Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient. He served during the Civil War as Captain and commander of the Chicago Mercantile Battery, Illinois Independent Volunteers Light Artillery, and was awarded the CMOH for his bravery in action on May 22, 1863 at Vicksburg, Mississippi. A member of a pre-war Chicago Militia artillery unit, after the Civil War began he offered his services to the Union Army, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in Battery B, 1st Illinois Volunteer Light Artillery on July 16, 1861. Promoted to 1st Lieutenant on October 3, 1861, he served with Battery B until March 1, 1863, when he was promoted to Captain and assigned to command the Chicago Mercantile Battery, then serving in the XIII Corps of the Union Army of the Mississippi. During the Army’s assault on Confederate positions at Vicksburg, Mississippi, Captain White and five other men brought a cannon under fire by hand through a ravine, positioned it through an opening in the Confederate works, and fired point blank into rebel artillery emplacements, destroying several Confederate cannon, and setting bales of cotton on fire. They kept up the fire for 24 minutes, compelling the rebels to abandon the position. In 1895 he and Corporal James Dunne, Private Charles Kloth, Private Patrick McGuire and Private William G. Stephens were awarded the Medal of Honor for that brave action, with Private George Kretsinger being awarded the Medal of Honor two years later. On April 8, 1864 during the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana, Captain White was captured, and was held as a prisoner of war until his exchange in 1865. He was honorably mustered out in Chicago, Illinois on July 10, 1865. After the war he became a businessman in Albany, New York, where he died in 1915.
Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient. He served during the Civil War as Captain and commander of the Chicago Mercantile Battery, Illinois Independent Volunteers Light Artillery, and was awarded the CMOH for his bravery in action on May 22, 1863 at Vicksburg, Mississippi. A member of a pre-war Chicago Militia artillery unit, after the Civil War began he offered his services to the Union Army, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in Battery B, 1st Illinois Volunteer Light Artillery on July 16, 1861. Promoted to 1st Lieutenant on October 3, 1861, he served with Battery B until March 1, 1863, when he was promoted to Captain and assigned to command the Chicago Mercantile Battery, then serving in the XIII Corps of the Union Army of the Mississippi. During the Army’s assault on Confederate positions at Vicksburg, Mississippi, Captain White and five other men brought a cannon under fire by hand through a ravine, positioned it through an opening in the Confederate works, and fired point blank into rebel artillery emplacements, destroying several Confederate cannon, and setting bales of cotton on fire. They kept up the fire for 24 minutes, compelling the rebels to abandon the position. In 1895 he and Corporal James Dunne, Private Charles Kloth, Private Patrick McGuire and Private William G. Stephens were awarded the Medal of Honor for that brave action, with Private George Kretsinger being awarded the Medal of Honor two years later. On April 8, 1864 during the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana, Captain White was captured, and was held as a prisoner of war until his exchange in 1865. He was honorably mustered out in Chicago, Illinois on July 10, 1865. After the war he became a businessman in Albany, New York, where he died in 1915.
Bio by: RPD2
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