b. 24/02/1845 Steubenville, Ohio. d. 19/03/1919 East Liverpool, Ohio.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 08/10/1862 Perryville, Kentucky.
William H Surles MOH
Surles was born in Steubenville, Ohio on 24 February 1845, the son of John and Emily Surles and one of two children. He married Sara J. Allen and fathered one child. After the war, he worked as a coal dealer and a postmaster (13 years) in East Liverpool, Ohio and served as department commander of the Ohio G.A.R. in 1916.
Surles enlisted in the Army on 5 September 1861 at Steubenville, Ohio and was assigned to Company G of the 2nd Ohio Infantry. On 8 October 1862, at the Battle of Perryville, Surles’ regiment was overwhelmed by a large Confederate force. In the chaos, Surles noticed a Confederate soldier taking aim through a musket at Colonel Anson G. McCook, the commander of the 2nd, who had just had his horse shot out from under him. Surles jumped in front of the colonel, intending to take the bullet, but the Confederate soldier was killed before he could fire and Surles and the colonel escaped uninjured.
MOH CITATION:
In the hottest part of the fire he stepped in front on his colonel to shield him from the enemy’s fire.
BURIAL LOCATION: RIVERVIEW CEMETERY, EAST LIVERPOOL, OHIO.
SECTION 2, LOT 47.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: BELIEVED TO BE FAMILY.
