The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Captain William Perkins Black, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 7 March 1862, while serving with Company K, 37th Illinois Infantry, in action at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Captain Black single-handedly confronted the enemy, firing a rifle at them and thus checking their advance within 100 yards of the lines.