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Medal of Honor Recipient

William B Hincks

U.S. Army · U.S. Civil War

MOH-RC-000828Source-based record

The award

Representative medal image: original Army design. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Army Medal of HonorAction-era reference: 1863

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

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Medal of Honor

July 3, 1863

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Rank at action
Sergeant Major
Service
U.S. Army
Conflict
U.S. Civil War
Unit or command
14th Connecticut Infantry

The Citation

Sources ↓
During the highwater mark of Pickett's charge on 3 July 1863 the colors of the 14th Tenn. Inf. C.S.A. were planted 50 yards in front of the center of Sgt. Maj. Hincks' regiment. There were no Confederates standing near it but several were Iying down around it. Upon a call for volunteers by Maj. Ellis, commanding, to capture this flag, this soldier and 2 others leaped the wall. One companion was instantly shot. Sgt. Maj. Hincks outran his remaining companion running straight and swift for the colors amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to his lines. The 14th Tenn. carried 12 battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty shown by Sgt. Maj. Hlncks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle.
Separately preserved current-source wording

Captured from the linked current recipient source; it is not a new comparison with an original General Order.

During the highwater mark of Pickett's charge on 3 July 1863 the colors of the 14th Tennessee Infantry C.S.A. were planted 50 yards in front of the center of Sgt. Maj. Hincks' regiment. There were no Confederates standing near it but several were lying down around it. Upon a call for volunteers by Maj. Ellis, commanding, to capture this flag, this soldier and two others leaped the wall. One companion was instantly shot. Sgt. Maj. Hincks outran his remaining companion, running straight and swift for the colors amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to his lines. The 14th Tenn. carried 12 battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty shown by Sgt. Maj. Hincks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle.

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. William B Hincks — 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-000834
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-27
Later or highest recorded rank
Major
Entered service at
Bridgeport, Conn.
Archive transcription SHA-256
251d83ddf3f4e4638162ce3d27631fc86dfdded082a6432626483af1c1fc988e

Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; current rendered profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.

The current profile distinguishes Sergeant Major at action from later Major and corrects several inherited OCR errors, including lying and Hincks. The inherited text and checksum remain unchanged.

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