Who was the first recipient of the US Medal of Honor?

Jacob Wilson Parrott (July 17, 1843–December 22, 1908) was the first recipient of the Medal of Honor, a new military award first presented by the United States Department of War to six Union Army soldiers who participated in the Great Locomotive Chase in 1862 during the American Civil War (1861–1865).

He was one of a group of Union soldiers and civilians which penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory. Their mission was to capture a railroad train at Big Shanty, Ga., and destroy the bridges and tracks between Chattanooga and Atlanta.

After infiltrating Confederate lines and hijacking the locomotive "General," they were captured and imprisoned. Parrott was severely beaten 110 times in an attempt to make him talk. Parrott and fourteen others managed to escape, but only six of them reached friendly lines. He was later exchanged and taken to Washington, D.C. meeting President Abraham Lincoln and was presented with the Medal of Honor by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. He served with the Union Army for the rest of the war. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1863 after the Battle of Stones River and as a first lieutenant in 1864.