The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private William Wallace Burritt, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 27 April 1863, while serving with Company G, 113th Illinois Infantry, in action at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Private Burritt voluntarily acted as a fireman on a steam tug which ran the blockade and passed the batteries under a heavy fire.