b. 29/01/1843 Virden, Greene County, Illinois. d. 27/12/1908 Calistoga, California.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 16/12/1864 Nashville, Tennessee.
William T Simmons MOH
Simmons was born in Virden, Illinois on 29 January 1843. At various points in his life he worked as a contractor, builder, carpenter, furniture dealer, and undertaker. He fathered two children.
Simmons enlisted in the Army on 1 August 1861 at Springfield, Illinois as a second lieutenant and was commissioned into Company C of the 11th Missouri Infantry Regiment on the same day. In 1862, he was wounded in the right shoulder by a shell at the Siege of Corinth in Mississippi. On 16 December 1864, at the Battle of Nashville, he wounded a Confederate color bearer and captured the flag of the 34th Alabama Infantry. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for this action on 24 February 1865.
Simmons took a leave of absence in Washington D.C. after capturing the flag and was mustered out of the Army on 15 January 1866.
MOH CITATION:
Capture of flag of 34th Alabama Infantry (C.S.A.). Being the first to enter the works, he shot and wounded the enemy color bearer.
BURIAL LOCATION: ST HELENA CEMETERY, ST HELENA, CALIFORNIA.
BLOCK B, LOT 11.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: BELIEVED TO BE FAMILY.
