Pipes received his country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for actions taken on July 2, 1863 during the Battle of Gettysburg.This unit was created by five men in western Pennsylvania, among them James J. Purman who would go on to win the Medal of Honor alongside Pipes.On the first day of battle, July 1, Pipes and Purman were on a path of retreat when they doubled back to help save a wounded soldier.[1] The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Captain James Milton Pipes, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 2 July 1863, while serving with Company A, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry, in action at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.A year later on 25 August 1864, at Reams Station, Virginia, while commanding a skirmish line, Captain Pipes voluntarily assisted in checking a flank movement of the enemy, and while so doing was severely wounded, suffering the loss of an arm.
