b. 07/09/1842 Plympton, Massachusetts. d. 06/07/1906 Plympton, Massachusetts.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 17/09/1862 Antietam, Maryland.
Samuel C Wright MOH
Wright initially enlisted as a private in the 3rd Massachusetts Militia in May 1861 and was transferred to the 29th Massachusetts Infantry when that regiment was formed in December 1861. He participated with the 29th Massachusetts in the Peninsular Campaign during which he was wounded in the head by a shell fragment at the Battle of White Oak Swamp on June 30, 1862.
During the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, the 29th Massachusetts served with the Irish Brigade. As the brigade advanced on the Confederate position at the so-called “Bloody Lane,” their progress was impeded by a split rail fence. Brigadier General Thomas Francis Meagher, commanding the Irish Brigade, called for volunteers to tear down the fence.
Wright was shot in the left knee during this engagement but refused to be removed from the field. For his actions during the Battle of Antietam, Wright was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1896.
In October 1863, Wright was run down by a mule team but recovered from his wounds. He was shot in the left arm during the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 2, 1864. During the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864, he was shot through the right eye and left for dead. He recovered, however, and the bullet was removed from the back of his head. He kept the bullet as a reminder of his brush with death.
Wright received two battlefield promotions and was mustered out with the rank of sergeant on February 3, 1865.
After the war, Wright became a storekeeper in Plympton, Massachusetts and also worked in the United States Customs office in Boston, Massachusetts. Active with various veterans organizations, Wright was designated a national color bearer by the Union Veterans Union and served on the command staff of the Massachusetts department of the Grand Army of the Republic. He also served on the executive committee of the 29th Massachusetts Regimental Association and worked through that organization to preserve portraits and photographs of members of the regiment.
MOH CITATION:
Voluntarily advanced under a destructive fire and removed a fence which would have impeded a contemplated charge.
BURIAL LOCATION: OAK GROVE CEMETERY, PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS.
SECTION 254, GRAVE 1.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
