Jerome Morford

He Volunteered for the Storming Party at Vicksburg

Jerome Morford was born on June 13, 1841, in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. When the American Civil War began, he entered Union service and became a private in Company K of the 55th Illinois Infantry. His wartime career would eventually carry him into the Vicksburg Campaign, where he volunteered for one of the most dangerous assignments of the siege and earned the Medal of Honor.

Morford enlisted in 1861 and served as an infantryman with the 55th Illinois. The regiment became part of the Union forces operating in the Western Theater, an area in which control of rivers, railroads, and transportation routes was crucial to both sides. By 1863, the regiment was participating in Major General Ulysses S. Grant's campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Vicksburg occupied commanding ground above the Mississippi River and represented one of the Confederacy's most important remaining strongholds on that waterway. Its defenses prevented the Union from exercising unrestricted control of the river. Grant's campaign gradually drove Confederate forces back into Vicksburg, where they occupied a formidable network of earthworks surrounding the city.

After an unsuccessful Union assault on May 19, Grant ordered another major attack for May 22, 1863. Before the main assault began, volunteers were called for to form a storming party. These men were expected to move ahead of the attacking columns and perform work necessary to help the larger force reach the Confederate defenses.

Morford volunteered.

The assignment carried extreme danger. The storming party had to advance across exposed ground directly toward fortified Confederate positions. The men knew before moving forward that they would be among the first Union soldiers exposed to concentrated rifle and artillery fire.

On May 22, Private Jerome Morford joined the volunteer storming party as it advanced against the Vicksburg defenses. The Confederate works proved exceptionally difficult to approach. The attacking troops faced obstacles, broken terrain, and heavy fire as they attempted to reach the fortifications.

The assault ultimately failed to break through the Confederate line. Union troops suffered heavily, and the strength of the defenses convinced Grant that further immediate frontal attacks would be too costly. He subsequently relied on siege operations to force Vicksburg's surrender.

Although the charge did not accomplish its larger objective, the courage of the men who voluntarily placed themselves at the front of the assault was formally recognized. Morford's gallantry during the charge of the volunteer storming party became the defining episode of his military service.

For his actions at Vicksburg on May 22, 1863, Morford was awarded the Medal of Honor. At the time of the action he was serving as a Private in Company K, 55th Illinois Infantry. His recognized achievement was therefore that of an ordinary infantry soldier who deliberately volunteered for an assignment whose danger was clear before the attack began.

The Medal of Honor was presented to Morford on September 2, 1893, more than thirty years after the battle. The date of the decoration must be distinguished from the date of his heroic action: his gallantry occurred in 1863, while formal recognition came in 1893. No additional device or clasp has been verified for his Medal of Honor.

The Battle of Vicksburg continued after the failed May assaults. Union forces surrounded the city and maintained increasing pressure on its defenders. After weeks of siege, Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Grant on July 4, 1863.

The victory had enormous strategic importance. Union control of Vicksburg, combined with other operations along the Mississippi, effectively opened the river to Federal navigation and divided the Confederacy geographically. Morford's action on May 22 belonged to the difficult phase of the campaign in which Union forces attempted to achieve that result by direct assault before settling into siege warfare.

Morford continued serving after Vicksburg. He later reenlisted as a veteran and remained with the 55th Illinois through the closing period of the Civil War. He was mustered out in August 1865. No higher military rank than Private has been sufficiently verified for his profile.

His service also falls within the period commemorated by the Army Civil War Campaign Medal. Established by the War Department in 1907, the decoration recognized qualifying United States Army service during the Civil War. Morford's verified service from 1861 through the end of the conflict placed him within that qualifying period. He was still alive when the medal was established, and no additional clasp or device has been verified for his profile.

Morford's Medal of Honor story is especially significant because it began with a choice. He was not unexpectedly isolated from his unit or forced into an emergency by circumstances beyond his control. He deliberately joined a volunteer group designated to advance ahead of the main attacking force against fortified enemy positions.

The failure of the assault does not diminish the courage required to participate in it. The storming party moved forward knowing that success was uncertain and that the Confederate defenders possessed every advantage of prepared ground. Morford nevertheless took his place among the volunteers and advanced with them.

He survived the war and lived for decades after the battle that defined his military legacy. By the time he received the Medal of Honor in 1893, the United States had changed dramatically, but the actions of Civil War veterans were still being reviewed and recognized.

Jerome Morford died on June 11, 1910, in Seattle, Washington. He was buried in Washington State.

His legacy remains tied to the morning of May 22, 1863, outside Vicksburg. As a Private in the 55th Illinois Infantry, he volunteered to go forward with the storming party before the main Union assault and demonstrated gallantry under intense Confederate fire. Three decades later, the Medal of Honor ensured that his willingness to accept that extraordinary risk would remain permanently recorded in American military history.