The Youngest Medal of Honor Winner - Willie Johnston

William “Willie” Johnston was born on July 12, 1850 in Morristown, New York. He was raised on a farm with a father who served in the 3rd Vermont Regiment for the Union. When Willie was 11 years old, he enlisted in the same regiment as his father as a drummer for Company D. The details on his enlistment form are written in his own handwriting and include very few grammatical and spelling errors which suggests that education was an important part of his early life. 

He marched alongside the Union infantry during the Seven Days Battle of the Peninsula Campaign, which resulted in a Confederate victory. The Union soldiers retreated from Turkey Creek, dropping their equipment and their weapons in order to lighten their load on the trek to Harrison’s Landing. Despite the men around him dropping their equipment, and even other drummer boys leaving their instruments at the field, little Willie Johnston carried his drum all the way back to Harrison’s Landing. When they arrived, a parade was held for the Fourth of July, in which Willie was able to play his drum seeing that he was the only one who carried it all that way.

Johnston’s superiors deemed his determination to carry his drum home to be a heroic act of patriotism, and at twelve years old he was awarded the Medal of Honor, though his award wouldn’t be officially awarded to him until after his thirteenth birthday. The original award citation remains to be found, however a newspaper clipping from the weeks following the parade was published and preserved. It reads: “Willie Johnston, 13 years old, a drummer boy in Co. D, 3rd Vermont Regiment, has received a medal for his heroic conduct in the seven days' fight before Richmond. On the retreat, when strong men threw away their guns, knapsacks, and blankets so they might have less weight to carry, this little fellow kept his drum and brought it safely to Harrison’s Landing, where he had the honor of drumming for the division parade, he being the only drummer that brought his drum from the field.”