John Kennedy

He Held the Gun While Confederate Cavalry Closed In

John Kennedy was born on May 14, 1834, in County Cavan, Ireland. After immigrating to the United States, he entered the Regular Army in Philadelphia on December 16, 1857, enlisting in Battery M of the 2nd U.S. Artillery. His military career would ultimately span more than three decades, but the moment that defined his legacy came during the American Civil War, when he refused to abandon an artillery piece as Confederate cavalry closed around his position.

Kennedy was already an experienced soldier before the Civil War began. His prewar service included participation in the Utah Expedition of 1858, giving him firsthand experience with the hardships of campaigning long before Union and Confederate armies confronted each other.

When the Civil War erupted, Kennedy remained with the Regular Army and continued serving in Battery M, 2nd U.S. Artillery.

By June 1864, he was a Private participating in Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign. Union cavalry under Major General Philip Sheridan was operating deep in Virginia, disrupting Confederate communications and drawing enemy cavalry away from Grant’s main army.

Those operations led to the Battle of Trevilian Station on June 11, 1864.

Kennedy’s battery was serving with Union cavalry during the engagement. Trevilian Station developed into an intense mounted and dismounted fight as Confederate cavalry struck Sheridan’s forces around the railroad and surrounding countryside.

Battery M became heavily engaged.

During the fighting, Confederate cavalry threatened one of the battery’s guns. As the Union detachment came under increasing pressure, withdrawal became necessary.

Kennedy did not immediately leave with the retreating troops.

He remained at the artillery piece.

The situation deteriorated rapidly. Ammunition was exhausted, and the Confederate cavalry continued advancing toward the gun. Kennedy and the small group of artillerymen still around the piece resorted first to their personal weapons.

When those were emptied, they continued resisting with the equipment available around the cannon.

Kennedy later described using artillery implements such as handspikes and sponge staffs as the Confederate horsemen reached the position.

The struggle became extraordinarily close.

Instead of abandoning the gun as the cavalry approached, Kennedy remained in place long enough to help secure the withdrawal of the rest of his detachment.

His official Medal of Honor citation captured the essential act in remarkably concise language: he remained at his gun, resisted the advancing cavalry with its implements, and by doing so helped secure the retreat of his comrades.

Eventually, the Confederate cavalry overwhelmed the defenders around the piece.

Kennedy was knocked down and captured.

Although the gun was later recovered by Union forces, Kennedy’s battle was over.

His ordeal was not.

As a Confederate prisoner, he was eventually sent to Andersonville Prison in Georgia, one of the most notorious prisoner-of-war camps of the Civil War.

Conditions at Andersonville were catastrophic. Overcrowding, inadequate shelter, poor sanitation, disease, and severe shortages of food contributed to enormous suffering among Union prisoners.

Kennedy survived his captivity.

After the war, he returned to Army service rather than ending the military career that had already carried him through combat, capture, and imprisonment.

This decision made his career particularly remarkable.

The Private who had defended an artillery piece at Trevilian Station gradually accumulated decades of Regular Army service. His assignments took him to a number of military posts, and he eventually attained the rank of Ordnance Sergeant.

That became his highest verified formal rank.

Kennedy ultimately completed approximately thirty-three years of Army service before retiring in 1891.

His Medal of Honor, however, had not yet been awarded.

Nearly twenty-eight years after the Battle of Trevilian Station, his conduct was formally brought forward for recognition. Officers familiar with his actions supported the recommendation, preserving the story of the Private who had remained with his gun as Confederate cavalry overran the position.

On August 19, 1892, John Kennedy received the Medal of Honor.

The decoration recognized his actions at Trevilian Station on June 11, 1864.

No additional clasp, bar, star, or other device accompanied his Medal of Honor.

The award represented a very specific kind of battlefield courage.

Kennedy had not been ordered to perform a spectacular charge.

He had not captured an enemy flag.

Instead, his courage was demonstrated through refusal to abandon his responsibility while other soldiers withdrew.

He stayed at the artillery piece.

He continued resisting after the tactical situation had become desperate.

And he remained long enough to help give his detachment the opportunity to escape.

After retiring from military service, Kennedy spent his later years in Little Rock, Arkansas.

His long Army career had begun before the Civil War, survived one of the conflict’s most dangerous cavalry battles, endured Confederate captivity, and continued for decades afterward.

John Kennedy died in Little Rock on September 28, 1910. He was buried in Oakland and Fraternal Cemetery beside his wife.

His military life stretched from the antebellum Regular Army into the closing years of the nineteenth century, but his place in American military history was secured during a few desperate minutes at Trevilian Station.

On June 11, 1864, Private John Kennedy watched Confederate cavalry close on his artillery position.

With the detachment withdrawing and ammunition running out, he remained at the gun.

When conventional weapons were no longer enough, he continued the defense with the implements of the artillery piece itself.

He was eventually overwhelmed and captured, but his resistance helped secure the retreat of his comrades.

Twenty-eight years later, the United States recognized that decision with the Medal of Honor—a lasting tribute to a soldier who stayed at his post when staying meant almost certain capture.