Private Lewis J. Ingalls was a soldier in the U.S. Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions on September 4, 1862 at Boutte Station, Louisiana during the Civil War. At the time he was serving with Company K, 8th Vermont Infantry. Ingalls was 24 years old.
One other service member also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day. The medal was presented on October 20, 1899, 37 years after the action.
Ingalls was born on October 11, 1837 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. His Medal of Honor is credited to Belvidere, Lamoille County, Vermont. Ingalls died on December 31, 1913 in Irasburg, Vermont, at the age of 76. He is buried at Irasburg Cemetery in Irasburg, Vermont.
Ingalls is one of 1,525 Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War and one of 47 credited to Vermont.
Official Medal of Honor citation
A railroad train guarded by about 60 men on flat cars having been sidetracked by a misplaced switch into an ambuscade of guerrillas who were rapidly shooting down the unprotected guards, this soldier, under a severe fire in which he was wounded, ran to another switch and, opening it, enabled the train and the surviving guards to escape.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.
Wounds and injuries
What the citation records about his wounds:
A railroad train guarded by about 60 men on flat cars having been sidetracked by a misplaced switch into an ambuscade of guerrillas who were rapidly shooting down the unprotected guards, this soldier, under a severe fire in which he was wounded, ran to another switch and, opening it, enabled the train and the surviving guards to escape.
- Age at death: 76
- Resting place: Irasburg Cemetery
Timeline
- October 11, 1837Born in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
- September 4, 1862Act of valor — Boutte Station, LouisianaAge 24. Company K, 8th Vermont Infantry
- October 20, 1899Medal of Honor presented
- December 31, 1913Died in Irasburg, VermontAge 76.
- Resting placeIrasburg CemeteryIrasburg, Vermont
