Andrew Jackson Smith (Medal of Honor)

Andrew Jackson Smith was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War and a recipient of Americas highest military decoration the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Honey Hill.

According to family history, Smith was born into slavery, the son of Susan, a slave, and Elijah Smith, a slave owner. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Elijah Smith joined the Confederate military, with the intention of taking 19yearold Andrew along with him. When Andrew Smith learned of this, he and another slave ran away, walkingmiles through the rain before presenting themselves to a Union Army regiment, the 41st Illinois Infantry, in Smithland, Kentucky.

Source: Wikipedia