James M. Burns (Medal of Honor)

Saved endangered colors under heavy fire and rescued a wounded comrade

At New Market, eighteen-year-old Sergeant James Madison Burns first helped save his regiment's colors, then went back through enemy fire for a wounded comrade.

Born on August 9, 1845, in Jefferson County, Ohio, Burns entered Union service as a teenager with Company B, 1st West Virginia Infantry. After the Civil War he entered the Regular Army, beginning a career that eventually took him to lieutenant colonel.

On May 15, 1864, under heavy musket fire, Burns rallied men around endangered colors and carried them to safety. When a comrade was left badly wounded, Burns went back about one hundred yards in the face of enemy fire and carried him from the field.

Medal of Honor Citation (condensed)

Saved endangered colors under heavy fire, then returned toward the enemy to carry a severely wounded comrade from the field.

Burns continued serving in the West through Indian campaigns and was with the 17th Infantry at Pine Ridge during the Sioux campaign of 1890 to 1891. During the Spanish-American War he remained in the United States as a mustering officer rather than deploying with his regiment. He retired in 1899 and died on October 30, 1910, at Lebanon, Ohio, where he was buried in Lebanon Cemetery.

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