Erastus W. Jewett

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Erastus W. Jewett, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 2 February 1864, while serving with Company A, 9th Vermont Infantry, in action at Newport Barracks, North Carolina. By long and persistent resistance and burning the bridges First Lieutenant Jewett kept a superior force of the enemy at a distance and thus covered the retreat of the garrison.