James J. Andrews - Wikipedia

I read an interesting oddity that gave me some historical pause...apparently, he was the one who ran the great locomotive chase during the Civil War, and was deemed a spy by the Confederacy and lost as a result...now, the really interesting thing, if you all read the piece here, is that, apparently, a good many of the others on the raid with him received the MOH for it, that being one of the first major engagements for which the MOH was given...the really weird part was, if you all read the article, he, bein a civil-service spy for the Union, was apparently deemed ineligible for the MOH, bein civilian...however, if you all would recall, Dr. Mary Walker, the female Union surgeon, was also deemed a civilian, I think, and given the MOH (even though she was asked to give it back some years later, which request she of course entirely justifiably ignored)...I'd also read of an instance at Landing Zone X-Ray in Vietnam, recounted in We Were Soldiers Once and Young, that the combat photographer who was there, though a civilian, was awarded a Bronze Star, and, I'd also read of one woman awarded the DSC as part of OSS, though she, too, was a civilian...I only mention all that, as, at least to me, him not having been awarded the MOH along with many of the others he was with on the raid, just certainly seemed inequitable...I realize it's just an oddity, of course, and also was over 150 yrs. ago now, however, it just seemed to strike me as a wrong that might actually justify some effort to try to set to rights, you know? Any thoughts? I'd just be really curious, I just found him being denied the MOH as a civilian highly unusual, esp. given the instance of Dr. Walker, as well as later instances of civilians receiving combat decorations, that's all I was trying to say, plus, I always found it a really fascinating story besides, honest, many thanks....