Pitt B. Herington

A Daring Rescue Under Fire at Kennesaw Mountain

Pitt B. Herington was an American Civil War soldier and recipient of the United States Medal of Honor whose courageous actions saved the life of a wounded fellow soldier during the Atlanta Campaign. Serving as a private in Company E of the 11th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, he distinguished himself near Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, on June 15, 1864. Together with another soldier, Herington advanced under intense Confederate fire to rescue a wounded comrade who had fallen between the opposing lines. His bravery was officially recognized with the Medal of Honor on November 27, 1899.

Herington was born on February 5, 1841, in Michigan, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Earlier Army citation records list his birth year as 1840. Details concerning his parents, education, childhood, and early civilian occupation have not been reliably established.

At the time of his Union Army service, Herington was associated with Tipton in Cedar County, Iowa. His Medal of Honor record identifies Tipton as the location from which he entered military service.

Herington served in Company E of the 11th Iowa Infantry, a Union volunteer regiment organized at Davenport, Iowa, between September and October 1861. The regiment subsequently entered service in the western theater, participating in campaigns across several Southern states.

The 11th Iowa became part of the Union Army of the Tennessee and served in the XVII Corps. Its documented operations included the Battle of Shiloh, the fighting around Corinth, and the Vicksburg Campaign.

Although these engagements formed part of the regiment's history, the surviving individual records do not establish Herington's personal participation in every operation. His presence near Kennesaw Mountain on June 15, 1864, is directly confirmed by his Medal of Honor citation.

In the spring of 1864, Union forces commanded by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman began the Atlanta Campaign. The objective was to advance through northern Georgia and capture Atlanta, an important Confederate transportation and manufacturing center.

Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston attempted to slow the Union advance by occupying successive defensive positions. As Sherman's armies moved southward, the opposing forces engaged in repeated fighting across the mountainous terrain of northern Georgia.

By June, the 11th Iowa Infantry was operating in the vicinity of Marietta and Kennesaw Mountain. Confederate troops occupied fortified positions that allowed them to resist Union advances with infantry and artillery fire.

The fighting around Kennesaw Mountain involved continued skirmishing, reconnaissance, and attacks against Confederate defensive lines. Soldiers often fought across difficult ground, where exposed positions created serious dangers for anyone attempting to move between the opposing forces.

On June 15, 1864, Private Pitt B. Herington performed the act of heroism for which he would later receive the Medal of Honor.

A wounded Union soldier had fallen between the opposing lines, leaving him exposed to Confederate fire. Reaching the injured man required entering an area within close range of the enemy.

Herington and another soldier went forward to rescue him.

The official citation records that the two men advanced while exposed to fierce enemy fire at close range. Despite the danger, they reached the wounded soldier and carried him to safety.

The rescue placed Herington in immediate personal danger. Rather than remaining behind the relative protection of the Union position, he entered the contested ground to help a fellow soldier who could not safely withdraw on his own.

His actions demonstrated exceptional courage during a moment when assisting the wounded meant confronting the same hostile fire that had already struck the injured man.

The official account confirms that the rescue was successful. The identity of the wounded soldier and the precise injuries he suffered are not established in Herington's published Medal of Honor citation.

Another 11th Iowa soldier, Private William B. Mayes of Company K, received the Medal of Honor for a rescue recorded on the same date and near the same location. Both citations describe two soldiers carrying a wounded comrade from between the lines under enemy fire. The published citations, however, do not explicitly name each man as the other's companion.

The fighting around Kennesaw Mountain continued after June 15. On June 27, Sherman ordered a major assault against the Confederate positions, but the Union attacks were repulsed with substantial casualties.

Sherman's forces eventually maneuvered around Johnston's defenses, compelling the Confederate army to abandon the Kennesaw Mountain line and withdraw toward Atlanta.

The 11th Iowa continued its wartime service as part of the Army of the Tennessee. The regiment later participated in operations around Atlanta and remained in federal service until July 1865. Herington's exact subsequent assignments and discharge date require additional individual service-record confirmation.

More than thirty-five years after his act of bravery, Herington received the nation's highest military decoration.

On November 27, 1899, the Medal of Honor was awarded to Private Pitt B. Herington for his actions near Kennesaw Mountain on June 15, 1864.

His citation recognized his decision to accompany another soldier into an area exposed to intense Confederate fire, reach a wounded comrade, and carry him to safety.

Unlike military decorations awarded for capturing enemy positions or flags, Herington's Medal of Honor recognized an act of battlefield rescue. His achievement demonstrated that extraordinary courage could be expressed through saving another soldier's life while facing immediate danger.

Information about Herington's life after the Civil War remains limited in the readily available authoritative records. His postwar occupation, family relationships, and personal activities have not been established sufficiently to include them as confirmed facts.

Pitt B. Herington died on January 15, 1919, in Wapella, Illinois, at the age of seventy-seven, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. He was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Clinton, Illinois, where his grave is recorded in Block B, Lot 520, Grave 3.

His military service is commemorated among Iowa's Medal of Honor recipients, preserving the record of his courage during the Atlanta Campaign.

Pitt B. Herington's legacy rests upon a remarkable act of selflessness near Kennesaw Mountain. On June 15, 1864, he risked his life alongside another soldier to bring a wounded comrade out of enemy fire. The successful rescue earned him the Medal of Honor and secured his place in the history of the Union Army's service during the American Civil War.