John F . Weston John F . Weston ( November 13 , 1845 – August 3 , 1917 ) was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military ' s highest decoration , the Medal of Honor , for his actions during a raid on Confederate shipping . He was a brigadier general of United States Volunteers in the Spanish - American War . Weston retired from the U . S . regular army in 1909 as a major general . Having been assistant commissary general of subsistence and commissary general of subsistence from 1897 to 1905 , including commissary general for the American forces in Cuba during the Spanish - American War , Weston finished his career as the highest ranking U . S . Army officer in the Philippines and , in the last year of his service , as commander of the Department of California . Biography . A native of Kentucky , John Francis Weston joined the Union Army ' s 4th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry on November 26 , 1861 , having just turned age 16 . Weston ' s father sympathized with the Confederacy and Weston ' s uncle and brother joined the Confederate States Army . Weston was promoted to captain on January 9 , 1863 and to major on November 1 , 1864 . On April 13 , 1865 , Weston participated in a raid to destroy Confederate supply boats near Wetumpka , Alabama . Through an audacious ruse , Weston and 5 men managed to capture the boats . For these actions , he was awarded the Medal of Honor several decades later , on April 9 , 1898 . Weston was mustered out of the Union Army volunteer service on August 21 , 1865 . After the war , Weston started the study of law but gave it up in favor of rejoining the army . On August 9 , 1867 , Weston was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the 7th U . S . Cavalry Regiment of the regular U . S . Army . He was promoted to first lieutenant on November 27 , 1868 . He was promoted to captain and commissary of subsistence on November 24 , 1875 . On August 1 , 1892 , Weston was promoted to major and commissary of subsistence . On November 17 , 1897 , Weston was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assistant commissary general . On April 30 , 1898 , he was promoted to colonel and assistant commissary general . With the outbreak of the Spanish - American War , John F . Weston was commissioned brigadier general in the United States Volunteers on September 21 , 1898 . His service as commissary general for Major General William Rufus Shafter , commander of the U . S . Army forces fighting the Spanish in Cuba , at Santiago , Cuba received favorable notice . On March 24 , 1899 , he was honorably discharged from the volunteers and returned to his regular army duties . On December 6 , 1900 , Weston was promoted to brigadier general and appointed commissary general in the regular U . S . Army , which he accepted on December 13 , 1900 . Weston was promoted to major general , USA , on October 8 , 1905 , and accepted the promotion on the same date . He was sent to command the Northwest Division in St . Louis , Missouri but a month later he was sent to the Philippines and became the highest ranking U . S . Army officer there . Although the " Manila Times " said on March 13 , 1908 that Weston expected to remain in the Philippines for the remainder of his army career , the U . S . Secretary of War ' s report to Congress for the year showed that from January 13 , 1909 to June 30 , 1909 , Major General Weston commanded the Department of California . John F . Weston retired from the U . S . Army on November 13 , 1909 . Weston died at age 71 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County , Virginia . Medal of Honor citation . Weston ' s official Medal of Honor citation reads : This officer , with a small detachment , while en route to destroy steamboats loaded with supplies for the enemy , was stopped by an unfordable river , but with 5 of his men swam the river , captured 2 leaky canoes , and ferried his men across . He then encountered and defeated the enemy , and on reaching Wetumpka found the steamers anchored in midstream . By a ruse obtained possession of a boat , with which he reached the steamers and demanded and received their surrender .