Joseph Wortick

He Volunteered for a Charge Through Deadly Enemy Fire

Joseph Wortick was a United States Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient who distinguished himself during the American Civil War through his participation in the volunteer storming party at Vicksburg, Mississippi, on May 22, 1863. Serving as a Private in Company A of the 6th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, he joined a dangerous assault against Confederate fortifications and was wounded during the attack.

Wortick was born on November 20 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, although historical sources differ on whether his birth year was 1837 or 1838. His surname also appears in historical records as Wartick and Wertick. In 1854, his family relocated to Adams County, Illinois, settling in Camp Point Township, where he lived before entering military service.

On March 5, 1862, Wortick enlisted in the Union Army at Hannibal, Missouri, joining Company A of the 6th Missouri Infantry. His regiment subsequently served with the Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant during the operations against Confederate forces along the Mississippi River.

By May 1863, Union troops had reached Vicksburg, one of the Confederacy's principal defensive strongholds on the Mississippi River. Following earlier fighting in Mississippi, Grant's army approached the city's fortified defenses. An initial Union assault on May 19 failed to break the Confederate line, and preparations began for another coordinated attack on May 22.

The renewed assault included a volunteer advance party assigned to lead the attack against the Stockade Redan, a Confederate fortification protecting the Graveyard Road approach to Vicksburg. Approximately 150 volunteers were selected to advance ahead of the main infantry formations, carrying wooden planks to bridge the defensive ditch and ladders to scale the fortifications. The dangerous assignment became known as the Forlorn Hope.

Wortick volunteered for this advance party. A later historical account identifies him as the first man from his regiment to step forward when volunteers were requested.

On May 22, 1863, the storming party advanced toward the Confederate defenses. The soldiers moved along the exposed approach to the Stockade Redan, where Confederate troops waited behind fortified positions. As the Union volunteers approached, the defenders opened heavy fire. Some attackers reached the ditch beneath the fortification, but intense rifle fire and explosives prevented the assault from succeeding.

Wortick participated in the charge and was wounded during the engagement. The contemporary Union Army roster of the storming party records him under the spelling Joseph Wertick, a Private in Company A of the 6th Missouri Infantry, and identifies him among the wounded. Later biographical accounts describe multiple wounds, including a serious injury to his chest. He survived the assault and received medical treatment.

The attack failed to capture the Confederate position. Following the unsuccessful assaults of May 22, Union forces continued siege operations against Vicksburg. The Confederate garrison eventually surrendered on July 4, 1863.

Wortick recovered from his injuries and returned to military service. A later historical account records his continued wartime service and participation in the Grand Review of the Union armies in Washington, D.C., in May 1865. He was discharged from military service on May 27, 1865.

After returning to civilian life, Wortick settled again in Adams County, Illinois, and resumed farming. He married in August 1866 and remained connected with the farming community in which he had lived before the war.

His actions at Vicksburg received formal national recognition more than three decades after the battle. On July 14, 1894, Wortick was awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party on May 22, 1863. The award recognized his voluntary participation in one of the most dangerous operations of the Vicksburg campaign.

In 1896, Wortick moved with his family to Kansas, where he spent his remaining years. He died on April 7, 1910, in Logan Township, Kansas, and was buried in Leon Cemetery in Leon, Kansas.

Joseph Wortick's Medal of Honor commemorates his documented courage during the assault on the Stockade Redan. His participation and injury are preserved in the contemporary Union Army records of the Vicksburg operation, while his award remains official recognition of his service in the volunteer storming party.