Kentucky Drummer Boy or Heroic Union Patriot

Kentucky Drummer Boy, William H. Horsfall, was not only a Heroic Union Patriot, but was one of the youngest recipients of the United States most prestigious awards, the Medal of Honor. Horsfall’s story of joining the 1st Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, as a Drummer Boy and serving and surviving some of the Western Theater’s major engagements is a miracle in itself, but given the fact that William was only 14 years old, makes it almost unbelievable.

William H. Horsfall, was born in Newport, Kentucky on March 3, 1847. Without telling his parents, in December of 1861, William and three friends stowed away on a steamship bound for a Union regiment. At the last-minute, William’s friends ran ashore as the ship prepared to leave the Cincinnati wharf. The stowaway stayed hidden, but when discovered, William told the Captain that he was an orphan and was allowed to remain on board.

William eventually enlisted in Company G of the 1^st Kentucky Volunteer Infantry as a Drummer Boy. At that time he stood 4-foot-3 and listed his occupation as schoolboy. Months later at 15 years of age, William would fight at Shiloh in April of 1862 and the following May, at the Siege of Corinth.

William, who was by then a self-described independent sharpshooter, participated in a daring charge and a subsequent retreat, that left his Captain, severely wounded between the lines. As Horsfall recounted later,

“Lt. Hocke, approaching me, said, Horsfall, Captain Williamson is in a serious predicament, rescue him if possible. So I placed my gun against a tree and in a stooping run, gained his side and dragged him to the stretcher bearers, who took him to the rear.”

William H. Horsfall, for his heroism and bravery, would receive the Medal of Honor for his valor at the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi on May 21, 1862. Horsfall would be honored with his medal on August 17, 1895 and his citation reads,

“Rank and organization. Drummer, Company G, 1st Kentucky Infantry. Place and
date: At Corinth, Miss., 21 May 1862. Entered service at : ——. Birth:
Campbell County, Ky. Date of issue: 17 August 1895. Citation: Saved the life of
a wounded officer lying between the lines.”

In 1904, when the design of the Medal of Honor was changed, a second medal was presented, to William, for the same citation.

William Horsfall continued to take part in marches with the 1^st Kentucky for the rest of 1862. At Stones River near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Horsfall would later relate, “he was surrounded by hostile infantry, but the Rebels took pity on his youth, enabling him to run for his life.”

William was hospitalized for a period in Nashville, Tennessee, for severe rheumatism and a heart ailment before being discharged in August 1864, at Louisville, Kentucky. He mustered into a Veteran Volunteer regiment in early 1865, just a few weeks before the surrender at Appomatox. Horsfall received a $400 bounty and served until March of 1866.

After the war, William Horsfall was Commander of the William Nelson Post, Grand Army of the Republic of Newport, Kentucky and is said to have published several songs and war poems. William died at age the age of 75, on October 22, 1922 and is buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate, Kentucky.

Kentucky Drummer Boy, William H. Horsfall, was one of many young men who were not just regarded as Heroic Union Patriots, but symbolized a generation of youth that served and preserved the United States and the freedom that their constitution guaranteed.

Bummer