Medal of Honor
May 9, 1864
Swift Creek, Virginia, USA
- Rank at action
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Service
- U.S. Army
- Conflict
- U.S. Civil War
- Unit or command
- 10th New Hampshire Infantry (Irish Regiment)
The Citation
Sources ↓During a sudden night attack upon Burnham's Brigade, resulting in much confusion, this officer, without waiting for orders, led his regiment forward and interposed a line of battle between the advancing enemy and Hunt's Battery, repulsing the attack and saving the guns.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- John Coughlin — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-27
current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison
Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
- Award ID
- MOH-AW-000688
- Transcription status
- Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
- Last source check
- 2026-08-27
- Later or highest recorded rank
- Brevet Brigadier General
- Entered service at
- Manchester, N.H.
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- 7473e8eb1ffb4194a609696f696f361bfc1f98904cb3113017f92150c5c42cc2
Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; current rendered profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.
Current official Society evidence confirms the identity and core action record; historical action wording replaces inherited geocoder text while all inherited values and the complete legacy citation remain preserved.