[2] While serving with Company M in the Battle of Globe Tavern on August 19, 1864, Lieutenant Taylor was captured during a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines.

After two months of imprisonment at the Confederate Libby Prison, Taylor and two other officers escaped and rejoined Union forces.

[1][2] During the Siege of Petersburg, Taylor was shot in the leg on August 14, 1864 while carrying the colors after other standard bearers had fallen to enemy fire.

[2] The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Sergeant & Second Lieutenant William Taylor, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism while serving with Company H, 1st Maryland Infantry as a sergeant, at Front Royal, Virginia, 23 May 1862.

Later, on 19 August 1864, at Weldon Railroad, Virginia, then a lieutenant serving with Company M, he voluntarily took the place of a disabled officer and undertook a hazardous reconnaissance beyond the lines of the army; was taken prisoner in the attempt.