Against all odds, General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army had dominated Union forces in the early stages of the Civil War. A series of victories over a succession of Union generals had given his men confidence, and morale had been high. However, as the war dragged on into 1864, the tide had begun to change. Now, in the heat of summer, it became apparent that total victory was slipping away, and the beleaguered general had ordered General Joseph E. Johnston to move his Army of Tennessee toward Atlanta as Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, fresh off capturing Chattanooga, invaded Georgia.

Sherman’s advance would lead to a series of battles that would become known as the Atlanta Campaign. On September 2 Atlanta would fall, and Sherman would follow that victory with his March to the Sea.  

One of the early clashes in the Atlanta Campaign took place along the Chattahoochee River east of the city on a nondescript knoll known as Bald Hill. It would become the bloodiest day of the campaign and result in a Union victory. It would come at a severe cost to both sides, however: in addition to combined casualties numbering 10,000, Confederate Colonel Francis Walker and Union Major General James McPherson were killed.

Private Edwin M. Truell

By James Gindlesperger, historical author

Edwin M. Truell was born on August 19, 1841, in Lowell, Massachusetts, the second son of David and Irene (Hirsch) Truell. The couple would go on to have four more children. Five of their six children were boys, with only the daughter and youngest son not serving in the Union army during the Civil War. At some point in his youth the family moved to Wisconsin, where Edwin joined the 12^th Wisconsin Infantry on August 30, 1862, from the town of Mauston.

The regiment had been formed nearly a year earlier but had not yet seen any action. Truell joined the regiment in Tennessee, where he helped repair the Mobile and Ohio Railroad with the rest of the regiment until October 1862. Aside from some small skirmishes, it was not until May 1863 that he truly felt like a soldier, when he and the 12^th Wisconsin participated in the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. After leaving Vicksburg he once again found the life of a soldier to be not much more than a lot of marching and drilling. He would participate in the capture of Fort Beauregard, Louisiana, on September 4, 1863, but beyond that he saw little battle action until May 1864 when he took part in the Atlanta Campaign. At that point, he finally saw the action that he had signed up for. It would change his life forever.

On July 21, 1864, Truell and the rest of the 12^th Wisconsin were ordered to assault a fortified Southern position at Bald Hill, Georgia, just outside Atlanta. Early that morning, the regiment raced uphill in a bayonet charge, rushing through downed trees and thick underbrush. As the regiment advanced under fire, Truell felt a sharp pain in his right foot. Bleeding badly and barely able to walk, he sat down and looked at the foot, only to realize he had been struck by a minie ball. Rising, he limped along as quickly as he could, eventually catching up with his company.

Reaching a line of breastworks, the regiment took a group of rebels as they ate their breakfast. The surprised Confederates leaped to their feet, guns in hand, but quickly realized it would be folly to resist. Truell, perhaps taking out his anger at being wounded, struck three of the men. Each immediately surrendered and asked what he wanted them to do. Truell ordered them to go to the rear and report to the first Union officer they saw, an order that was promptly obeyed.

The breastworks taken, the men from Wisconsin continued their advance until the opposing fire forced them to halt. Truell took a position behind a large pine tree and shouted encouragement to his friends as the Southerners in breastworks to their immediate right poured enfilading fire onto the Federal troops. With the advance having progressed as far as was prudent to go, a retreat was ordered. As men in blue uniforms rushed past, Truell maintained his position and continued his fire onto the breastworks.

Finally, noticing that the rebels appeared to be readying a counterattack, Truell decided to follow his comrades. Rushing back across a road where his regiment had taken a defensive position, he suffered a second wound just as he reached safety, this time in the right leg. Bleeding badly, he refused to go to the rear. Instead, he crawled on hands and knees to a small stream, where he cleaned and bandaged his wounds with his handkerchief. Then, nearly exhausted from the loss of blood, he crawled back to his line, where he helped several wounded comrades. Later that evening, with the fighting having subsided, he was carried to a nearby field hospital, where his leg was amputated. As a reward for his gallantry he was promoted to brevet first lieutenant that same evening.

Truell spent the next seven weeks in a hospital as he recovered from his wounds and remained in the army until the next May before mustering out. On March 11, 1870, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Bald Hill, his citation reading, “Although severely wounded in a charge, he remained with the regiment until again severely wounded, losing his leg.”

On October 12, 1907, Edwin Truell died in Mauston, having suffered daily pain from his wounds the entire 43 years following the fight near Atlanta. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.

Further Reading

• CMOHS, https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/edwin-m-truell, Accessed February 25, 2025.
• Beyer, W.F., and Keydel, O.F., editors, Deeds of Valor, (Detroit:  Perrien-Keydel Co, 1903), 388.
• National Park Service, Battle Unit Details, 12^th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UWI0012RI, Accessed February 26, 2025
• Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Vol. L, (Madison, WI, Democrat Printing Co., State Printer, 1886), 720.

About the Congressional Medal of Honor Society

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Medal of Honor, inspiring America to live the values the Medal represents, and supporting Recipients of the Medal as they connect with communities across America.

Chartered by Congress in 1958, its membership consists exclusively of those individuals who have received the Medal of Honor. There are fewer than 70 living Recipients.

The Society carries out its mission through outreach, education and preservation programs, including the Medal of Honor Museum, Medal of Honor Outreach Programs, the Medal of Honor Character Development Program, and the Medal of Honor Citizen Honors Awards for Valor and Service. The Society’s programs and operations are funded by donations.

As part of Public Law 106-83, the Medal of the Honor Memorial Act, the Medal of Honor Museum, which is co-located with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s headquarters on board the U.S.S. Yorktown at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was designated as one of three national Medal of Honor sites.

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