Two Civil War Medal of Honor recipients buried in Ottawa Avenue Cemetery in Ottawa were remembered Friday morning.

In observance of Medal of Honor Day, a group of veterans and Civil War buffs gathered in the cemetery to render honors at the graves of Lt. Col. Douglas Hapeman and Sgt. George Marsh, both of the 104th Illinois Infantry — known as The La Salle County Regiment.

Congress established Medal of Honor Day in 2007 to honor those who have received the nation's highest military honor for courage under fire.

"Ninety-nine percent of the people in Ottawa do not know there are Medal of Honor winners buried down here," Commander Ron Shipley of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2470 told The Times.

Hapeman earned his medal at the 1864 Battle of Peachtree Creek in Georgia.

Hapeman, "with conspicuous coolness and bravery rallied his men under a severe attack, re-formed the broken ranks and repulsed the attack," according to his medal citation.

Marsh received his medal for leading an 1863 attack on an enemy blockhouse guarding a railroad bridge across the Elk River in Tennessee.

Marsh, of Company D, was told to pick a squad of volunteers to attempt what seemed a suicide attack across the open and burning bridge.

"Many offered to go, but I took the first 10 who stepped forward, and started for the fortification," Marsh later recalled.

Amazingly, none of the Company D troops were injured and the blockhouse was captured.

"No one who saw us go into the fight expected to see us come out alive, but we did, and without the loss of a man," said Marsh.

Other members of Company D also received Medals of Honor for the deed.

Pvt. Richard J. Gage of Ottawa, who is buried in Woodside Cemetery in Seneca.
Pvt. Lemuel F. Holland of Tiskilwa, who is buried in Decatur.
Pvt. George L. Houghton of Brookfield Township, who is buried in Orting, Wash.
Pvt. John Shapland of Ottawa, who is buried in York, Neb.
Pvt. Oscar Slagle of Manlius Township, who is buried in Broughton Township Cemetery in Livingston County.
Pvt. Reuben S. Smalley of Brookfield Township, who is buried in Allen Cemetery in Ransom.

Robert F. Shipley, buried in Restland Cemetery in Mendota, received a Medal of Honor for his Civil War bravery.

Shipley was a sergeant in Company A of the 140th New York Infantry when, during the closing days of the war in 1865, he captured the flag of an enemy regiment during hand-to-hand combat.

Streator has a monument that honors Orion Howe, who is credited as the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor.

At the battle of Vicksburg in 1863, Howe, then 14, wounded and exposed to heavy enemy fire, insisted on staying on the battlefield until he reported to Gen. William T. Sherman the correct caliber of cartridges needed by troops low on ammunition.

A longtime Streator resident, Howe is buried at Springfield National Cemetery in Springfield, Mo.