Samuel McConnell

Blasted into the ditch, he rose and seized Blakely's colors!

Samuel McConnell went into the assault on Fort Blakely, Alabama, with a picked attacking force and reached the Confederate works in the final hours of the war in the Deep South. A captain in Company H, 119th Illinois Infantry, he took part in the attack on 9 April 1865.

McConnell and Private Wagner pushed to the works. A blast from a Confederate gun knocked McConnell into the ditch, but he recovered, entered the gun position and used his last pistol shot while capturing a Confederate flag bearer and guard. His conduct earned the Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor Citation (condensed)

In the assault on Fort Blakely, McConnell reached the enemy works, recovered after being knocked into the ditch by a gun blast, entered the position and captured a Confederate flag bearer and guard.

McConnell was born at Belmont, Ohio, on 1 June 1830. He survived the war and died at Havelock, Nebraska, on 26 March 1915. He was buried in Arborville Rural Cemetery at Bradshaw, Nebraska.