The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private David L. Gifford, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 24 May 1864, while serving with Company B, 4th Massachusetts Cavalry, in action at Ashepoo River, South Carolina. Private Gifford volunteered as a member of a boat crew which went to the rescue of a large number of Union soldiers on board the stranded steamer Boston and with great gallantry assisted in conveying them to shore, being exposed during the entire time to a heavy fire from a Confederate battery.