Local Civil War soldier gets the Medal of Honor

Shadrach
COLUMBUS — Around 1964, a young Ron Shadrach was led by his great-aunt around Ohio’s capital to see historical locations significant to his ancestors. The tour eventually brought them to the Ohio Statehouse, where they viewed a plaque honoring the 22 men who participated in Andrews’ Raid — a harrowing Union operation during the Civil War.
Among those listed was “Charles P. Shadrack” from Company K of the Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. According to the monument, “Shadrack” was executed alongside eight of his fellow raiders.
Surprisingly, when Ron Shadrach asked his great-aunt about the man, she framed him negatively and claimed, “We aren’t related, anyway.”
“She took me to these churches, the German Village, different places,” Shadrach recalled. “It was all about my ancestors, and then we go to the Statehouse, and she shows me that. All those other things are true, but this one we’re not related to? Kind of peculiar.”
In 2007, Shadrach would read a newspaper article about efforts to award “Shadrack” and another raider, George D. Wilson of Second Ohio’s Company B, with the Medal of Honor — as they remained the only service member raid participants who had yet to receive the foremost military decoration.
Shadrach investigated and found that the Union soldier was indeed his relative, a first cousin thrice removed. “Shadrack,” who resided in Ross Township for a time, was the nephew of Shadrach’s great-great-grandfather.
Continuing his research, Shadrach joined efforts to obtain posthumous Medals of Honor for his relative and Wilson by creating an informational website and petitioning those in authority. It took perseverance, but that mission was accomplished earlier this year, concluding the task that better connected Shadrach with his family roots and American history.
Charles P. Shadrach was born on Sept. 15, 1840, in Somerset County, Pa., to Robert and Elizabeth Shadrach. Orphaned at a young age, Charles Shadrach and his siblings were split among other family members — which Ron Shadrach believes contributed to the various names his relative is found under, including Perry G. And Phillip Gephart.
Shadrach lived in Mitchell’s Salt Works — present-day Holt in Jefferson County — around 1861, when the Civil War erupted. He enlisted as a private in the Union Army for three years of service.
In early 1862, Union Maj. Gen. Ormsby Mitchel ordered a secret mission aimed at crippling the Western and Atlantic Railroad, an important supply line for Confederates in Chattanooga, Tenn. Led by civilian spy James J. Andrews, a party of raiders would travel through enemy lines to Atlanta, steal a train and destroy telegraph lines and rail infrastructure as they rode northward.
A 21-year-old Shadrach volunteered for the mission on April 7, 1862, along with civilian William H. Campbell, a mutual friend of Mitchel. A total of 24 men, 22 of them Ohio infantrymen, volunteered for the endeavor, which would later be called the Great Locomotive Chase.
On April 12, 20 of those men were able to commandeer a train named the General in Big Shanty, Ga., and took off toward Chattanooga, tearing up track and burning bridges as they went. After seven hours and 87 miles, The General ran out of steam, and the fleeing raiders were eventually taken captive.
Shadrach and Wilson were among seven raiders to be tried and convicted as spies, being hung on June 18, 1862, in Atlanta. Andrews had been executed 11 days prior. The remaining raiders either escaped on Oct. 16 or were exchanged as prisoners of war on March 18, 1863.
A week after the exchange, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a Steubenville native, awarded those POWs with the newly established Medal of Honor. Between 1863 and 1883, that honor would be extended to all but three of the raid’s participants, including two who slept in on April 12 and one of two who was pressed into Confederate service. Civilians Campbell and Andrews were not eligible for the honor.
That left Shadrach and Wilson without recognition, even though they rode the train that day. Ron Shadrach figures that’s because authorities couldn’t determine a family connection for the two. Shadrach’s sister did send letters for 20 years asking for his back pay, but awarding the Medal of Honor seemingly never occurred to anyone.
Having learned more about his ancestor, Ron Shadrach himself saw when the House of Representatives passed a bill in 2007 that would retroactively award Shadrach and Wilson with the Medal of Honor, which got him excited. Time passed, and even the 150th anniversary of Andrews’ Raid went by in 2012 with no presentation.
“When I see that these guys aren’t being recognized,” Shadrach said, “I felt then that this wasn’t going to happen, no one’s aware, they’d again been forgotten. So, I’m compelled to begin this quest to see these men receive the Medal of Honor.”
That involved Shadrach repeatedly reaching out to anyone who could get the gears turning, including local congressmen and senators. He even contacted museums that falsely claimed every raider has received the Medal of Honor. In spite of many roadblocks, Shadrach obtained letters of support from a four-star general and a two-star rear admiral.
Aided in his research by historian Brad Quinlin, Shadrach compiled various records into an online repository, shadrachandwilsonmoh.com, which he created in 2015. That online presence was discovered by descendants of Wilson, who shared Shadrach’s desire for justice.
It all culminated on June 18, when Shadrach received a call from Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, informing him that the two would soon be posthumously presented the Medal of Honor.
Along with his kids and grandkids, Shadrach attended the presentation, which took place July 3 in the Gold Room at the White House. Giving a speech that referenced material from Shadrach’s website, President Joe Biden presented the medals to Gerald Taylor, Charles Shadrach’s great-great-grandnephew, and Theresa Chandler, Wilson’s great-great-granddaughter. The soldiers were inducted into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes the following day.
Seeing the presentation was “unbelievable” and “a great honor,” Ron Shadrach said, and even though the pursuit was arduous, it made him appreciate the result much more.
“I’m thankful to have put all that time into this website, collected and shared this information and connected with the Wilson families and cousins that I never knew. If the award had come in 2012, I wouldn’t have had the interest that led me to all these things.”
Now aiming to get Andrews and Campbell the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Shadrach still takes interest in his ancestor, having visited the soldier’s Chattanooga burial site in October. The headstone now bears a medallion signifying a Medal of Honor recipient.
Most recently, Shadrach visited the Mooretown Soldiers Memorial on county Road 53 in Ross Township, which bears the names of 41 local Civil War casualties. Shadrach took the opportunity to visit Mitchell’s Salt Works and imagine what it was like in his ancestor’s day.
Strangely, Charles Shadrach’s name is not on the monument, perhaps stemming from a rumor — detailed in author Russell S. Bonds’ 2006 book “Stealing the General” — that Shadrach was believed in his hometown to be a traitor and a spy. This same rumor, Ron Shadrach hypothesizes, may have circulated in his family, prompting the odd comment from his great-aunt so many years ago at the Statehouse.