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Honoring American TroopsMedal of Honor Archive

Private · U.S. Army

Joel Parsons

Private Joel Parsons, Army, received the Medal of Honor for actions on May 22, 1863 in Vicksburg, Mississippi during the Civil War.

U.S. Civil War May 22, 1863

Private Joel Parsons, a soldier in the U.S. Army, received the Medal of Honor for gallantry on May 22, 1863 in Vicksburg, Mississippi during the Civil War. At the time he was serving with Company B, 4th West Virginia Infantry. Parsons was 22 years old.

99 other service members also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day. The medal was presented on August 16, 1894, 31 years after the action.

Parsons was born on August 23, 1840 in Jackson County, West Virginia. His Medal of Honor is credited to Mason City, Mason County, West Virginia. Parsons died on November 10, 1919 in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 79. He is buried at Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.

Parsons is one of 1,525 Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War and one of 45 credited to West Virginia.

Official Medal of Honor citation

Gallantry in the charge of the "volunteer storming party."

Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.

Timeline

  1. August 23, 1840
    Born in Jackson County, West Virginia
  2. May 22, 1863
    Act of valor — Vicksburg, Mississippi
    Age 22. Company B, 4th West Virginia Infantry
  3. August 16, 1894
    Medal of Honor presented
  4. November 10, 1919
    Died in Columbus, Ohio
    Age 79.
  5. Resting place
    Union Cemetery
    Columbus, Ohio

Also honored for actions on May 22, 1863

CA Christian Albert Private · Army Civil War · 1863 WA William J. Archinal Corporal · Army Civil War · 1863 CA Clinton Lycurgus Armstrong Private · Army Civil War · 1863 DA David Ayers Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1863 JA John G. k Ayers Private · Army Civil War · 1863 WB William H. Barringer Private · Army Civil War · 1863 MB Matthew Bickford Corporal · Army Civil War · 1863 TB Thomas A. Blasdel Private · Army Civil War · 1863 EB Emmer Bowen Private · Army Civil War · 1863 UB Uriah H. Brown Private · Army Civil War · 1863 WB William P. Brownell Coxswain · Navy Civil War · 1863 JB John C. Buckley Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1863

See all 100 recipients for May 22, 1863 →

More Civil War recipients from West Virginia

WM Walter F. McWhorter Commissary Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1865 JC Josiah M. Curtis Second Lieutenant · Army Civil War · 1865 JM Joseph McCauslin Private · Army Civil War · 1865 HW Henry Cary Weir Captain & Assistant Adjutant General · Army Civil War · 1864 James Madison Burns Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1864 LS Levi Shoemaker Sergeant · Army Civil War · 1864
Sources. Service and award details compiled from the recipient record of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The narrative summary is generated from these records. Spotted an error? Send a correction.