Charles H . Tracy Charles H . Tracy ( October 3 , 1833 - September 13 , 1911 ) was an infantry soldier who received the Medal of Honor while serving in the Union Army during the American Civil War for two acts of bravery . Early life . Tracy was born the son of Albert Tracy and Mrs . Harriet Birch Tracy on October 3 , 1833 in Jewett City , Connecticut . After leaving school he learned the machinist trade . He married Mary Elisabeth Corbin in Upton , Massachusetts on December 27 , 1853 . Around 1853 , the couple moved to Chicopee , Massachusetts where they made their home until 1890 . Tracy worked in the cotton mills of the Dwight Company and the Ames Manufacturing Company during this period . Military career and associations . In August , 1862 in Chicopee , Massachusetts , Mr . Tracy enlisted in Company A , 37th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry which was mustered into service at Pittsfield , Massachusetts on September 4 , 1862 . He was serving as a sergeant when he performed his first act of bravery on May 12 , 1864 during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia . According to Sgt . Tracy : At the ' Bloody Angle , ' Spotsylvania , May 12th , our corps , the Sixth , supported the Second in the famous charge against [ Edward ] Johnson ' s Division of the Confederate Army . During the thickest of the fight , Lieutenant Wellman was badly wounded , and I was ordered to take him to the rear . It was about a mile to the hospital , and the shot and shell came so thick and fast that it was extremely hazardous to venture across with a wounded comrade , but I succeeded in carrying out the order , and after placing the lieutenant in the hospital , I came safely back through the fire . Upon reaching my company , Lieutenant Sparks congratulated me , saying : ' Tracy , I hope you will not have to cross that field on a like errand again . ' Scarcely had he finished speaking , when a ball pierced his left breast and he fell into my arms . We thought he was mortally wounded , but discovering signs of life in him , decided to take him to the hospital , without waiting for orders . His second act of bravery occurred on April 2 , 1865 during the Third Battle of Petersburg , also in Virginia . Sgt . Tracy recounts : At one o ' clock on the morning of April 2 , 1865 , my regiment broke camp near Petersburg , Va . , and moved up to the enemy ' s front . Brigade pioneers and sharpshooters were ordered to rush in advance of the brigade . The pioneers were to remove all obstacles in front of the enemy ' s works , while the sharpshooters covered the parapet . I was at that time detailed as sergeant of the Third Brigade pioneers , and was second in command in the assault . The part of the line we were expected to carry was made of enclosed works , connected by breastworks of great strength with outer obstructions in the form of two lines of chevaux de frise and two lines of abatis . It was impossible to take the works while the enemy defended them , unless the several lines of obstruction were first removed . As Lieutenant Shiver was wounded early in the attack the command fell on me , and in directing the removal of the first two lines of the obstructions I received a shot over my ear and one in my left side ; and while removing the third line , a bullet shattered my right knee - joint , costing me , subsequently , the loss of my leg . Supporting myself on the abatis , I gave my orders to my men , and at last had the satisfaction of seeing them carry away the obstruction , thus enabling General Edwards to rout the enemy and cut the railroad and telegraph . The flag of the Thirty - seventh Massachusetts was the first to wave over the enemy ' s works . He was subsequently promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in recognition of his bravery . He was a charter member of the Otis Chapman Post 103 of the Grand Army of the Republic of Chicopee , of which he was adjutant in 1881 and commander during the three succeeding years . In 1884 , he was a member of the Department Council of Administration ; and , in 1891 , he transferred his membership from the Chicopee Post to Abraham Lincoln Post 11 of Charlestown . He was also a member and former president of the Thirty - Seventh Massachusetts Regiment Association . Medal of Honor citation . His Medal of Honor was awarded to him on November 19 , 1897 with a citation that reads " At the risk of his own life , at Spotsylvania , 12 May 1864 , assisted in carrying to a place of safety a wounded and helpless officer . On 2 April 1865 , advanced with the pioneers , and , under heavy fire , assisted in removing 2 lines of chevaux - de - frise ; was twice wounded but advanced to the third line , where he was again severely wounded , losing a leg . " Post - military life . From 1888 to 1890 Tracy was employed at the United States arsenal in Springfield , Massachusetts . In 1890 , he moved to Boston , Massachusetts and was a night watchman at the Custom House Tower for sixteen years until the spring of 1906 , when he was compelled by ill health to give up active life . During his employment at the Custom House Tower , he made his home in Charlestown , Massachusetts where he was well known and highly respected . Following the death of his wife on March 6 , 1905 , and his retirement from the custom house , he then moved to Somerville , Massachusetts in 1907 , where he lived the rest of his life until his death in 1911 . The final years of his life were spent as an invalid . He spent the final ten days of his life at home in critical condition before succumbing to the effects of a stroke on September 13 , 1911 .