Thomas Horan

He seized the enemy flag in the heart of Gettysburg's fire!!

On 2 July 1863 at Gettysburg, Sergeant Thomas Horan captured the regimental flag of the Confederate 8th Florida Infantry. The seizure of an enemy color in the middle of one of the war's most intense battles became the act for which he received the Medal of Honor.

Horan was born in Ireland in 1839. During the Civil War he served in Company E, 72nd New York Infantry. His regiment fought with the Army of the Potomac and was engaged at Gettysburg during the second day of the battle, when repeated Confederate attacks struck the Union left and center.

Horan's Medal of Honor action was direct and unmistakable. During the fighting on 2 July, he captured the flag of the 8th Florida Infantry. Both the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and the U.S. Army citation record identify the captured Confederate color.

Medal of Honor Citation (condensed)

At Gettysburg on 2 July 1863, Horan captured the regimental flag of the Confederate 8th Florida Infantry.

The Medal of Honor was presented on 5 April 1898. Horan died in 1902 at Madison, Illinois, and was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Dunkirk, New York. His qualifying Union Army service supports the Civil War Campaign Medal. No additional federal medal or ribbon device is supported by the evidence reviewed.