Major John Francis Weston was a soldier in the U.S. Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions on April 13, 1865 in Wetumpka, Alabama during the Civil War. At the time he was serving with 4th Kentucky Cavalry. Weston was 19 years old.
The medal was presented on April 9, 1898, 32 years after the action. He later rose to the rank of Major General.
Weston was born on November 13, 1845 in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. His Medal of Honor is credited to Camp Anderson, Monroe County, Kentucky. Weston died on August 3, 1917 in Briarcliff Manor, New York, at the age of 71. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
Weston is one of 1,525 Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War and one of 44 credited to Kentucky.
Official Medal of Honor citation
This officer, with a small detachment, while en route to destroy steamboats loaded with supplies for the enemy, was stopped by an unfordable river, but with five of his men swam the river, captured two leaky canoes, and ferried his men across. He then encountered and defeated the enemy, and on reaching Wetumpka found the steamers anchored in midstream. By a ruse obtained possession of a boat, with which he reached the steamers and demanded and received their surrender.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.
Battles and campaigns
Also served in: American Civil War, Spanish–American War.
Places
Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in Kentucky →
Timeline
- November 13, 1845Born in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
- April 13, 1865Act of valor — Wetumpka, AlabamaAge 19. 4th Kentucky Cavalry
- April 9, 1898Medal of Honor presented
- August 3, 1917Died in Briarcliff Manor, New YorkAge 71.
- Resting placeArlington National CemeteryArlington, Virginia
Biography
John Francis Weston (November 13, 1845 – August 3, 1917) was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during a raid on Confederate shipping. He was a brigadier general of United States Volunteers in the Spanish–American War. Weston retired from the U.S. regular army in 1909 as a major general. Having been assistant commissary general of subsistence and commissary general of subsistence from 1897 to 1905, including commissary general for the American forces in Cuba during the Spanish–American War, Weston finished his career as the highest ranking U.S.
From the Wikipedia article “John F. Weston”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article →
