Biden to bestow Medal of Honor on two Civil War heroes who helped hijack a train in confederacy

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will award the Medal of Honor on Wednesday for “conspicuous gallantry” to a pair of Union soldiers who stole a locomotive deep in Confederate territory during the American Civil War and drove it north for 87 miles as they destroyed railroad tracks and telegraph lines.

U.S. Army Privates Philip G. Shadrach and George D. Wilson were captured by Confederates and executed by hanging. Biden is recognizing their courage 162 years later with the country’s highest military decoration.