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) Albert E. Fernald, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 1 April 1865, while serving with Company F, 20th Maine Infantry, in action at Five Forks, Virginia. During a rush at the enemy, Lieutenant Fernald seized, during a scuffle, the flag of the 9th Virginia Infantry (Confederate States of America).