John Henry Moffitt

John Henry Moffitt (January 8, 1843 – August 14, 1926) was a United States Representative from New York and a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during the American Civil War. He was born on January 8, 1843, in Chazy, Clinton County, New York, a rural community in the northern part of the state near the Canadian border. Raised in upstate New York, he came of age in the tense years immediately preceding the Civil War, in a region where questions of Union, slavery, and national identity were intensely debated.

Moffitt entered military service from Plattsburgh, New York, joining the Union Army during the Civil War. He served as a corporal in Company C of the 16th New York Infantry, a regiment that saw action in several major campaigns in the Eastern Theater. On June 27, 1862, during the Battle of Gaines’ Mill in Virginia—part of the Seven Days Battles outside Richmond—Moffitt distinguished himself in combat. After several color bearers of his regiment had been shot down, he voluntarily took up the regimental colors and carried them forward under heavy fire until he himself was wounded. For this conspicuous gallantry in action, he was later awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration. The Medal of Honor was issued to him on March 3, 1891, formally recognizing the courage he had displayed nearly three decades earlier.

Following his wartime service and recovery from his wounds, Moffitt returned to New York, where he resumed civilian life in the postwar period. Like many veterans of the Union Army, he was part of a generation that moved into public affairs and civic leadership as the country underwent Reconstruction and industrial expansion. His experiences on the battlefield and his demonstrated sense of duty helped shape his later public career and informed his understanding of national unity and federal authority during a time of rapid change.

As a member of the Republican Party representing New York, Moffitt contributed to the legislative process during two terms in the United States House of Representatives. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, when issues such as veterans’ affairs, economic development, and the lingering effects of the Civil War were central to national politics. In the House, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents from New York, bringing to his work the perspective of a decorated veteran and a committed Republican legislator. His tenure reflected the broader role played by Civil War veterans in shaping late nineteenth-century American public policy.

In his later years, Moffitt remained identified with his Civil War service and his status as a Medal of Honor recipient, placing him among the notable American soldiers whose bravery had been formally recognized by the federal government. He lived to see the United States enter the modern era, spanning from the age of Lincoln through World War I. John Henry Moffitt died on August 14, 1926, closing a life that had encompassed both the trauma of civil conflict and the responsibilities of national legislative service.