b. 14/02/1838 Charleston, West Virginia. d. 09/05/1927 Elkview, West Virginia.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 22/05/1863 Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Summers was born on the Elk River approximately 6 miles upriver from Charleston, West Virginia. He married Laverna C. Stump and fathered 5 children. After the war, he worked as a farmer and a wagon driver. Summers enlisted in the Army on 18 August 1861 at Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He was assigned to Company H of the 4th West Virginia Infantry. On 22 May 1863, at the Siege of Vicksburg, he volunteered to join a storming party of 150 men whose mission it was to build a temporary bridge over a Confederate moat east of Vicksburg, Mississippi in anticipation of a Union offensive later that day. Approximately 85 percent of the men were killed or wounded during the charge.
He did not receive the Medal until February 25, 1895. Following his death, he was originally interred at Summers Cemetery, Elk River, West Virginia. On October 31, 2019 his remains were moved to Donel C. Kinnaird Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Dunbar, West Virginia.
MOH CITATION:
Gallantry in charge of the “volunteer storming party.”
BURIAL LOCATION: DONEL C. KINNAIRD MEMORIAL STATE VETERANS CEMETERY, DUNBAR, WEST VIRGINIA.
SECTION 2, GRAVE 216.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.