Franklin Johndro Explained

Birth Date:1835
Death Date:April 5, 1901
Birth Place:Highgate Falls, Vermont
Placeofburial:Glens Falls Cemetery,
Glens Falls, New York[1]
Rank:Private
Unit: Company A, 118th New York Infantry
Battles:American Civil War
Battle of Chaffin's Farm
Awards: Medal of Honor

Franklin Johndro (1835 – April 5, 1901) was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.

Johndro was born in Highgate Falls, Vermont, and entered service at Queensbury, in New York. He served as a Private with Company A, 118th New York Infantry.

"Rounded up Forty Rebels"

Johndro was awarded the Medal of Honor, for extraordinary heroism shown in Henrico County, Virginia, for bravery in action during the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, on September 30, 1864.

At the order of Company A's captain, Johndro charged single-handedly against a group of Confederate soldiers who were stationed at the top of a slight hill. The Confederate soldiers were cut off from the larger Confederate army, and so were unable to retreat; yet, their position allowed them to hold back Union advances. With nothing more than a bayoneted rifle in hand, Johndro advanced against heavy fire and captured forty Confederates as prisoner.

His Medal of Honor was issued on April 6, 1865. At the ceremony, his colonel was recorded as saying: "Johndro, if I owned this Medal of Honor and had won it in the way you did, I should think more of it than I do of the eagles that I carry on my shoulders."

Death and burial

Johndro died on April 5, 1901, and was buried at Glens Falls Cemetery in Glens Falls, New York.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cemetery History. City of Glens Falls. 17 August 2015.