William H. Paul
William H. Paul (October 3, 1844 – February 23, 1911) was a United States soldier who fought with the Union Army during the American Civil War as a member of Company E of the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry and, later, the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry's E Company. He was awarded his nation's highest honor for valor in combat, the U.S. Medal of Honor, for saving and protecting the regimental flag of the 90th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the intense fighting of the Battle of Antietam in Maryland on September 17, 1862. That award was conferred on November 3, 1896. Formative years Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 3, 1844, William H. Paul was a son of Pennsylvania natives George W. Paul (1813–1892) and Barbara A. Paul (1817–1884). During the 1850s, William Paul resided in Philadelphia's Spring Garden neighborhood (5th Ward) with his parents and sisters: Frances, Virginia, Mary, Emma, and Ida, who were born, respectively, circa 1834, 1836, 1838, 1847, and 1854. His father supported their family on a carpenter's wages. Sometime before or during early 1860, William Paul and his family relocated to Hammonton, New Jersey, where his father had obtained work as a carpenter. The federal census taker who arrived at their doorstep in mid-July of that year noted that their household included parents George W. and B. A. Paul, and children: William, Emma and Ida. Civil War Two years later, on January 22, 1862, William H. Paul enrolled for Civil War military service in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He then officially mustered in at Camp McClellan in Philadelphia's Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood that same day as a private with Company E of the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry. Military records at the time described him as being a 20-year-old Philadelphia resident who was 5’ 3-1/2” tall with brown hair, hazel eyes and a light complexion. At the end of March, following basic training, he was transported with his regiment by rail to Baltimore, Maryland, quartered at the Patterson Park Barracks, and equipped with an altered smooth-bore musket before being moved again, by way of Washington, D.C., to Aquia Creek Landing, and assigned with his regiment to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division of the U.S. Army's 1st Corps under the command of General Irvin McDowell. Marched to various sites in support of Union Army operations for the next several months, Paul and his fellow 90th Pennsylvanians saw their first major action in the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Virginia (August 9, 1862) during the opening of the Northern Virginia Campaign. Ordered to destroy a railroad bridge at Mitchell's Station on August 15, they next guarded the Union Army's rear as it retreated across the Rappahannock River, and then rendered support to Union artillery batteries during the First Battle of Rappahannock Station (August 22–August 25) before moving on to operations associated with the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap (August 28). After fighting in the Second Battle of Bull Run (August 28–30) and Battle of Chantilly (September 1), they were reassigned to the Maryland Campaign under Major General Joseph Hooker, and