Francis J. Herron

Francis Jay Herron was born on February 17, 1837, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up during the decades preceding the American Civil War and briefly attended Western University of Pennsylvania before leaving his studies in 1855. He subsequently moved west to Dubuque, Iowa, where members of his family were involved in banking. There Herron entered business life and became increasingly interested in military affairs during the period of growing national tension that preceded the Civil War.

In 1859, Herron helped organize a local militia company in Dubuque known as the Governor’s Grays and became its captain. When the Civil War began in 1861, the company entered Federal service as Company I of the 1st Iowa Infantry. Herron therefore entered the United States Army as a captain and soon experienced combat in the Western Theater.

Herron and the 1st Iowa Infantry fought at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Missouri, on August 10, 1861. The engagement was one of the earliest major battles west of the Mississippi River and exposed Herron to severe combat only months after the beginning of the war. When the short-term 1st Iowa Infantry completed its service, Herron remained committed to the Union Army rather than returning permanently to civilian life.

On September 24, 1861, Herron became Lieutenant Colonel of the 9th Iowa Infantry. This regiment would become closely associated with his military reputation. During the winter of 1861–1862, Union and Confederate forces maneuvered through Missouri and Arkansas as both sides struggled for control of the region. The resulting campaign culminated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, fought in northwestern Arkansas on March 7–8, 1862.

On March 7, Herron was serving as Lieutenant Colonel of the 9th Iowa Infantry when his regiment became heavily engaged. The fighting was intense, and the 9th Iowa suffered severe losses. Herron distinguished himself by remaining prominently involved in leading and rallying his soldiers during repeated periods of dangerous combat.

His official Medal of Honor recognition later emphasized that Herron was foremost in leading his men and rallying them to repeated acts of daring until he himself was disabled and captured. During the battle he was wounded and fell into Confederate hands. His willingness to continue directing his soldiers while under heavy fire, even as the situation deteriorated around him, became the defining act for which he would eventually receive the nation’s highest military decoration.

Pea Ridge proved strategically important. Although Confederate forces had attempted to defeat the Union army and regain the initiative in Missouri and northern Arkansas, the Union victory helped secure Federal control of Missouri and weakened major Confederate offensive operations in that portion of the Trans-Mississippi region. Herron’s personal experience during the battle included leadership, serious wounds, and captivity, making Pea Ridge one of the most consequential episodes of his career.

After returning to Union service, Herron continued to rise rapidly in command. His performance during the early campaigns contributed to his advancement, and he ultimately became a Brigadier General of Volunteers. His responsibilities expanded from regimental leadership to command of much larger bodies of troops.

Late in 1862, Herron played a central role in the Prairie Grove Campaign. Confederate Major General Thomas C. Hindman sought to defeat separate Union forces in northwestern Arkansas before they could combine. Herron was ordered to move rapidly from Springfield, Missouri, to reinforce the Union forces operating farther south.

Herron led his troops on an extraordinary forced march toward Arkansas. His command covered roughly 115 miles in only a few days before reaching the area around Fayetteville and Prairie Grove. On December 7, 1862, Herron’s exhausted troops encountered Hindman’s Confederate army at the Battle of Prairie Grove.

Herron deployed his artillery and infantry against Confederate positions on elevated ground near Prairie Grove. His men launched difficult attacks against the Confederate line and endured counterattacks throughout the engagement. Major General James G. Blunt’s Union forces later arrived and joined the battle. Fighting continued until darkness, after which the Confederate army withdrew.

The Confederate retreat from Prairie Grove was strategically important because it helped establish Federal control over northwestern Arkansas. Herron’s leadership during the campaign significantly enhanced his military reputation. His ability to move troops rapidly over a great distance and bring them directly into a major battle demonstrated both endurance and command ability.

In recognition of his service, Herron was promoted to Major General of U.S. Volunteers in 1863. This became his highest verified rank. His advancement was especially notable because he was still a comparatively young officer and had begun the war only two years earlier as a militia captain.

Herron subsequently commanded a division during the Vicksburg Campaign. His command became known as Herron’s Division and served with Union forces under Major General Ulysses S. Grant during the operations against Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River was one of the most important strategic objectives of the Union war effort.

During the Siege of Vicksburg, Herron commanded troops occupying part of the Federal line surrounding the city. The prolonged operation gradually isolated the Confederate garrison and cut off supplies. On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg surrendered to Grant. The victory gave the Union effective control of the Mississippi River and divided the Confederacy geographically.

Herron continued serving in the Trans-Mississippi region after Vicksburg. His later wartime duties took him into Louisiana and Texas, where Union forces conducted military operations and maintained Federal positions along the Gulf Coast and lower Mississippi region. By this stage, Herron had progressed from commanding a militia company in Iowa to directing large formations as a Major General.

During the closing phase of the Civil War, Herron also became involved in responsibilities beyond direct battlefield command. At the end of the conflict, he was appointed to participate as a commissioner in negotiations involving Native American tribes. His military service concluded in June 1865 after approximately four years of increasingly senior command responsibilities.

Herron’s most important personal military decoration, however, did not arrive during the war itself. More than thirty years after the Battle of Pea Ridge, the extraordinary leadership he displayed there was formally recognized by the United States government.

On September 26, 1893, Francis Jay Herron was presented with the Medal of Honor for his actions at Pea Ridge on March 7, 1862. The decoration recognized his conspicuous leadership in repeatedly rallying and leading his men until he was wounded, disabled, and taken prisoner.

Herron received the Civil War-era Army Medal of Honor belonging to the 1862–1895 period of the decoration. The Army Medal of Honor had been authorized by Congress in 1862, during the same year as Herron’s heroic action. It became the highest national military decoration available to recognize extraordinary conduct by Union soldiers during the Civil War. Herron’s award carried no additional device or clasp.

The long interval between the action and the presentation was not unusual among Civil War Medal of Honor recipients. Many acts performed during the conflict were formally reviewed years or decades later as wartime reports, recommendations, and eyewitness evidence were examined. Herron’s 1893 award therefore recognized an act of heroism that had occurred more than thirty-one years earlier while he was still a Lieutenant Colonel.

The Medal of Honor is the only decoration conclusively verified for Herron’s final medal record under the strict recipient-specific evidence standard applied to his profile. His extensive Civil War service and participation in numerous campaigns do not, by themselves, establish entitlement to additional later-created campaign medals. Because Herron died before the Army Civil War Campaign Medal was established, that decoration is not included in his verified rack.

After leaving the Army, Herron settled in Louisiana and entered the legal profession. He became involved in public affairs during the Reconstruction period and held several government positions. Among his documented roles were service as a tax collector in New Orleans, United States Marshal from 1867 to 1869, and acting secretary of state of Louisiana during the early 1870s.

In 1877, Herron moved to New York City. He continued working in law and was also associated at different times with business interests. His later years were far removed from the rapid military advancement and major campaigns that had characterized his Civil War career.

Francis Jay Herron died in New York City on January 8, 1902, at the age of sixty-four. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, New York. His death came nearly forty years after the Battle of Pea Ridge and less than a decade after the United States formally recognized his conduct there with the Medal of Honor.

Herron’s military career was remarkable for the speed and extent of his advancement. He began the Civil War as captain of an Iowa militia company, became Lieutenant Colonel of the 9th Iowa Infantry, was wounded and captured at Pea Ridge, returned to command, led troops at Prairie Grove, rose to Brigadier General and then Major General, and commanded a division during the successful Siege of Vicksburg.

His enduring Medal of Honor legacy centers on March 7, 1862. At Pea Ridge, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Jay Herron repeatedly led and rallied his soldiers during severe fighting until wounds left him disabled and he was taken prisoner. That courage, combined with the distinguished command career that followed, secured his place among the notable Union generals and Medal of Honor recipients of the American Civil War.