[1] He received his nation's highest award for valor, the U.S. Medal of Honor, for capturing a Confederate flag at Paines Crossroads, Virginia, on April 5, 1865.

[4] During the summer of 1861, Young became one of Pennsylvania's early responders to President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers to defend Washington, D.C. following the mid-April 1861 fall of Fort Sumter to Confederate States Army troops.

[7] Transported with his regiment to Camp Jones near Washington, D.C., in August 1861, Young and his fellow 1st Pennsylvania Cavalrymen were assigned to defensive duties there.

The Second Brigade, composed of the First Pennsylvania, First New Jersey, and the First Maryland, under the command of Colonel Wyndham, took the advance.... On arriving at Brandy Station, the enemy opened with his artillery, which was promptly answered, and the first Maryland ... charged [while] Colonel Taylor led a desperate charge upon the left and rear of the foe, reaching the Barbour House, where were General Stuart, his staff, and body guard, surrounded by cavalry.

The loss in this engagement was three killed and eleven severely wounded.Marching two days later across the former battlefield of Bull Run, his regiment clashed again with Confederates — this time at Aldie on June 22.

[9] Having been promoted to the rank of corporal sometime earlier in his service tenure, Young re-enlisted for another tour of duty on February 4, 1864, while his regiment was stationed at Warrenton, Virginia.

He and his wife, Minerva, a fellow native of Pennsylvania (born June 29, 1842), welcomed the births of their daughter, Millie, in July 1867, and their son, John, in November 1870.

"[14] According to Bates, that former stockade was known as "Fort Swan and Vanmeter," and it was located "near the border of Cumberland Township" at "a noted rallying point ... for the venturesome pioneers and their families."

[15] Historian Thomas Lynch Montgomery narrowed down the location of Swan's home at the fort further in 1916, stating that it had been situated "near the present town of Carmichaels.

Young, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on April 5, 1865, while serving with Company F, 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry, in action at Paines Crossroads, Virginia, for capture of flag.