Hudson Valley Family Awarded Great-Grandfather's Civil War Medal

A Hudson Valley family received a Civil War medal in honor of their great-grandfather.

John Ferguson Pratt served in the New York Volunteer 39th Infantry Regiment from November 1863 to July 1865. According to his great-granddaughter, Viola Silverman of Sparkill, Pratt was shot during a battle in Virginia in May 1864.

On Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., New York State Senator David Carlucci (38th District) presented Silverman with a replica of the Civil War Campaign Medal at his office in New City.

"A great and rare honor awarding Viola Silverman of #Sparkill with her great grandfather’s long lost Civil War Campaign Medal," Carlucci wrote on Facebook. "John Ferguson Pratt served honorably for the Union Army from 1863-1865, but died 15 years before the medal was given out."

Pratt is buried in an unmarked grave in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, according to the New Jersey Herald. Carlucci hopes to place a Civil War veteran's headstone at Pratt's grave.

"Many of our veterans did not come home to celebrations or receive the recognition they deserved, and this was my way of saying thank you," Carlucci said.

Hudson Valley Family Awarded Great-Grandfather’s Civil War Medal