Email: "Frances J. Herron’s Medal of Honor By: Sue Eckhoff, Grundy County Heritage Museum"
*To:		<--TO Email REQUIRED!
*From:		<--FROM Email REQUIRED!

Frances J. Herron left his Pennsylvania home at the age of 16 to join his three brothers in Dubuque, Iowa, where they established a bank. In 1859 he organized and was elected Captain of a militia company known as the Governor’s Grays. Herron offered the Grays to President Lincoln in January 1861, 2 months prior to Lincoln’s inauguration. This began Herron’s rise to power. Within a few years he was appointed the youngest general on either side of the war. Herron participated in the battles of Boonville, and at Wilson’s Creek. Then at the battle of Pear Ridge, he was in charge of the 9th Iowa Infantry near Elkhorn Tavern, Arkansas, when confederates mounted a furious attack. All day long he led his men into the thick of battle, until his horse was killed and he was wounded in the fall, causing his capture. Union forces prevailed a day later; however the battle was difficult and costly. Of the 560 men of the 9th Iowa who went into battle, 244 were wounded or killed. Union forces suffered 1,349 wounded and killed, while nearly 4,600 confederates fell in battle. The battle secured Missouri for the Union. Herron, now a prisoner of war was taken to the courthouse at VanBuren, Arkansas and placed in a cell with a view of the Confederate flag. He was later released under an exchange for a Confederate Officer, and was promoted to Brigadier General on December 28, 1862. Herron returned to VanBuren and collected the Confederate flag he had seen from his cell. Herron continued to serve with distinction, commanding his division during the Vicksburg campaign. Upon the surrender of Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant chose Herron, along with Generals McPherson and Logan to lead the procession into the city and accept the formal surrender of arms on July 4, 1863. The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military honor, given for distinguished gallantry during hostile action. The action must involve personal bravery or self sacrifice above and beyond he call of duty. It is presented by the President of the United States in the name of the Congress. Herron received the Medal of Honor for his efforts at Pea Ridge. After the Civil War, Heron stayed in Baton Rouge, La, and worked as a tax collector, U.S. Marshall, and Secretary of State of Louisiana before he moved to New York City in 1877. He died a pauper in a tenement in New York City, and is buried in Queens. A Bronze bust of Heron stands at Vicksburg National Military Park. The Confederate flag he retrieved? It’s now part of the Civil War flag collection at the Iowa State Historical Society of Des Moines.

Subscribe to Northern-Sun Print

Share: