James W. Larrabee

He Volunteered for the Charge at Vicksburg

James W. Larrabee was born in 1839 in Rensselaer County, New York. Little detailed information survives about his early years, but by the time of the American Civil War he had entered the Union Army and was serving with Company I of the 55th Illinois Infantry. His military career would eventually take him into one of the most dangerous assaults of the Vicksburg Campaign and earn him the Medal of Honor.

Larrabee served as a corporal during the campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Confederate stronghold stood high above the Mississippi River and represented one of the most important remaining obstacles to complete Union control of that vital waterway. Major General Ulysses S. Grant's forces surrounded the city in May 1863 after a series of successful operations that drove Confederate troops back into their defensive works.

Union commanders initially attempted to capture Vicksburg by direct assault. On May 22, 1863, Grant ordered a major attack against the Confederate fortifications. The defenders occupied strong earthworks protected by difficult terrain, making any advance toward their positions exceptionally dangerous.

Before the main assault, volunteers were requested for a storming party that would move ahead of the attacking troops. Their task placed them directly in the path of Confederate fire. These soldiers would approach the enemy works under some of the heaviest fire of the battle, attempting to help open the way for the larger Union force that followed.

Corporal James W. Larrabee volunteered for this hazardous duty.

On May 22, he advanced as part of the volunteer storming party during the assault on Vicksburg. Confederate infantry and artillery subjected the attacking Union troops to devastating fire as they crossed exposed ground toward the defensive works. The terrain, obstacles, and strength of the Confederate positions made progress extremely difficult, and the assault ultimately failed to break through the defenses.

Although the Union attack did not capture Vicksburg that day, the courage displayed by the volunteers who went forward in the storming party became one of the most recognized episodes of the siege. Larrabee's gallantry during the charge was later formally acknowledged by the United States government.

For his conduct on May 22, 1863, Larrabee received the Medal of Honor. His official recognition cited his gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party. At the time of the action, he held the rank of Corporal in Company I, 55th Illinois Infantry.

The Medal of Honor was presented to Larrabee on September 2, 1893, more than thirty years after the battle. The long interval between the action and the presentation is an important part of his story. His heroism occurred in 1863 during the height of the Civil War, while the formal recognition came decades later, when the extraordinary service of many Civil War veterans was still being reviewed and honored.

Larrabee continued his military career beyond the Vicksburg assault and eventually reached the rank of First Sergeant, the highest verified rank associated with his service. His advancement from Corporal reflected continued responsibility within the regiment, but the act for which he became nationally recognized remained the dangerous charge he had undertaken as a junior noncommissioned officer.

The campaign itself proved decisive. After the failed direct assaults, Grant shifted to siege operations. Union forces gradually tightened their hold around Vicksburg, while Confederate troops and civilians inside the city faced increasing shortages. On July 4, 1863, the Confederate garrison surrendered. The victory gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and divided the Confederacy geographically, making Vicksburg one of the most strategically important Union victories of the war.

Larrabee's Civil War service also falls within the period later recognized by the Army Civil War Campaign Medal. Established by the War Department in 1907, the medal commemorated qualifying United States Army service during the Civil War. Larrabee's documented service with the 55th Illinois Infantry, including his participation in the Vicksburg Campaign, placed his military career directly within the service period represented by that decoration. No additional clasp or device has been verified for his profile.

Unlike many Medal of Honor stories centered on a single unexpected moment, Larrabee's action began with a deliberate decision. He volunteered for a mission whose danger was obvious before the assault even started. The men of the storming party knew they would move ahead of the main attacking force and confront the enemy defenses at extremely close range. Larrabee nevertheless stepped forward and joined them.

That willingness to accept extraordinary risk became the defining feature of his Medal of Honor service. He did not receive the decoration because the assault succeeded; the Union attack of May 22 was repulsed. He received it because of the gallantry he demonstrated while taking part in an exceptionally dangerous attempt to break the Confederate defenses.

James W. Larrabee died on December 30, 1907, in Lee County, Illinois. He was buried at Four Mile Grove Cemetery in Meriden, Illinois. His death came more than four decades after the Vicksburg Campaign and in the same year the Army Civil War Campaign Medal was established.

His legacy remains closely connected to the volunteers who went forward before the main Union assault on May 22, 1863. In one of the most dangerous moments of the Vicksburg Campaign, Larrabee willingly joined the storming party and advanced against heavily defended Confederate works. Three decades later, the Medal of Honor ensured that his courage during that failed but extraordinary charge would remain part of the official record of the Civil War.