The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private Joseph Taylor, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 18 August 1864, while serving with Company E, 7th Rhode Island Infantry, in action at Weldon Railroad, Virginia. While acting as an orderly to a general officer on the field and alone, Private Taylor encountered a picket of three of the enemy and compelled their surrender.