Henry Sartwell

Shot Through the Arm—He Returned to the Fight

Henry Sartwell was born on March 7, 1837, in Ticonderoga, New York. When the American Civil War created an urgent demand for Union soldiers, he enlisted at Fort Ann, New York, on July 28, 1862. He entered Company D of the 123rd New York Infantry as a Private and was mustered into service on August 14. Within only a few weeks, his reliability and ability were recognized when he was promoted to Sergeant on September 4, 1862.

The 123rd New York Infantry was raised largely from Washington County and soon entered active service with the Union Army. Sartwell's regiment joined the Army of the Potomac at a time when the war in Virginia was becoming increasingly violent. By the spring of 1863, the regiment was moving toward the campaign that would bring Sartwell his defining moment of courage.

On May 3, 1863, during the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia, Sergeant Sartwell and the 123rd New York Infantry were engaged in severe fighting against Confederate forces. During the battle, Sartwell was struck by a gunshot that severely wounded his left arm. The injury was serious enough that he withdrew approximately half a mile toward the rear, where he could have remained and received treatment.

Instead, Sartwell made an extraordinary decision. Despite the wound and the blood he had already lost, he insisted on returning to Company D. He went back toward the fighting and resumed his place with his comrades while still suffering from the gunshot wound. Rather than leaving the battle after being legitimately incapacitated, he chose to continue fighting.

His strength eventually began to fail. Continued blood loss left him physically exhausted, and only when he could no longer remain on the battlefield was he compelled to retire. That refusal to abandon his company while he was still capable of fighting became the central act for which the United States would later recognize him with its highest military decoration. [Army](https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/citations2.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Chancellorsville did not end Sartwell's wartime service. He recovered sufficiently to continue with the 123rd New York Infantry as the regiment moved through later Civil War campaigns. His service eventually carried him away from Virginia and into operations in the Western Theater, where Union forces were campaigning through the South.

On June 29, 1864, Sartwell was wounded for a second time during a skirmish near Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia. The New York State Adjutant-General's official roster specifically records both wounds: the first at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863, and the second near Kennesaw Mountain on June 29, 1864. Despite experiencing serious combat wounds during two separate stages of the war, he remained connected with the Army until the conflict was nearly over. [NY State Military Museum](https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/application/files/9315/5309/7519/123rd_Infantry_CW_Roster.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Sartwell's official service record shows that he eventually returned to the ranks and was discharged on May 27, 1865, while at a hospital in Albany, New York. The Civil War had effectively ended by that point following the collapse of the major Confederate armies. He left military service as a veteran whose record included years of campaigning, two documented combat wounds, and the remarkable act of returning to battle after being severely wounded at Chancellorsville. [NY State Military Museum](https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/application/files/9315/5309/7519/123rd_Infantry_CW_Roster.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Recognition for that act did not come immediately. More than thirty-three years passed after Chancellorsville before Sartwell received the Medal of Honor. On November 17, 1896, the United States formally awarded him the decoration for his conduct on May 3, 1863. He was alive when the medal was presented, making this a lifetime rather than posthumous award. [Congressional Medal of Honor Society](https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/henry-sartwell?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

For his final database record, the verified decoration is Medal of Honor 1896–1903 Army — 1896, with no additional device or clasp. His battlefield action and his award date must be understood separately. The courage recognized by the medal occurred during the Civil War in 1863, while the formal award came in 1896. Because the medal was issued after the Army's 1896 change to its Medal of Honor ribbon design, the 1896–1903 Army historical version is the appropriate representation for his profile.

The Medal of Honor had originated during the Civil War itself, when Congress authorized the Army decoration in 1862. Sartwell therefore belonged to an unusual group of Civil War soldiers whose acts of heroism occurred during the conflict but were formally recognized decades later. By the time he received his medal, the young Sergeant who had fought at Chancellorsville had been out of military service for more than thirty years.

The wording of Sartwell's Medal of Honor citation captures what made his action exceptional. His distinction did not depend on capturing a flag, leading a charge, or holding senior command. It centered on personal endurance and loyalty to his comrades. Severely wounded in the left arm, he initially moved toward the rear but refused to remain away from his company. He returned to the battlefield and continued fighting until blood loss physically prevented him from doing so.

Sartwell spent his later years in the Fort Ann area of New York, the same community from which he had entered military service in 1862. His Medal of Honor ensured that the events of Chancellorsville remained attached permanently to his name, while his official military record preserved the broader story of a soldier who continued serving after that battle and was wounded again during the Atlanta Campaign.

Henry Sartwell died on February 26, 1910, in Fort Ann, New York, at the age of seventy-two. He was buried in Fish Hill Cemetery in Fort Ann, bringing his life full circle to the community closely associated with his enlistment and postwar years. [Congressional Medal of Honor Society](https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/henry-sartwell?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

His legacy rests on a choice made while wounded and bleeding on May 3, 1863. He had already done what duty required, and his injury gave him every justification to remain behind the lines. Instead, he turned back toward the battle and returned to his company. More than three decades later, the Medal of Honor 1896–1903 Army — 1896 formally preserved that moment as the defining act of a Union Sergeant who refused to leave the fight while he still had the strength to stand.