Charles A. Hunter

Charles Adams Hunter was born on August 26, 1843, in Spencer, Massachusetts. He came of age during the years immediately preceding the American Civil War and, while still a young man, entered the service of the United States Army. His military career would take him from Massachusetts into some of the hardest fighting of the war and eventually earn him the Medal of Honor. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Hunter served in Company E, 34th Massachusetts Infantry, a regiment organized at Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1862. The regiment initially performed duty in the defenses around Washington before becoming increasingly involved in active campaigning. By the later stages of the war, the 34th Massachusetts had become an experienced infantry regiment accustomed to difficult marches, skirmishing, and major battlefield engagements. Beyond the Crater The 34th Massachusetts later served in the Shenandoah Valley, an area that became one of the most fiercely contested theaters of the Civil War. In 1864 the regiment participated in operations associated with the Union advance under Major General David Hunter and later Major General Philip Sheridan. The regiment fought in the campaign around Piedmont, where Union forces defeated Confederate troops in June 1864. National Park Service history specifically records Colonel George Wells and the 34th Massachusetts as participants in that campaign. National Park Service Later that year, the regiment became part of the Army of the Shenandoah. At the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864, the 34th Massachusetts served in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, VIII Corps, under the larger command structure of Major General Philip Sheridan's army. The U.S. Army's official Cedar Creek history lists the regiment directly in the Union order of battle. Army History For soldiers such as Hunter, this prolonged campaigning meant repeated exposure to battlefield danger. By the closing months of the conflict, he had risen to Sergeant and had become closely associated with the regiment's colors. His official Medal of Honor citation would later identify his bravery specifically in carrying the regimental flag during one of the war's final major assaults. After the Shenandoah Valley campaign, the 34th Massachusetts was transferred to the forces operating around Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. The regiment became part of the Army of the James and spent the winter of 1864–1865 in front of Petersburg. Its service in this theater placed Hunter and his comrades in the final campaign against General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. American Civil War Forums By early April 1865, Confederate defenses around Petersburg were beginning to collapse. On April 2, 1865, Union forces launched a massive assault intended to break the remaining defensive lines and force Lee to abandon both Petersburg and Richmond. One of the strongest remaining Confederate positions was Fort Gregg. The fighting for Fort Gregg became extremely intense. Confederate defenders resisted from the parapets and interior of the fort, while Union infantry repeatedly pushed forward under heavy fire. Contemporary accounts from soldiers who participated in the assault described it as some of the most desperate close-range combat they had experienced during the war. American Civil War Forums It was during this assault that Sergeant Charles Adams Hunter performed the action for which he received the Medal of Honor. Hunter carried the regimental flag forward during the attack. In Civil War combat, regimental colors had enormous practical and symbolic importance. They served as visual rallying points amid smoke, confusion, noise, and broken formations. Because the colors were clearly visible, the men carrying them were also especially exposed to enemy fire. Despite that danger, Hunter continued forward with the flag. His official citation states that during the assault on Fort Gregg he bore the regimental flag bravely and was among the foremost soldiers to enter the Confederate work. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Hunter was therefore not simply carrying the colors behind the attacking line. He advanced with the leading elements of the assault and entered the fort during the close fighting for possession of the position. The capture of Fort Gregg was strategically significant. Its defenders delayed the Union advance, but they could not prevent the broader collapse of the Petersburg defenses. That night, Lee ordered the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. Within a week, on April 9, 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered at Appomattox Court House. Hunter's action thus occurred during one of the decisive final days of the Civil War. The United States quickly recognized his gallantry. His Medal of Honor record identifies him as: Sergeant, Company E, 34th Massachusetts Infantry and gives his action location as: Petersburg, Virginia with the action date: April 2, 1865. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Hunter's Medal of Honor was presented on May 12, 1865, only weeks after the assault on Fort Gregg. The award was made during his lifetime and was not posthumous. Congressional Medal of Honor Society For the historical ribbon system used in this project, his decoration is correctly represented as: Medal of Honor 1862–1895 Army — No device There is no V device, clasp, star, or other attachment associated with Hunter's Medal of Honor. The 34th Massachusetts remained in service briefly after the collapse of Confederate resistance. Regimental records indicate that the unit was mustered out in June 1865, bringing to an end nearly three years of wartime service that had taken its soldiers from the defenses of Washington through the Shenandoah Valley and into the final Petersburg campaign. Beyond the Crater Hunter then returned to civilian life in Massachusetts. Unlike many Civil War Medal of Honor recipients whose later careers became prominent in politics or public office, the surviving authoritative Medal of Honor sources preserve relatively little detailed information about Hunter's postwar civilian activities. Under the project's zero-assumption rule, it is better not to invent or expand uncertain employment, family, or political details without stronger documentation. What is securely established is that Hunter survived for nearly half a century after the Civil War. He died on December 31, 1912, in Ashland, Massachusetts, at the age of sixty-nine. He was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Spencer, Massachusetts, returning in death to the community where he had been born and to which his Medal of Honor record was accredited. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Charles Adams Hunter's military legacy rests on the responsibilities he accepted as both an infantry soldier and a color bearer. He had served with the 34th Massachusetts through a demanding sequence of Civil War campaigns. By April 1865 he was a veteran Sergeant participating in the final struggle against the Army of Northern Virginia. During the attack on Fort Gregg, he carried one of the regiment's most important symbols directly into the assault and remained among the foremost men entering the Confederate defenses. That act placed him at the front of one of the final major attacks of the Civil War. The Medal of Honor awarded to Hunter recognized not merely the possession of a flag, but what carrying that flag meant under battlefield conditions: making himself highly visible to the enemy while continuing to advance and providing a rallying point for the soldiers following him. His story therefore represents the courage of the Civil War color bearer—men whose role placed them in extraordinary danger and whose determination often helped hold regiments together during the most chaotic moments of battle.