I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5363 

To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor posthumously 

to Corporal David Dunnels White of the United States Army for his 

capture of Confederate Major General George Washington Custis Lee 

at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek, Virginia, during the Civil War. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 26, 2016 

Mr. LANCE (for himself and Mr. NEAL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor 

posthumously to Corporal David Dunnels White of the 

United States Army for his capture of Confederate Major 

General George Washington Custis Lee at the Battle 

of Sailor’s Creek, Virginia, during the Civil War. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION FOR AWARD OF MEDAL OF 

2 HONOR TO CORPORAL DAVID DUNNELS 

3 WHITE FOR ACTS OF VALOR DURING THE 

4 CIVIL WAR. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings: 

7 (1) Confederate Major General George Wash8 ington Custis Lee, son of Confederate General Rob9 ert E. Lee, was forcibly captured during the hard10 fought, brutal, hand-to-hand combat of the Battle of 

11 Sailor’s Creek, Virginia, on April 6, 1865. 

12 (2) The capture of Major General Custis Lee 

13 contributed to the disruption of the Confederate 

14 command structure, helped to impede the ability of 

15 the Confederate leaders to coordinate effective resist16 ance, and brought the fighting to an earlier conclu17 sion, unquestionably saving many lives on both sides. 

18 (3) In 1894, Harris S. Hawthorn, a veteran of 

19 the 121st New York Infantry Regiment, applied for 

20 and was awarded a Medal of Honor for his stated 

21 role in the capture of Major General Custis Lee. 

22 (4) In 1897, the 37th Massachusetts Regiment 

23 Veterans Association filed a formal protest with the 

24 Secretary of War against the award of a Medal of 

25 Honor to Harris S. Hawthorn for the capture of 

26 Major General Custis Lee, asserting that Corporal 


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1 David Dunnels White of the 37th Massachusetts In2 fantry Regiment actually captured Major General 

3 Custis Lee. 

4 (5) The 37th Massachusetts Regiment Veterans 

5 Association provided a plethora of eyewitness testi6 mony, sworn affidavits, and physical evidence during 

7 their formal protest to support their assertion re8 garding Corporal David Dunnels White’s capture of 

9 Major General Custis Lee. 

10 (6) In 1916, the Medal of Honor Review Board 

11 determined that the act of capturing Major General 

12 Custis Lee at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek, Virginia, 

13 on April 6, 1865, was an act worthy of, and quali14 fied for, a Medal of Honor under laws and regula15 tions. 

16 (7) However, the matter of who actually cap17 tured Major General Custis Lee remained unresolved 

18 by the Medal of Honor Review Board. 

19 (8) The Center of Military History of the 

20 United States Army, after an exhaustive review of 

21 this matter in 2011, stated the following in their 

22 concluding memoranda dated August 9th and 11th, 

23 2011: 

24 (A) ‘‘Corporal White is widely acknowl25 edged as the captor of Confederate MG George 


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1 Washington Custis Lee during the Battle of 

2 Sailor’s Creek, Virginia, on 6 April, 1865.’’. 

3 (B) ‘‘Both White and Hawthorn are cred4 ited with capturing General Lee in the reports 

5 published in The War of the Rebellion, but this 

6 is misleading. The cumulative evidence pre7 sented in the recommendation packet indicates 

8 that White rather than Hawthorn captured 

9 Lee.’’. 

10 (9) The Center of Military History, having 

11 weighted all the evidence in this matter, made a de12 termination that Corporal David Dunnels White of 

13 the 37th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, rather 

14 than Harris S. Hawthorn, was the actual captor of 

15 Major General Custis Lee at the Battle of Sailor’s 

16 Creek, Virginia, April 6, 1865. 

17 (b) WAIVER OF TIME LIMITATIONS.—Notwith18 standing the time limitations specified in section 3744 of 

19 title 10, United States Code, or any other time limitation 

20 with respect to the awarding of certain medals to persons 

21 who served in the Armed Forces, the President may award 

22 the Medal of Honor posthumously under section 3741 of 

23 such title to Corporal David Dunnels White of the 37th 

24 Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, United States Army, 


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1 for the acts of valor during the Civil War described in sub2 section (c). 

3 (c) ACTS OF VALOR DESCRIBED.—The acts of valor 

4 referred to in subsection (b) are the actions of Corporal 

5 David Dunnels White of the 37th Massachusetts Infantry 

6 Regiment who, at the risk of his own life and above and 

7 beyond the call of duty, exhibiting gallantry and intre8 pidity, pursued and forcibly captured, singlehandedly, 

9 Confederate Major General George Washington Custis 

10 Lee at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek, Virginia, on April 6, 

11 1865, which contributed to the disruption of the Confed12 erate command structure, helped to impede the ability of 

13 the Confederate leaders to coordinate effective resistance, 

14 and brought the fighting to an earlier conclusion, unques15 tionably saving many lives on both sides. 

Æ 


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