Darrough enlisted in the Army from
Concord, Illinois, on August 12, 1862. Darrough was unable to reach the boat in time and was again stranded as it pulled away from shore. He continued to follow the riverbank downstream until a deep
bayou blocked his path. Deciding that his only option to avoid being killed or captured was to swim the mile-wide river, and knowing that his clothes and gun would weigh him down, he began looking for a log to float on. As he searched the bank, he found a canoe hidden in the reeds. Overjoyed, he jumped in and paddled out into the river, hoping to either catch up with the gunboats, which had headed downstream, or cross to the other side of the river and rejoin the Union forces by foot. As he paddled, he looked back and noticed a Union man struggling in the water along the Confederate-held shoreline. The soldier, Captain A.W. Becket of Company B, had attempted to cross the bayou but part-way through found himself too weak to continue; Becket had been ill and had left his sickbed to participate in the mission. Despite the risk, Darrough turned his canoe around and headed back towards the Confederates and the struggling man. He succeeded in getting Becket into the canoe, and then safely reached the opposite shore. For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor several decades later, on February 5, 1895. Darrough's official Medal of Honor citation reads simply: "Saved the life of a captain." During his military service, Darrough was wounded and once escaped from Confederate captivity. After the war, he returned to Iroquois County where he resided until his death at age 79. ==Medal of Honor citation==