Years of service 1862 - 1865 Rank Captain | Awards Medal of Honor Name Nicholas Geschwind | |
 | ||
Place of burial Springdale Cemetery, Peoria, Illinois Battles/wars American Civil War
• Siege of Vicksburg Died January 2, 1897, Peoria, Illinois, United States Battles and wars American Civil War, Siege of Vicksburg Service/branch United States Army, Union Army | ||
Allegiance United States of America | ||
Biographies on horace capron jr and nicholas geschwind
Nicholas Geschwind (unknown – 1897) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Siege of Vicksburg on May 22, 1863.
Contents
- Biographies on horace capron jr and nicholas geschwind
- Union assault
- Medal of Honor citation
- References
Geschwind joined the 116th Illinois Infantry in October 1862 (at age 33), and mustered out with his regiment in June 1865.
Union assault
On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The plan called for a storming party of volunteers to build a bridge across a moat and plant scaling ladders against the enemy embankment in advance of the main attack. The volunteers knew the odds were against survival and the mission was called, in nineteenth century vernacular, a "forlorn hope". Only single men were accepted as volunteers and even then, twice as many men as needed came forward and were turned away. The assault began in the early morning following a naval bombardment. The Union soldiers came under enemy fire immediately and were pinned down in the ditch they were to cross. Despite repeated attacks by the main Union body, the men of the forlorn hope were unable to retreat until nightfall. Of the 150 men in the storming party, nearly half were killed. Seventy-nine of the survivors were awarded the Medal of Honor.
Medal of Honor citation
“For gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party on 22 May 1863.”