Rank: First Lieutenant (Highest Rank: Major General U.S. Army)
Conflict/Era: U.S. Civil War
Unit/Command: Company I, 7th Michigan Infantry
Military Service Branch: U.S. Army
Medal of Honor Action Date: May 31, 1862
Medal of Honor Action Place: Fair Oaks, Virginia, USA
Citation
Lt. Shafter was engaged in bridge construction and not being needed there returned with his men to engage the enemy participating in a charge across an open field that resulted in casualties to 18 of the 22 men. At the close of the battle his horse was shot from under him and he was severely flesh wounded. He remained on the field that day and stayed to fight the next day only by concealing his wounds. In order not to be sent home with the wounded he kept his wounds concealed for another three days until other wounded had left the area.
Medal of Honor Recipient William R. Shafter
Additional Details
Accredited to: Galesburg, Kalamazoo County, Michigan
Awarded Posthumously: No
Presentation Date & Details: June 12, 1895
Born: October 16, 1835, Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, MI, United States
Died: November 12, 1906, Bakersfield, CA, United States
Buried: San Francisco National Cemetery (MH) (OS-30-46), San Francisco, CA, United States