The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Thomas Plunkett, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 11 December 1862, while serving with Company E, 21st Massachusetts Infantry, in action at Fredericksburg, Virginia. Sergeant Plunkett seized the colors of his regiment, the Color Bearer having been shot down, and bore them to the front where both his arms were carried off by a shell.