The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Lieutenant Colonel Francis Snow Hesseltine, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 30 December 1863, while serving with 13th Maine Infantry, in action at Matagorda Bay, Texas. In command of a detachment of 100 men, Lieutenant Colonel Hesseltine conducted a reconnaissance for two days, baffling and beating back an attacking force of more than a thousand Confederate cavalry, and regained his transport without loss.