Andrew Barclay Spurling

In the darkness beyond the Union picket line at Evergreen, Alabama, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Barclay Spurling advanced alone. He encountered three Confederate soldiers, exchanged fire with them, wounded two, and brought all three back as prisoners. The solitary night action became the basis for his Medal of Honor.

Spurling was born on March 20, 1833, in the Cranberry Isles of Maine. During the Civil War he served as a cavalry officer and eventually commanded in the 2nd Maine Cavalry. His wartime record carried him to lieutenant colonel, and his highest recognized rank was brevet brigadier general.

By March 1865 the war was nearing its end, but fighting and scouting remained dangerous. On March 23, near Evergreen, Alabama, Spurling moved alone beyond his own pickets in darkness. He came upon three enemy soldiers. Shots were exchanged. Spurling wounded two of the men and captured the entire group.

Medal of Honor Citation

Advanced alone beyond the picket line at night, exchanged fire with three enemy soldiers, wounded two, and captured all three.

The Medal of Honor was presented to Spurling on September 10, 1897. The award recognized an action lasting only minutes, but one that required him to move beyond the protection of his own line and confront an unknown number of enemy troops alone.

Spurling survived the Civil War and lived for more than four decades after it. He died in Chicago, Illinois, on August 13, 1906, and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery. His Medal of Honor is preserved by the Maine Military Historical Museum at Camp Keyes in Augusta.

Spurling's story is a reminder that not every Medal of Honor action involved a massed assault or a famous battlefield. His came in darkness, beyond the pickets, in a brief encounter where one cavalry officer chose to keep moving forward alone.