Edgar Pierpont Putnam

Edgar Pierpont Putnam (4 May 1844 – 20 May 1921) was an American businessman and civic leader in Jamestown, New York. As a young man, he served in the Union Army cavalry during the American Civil War, advancing from private to captain and ultimately receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions as a sergeant leading a scouting party on the day before the 1864 Battle of Totopotomoy Creek in Virginia.

Biography Putnam was born in Stockton, New York, the only child of James Rogers Putnam and Maria Louisa Flagg. At the age of seventeen, he enlisted in Company D of the 9th New York Volunteer Cavalry on 11 September 1861. Putnam's regiment served in the Army of the Potomac and General Philip Sheridan's Cavalry Corps and he participated in all of their engagements. During the course of the war, he advanced from private to corporal and then sergeant. During the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Putnam was assigned to General John Geary's staff.

On 27 May 1864, Sergeant Putnam led a small reconnaissance patrol near Crumps Creek in Hanover County, Virginia. On 13 May 1892, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his brave leadership and initiative against superior enemy forces.