James Fegan

Single-handedly repelled attackers and saved a powder train

James Fegan's Medal of Honor came after the Civil War, but his Army career had already carried him through some of the war's hardest fighting.

James Fegan was born 1827 at Athlone, Ireland. During the period relevant to this record, he served as Sergeant with Company H, 3rd U.S. Infantry.

On March 1868, at Plum Creek, Kansas, while escorting a powder train from Fort Harker toward Fort Dodge, Fegan faced a group of armed men attempting to free a deserter and ignite the train. He repelled them single-handedly, wounded two attackers, and brought the train through safely.

Medal of Honor Citation (condensed)

Single-handedly repelled men trying to free a deserter and fire his powder train, then brought the train safely through.

Archival-based research records Fegan's Civil War service with the 2nd and 3rd U.S. Infantry, including a serious wound at Antietam. He remained in the Regular Army after the war, retired in 1885, died on June 25, 1886, and was buried at Custer Battlefield National Monument in Montana.

His record is presented to the level supported by the sources reviewed, without filling gaps by inference.