Alfred L. Pearson

At Lewis's Farm on March 29, 1865, a Union brigade was being driven backward under heavy fire when Colonel Alfred Lawrence Pearson seized his regiment's colors, called on his men to follow, and advanced toward the enemy. The movement helped restore the line and became the action for which he would receive the Medal of Honor more than thirty years later.

Pearson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 28, 1838. He studied law and was admitted to the Allegheny County bar in January 1862. With the Civil War still expanding, he left civilian life later that year and entered the 155th Pennsylvania Infantry as captain of Company A. He advanced rapidly, becoming major, lieutenant colonel, and then colonel. By the closing campaigns of the war he was an experienced field commander.

The 155th Pennsylvania served in the Army of the Potomac and fought through some of the war's hardest campaigns. Pearson's defining moment came at Lewis's Farm, Virginia, during the opening phase of the Appomattox Campaign. When troops in his brigade fell back under Confederate fire, Pearson took hold of the regimental color and moved forward, urging his men to come with him. The advance spread beyond his own regiment, the lost ground was recovered, and the enemy was driven back.

Medal of Honor Citation

Seized his regimental colors, rallied his men, advanced under severe fire, and helped the brigade regain lost ground and repulse the enemy.

Pearson remained in service through the end of the war and was mustered out with the 155th Pennsylvania on June 2, 1865. His wartime service was recognized with brevet promotion to major general of volunteers. The Medal of Honor for Lewis's Farm was formally presented on September 17, 1897.

After the war Pearson returned to Pennsylvania. He resumed the practice of law and later commanded the 6th Division of the National Guard of Pennsylvania during the 1870s. He also remained involved in veterans' affairs. His military career therefore extended beyond the battlefield, linking the volunteer armies of the Civil War with Pennsylvania's postwar militia.

Alfred Lawrence Pearson died at Sewickley, Pennsylvania, on January 6, 1903. He was buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. His Medal of Honor recalled a moment when, with a brigade giving ground around him, he used the most visible symbol on the field, the regimental colors, to turn retreat into advance.