William Henry Harrison Reddick (1840–1903) was an American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient.[1] He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Andrews Raid, also known as the Great Locomotive Chase or the Mitchell Raid.[2] Reddick was born on September 18, 1840, in Locust Grove, Ohio, and died on November 8, 1903, in Muscatine, Iowa. He is buried at the Lettsville Cemetery in Letts, Iowa. He worked as a farmer after his discharge from the military.[3]
William H. Reddick enlisted with the 33rd Ohio Infantry on August 18, 1861.[4] In the spring of 1862, he volunteered to join a group selected from three Ohio regiments by James J. Andrews. Their mission was to steal a train in Georgia and destroy railway facilities. The operation ultimately was unsuccessful, and Reddick was imprisoned in Atlanta, along with thirteen of the other raiders (Andrews and seven others were executed.)[5] He attempted to escape in October 1862, but was recaptured and sent to Castle Thunder Prison in Richmond, Virginia, in December, 1862. After a prisoner exchange in March, 1863, he traveled to Washington, D.C., where he and five of his fellow raiders received the Medal of Honor. They were the first recipients of the medal.[6]
Reddick was awarded the Medal of Honor on March 25, 1863, for his actions in April 1862. He was the sixth individual to receive the medal. The citation reads: