John McCreath Farquhar

He Rallied a Broken Line and Stopped the Advance

John McCreath Farquhar was born near Ayr, Scotland, on April 17, 1832. He attended Ayr Academy before immigrating to the United States as a boy and settling in Buffalo, New York. His early American life developed far from the battlefield. He entered the printing trade and eventually became a printer, editor, and publisher, beginning a professional career that would continue for more than three decades.

Farquhar also became active in organized labor. By 1860 he had risen to the presidency of the International Typographical Union, a position he held until 1862. His leadership in the printing profession established him as an experienced organizer before the American Civil War drew him into a very different kind of service.

On August 9, 1862, Farquhar enlisted in the Union Army as a private in Company B of the 89th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. His advancement was rapid. By the end of that year he was serving as sergeant major, placing him in an important regimental position as the Union armies prepared for a major confrontation in Tennessee.

That confrontation came at the Battle of Stones River.

Near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Union Army of the Cumberland faced Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee. On the morning of December 31, 1862, Confederate troops launched a powerful assault against the Union right. The attack struck with such force that sections of the Federal line broke and soldiers from several commands began moving toward the rear.

It was during this crisis that Sergeant Major Farquhar performed the action that would eventually earn him the Medal of Honor.

As the extreme right of the Army of the Cumberland gave way, Farquhar encountered soldiers from other units who had become separated from their commands during the retreat. Rather than allowing the disorder to continue, he rallied the fugitives and helped restore a measure of organization in the collapsing sector.

He then deployed his own regiment to confront the Confederate advance.

The importance of the moment lay in time as much as territory. The Union Army needed an opportunity to establish another defensive line before the Confederate attack could exploit the break. Farquhar’s actions helped check the advance long enough for that new line to be formed.

His later Medal of Honor citation centered precisely on this achievement: when the Union right broke, he rallied men from other commands and deployed his regiment, helping stop the Confederate advance until another defensive position could be established.

The action demonstrated leadership far beyond the simple execution of orders. Farquhar was serving as a sergeant major, not commanding the army or even holding a commissioned field-grade rank. Yet in a moment when formations were breaking apart, he responded to the immediate battlefield problem by gathering men and helping place organized resistance in the path of the Confederate assault.

The Battle of Stones River continued into January 1863 and ended with the Confederate army withdrawing from Murfreesboro. The Union victory strengthened Federal control in Middle Tennessee, while the fighting became remembered for its exceptional severity.

For Farquhar, Stones River was the defining episode of a military career that continued to expand afterward. He rose through the ranks and ultimately reached the rank of major. He also served as a judge advocate and as an inspector with the IV Army Corps, taking on responsibilities that extended beyond his original infantry service.

By the end of the Civil War, Farquhar had progressed from an enlisted private to a field-grade officer. His wartime record therefore encompassed both direct battlefield leadership and later administrative and staff responsibilities.

After leaving military service, he returned to Buffalo and resumed his work in printing, editing, and publishing. The skills that had brought him prominence before the war once again became central to his civilian career.

His public life eventually expanded into national politics. Farquhar was elected to the United States House of Representatives from New York and served three consecutive terms from March 4, 1885, until March 3, 1891. During his final term he chaired the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.

He did not seek another term in Congress in 1890, but his public service was not finished. From 1898 until 1902, he served as a member of the United States Industrial Commission, an important federal body examining labor, industry, agriculture, transportation, and economic conditions during a period of rapid American industrial growth.

That same year marked the long-delayed recognition of his Civil War heroism.

On August 6, 1902, nearly forty years after the Battle of Stones River, John McCreath Farquhar was presented with the Medal of Honor. The decoration recognized what Sergeant Major Farquhar had done on December 31, 1862, when the Union right was breaking and Confederate troops were pressing forward.

The Medal of Honor preserved one specific moment from Farquhar’s long military and public career: his ability to restore order during a battlefield crisis and help prevent an enemy breakthrough.

His wider Civil War service was also later represented by the Army Civil War Campaign Medal. Established in 1907, the decoration recognized qualifying service by Union Army veterans of the conflict. Farquhar had served from 1862 through the closing period of the war and remained alive when the campaign medal was created.

The two decorations reflected different dimensions of his service. The Civil War Campaign Medal represented his broader participation in the Union war effort, while the Medal of Honor recognized the extraordinary leadership he demonstrated at Stones River.

Farquhar eventually retired from active business and public affairs. His life had carried him from Scotland to Buffalo, from the printing trade to organized labor leadership, from the ranks of the Union Army to the office of major, and from the battlefield at Stones River to the halls of the United States Congress.

John McCreath Farquhar died in Buffalo, New York, on April 24, 1918, seven days after his eighty-sixth birthday. He was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

His legacy reaches well beyond a single career. He was an immigrant, printer, labor leader, Union soldier, Medal of Honor recipient, and United States congressman. Yet the moment that secured his place in American military history occurred during the chaos of December 31, 1862.

When the Union right broke and retreat threatened to become disaster, Sergeant Major John McCreath Farquhar rallied scattered soldiers, deployed his regiment, and helped hold the Confederate advance until a new line could be established. Nearly four decades later, the Medal of Honor formally recognized the leadership he had shown when the line was falling apart.