Joseph L. Epps

He climbed a wall to make seventeen armed fighters surrender

Joseph L. Epps was born on 16 May 1870 in Jamestown, Missouri. He served as a private in Company B, 33rd Infantry, United States Volunteers during the Philippine conflict.

On 4 December 1899 at Vigan, Luzon, Epps found armed insurgents behind a wall while searching the town after the fighting. He climbed onto the wall, covered the group with his rifle and compelled them to stack their weapons and surrender. A contemporary report preserved by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society identifies the group as 17 men.

Epps was awarded the Medal of Honor on 7 February 1902. He died on 20 June 1952 and is buried in Green Hill Cemetery in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Medal of Honor citation

Discovered a party of insurgents inside a wall, climbed to the top of the wall, covered them with his gun, and forced them to stack arms and surrender.