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The enduring legacy of the Andrews Raid is the highest award for military valor given by the United States: the Medal of Honor, or the Congressional Medal of Honor, as it is often called. On March 25, 1863, Private Jacob Parrott of Company K of the 33rd Ohio Regiment, one of the Andrews Raiders, became the first soldier in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Since that time, the Medal of Honor has been awarded 3,461 times to 3,441 American men—and one woman. Its recipients include Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Buffalo Bill Cody, Eddie Rickenbacker, Theodore Roosevelt, Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, James Doolittle, Douglas MacArthur, Audie Murphy, Charles Lindbergh, Alvin York, and hundreds more lesser known but no less courageous soldiers, sailors and Marines.
Nineteen of the Andrews Raiders received the Medal of Honor. James Andrews and William Campbell, both being civilians, were not eligible for the award. Samuel Llewelyn, who enlisted in a Confederate unit to avoid suspicion and capture and did not participate in the theft of the General, never sought to receive the Medal—apparently feeling that he did not deserve it.
But two of the raiders who were captured and hanged in June of 1863—Perry Shadrach and George D. Wilson—have apparently been overlooked. A campaign is underway to secure a posthumous award of the Medal to these two soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country.
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