The President of the United States
 in the name of Congress

takes pleasure in presenting the

Medal of Honor

to  BUCKLYN, JOHN K.

Rank and Organization:   First Lieutenant,
           Battery E, 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery.
Place and Date:  At Chancellorsville, Va., 3 May 1863. 
Entered Service At:  Rhode Island. 
Born:   15 March 1834, Foster Creek, R.I. 
Date of Issue: 13 July 1899.

Citation:

Though himself wounded, gallantly fought his section of the battery under a fierce fire from the enemy until his ammunition was all expended, many of the cannoneers and most of the horses killed or wounded, and the enemy within 25 yards of the guns, when, disabling one piece, he brought off the other in safety.

source: http://www.homeofheros.com/moh/citations_1862_cwa/bucklyn_john_k.html

We have on file a copy of John K. Bucklyn's speech to the Soldiers and Sailors Historical Society, in which he described the battle and what he did.  It is one of those items that reposes in our pile of paper which we wish someone would volunteer to transcribe so we could place it on this page, or make a donation of $20 to have it transcribed into electronic format.

Bucklyn and Battery E fought the Rebels at Malvern Hill, Bull Run and Frederisksburg.  He rose in rank, from quartermaster sergeant to second lieutenant to first lieutenant.  Six weeks after the Chancellorsville fight, where he earned his Congressional Medal of Honor, he was promoted to commander of Rhode Island Battery E.

Battery E had 60 men, and several cannons.  At Gettysburg his unit was stationed at Cemetery Ridge, and specifically later, at the Peach Orchard.   A Mississippi brigade stormed Bucklin's position, and Bucklin had the cannon fire cannister anit-personnel shells.  Bucklyn's men fell and died.  Twice Bucklyn had horses shot from under him.  After he mounted the third horse, a piece of shrapnel went into his left lung, leaving him unable to breath.  Thirty men of his 60 were killed.   The survivors saved the battery's cannons and carried Bucklyn to safety.  Bucklin was sent home to recover, and then he returned to fight more in the Shenandoah Valley, where he was promoted to captain.

The appreciation his men had for Bucklin as their commander was illustrated in 1886, when a monument was erected on the Gettysburg battlefield, to mark where Battery E had fought.  After the service of dedication, several of the soldiers asked for permission, and were granted permission, to chisel at the bottom: "Lt. J. K. Bucklin Commanding".