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Medal of Honor Recipient

William Rufus Shafter

U.S. Army · Civil War

MOH-RC-001091Source-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: 1862

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

About this image

Presentation date is not usable for design selection. This is an action-era reference; a later presentation or replacement medal may differ.

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Medal of Honor

May 31, 1862

Fair Oaks, Virginia, USA

Rank at action
First Lieutenant
Service
U.S. Army
Conflict
Civil War
Unit or command
Company I, 7th Michigan Infantry

The Citation

Sources ↓
Lt. Shafter was engaged in bridge construction and not being needed there returned with his men to engage the enemy participating in a charge across an open field that resulted in casualties to 18 of the 22 men. At the close of the battle his horse was shot from under him and he was severely flesh wounded. He remained on the field that day and stayed to fight the next day only by concealing his wounds. In order not to be sent home with the wounded he kept his wounds concealed for another 3 days until other wounded had left the area.
Separately preserved current-source wording

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

Lt. Shafter was engaged in bridge construction and not being needed there returned with his men to engage the enemy participating in a charge across an open field that resulted in casualties to 18 of the 22 men. At the close of the battle his horse was shot from under him and he was severely flesh wounded. He remained on the field that day and stayed to fight the next day only by concealing his wounds. In order not to be sent home with the wounded he kept his wounds concealed for another three days until other wounded had left the area.

Sources & record notes

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

  1. William Rufus Shafter — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-28

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-001097
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-28
Later or highest recorded rank
Major General, U.S. Army
Entered service at
Galesburg, Mich.
Archive transcription SHA-256
68a76b2cea100aa5297fda9076014f469a3cb15e65fd41548ebb5af6811ec16b

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

The current reference profile confirms the award; name expanded or reconciled; highest later rank retained as Major General, U.S. Army; legacy citation text, current rendered citation text, provenance, candidate history, and checksums are preserved in parallel. No General Order verification is claimed.

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