James F. Adams

Who was James F. Adams?

James Frank Adams was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.

Adams was born in Cabell County, West Virginia. While a Private in Company D of the 1st West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, he captured the flag of the 14th Virginia Cavalry during an engagement on November 12, 1864, at Nineveh, Virginia. His Medal of Honor was issued two weeks later, on November 26. Another 1st West Virginia Cavalry soldier, Sergeant Levi Shoemaker, also received the medal for capturing a Confederate flag during the skirmish.

He died at age 77 and was buried at Oaklawn Memorial Park in Barboursville, West Virginia.