This Deceased Army Profile is not currently maintained by any Member.
If you would like to take responsibility for researching and maintaining this Deceased profile please click
HERE
Contact Info
Home Town Fairfield County, Ohio
Last Address Kenton, Ohio Buried at Grove Cemetery, Kenton, Ohio.
Date of Passing Dec 22, 1908
Location of Interment Grove Cemetery - Kenton, Ohio
Wall/Plot Coordinates Plot: Lot # 338, Section 1W, Grave #16
Jacob Parrott Private, Company K, 33d Ohio Infantry
One of the 19 of 22 men (including 2 civilians) who, by direction of Gen. Mitchell (or Buell) 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 tracks between Chattanooga and Atlanta.Place and date: Georgia, April 1862.
Date of issue: March 25, 1863.
Other Comments:
Jacob Wilson Parrot (July 17, 1843–December 22, 1908) was a soldier in the volunteer Union army during the American Civil War.
He was the first recipient of the Medal of Honor, a new military award first presented by the United States Department of War to several soldiers for their participation in the Great Locomotive Chase.
Biography
Parrott was a native of Fairfield County, Ohio. He joined the United States Army in 1861 as a private in Company K, 33rd Ohio Infantry and first saw combat in the Battle of Ivy Hill.
In April 1862, he volunteered to take part in a daring raid with 21 others (later known as "Andrews Raiders" because they operated under the command of James J. Andrews).
After infiltratingConfederate lines and hijacking the locomotive "General," they were captured and imprisoned. Parrot and 14 others managed to escape, but only 6 of them reached friendly lines. He served with the Union Army for the rest of the war.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1863 after the Battle of Stones River and as a first lieutenant in 1864.
After the war, he returned to Ohio and became a cabinet maker. Parrott died in Kenton, Ohio, where he is buried in Grove Cemetery.
Description The Great Locomotive Chase or Andrews' Raid was a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862, in northern Georgia during the American Civil War. Volunteers from the Union Army, led by civilian scout James J. Andrews, commandeered a train and took it northward toward Chattanooga, Tennessee, doing as much damage as possible to the vital Western and Atlantic Railroad (W&A) line from Atlanta to Chattanooga as they went. They were pursued by Confederate forces at first on foot, and later on a succession of locomotives.
