David Urbansky, Medal of Honor Recipient
David Urbansky[1] was one of the most decorated Jewish soldiers to serve during the Civil War. His actions on the battlefield led to him receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry at the battles of Shiloh and Vicksburg. He was one of only five known Jewish soldiers who served in the Civil War to receive this honor.[2]
Urbansky was born in Lautenburg, Prussia (now Lidzbark, Poland), between 1840 and 1843.[3] Little is known about his life before he emigrated to America. On October 28, 1861, he mustered in as a Private in the Union Army with Company B of the 58th Ohio Volunteer Infantry at Camp Chase near Columbus, Ohio.[4]
Urbansky was a small man in stature,[5] but this did not impede his bravery during battle. On December 29, 1862, he rescued Captain Ferdinand Fix at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou in Mississippi. “The officer fell desperately wounded in the charge, and [Urbansky] went back alone and carried him through the fire of bullets to his regiment. Here, through prompt treatment, the officer’s life was saved.”[6] His regiment participated in other major battles, including the capture of Fort Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, and the Vicksburg Campaign.
On April 4, 1864, Urbansky received a Medal of Silver, inscribed, "Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Arkansas Post, Chickasaw
David Urbansky. American Jewish Archives.
Bayou, Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Vicksburg," from the Board of Honor of the 17th Army Corps Department of the Army of the Tennessee.[7] Urbansky mustered out as a Private on January 14, 1865, at the expiration of his three-year term of service.
After the war, Urbansky became a citizen of the United States. He married Rachel Henry on October 8, 1865, in Schenectady, New York,[8] and together they had twelve children. By 1868, he had moved to Piqua, Ohio, and established himself as a clothing merchant.[9] He operated his store on South Main Street in Piqua for twenty-five years before passing the business to two of his sons.[10] Urbansky was described as a “shrewd man, rather cunning and a good talker.”[11] He was a well-respected community member, belonging to the Fraternal Order of Masons, and was a charter member of the Alexander Post No. 158 of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Medal of Honor awarded to David Urbansky. American Jewish Archives.
The Medal of Honor was bestowed upon Urbansky under unusual circumstances fourteen years after his service in the Union Army. After losing the Medal of Silver awarded to him during the war, he contacted the War Department for a replacement. They could not replace the medal with a copy, and after reviewing his actions in battle, the Secretary of War awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor on August 2, 1879.[12] The medal was inscribed “The Congress to Pvt. David Orbanski, Co. B. 58 Ohio Vols. for Gallantry at Shiloh and Vicksburg.”[13]
His health began to fail, and illnesses afflicted him for the last fifteen years of his life. He passed away on September 22, 1897, at the age of 56 years, 9 months,[14] and his body was interred at Cedar Hill Jewish Cemetery in Piqua.[15] After his death, his family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and later, his remains were exhumed and moved to the family plot in Walnut Hills United Jewish Cemetery in Evanston, Ohio.
On December 10, 2000, after many years without proper recognition, a new grave marker was placed at his gravesite to indicate his distinction as a Medal of Honor recipient.[16]
The memory of his service and the gallantry he displayed has lived on long after the war. Urbansky’s Medal of Honor, which is held at the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2004 for an exhibit at the Library of Congress[17] and again in 2011 at the request of President Barack Obama for a special reception at the White House to commemorate Jewish American heritage.[18]
​​
​
​
[1] David Urbansky’s surname is spelled in many different ways in sources, the most common being Urbansky, Orbansky, and Orbanski. It can also be found spelled Urbanski, Obranski, Orbranski, and Orbanscky. His family later shortened the surname to Urban.
[2] Adam D. Mendelsohn, Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army (New York, NY: New York University Press, 2022), 251.
[3] Urbansky’s birth year is not consistent among source material.
[4] “David Urbansky, Shapell Roster Civil War Database,” Shapell Manuscript Foundation, accessed November 1, 2024, https://www.shapell.org/civil-war-soldier-database/soldier/10113.
[5] “Original Photo of Civil War Medal-of-Honor Winners Including Four Jewish Recipients,” Shapell Manuscript Foundation, April 21, 2023, https://www.shapell.org/manuscript/photograph-civil-war-medal-of-honor-recipients/.
[6] “David Urbansky, A Brave Soldier in the Fifty Eighth O.V.I.” The Piqua Daily Call, January 23, 1897, 8.
[7] "Rebellion Records, series 1, vol. 52, pt. 1: Operations in Southwestern Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, West Florida, and Northern Georgia, Supplement to previous volumes, Reports and correspondence," U.S. Congressional Serial Set (1897): I-862.
[8] Shapell Roster.
[9] U.S., Department of the Interior, Bureau of Pensions. Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Dependents of Civil War Veterans, ca. 1861-ca. 1910. Microfilm Publication and Textual Records, NAID: 561929. Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773-2007, Record Group 15. National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives Building, Washington, DC.
[10] “Quit the Business” The Miami Helmet (Piqua, Ohio), August 24, 1899, 5.
[11] Approved Pension Applications.
[12] Shapell Roster.
[13] “David Urbansky Medal of Honor,” 1879, Material Culture collection, American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio.
[14] FamilySearch, "Miami County, Ohio, Death Records," accessed November 1, 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9ZB-29FT-B?view=index.
[15] Approved Pension Applications.
[16] “Overdue honors for unknown hero” The Cincinnati Enquirer, December 11, 2000, A1, A3.
[17] “Exhibit to note Jewish feats” The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 30, 2004, B1, B7.
[18] “Professor takes artifact to White House” The Cincinnati Enquirer, June 25, 2011, sec. Your Hometown Enquirer, 8.
​