b. 01/01/1839 Stark County, Ohio. d. 18/06/1862 Atlanta, Georgia.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 12/04/1862 Big Shanty, Georgia.
John M Scott MOH
Scott was born in Stark County, Ohio on 1 January 1839 to parents Thomas B. Scott and Elizabeth Moorehead Scott, one of 6 children. He married Rachel M. Davis Waggoner in 1861. He served during the Civil War as a Sergeant in Company F, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, being mustered in at the age of 22 on September 19, 1861. He was one of 24 men who volunteered to take part in what became known as the “Andrews’ Raid” or the “Great Locomotive Chase” on April 12, 1862.
The raid fizzled out after dogged pursuit by the crew of “The General”, the train that was captured by the Raiders. Sergeant Scott was captured along with the rest of the group, was tried with 7 other group members, and hanged in Atlanta for being a spy. After the end of the war, his remains and the remains of his comrades were recovered and re-interred in what became Chattanooga National Cemetery. In 1866 he became the recipient of one of the first posthumously awarded Congressional Medals of Honor, with the Medal being presented to his widow on August 4, 1866. After years of it being in the possession of his family and descendants, the Medal was donated to the Southern Civil War and Locomotive History Museum in Kennesaw, Georgia (the former Big Shanty), where it can be seen today on display.
MOH CITATION:
One of 19 of 24 men (including two civilians) who, by direction of Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchell, penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory and captured a railroad train at Big Shanty, Ga., in an attempt to destroy the bridges and track between Chattanooga and Atlanta.
BURIAL LOCATION: CHATTANOOGA NATIONAL CEMETERY, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE.
SECTION H, GRAVE 11182.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: SOUTHERN MUSEUM OF CIVIL WAR & LOCOMOTIVE HISTORY, KENNESAW, GEORGIA.
