Edwin M. Truell

He had already been shot once, yet Edwin M. Truell kept moving with his regiment. Then a second bullet shattered his right leg so badly that it would have to be amputated. Even then, he refused to think only of himself. Wounded, bleeding and nearly exhausted, the young Wisconsin infantryman crawled back toward his comrades and helped other injured soldiers. His determination during the Atlanta Campaign would eventually earn him the United States Medal of Honor.

Edwin M. Truell was born on 19 August 1841 in Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of David and Irene Truell. His family later moved west to Wisconsin, and on 30 August 1862, at the age of 21, he enlisted at Mauston in Company E, 12th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Several of his brothers also served the Union during the American Civil War. (cmohs.org)

Truell joined the regiment while it was serving in Tennessee. His early military experience was far removed from the dramatic battlefield action for which he would become famous. The 12th Wisconsin spent part of 1862 repairing sections of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and performing the routine but essential work that kept Union armies operating. By 1863, however, Truell was moving into increasingly serious combat. He participated in the Siege of Vicksburg, one of the decisive Union campaigns of the war, and later took part in the capture of Fort Beauregard, Louisiana, on 4 September 1863. (cmohs.org)

The campaign that changed his life began in 1864. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman drove his Union armies toward Atlanta, forcing Confederate forces into a succession of defensive positions across northern Georgia. The 12th Wisconsin joined the advance, and by July the regiment was fighting on the approaches to Atlanta.

On 21 July 1864, near what Union soldiers knew as Bald Hill, Truell and the 12th Wisconsin were ordered forward against a fortified Confederate position. The men charged uphill through trees and heavy undergrowth while exposed to enemy fire. During the advance, a Minié ball struck Truell in the right foot. The wound was serious enough to impair his movement, but he refused to abandon the attack. He got back onto his feet and struggled forward until he caught up with his company. (cmohs.org)

The Wisconsin soldiers broke into Confederate works and continued pressing forward until intense fire halted the advance. Truell took cover near a large pine tree and continued fighting while encouraging the soldiers around him. Eventually the Union troops were ordered back.

It was during that withdrawal that Truell's ordeal became even worse.

As he attempted to regain the Union position, he was struck again, this time in the right leg. The wound caused severe blood loss, but Truell still refused immediate evacuation. He crawled to a small stream, washed his wounds and improvised bandages from his handkerchief. Then, despite the pain and loss of blood, he crawled back toward the line and assisted other wounded soldiers. Only after the fighting subsided was he carried to a field hospital. His right leg was amputated. (cmohs.org)

The Army's official Medal of Honor record reduces those extraordinary hours to a few powerful words:

“Although severely wounded in a charge, he remained with the regiment until again severely wounded, losing his leg.”

The citation identifies him as Private Edwin M. Truell, Company E, 12th Wisconsin Infantry, and places his action near Atlanta, Georgia, on 21 July 1864. His Medal of Honor was issued on 11 March 1870. The official United States Army Medal of Honor record and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society agree on the action, date, unit and award. (army.mil) (cmohs.org)

Truell's courage also brought advancement in rank. The contemporary history of Company E records that he was brevetted First Lieutenant, with the brevet dated from 21 July 1864, the same day on which he received his devastating wounds. This distinction is important. Truell was a Private when he performed the Medal of Honor action, while Brevet First Lieutenant represents his later and highest recorded wartime rank. (flickr.com)

Recovery was long and painful. Truell remained hospitalized for approximately seven weeks, but his military service did not formally end with the loss of his leg. He remained in the Army until May 1865, when he mustered out with the regiment after the Civil War had effectively ended. (cmohs.org)

His Civil War service also established later eligibility for the U.S. Army Civil War Campaign Medal. Unlike the Medal of Honor, the campaign medal has no individual gallantry citation. It recognizes qualifying military service during the Civil War. The Army's Institute of Heraldry identifies it as the official Civil War Campaign Medal, while Army regulations recognize qualifying service during the 1861 to 1865 period. Truell's service from 1862 through 1865 falls squarely within those criteria. The medal itself was created decades after most Civil War fighting had ended, so its place in Truell's ribbon rack is best understood as a retrospective official service entitlement, rather than a decoration he earned for one specific act of bravery. (tioh.army.mil)

Truell lived for more than four decades after the battle near Atlanta. The wounds of 21 July 1864 never completely left him. A Congressional Medal of Honor Society account records that he endured continuing pain from his injuries for the remainder of his life. Yet his connection to the Medal of Honor community also continued. By the 1890s he was active in the Medal of Honor Legion, an organization formed by recipients of the nation's highest military decoration. A surviving roster identifies Edwin M. Truell as one of the organization's officers. (upload.wikimedia.org)

Edwin M. Truell died on 12 October 1907, aged 66. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 13, grave 5274-C, where he remains among the many Civil War Medal of Honor recipients commemorated by the cemetery. (arlingtoncemetery.mil)

What makes Edwin M. Truell's story remarkable is not simply that he survived two battlefield wounds or that he lost a leg. It is what he chose to do between those wounds and after them. He continued the assault after being shot in the foot. He remained with his regiment until a second wound destroyed his leg. Even while bleeding heavily, he tended himself and then turned his attention toward other wounded soldiers.

The official Medal of Honor citation is brief, but behind those few lines stands a much larger story of endurance during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. Brevet First Lieutenant Edwin M. Truell remains remembered as a soldier of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry whose refusal to leave his comrades, even after suffering wounds that permanently changed his life, earned him a place among the United States Army's Medal of Honor recipients.