He received the country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for his action while fighting for the North at Lexington, Missouri, on September 20, 1861.

During the summer of 1860 he went to Chicago to attend Sloanes Commercial College (located on Washington Street near the Court House).

He also worked for a farmer in McHenry County, and, being a Republican, he campaigned for the election of Abraham Lincoln.

His father was Paymaster and Captain of Dragoons, commissioned by William H. Seward, governor of New York.

When the Civil War broke out, many students, faculty, and administrators of Monmouth College enlisted in the military.

The citation read: "Volunteered to fight in the trenches and also led a charge which resulted in the recapture of a Union hospital, together with Confederate sharpshooters then occupying the same.

"[1] His actions also resulted in "the capture of rebel sharpshooters then occupying the hospital while serving as bugler.

I knocked open one door with the butt end of my musket and stepped into the room, there were five Rebs there 2 of whom raised their guns to shoot me.

[2]Palmer later entered the regular Army and provided service in the Spanish–American War, after which he was promoted to the rank of major, serving with the 4th United States Infantry.

His daughter, Ruth Palmer, was the wife of Colonel Edward Colby Carey, the son of Brigadier General Asa B.