutenant would join Company H of the the First Kentucky in their camp along the Ohio River, east of Cincinnati. Williamson was promoted to captain in January, 1862. He would resign his commission, most likely due to his wounds, on December 21, 1862. After the war he lived in Cincinnati, dying in 1881, and buried in Spring Grove Cemetery. Lieutenant Louis H, Hocke had enlisted in the First Kentucky as a fifer, later receiving an officer's commission. Hocke would resign just a few days before the Battle of Chickamauga.

At Stones River Horsfall was nearly captured by the Confederates, being hemmed in by cavalry and infantry. The Confederates took pity on this youngster by not shooting him, with one Confederate officer allegedly exclaiming, "Don't shoot the damned little Yank! I want him for a cage." Horsfall let down the officer by escaping back to his regiment.

Horsfall has a bit of a confusing Civil War career after Stones River. I believe he would serve in the Thirty-Seventh Kentucky, enlisting in nearby Covington in July 1863. This is confirmed by the 1890 Veteran's Census, showing a William Horsfall living in Visalia, Kentucky, and who had served as a member of the Thirty-Seventh, along with the 1900 United States Census in which William, Almedia, and daughter Bessie were living in Visalia. Horsfall's service in the Thirty-Seventh lasted until the end of 1864.

By 1870 Horsfall was living in his father's home in Alexandria (just a few miles from Newport), William making a living as a cooper (his father had changed professions once again, now farming). On January 16, 1875 William married Almedia Crail. The couple would have two children. On August 17, 1895, Horsfall was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Corinth, the citation read, "Saved the life of a wounded officer lying between the lines."

William H. Horsfall lived until October 22, 1922. He is buried in Newport's Evergreen Cemetery, his grave marked with a bright military stone, embedded with gold accents, indicating his Medal of Honor status for his actions as a fifteen-year-old at Corinth.