serviceyears branch death_place death_date birth_place allegiance unit awards placeofburial_label battles birth_date rank article_title name
1861 - 1863 united states army union army saint paul , minnesota 31 august 1913 ireland united states of america union company f , 16th new york volunteer infantry regiment medal of honor ribbon.svg medal of honor place of burial american civil war 5 may 1843 corporal james allen -lrb- medal of honor -rrb-
 james allen
james allen -lrb- medal of honor -rrb-

`` for the u.s. army engineer and frontiersman , see james allen -lrb- army engineer -rrb- '' james allen -lrb- may 5 , 1843 -- august 31 , 1913 -rrb- was an irish-born union army soldier during the american civil war .
he earned the medal of honor for bravery at the battle of south mountain on september 14 , 1862 , during the maryland campaign .
on april 24 , 1861 , shortly after the outbreak of the american civil war , james allen enlisted in company f of the 16th new york infantry .
he earned the medal of honor for gallantry in action at the battle of south mountain on september 14 , 1862 .
during the battle , allen singlehandedly captured 14 confederate soldiers of the 16th georgia infantry , who had mistakenly believed they were opposed by a superior force .
allen also captured a confederate flag in this action .
allen was discharged along with the rest of the 16th new york in may 1863 , but continued to serve the union cause as a member of the railroad service .
allen was awarded the medal of honor on september 11 , 1890 .
after the war , allen lived in st. paul , minnesota and was a member of the garfield post of the grand army of the republic .
allen died on august 31 , 1913 , and was laid to rest in the oakland cemetery in st. paul .
