The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Wells H. Blodgett, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 30 September 1862, while serving with Company D, 37th Illinois Infantry, in action at Newtonia, Missouri. With a single orderly, First Lieutenant Blodgett captured an armed picket of eight men and marched them in prisoners.