Medal of Honor
May 15, 1864
New Market, Virginia, USA
- Rank at action
- Sergeant
- Service
- U.S. Army
- Conflict
- U.S. Civil War
- Unit or command
- Company B, 1st West Virginia Infantry
The Citation
Sources ↓Under a heavy fire of musketry, rallied a few men to the support of the colors, in danger of capture and bore them to a place of safety. One of his comrades having been severely wounded in the effort, Sgt. Burns went back a hundred yards m the face of the enemy's fire and carried the wounded man from the field.
Separately preserved current-source wording
Captured from the linked current recipient source; it is not a new comparison with an original General Order.
Under a heavy fire of musketry, Burns rallied a few men to the support of the colors, in danger of capture, and bore them to a place of safety. One of his comrades having been severely wounded in the effort, Sgt. Burns went back a hundred yards in the face of the enemy's fire and carried the wounded man from the field.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- James Madison Burns — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-26
current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison
Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
- Award ID
- MOH-AW-000635
- Transcription status
- Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
- Last source check
- 2026-08-26
- Later or highest recorded rank
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Entered service at
- Jefferson County, Ohio
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- 05b209cc78add5b904d7d99bd0ffd7bedde9dea95d6d66027c6b23f192cc7a28
Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; current rendered profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.
The current reference profile expands the middle name, preserves Sergeant as the action rank and Lieutenant Colonel as the later/highest rank, and corrects the inherited “yards m the face” transcription to “yards in the face.”