Loading...Biography
Enlisted: 1861
Mustered out: 1865
Side: USA
Regiment(s): 33rd Ohio Voluntary Infantry
Parrott served in Company K, 33rd Ohio Voluntary Infantry, during the Civil War. In April of 1862 he and two dozen other volunteers were sent to destroy bridges and railroad tracks between Chatanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia. At Big Shanty, Georgia they boarded "The General," and while the crew left the train for a meal, the raiders were able to uncouple the engine, fuel car and three boxcars. They were able to damage a few bridges after getting the train going and before the train ran out of fuel. The Confederate soldiers had been hot on their trail and, although the Raiders all tried to escape, they were all captured. Many of them were hung along with Andrews, the spy who developed this effort, which is why they are remembered as "Andrews Raiders." Parrott was severely beaten 110 times in an effort to get him to talk; but he was later freed in a prisoner exchange. Because of his bravery, he was the first recipient of the Medal of Honor! In 1861 Jacob was a Private, but his rank at the end of the war was Second Lieutenant.
Sources
- Craig Angle, The Great Locomotive Chase: More on the Andrews Raid and the First Medal of Honor ([Rouzerville, Pa.: C. Angle, ca. 1992]).
- Russell S. Bonds, Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor (Yardley, Pa.: Westholme, 2008).
- Barry L. Brown and Gordon R. Elwell, Crossroads of Conflict: A Guide to Civil War Sites in Georgia (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2010).
- Edward F. Murphy, "Bravest of the Brave: The Men Who Won the Highest Praise the Medal of Honor," Civil War Times Illustrated, Vol. 19, no. 9, (January 1981): 28.
