Adams, John G. B., CPT

Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. He served during the Civil War in the 19th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, rising from Corporal to Captain and commander of Company I. He was awarded the CMOH for his bravery while a 2nd Lieutenant at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 13, 1862. His citation reads "Seized the 2 colors from the hands of a corporal and a lieutenant as they fell mortally wounded, and with a color in each hand advanced across the field to a point where the regiment was reformed on those colors". His Medal was issued on December 16, 1896. He fought in the Peninsular Campaign, and in the Battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (where he was severely wounded during Pickett's Charge), The Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. In the last battle he was captured, and spent time in the infamous Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia before being moved to prisoner camps in Macon, Georgia and in Charleston, South Carolina. In Charleston he was among a number of captured Union officers who were placed by the Confederates on Morris Island (which was being shelled by the Union Navy) in an attempt to have the enemy warships stop their bombardment. He made a successful escape from Confederate prison, but was recaptured. In 1893 he served as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic Union army veterans organization, and in 1899 he published his war-time memoirs as "Reminiscences of the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment". Captain Adams was one of seven 19th Massachusetts Infantry soldiers who were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Civil War (the others were Major Edmund Rice, Color Sergeant Benjamin F. Falls, Sergeant Benjamin H. Jellison, Sergeant Daniel J. Murphy, Corporal Joseph H. DeCastro, and Private John H. Robinson.

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