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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to honor Medal of Honor
recipient Thomas | ||||||
| 4 | C. Murphy of Tazewell County; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Thomas Murphy was born in Ireland on February 1, | ||||||
| 6 | 1844; he enlisted in the Union Army on August 15, 1861 as a | ||||||
| 7 | member of Company I
of the 31st Illinois Infantry Volunteers | ||||||
| 8 | with the rank of private; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Thomas Murphy participated in the Battle of | ||||||
| 10 | Belmont, the Battle of Fort Donelson, the Battle of
Champion | ||||||
| 11 | Hill, the Battle of Big Black River, the Siege of Vicksburg, | ||||||
| 12 | the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, the Battle of
Atlanta, and the | ||||||
| 13 | Battle of Jonesboro; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, On May 22, 1863, during an assault on the | ||||||
| 15 | fortifications outside Vicksburg, Thomas Murphy
was in the heat | ||||||
| 16 | of the battle, and according to his Medal of Honor Certificate, | ||||||
| 17 | "he crossed the line of
heavy fire of Union and Confederate | ||||||
| 18 | forces, carrying a message to stop the firing of one Union | ||||||
| 19 | regiment
on another"; and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, Thomas Murphy and the entire 31st Illinois | ||||||
| 21 | Infantry were honored for their actions during the
Siege of | ||||||
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| 1 | Vicksburg by being the first unit to march into the city | ||||||
| 2 | following its formal surrender; and | ||||||
| 3 | WHEREAS, Following his discharge, Thomas Murphy returned | ||||||
| 4 | to Tazewell County
in 1864; he graduated from Rush Medical | ||||||
| 5 | College in Chicago and married Virginia Maria Placket on | ||||||
| 6 | February 2, 1871; they had six children,
four of whom survived | ||||||
| 7 | to adulthood; and | ||||||
| 8 | WHEREAS, On June 23, 1916, Thomas Murphy received Medal
of | ||||||
| 9 | Honor Certificate Number 177 for his "conspicuous gallantry in | ||||||
| 10 | action at Vicksburg"; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Thomas Murphy died on December 3l, 1920 and lies | ||||||
| 12 | in rest at the Green Valley Cemetery in
Green Valley; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, 2019 would have been Thomas Murphy's 175th | ||||||
| 14 | birthday and the 156th anniversary of his heroic actions
during | ||||||
| 15 | the Battle of Vicksburg; therefore, be it
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| 16 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 17 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 18 | we honor Thomas C. Murphy during the year of his
175th birthday | ||||||
| 19 | and 156th anniversary of his heroic actions; and be it further
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| 20 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution shall be | ||||||
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| 1 | presented to the residents of Tazewell County
as a symbol of | ||||||
| 2 | our respect and esteem.
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